False Alarm!

So, I was up and at'em at 7:30 this morning! :-/

Brian and I woke up to incessant beeping; we actually both thought that it might be the fire alarm on our security system because the sound was exactly like what we heard when the technician demonstrated it for us yesterday.

Fortunately, our house was not on fire (which would not be a good thing).

Instead, it was my stupid alarm clock that was still packed that evidently has a really good battery backup... Go figure! :-)

I couldn't go back to sleep after that so I spent the morning watching all the Saturday morning news shows and changing our address with our banks, retirement accounts, credit card companies, insurance, DMV, etc, etc, etc.......

Brian went to meet some of his friends in Clayton for a ROAD GEEK thing. (He returned with 2008 maps of Kentucky and South Carolina...so I don't know what they talked about, but it's probably a good thing I didn't go because I don't care too much for Kentucky or South Carolina...) While he was out, he also picked up our new cordless phones. We're both quite excited about them because we are tech nerds! (I'm also the luckiest girl in the world because my answering machine message was recorded by a HIGHLY TRAINED RADIO PROFESSIONAL.)

While B was oot-n-aboot, I started organizing and unpacking. I pretty much got the office completely done (except there aren't any pictures or pretty things yet, but all the essentials are there...). We have our printer and server all set up (yay, for wireless printing!). Also, because I am pretentious, I have changed the name of the office to the study because I think it sounds cooler and because when our furniture arrives, our recliner is going into that room, which makes it more like a reading room. And, I think study best encompasses all that. :-)

While all that was getting done, I also found all our Christmas decorations and found a closet in which to store all those boxes...

This evening, Brian and I started on the kitchen stuff and we got about halfway done with that....we should have it finished up tomorrow.

And, after all that, I went up and took a bath in our pimp-daddy garden tub, which is the greatest thing ever.

Oh yeah, and someone has sold our address already because we got an ad for Express Blinds and Shutters today via USPS. (At least we're getting mail--we still haven't gotten our paper because the N&O's circulation department is horrendous.)

Too tired to type!

Movers came.

Boxes moved.

Movers left.

CPI came.

Security installed.

We have many, many boxes.

More tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and WE ARE SO EXCITED AND HAPPY!

Checkin' in from the homestead!!!!

WE ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!

Today has been a great day! :-) Closing went fantastic this morning; only took about 45 minutes and all the paperwork was correct. If anyone needs a recommendation for a good closing attorney, let us know and we'll hook you up with our lady's name.

We had a nutritious breakfast at IHOP :-) and then laid down some cash-money at the K-town Wal-Mart. We are now the proud new owners of a 75' hose; hose holder; hose sprayer; and various bathroom hardware items (towel racks, etc.).

Since our foray at the Wal-Mart, we've been hanging here with the various services that we ordered. Bell South was here when we got back from closing and our phone works (Drop me an e-mail at lsleblanc82 [AT SIGN] gmail [dot com] to get the phone number.) [Presented in lame format so that I don't get spammed...]

Budget Blinds was also here and all our blinds look FANTASTIC (I am so excited about them!). The only bummer is that the panel-track shade that we bought for the sliding glass door didn't get delivered to Budget Blinds like it was supposed to be, so they will have to come back to install that. Oh well. It should be delivered soon!

I should have pictures sometime this weekend of the blinds!

Time Warner Cable was also here and our Internet is up and running (as evidenced by this post!) and DirectTV should be in the next 5-10 minutes to hook us up WITH THE MOST HD CHANNELS EVER! YAY!

Also, our trash can and recycling bin were delivered this morning and Brian has spent the past 30 minutes or so registering all our appliances and everything for our warranties. We are so on top of things :-)

Our newspaper was supposed to start today, but the N&O couldn't find out street (it isn't on any maps yet), so we're hopeful that it will start tomorrow or some time this weekend. Traffic Man Brian gave them all the info that they needed.

Oh yeah, and I don't think I ever posted this before, but Centex did lay our grass seed in the back and side yards, but not the sod (which will come in the fall). So, this afternoon we're going to water our trees and tomorrow we'll water the backyard (we actually have a few cute pieces of grass!!)

James Taylor Rocked!!

In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina
Can't you see the sunshine
Can't you just feel the moonshine
Ain't it just like a friend of mine
To hit me from behind
Yes I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind

We all had a FANTASTIC time! Next weekend is JIMMY BUFFETT!!!! :-)

B and I are very excited about tomorrow morning!

16.5 Hour Weather Watch

I am glad this crappy weather is today and not tomorrow or Friday! I got quite a bit done today amidst various phone calls from Centex, the attorney, and others. All is well and I think everything is completely set for tomorrow morning! USAA wired out the money we owe this afternoon, so now we're a lot poorer! :-)

Off to James Taylor and our walkthrough!!

Interesting Mortgage Tidbit

Remember the fiasco that was CTX Mortgage way back in April?

I pulled out the "I can make it up to you" Good Faith Estimate that we got the day after we walked and ASSUMING the GFE was actually what we would have paid at closing (which I know isn't true), after normalizing the insurance and property tax escrows, we would have saved $1/month with CTX. Seriously.

The catch--we would have had to pay $1,000 more at closing compared with what we're paying USAA. Granted, we would have had a slightly larger down payment (~1.25% more down, but that extra down payment money was necessary in order to keep the monthly payment in our budget).

Here's the sad thing...that $1,000 more to CTX is on top of the $5,000 in closing costs paid by Centex. So, CTX was $6,000 more expensive with respect to closing costs!!!!!! Talk about lenders with junk fees!

Definitely another reminder that if it seems too good to be true, then it is. I'm really glad the loan processor made that mistake that day and I'm even more glad that we didn't take the bait.

Brian & Laura - 1
CTX - 0

As a quick caveat, I don't think this means that CTX is a bad company or has bad business practices and I truly believe the mortgage guy just made an honest mistake. But it does show that you really do have to shop around. I think CTX is probably comparable to other lenders--just not USAA.

35 hours and 28 minutes!!

Yup! It's getting kind-of-a big deal now :-) We got our final HUD-1 from USAA today and everything is looking good. I am really impressed with everyone from the builder to the real estate agent to the attorney to the lender. Everything was correct on the form! The form was even sans the $55 pest inspection fee that we had to pay out-of-pocket. I had already printed out my copy of the check that I sent to take it to closing to prove that we had already paid it! :-) I love it when people are one step ahead of me with this kind of stuff, because it very rarely happens!!

I'm also officially off work now until next Tuesday (Hallelujah!!) Tomorrow I have to get up at a decent hour to put the finishing touches on the packing and to do some cleaning. At 4:30, we're meeting Chris at the house for the final walk. My parents are also going to go to the walkthrough because they are in town. The four of us are going to the James Taylor concert tomorrow night!! (In retrospect, I am very glad that we're going to this concert because it will be a nice break away from the house and we'll be able to keep busy tomorrow night!) Speaking of Family Samuels and concerts, they are also going to be our first house guests in two weeks when mom, dad, Cal, and Clay come up for the Jimmy Buffett concert!! (I foresee MANY margaritas that night!)

Also, Brian's dad wins father-in-law of the year for 2008 because he came and chilled at our apartment for 45 minutes today waiting for Goodwill to pick up the couch (Brian was planning to do it, but he had a work lunch to go to with all the CMG bigwigs.) Evidently it was really something watching the guys figure out how to get the sleeper sofa down the stairs. (I'm kinda glad I wasn't here to see it, honestly.) I am just really, really glad that none of us had to move it!

Oh yeah, and Happy Two-Year Anniversary to Brian and me. I cannot believe it's been two years!!!! Two years ago at this very moment I was very happy to be done with the wedding stuff! May is like the super month for us!!

OFFICIAL 35-Hour Weather Watch:



Did we pick the best dates ever or what??? I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA!!!