Locked Into a Rate: We're Almost Finished

This past Friday was pretty exciting as we headed to the bank to sign paperwork that locked us into a rate for our mortgage.  That's right, we've begun the final process to get our construction loan turned over into a mortgage!  We're nearing the end.

So we've been busy, busy, busy around the house finishing up all the loose ends like trim and more trim and more trim. 

Within the next couple weeks we'll have an appraiser come and appraise our house for the bank and as long as everything is finished to his satisfaction we can proceed with setting up a closing date.  This is one of our prayers, that when the appraiser comes he'll find the house finished to his satisfaction... the first time.  Normally appraisers come to give a value to your home, that's their main job.  I don't know if it's because of all the housing and flood issues in Minot these days but appraisers are more like inspectors for the bank and their standards are high.  Higher than normal it seems.  So we had to finish the main floor/ living area completely which is why we're doing all the trim and finishing touches. 

But it is an amazing feeling to know we are so close to being done.  The end is weeks away, not months or years!  This is a blessing for our family as we look forward to the days ahead, adjusting back to a new normal of having Daddy back.  And while we've all been together in the evenings, thanks to us living in the home he is working on, he's had to focus on work and getting the house finished.  He goes to work Monday through Friday, in the evenings he comes home, we eat dinner and then his focus turns to working on the house to get it finished for us.  He takes a break for our bedtime routine for the kids and after they're all tucked into bed it's back to work for him.  Usually that work goes late into the night and it's been a rare occasion that he's in bed before midnight.  The same is said for Saturdays, we have our family time together in the mornings but shortly after Nate gets to working on the house all Saturday long.  Sunday is our day of rest from the work being done on the house.  This has been our routine for the last 2 years due to the fact that Nathan has been the one literally building our home and not hiring out all the work. 

He's done such an incredible job at balancing his family, work, work on the house and life in general throughout this whole process.  He adores his family and we know it!  He shows it.  And so we understand the time constraint the house has taken and are thankful for such a godly husband and father who made sure he put his family first before the house.  No it has not been easy for any of us but we are thankful for the Lord's help, He's sustained our family through this process and we've watched Him work mightily on our behalf and we are eternally grateful for His abundant blessings amidst the rocky roads. 

So to say we're all looking forward to the end is an understatement!  The adjustment will be strange, especially for Nate as work on the house has created a habit of business, constantly for the last two years.  But the time we'll have again as a family and as a couple will be so precious.  We'll all have a new appreciation for the blessing it is to have time to spend together as a family.  We all love being together, no matter what we're doing, as long as it's together as a family! 

So here's some photos of the progress on the house over the last few weeks.  It's amazing how something as small as trim can be so time consuming.  All those little pieces and cuts.  You feel like you're not doing anything but things are sure getting done. 

Wow, trim does change the look, everything is really coming together!



Baseboard.

And while the work gets done the house gets crazy.

Casing and closet doors are going on!

All the floor trim is being finished... it's looking so nice seeing it all come together.

Trim around the cabinets... finished!

Patching the holes in the wall.

This is what Zeke's room has looked like for the last month while we've waited for the big hole in his wall to be patched, mudded, taped, textured, primed and painted.



Waynes coating around the bottom of the girls' room.

 

More patches....

Not it just needs to be re-painted.

Our house has looked like this a hundred times over during the process of building.  Things have to get shuffled, tools are out and things and the house just turn into chaos.  And then we somehow manage to get it back into shape in time for it to be turned upside down again, as any house does when going through a remodeling project or in our case, simply being built.