2587 Stony Creek Drive

We made the list!

2007-06-24T18:48:00.000-06:00

As a few of you may know, we've been looking to purchase a puppy for our new home. We're happy to report that after filling out the application and exchanging a few emails and phone calls with the breeder, we've made the puppy list! Speaking of pups, Brandy's parents just added a new edition to their family. Sadie is a 10-week old yorkiepoo with a great personality and gorgeous black coat.

Jeremy also had a chance to mow the lawn for the first time today. So between the dog and lawn, I think we can safely say the house lost it's innocence today!

Check out the link at the top of the page for more photos!

Instant yard!

2007-06-14T09:34:00.000-06:00

Check out the photos of our new yard at the flickr link!

Enjoy!

Welcome!

2007-05-19T19:20:00.001-06:00

Since we last left everyone, we had just moved into the house. Well, here we are now, a little over a month later and still standing.

We enjoy the neighborhood, our kitchen, the garage, and of course, the house! We've already begun mudding and taping the garage, not to mention taking care of the dinky projects that endlessly come up. Now all we have to do is get some grass and we'll be set!

Everybody is welcome to visit, but if the trek to Owatonna's not for you, keep checking our site as we'll keep everyone in the loop about our adventures.

And remember, view updated photos of the place at the flickr site!

SOLD! I think. . .

2007-03-29T17:28:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago, we became the proud owners of our first house! And, as you'd suspect, we've had a few "newbie" moments.

After only a few days in the house, we decided to make dinner in our new oven for the very first time. Unfortunately, upon starting the oven, it started to give off what can only be described (with the use of numerous adjectives for dramatic effect) as an "unpleasant, strong, burning, electrical scent."

We had expected the oven to smell a little on the first use, but when the thick smoke started pouring out of it a few minutes later, our months of building flashed before our eyes. We took one look at each other and pulled the oven away from the wall as quickly as we could. A few moments later, we attempted to alieviate the strong smell by turning our cieling fan to high.

Ladies and gentlemen, this small gesture turned our nervous situation into a full-blown crisis, otherwise known as "all hell breaking lose." It was at this very moment our cieling fan decided to part ways with the base mounted in the ceiling.

We quickly concluded this was not good.

Which was more important? The smoking oven--which, by the way, was not giving any indication of slowing down--or the fan hanging by it's wires swirling around ready to give us new haircuts at any moment. It was a tough decision.

Fortunately, Jeremy was able to spring into action and take care of the fan while I monitored the oven situation. About a half-an-hour later we had everything under control and we were sitting on the couch with a couple beers waiting for our delivery pizza to arrive.

Yes, homeownership has been good to us--but not without a few trying moments.

As for new pictures of the place, well, we've decided to wait. We're sure everyone wouldn't mind seeing how the house looks with our furniture and other belongings set up, however, we are waiting for our parents to see the place in person before posting any. On the plus side, you can count on a few photos at the beginning of May. And although the building process has been completed, the driveway and yard have only just begun--so you can count on a few more posts about our adventures in new homeownership!

Week 17: Is this week over yet?!

2007-03-07T17:35:00.000-06:00

Sheesh.

For all the weeks of ease we've had in building a house, we are definitely paying for it this week! Our troubles began last week when our real estate agent, Susan, went MIA. We were starting to get anxious because items that still needed to be changed, added, etc. were left undone.

Just as we were getting ready to send out the blood hounds, we received a call from another agent on Saturday (of all days) informing us that Susan changed real estate agencies. This new agent, Bob, assured us everything was okay and that we could still work with Susan and complete the close.

Apparently this was not the case.

Jeremy found out a few days later that we were, in fact, no longer working with Susan. This presents a highly tricky situation as Susan still represents the builder, but we legally signed into our contract with Century 21, her old agency. Although we were sad to see Susan go, we didn't have much time for mourning because we needed to get the house ready for closing next week and there were still items left to be finished.

So our new buddy Bob has been saving the day left and right. Fortunately for him, we made the transition process much easier by compiling a list of various items, objects, and alcoholic beverages that needed immediate attention. Just a quick side note, as you may have guessed, we actually did not submit the last portion of that list to Bob, but one could feasibly say that after our hellish week, I think he can afford to buy us a few.

And that leads us to today. We're happy to see our requests are being fulfilled and the hiccup in the process has passed. To celebrate all the changes and the extremely near completion of the exterior of the house, we've uploaded a ton of photos to the link at the top of the page for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Week 16.3

2007-03-02T19:45:00.000-06:00

Lots of small stuff added to the house this week...check out flickr for all the new pictures!

We're diggin' the red door!

Week 16.2: It's all coming to close

2007-02-26T21:31:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-25T17:51:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-21T19:47:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-19T08:37:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-14T22:20:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-12T14:31:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-08T21:17:00.000-06:00

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?

2007-02-03T22:00:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-01T18:04:00.000-06:00

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!

Week 12: Before and after

2007-01-29T19:13:00.000-06:00

After only one day of work, the sheetrock is practically finished! The photos below are both of our kitchen, however the first one is the "before" and the second is the "after." Note: in the first photo, you can see Jeremy looking out bedroom #2's window. The arch on the right of the photo is the doorway to the hall which leads to the master bedroom and bathroom.

Week 11

2007-01-25T17:03:00.000-06:00

Winter has arrived! This past week Owatonna received a few inches of snow, but the white stuff didn't sideline the building crew or our fearless soon-to-be homeowners one bit.

We purchased our bathroom hardware, doorbell, and all of our lighting in one adventure-filled, marathon evening. Unknown to us, doorbell technology has apparently reached impressive heights. One figures, when it's time to purchase a doorbell, it will be one of those items which takes little or no time to find. Oh no, be prepared to spend at least 45 minutes listening to every conceivable version of "ding-dong" possible. And once you suffer through that, get ready to decide if the on-key "ding" is worth the off-key "dong." Needless to say, we spent quite a while analyzing the perfect "ding-dong" for our new home.

On a positive note (no pun intended), the plastic covering the insulation is up and the sheetrock is sitting in the house, ready to go. The patio door for the walk-out basement has been installed, and the concrete for the front steps has been poured. We also approved the kitchen and bathroom cabinet configurations for the house, along with the counter tops. If things continue to move at this pace, it looks as if next weekend may be the highly anticipated paint weekend!

We thought we'd post a couple different views of the house this week. One from the side and another from the back. Keep in mind our lot isn't quite as large as it appears. Nobody wants to live by us yet, that's all.

Week 10.3

2007-01-20T10:07:00.000-06:00

Here it is! A photo of the inside of our home--as seen from the bottom of the stairs. What you're looking at is the patio door and window in our dining room. To the right of the patio door will be the kitchen, and to the left of the window will be our living room area. The two bedrooms and bathroom are a right off of the top of the stairs.

Looks like we're only a few short days until sheet rocking is complete and then we're "on call" for painting!

Week 10.2: Our days are numbered

2007-01-17T18:18:00.000-06:00

Great news! We've received word that the house will be complete in the next 30-60 days. In celebration, we have submitted our Notice to Vacate and have "officially" started the packing process.

In other house news, the rough-in electrical work on the house is complete, in addition to the rough-in plumbing. The concrete flooring in the basement was also poured this week and we should start seeing insulation any day now.

Up to this point, we haven't noted exactly where in Owatonna we'll be moving to. The map pictured below is a fairly accurate description of our current place of residence and our new place of residence--feel free to click on the map for a closer view.

Although we've enjoyed five years living on the north side of town, I think the east side will be a fitting change. Before the chilly weather we enjoyed quite a few walks in our future neighborhood and look forward to being known as, "the people who live on Stony Creek Drive," rather than, "the creepy people who drive by all the time and always walk back to the car parked in the abandoned field." Yup, we'll be happy when we can watch the other neighborhood newbies from our nice, new home.

Week 10

2007-01-15T18:56:00.000-06:00

Generally, we like to post toward the end of the week, however today we thought it might be nice to point out the major drawback to building a house during the winter months.

During the past couple months we have benefited from the unseasonably warm winter weather, and one could have hoped that today would be no exception, especially given the fact that we had our electrical walk-through in the house today. Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn't having any of that. She decided to make today one of the coldest days of the winter--and everybody knows that no electricity equals no heat! No amount of boots, scarves, mittens and sweaters could have helped us today!

Week 9: Signed, Sealed, Windowed, I'm Yours

2007-01-12T11:34:00.000-06:00

If you believe the old saying "clothes make the man," then the house equivalent would be "windows make the house." From the photo, you can see significant changes this week included the start of shingling on the house, finishing of the roof, and addition of the windows. But to our amazement, those weren't the only changes that took place this week. Two others included the completion of house wrap and a shiny new "sold" sign in the front yard.

Since our house is actually starting to look like a house, we thought it was a good time to do our first rough "walk-through" of the place--a somewhat challenging obstacle since we have no staircases, lights or heat. Given the circumstances however, we decided to take our chances and check out the place for our self.

The kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom are exactly as we had imagined. The big, unexpected surprise of the week was our bathroom. Sure we have no doors, electricity or walls, but hey, we've got a tub--and better yet, it's already installed! We're certain our house is the envy of all the other construction jobs on the block right now, but of course, one can never be too sure.

Here's to having a house that looks like a house and a tub to boot!

Week 8

2007-01-05T16:09:00.000-06:00

What a difference a week makes! Not only has there been a huge change in the physical appearance of the house, but we've also nearly completed the process of selections (cabinets, hardware, flooring, etc). The garage and foyer have been framed, and the roof trusses have been started. It won't be too long before the shingles, siding, and roofing will be up we're sure!

Week 7.3: Rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets?!

2006-12-28T16:51:00.000-06:00

The building crews are continuing to take advantage of our unusually balmy winter, although it sounds like they may be in for a big change tomorrow. The weather channel is actually forecasting "ice pellets" in Owatonna. We've heard of snow, rain, thunderstorms--but ice pellets?! We have a feeling our building crew will have wished they finished the roof--or that they employed the US Postal Service to build the house on those "not-so-pleasant" days.

Speaking of roofs, that is the next step. The trusses are all ready to go, so we should see the house start to take shape this upcoming week! Also, we're sure a few of your are wondering if we have a garage. Yes, we do--the red pickup and white trailer are "parked" in it it.

Week 7.2: There's no place like gnome

2006-12-27T16:12:00.000-06:00

We meant to post a photo of our new addition earlier in the week, but wanted to get a photo of the house up first. We haven't figured out a name for him yet, possibly "Henry" or maybe "Henrik"--but Brandy hopes he'll protect her garden from all the little woodland creatures who may want to destroy it. Although the big "Welcome" sign he's holding may be a bit damning.

Week 7

2006-12-26T15:14:00.000-06:00

A lot has happened in just a few days so we decided to post a photo of the progress.

Week 6

2006-12-20T12:31:00.000-06:00

This week brought about many changes to the house. Instead of a big concrete fortress, we now have a home with nearly completed back filling and block. Things are moving along so swimmingly that the framing for the lower level and trusses are also done. We are positive this will only lead us to the proverbial "nothing is happening" week, but for now, we're not complaining!

Tonight we're meeting with Susan again to finish selecting brick, shingles, soffits, and other household items never thought about until you have to actually make a decision on them. We've seldom pondered the existence of doorknobs outside of using them as a means of exit or entrance--until now.

Alas, however, as Christmas draws near and we're busy giving thanks for the wonderful family and friends we're surrounded by, I guess you can say we're blessed that we get to decide if a white toilet is better than a beige one.

Merry Christmas!

Week 5

2006-12-14T12:15:00.000-06:00

Say hello to our new foundation. The workers started on it yesterday and have continued through today. We're not really sure how long they'll be working on it, but it's nice to see a structure that could actually offer some sort of "protection from the elements"---unfortunately the dirt pile just didn't cut it!

Week 4.2: Houston, we have liftoff!

2006-12-05T19:44:00.000-06:00

It was only yesterday we reported the city would be approving our permits, but we had no idea that the builder would be digging our hole today!

Earlier in the day we received a call from Susan telling us the builder planned to start construction on the property. When we stopped by our lot after work, we couldn't believe there were actually trucks, front loaders, people, and big piles of dirt all over the place. Finally after weeks of waiting, something is happening!

We decided to tromp around the lot, construction workers and all; which, by the way, is a strange feeling. Up to this point we've known this is our land and future home, but knowing it and seeing it are two different things. We walked right into the construction zone no questions asked and poked around, sizing up the house in relation to the lot. We're happy to report that thus far we've very pleased with what we saw!

In celebration of this first big step, we are posting a photo of our new "home". Enjoy!

Week 4

2006-12-04T20:13:00.000-06:00

We found out today the city should approve our permits tomorrow! With any luck, the builder will have the basement dug by this weekend. Stay tuned for more details!

Week 1

2006-11-08T15:20:00.000-06:00

Success! After weeks of adding doors, taking out windows, and of course, choosing a floor plan, we have signed the contract with Oakridge. The only thing we can do now is wait for the builder to purchase our lot and the city to approve the plans and distribute the permits. According to our real estate agent Susan, this will be the longest process we will have to wait on.

A view of our new lot.

Starting from scratch

2006-10-09T17:31:00.000-06:00

After almost four years of looking for the perfect home, we've decided to build it! We're excited to share this experience with our family and friends, and look forward to becoming official citizens of Owatonna!

This Old House: A tribute to the homes that didn't make the cut.

2006-10-01T20:02:00.000-06:00

When you've lived in an apartment for almost five years, it seems like any house is better than no house. That is, until you actually step foot inside of them. On our way to finding the right house, we had to visit a lot of wrong ones! Here are just a few of the homes that made important Buffington history.

The house on Kriesel Place. This 1980s rambler was the first house we ever decided to make an offer on. It had everything: a beautiful back yard, a quiet street, cul-de-sac location... the only thing it lacked was new shingles, siding, windows, a two-stall garage, updated carpet, air conditioning and hot water heater---like I said this was the first house we made an offer on, there had to be a learning curve somewhere! Of course we found out all of that information thanks to our trusty home inspector Brian, and we were able to freely walk away from this money pit.

And then there was the circa 1885 Victorian on Vine street. We spotted this cute home last winter and put in an offer less than a week before leaving for Arizona. The price was right, the neighborhood was great, only problem was the fact that some of the electrical was original! Again, it was our home inspector Brian who helped us see the light and walk away from this potentially dangerous offer.

Which brings us to the house that changed everything--the completely restored 1895 Victorian on Cedar. This house was beautiful, and we fully intended to purchase it. We looked at it numerous times, each time becoming more excited than the last. The original wood interior was in impeccable condition, and the kitchen had been completely updated, along with the plumbing and electrical. The yard was well-maintained and the curb appeal outstanding. In fact, we still think it is a wonderful piece of Owatonna history. The problem with this house was that the price (at the time of our viewing) was highly comparable to the price of a newly constructed home! Although the house had been restored, it was still over 110 years old and could never offer us the full capability of modern conveniences. It was then that we realized that this house, along with the hundreds of others we had visited over the past four years would never be the home we were looking for.