Week 16.2: It's all coming to close

Now it's official official! Today we set up the closing time for 10AM Thursday, March 15, with moving to commence after work on Friday, March 16.

Hard to believe, but the house is actually starting to feel like a home--which is good because we're ready to move! During the past month, we've packed many of our worldly possessions, carted them down to the garage, and felt our home for the past five years slowly start to become a white, empty place to stay.

Although we're not sad to leave #305 (thanks to all of the smokers, traffic, and sub woofer enthusiasts), we've made some great memories here. This is the place where we first lived together, got engaged, then married. The place where we've experienced real triumphs and a few tragedies. We know that when we move, we'll keep all of those memories with us, but sometimes it's good to look around and experience them where they first happened for one last time.

As we pack our belongings away, we've realized that #305 has been a good home to us, even though we've always thought of it as temporary. It goes to show that no matter where you are, and no matter how temporary you think something is, life still happens.

Here's to you #305, even though you're getting pretty empty...

Week 16

Flooring was the highlight of this past week. Both the tile and laminate were completely installed. One day before the tile was set to be installed, we decided to have it heated. Our last-minute decision delayed the installation by a couple days, but we're positive warm tile will keep everyone happy (and warm) campers...especially during those 3AM bathroom runs!

Yesterday when we stopped by to check out progress on the laminate, we had all we could do to get inside the house. As a few of you probably heard or experienced, Owatonna was the recipient of an inch of freezing rain (not to mention multiple inches of snow). Walking from the car to the house was so difficult, that once we got close enough to the house to grab it, we had to use it as leverage to make it to the front door! We are anxiously awaiting the day when we can jet from warm, heated garage to house without various flights of stairs or tricky meteorological elements.

So, back to the laminate. The picture below shows the laminate in the kitchen (it's also in the foyer), but it is covered up at the current moment to protect it from the abuse of the construction crew. Still, you get an idea of where it is!





This is pretty much the only photo we can show of the color. We're psyched to see how it will look with the trim!

Week 15.2

We're happy to announce we have a tentative closing date on the house! Right now, it looks like March 16 is the big day. We don't want to drop any premature hints about "you-know-what," but let's just say, we're taking food and beverage requests in exchange for "services rendered."

That being said, there's been some big changes inside the house this week. Today we decided to visit the place and check out the trim and possible new railing. We were pleasantly surprised to see the cabinets and counter tops were completely installed! In addition, tile work has also begun in the bathroom and our laminate flooring is anxiously waiting on the sidelines in the great room.

We're posting a new photo of the outside--there's still a few changes in store yet, but this is a more complete photo. We also have some photos of the new cabinets if you click the link at the top of the page. The house was extremely dusty today (just look at the counter tops), so the photos aren't exactly the best--but you get the idea at least!

Week 15: We don't need to ever do that again

This past weekend we painted every surface of the house...twice.

It was great spending time in the house and seeing the room colors we selected come to life. This weekend, however, was not complete without many trips to Lowe's and Borgman's Paint. For a while, it almost felt like our first Thanksgiving all over again when we made three trips to the grocery store, or our first Christmas when we thought we'd stop by the grocery store after church, only to discover it closed early on Christmas Eve and had to settle for the meats and cheeses at the local gas station (we wouldn't recommend that last one).

Alas, we were able to still complete the painting, but not without some difficulty. The most trying location was the wall above the stairs, we later affectionately referred to as "walking the plank". The photo below shows just how "fun" it was! Good thing we work for an insurance company!

For more photos of our all-out painting weekend, click the link at the top of the blog. Enjoy!

























Pirate Jeremy says, "RRRR, eat your vegetables!"

Week 14.2

We have started painting and long work days are leading into longer paint nights. We're tired this week so we'll leave you with a simple updated picture of the house.

Week 14

You'll notice this week we do not have any photos of our new paint job. On Friday afternoon, we were (highly) disappointed to learn the house was not ready to be painted as the walls were without primer. To add insult to injury, we had to stop by the paint store that very afternoon to pick up our 15 gallons of paint we had planned to use over the weekend. We picked up our paint, dropped it off at the house, took a collective sigh and headed over to our favorite watering hole to nurse our wounds.

We'll admit, we had slightly bad attitudes today when we stopped by the house.

Fortunately, those feelings quickly subsided when we saw the builder had started our brick work, in addition to adding the soffits, fascia, and siding! We also have a garage complete with a concrete floor and garage doors. And when we walked into the house, we were delighted to see the walls were primed and ready to be painted--which we will be painting this weekend.

With all the changes, we uploaded quite a few photos to the site at the top of the page. Click on the link to see all the changes.


The Buffington home was a busy place today. We couldn't even get a clear shot of the house because of all the action.

Week 13: Hello neighbor

It's official, we are painting the place this Saturday. Today we stopped by Borgman's to put in our order for the many gallons of paint necessary to do the job. The paint store has been an interesting experience for both of us as we're so used to the "big box" stores. There is something about going to an authentic, family-owned store to purchase your paint. We'll give the gentleman who works down at Borgman's a little free PR by saying he is hands-down the most knowledgeable paint expert we've ever talked with. The next time you paint, consider giving the locals a shot.

Also today, Brandy met our only neighbor--who happens to be about four lots down from us. We're happy to report that he was very nice and sociable, not to mention the fact that he was thrilled we were building a house close by. Apparently we're not the only ones who are experiencing "neighbor drought".

Anyway, here's a couple more photos of the inside. You can't actually see the texture itself, but this will be a great reference for next week when we have paint on the walls!

Week 12.3: Who'da thunk brick was so important?

We're positive many of you know of Brandy's love for her former state. And in case your unsure which one it is, the answer is North Dakota. (FYI, if you didn't know, we really should get together more often because hardly a week passes by without her rattling off some North Dakota statistic or wild story about a place you only thought existed in the movies.)

Anyway, one of Brandy's (formerly secret) wishes was fulfilled this past week when the time came to choose brick for our home. Being a die-hard North Dakota fan, she naturally wanted to use Hebron Brick as it is a brick made less than an hour from her hometown. Since moving to Owatonna, it didn't seem as if that would ever be a possibility, however to both of our surprise, the builder uses Hebron Brick! We're not exactly sure when it will be added to our home, but it is guaranteed that one its dwellers will be a very happy camper whenever she looks at it.

In other house news, the walls have been taped and mudded, and are now ready for texture. It looks as if painting this upcoming week or weekend is imminent!

Week 12.2: A completely different house

Sheetrocking the place certainly has changed the look of it!! If you'd like to see more photos of our yard, inside of our home, and other changes along the way, check out our slideshow at the top of this post.

Enjoy!