House Woes

To say that our meeting with the builder's representative yesterday didn't go well, would be an understatement.  Y'all, it. wasn't. pretty.

It's an extremely long story, but I'll cut to the chase.  They had never built a bonus room over the garage on the specific floor plan that we wanted, so there wasn't one that we could see to decide it we wanted a bonus room or not.  Well, good news! They have one over another floor plan that we can go see if we want. Yes!  We drove 45 minutes one way and decide, yes, we love the bonus room.  It was a ton of useable space, but away from the rest of the house, perfect!

We write up our contract to include the bonus room, which adds a certain amount of money to the house.  We agree.  We're told that in 10 days we'll get our plans back and sign off on them, go to the design center, then construction will begin.  That was on November 10th!! Over two months ago!  The first time we went to review our plans there hadn't been any of the modifications that we wanted included.  All the architect had done was add the bonus room, but didn't include any of the things we wanted changed/added to the floor plan.  Okay, whatever, a mistake can be made.  The other problem?  The bonus room didn't look a thing like the bonus room we saw.  The one on the plans was a long, narrow room with a tiny window on the very end.  Did I tell you the walls were slanted? So yeah, here's a bonus room that has about 4 feet of useable space. Fantastic.  We say we aren't happy with that, they tell us they can add a dormer but it'll cost us, we argue, the builder rep's mom (who also works there) steps in and says we'll just ask the architect to see what he can do, we'll find a way to make it how you like it. Yay!

Don't know what a dormer is?  I didn't either.  It's just a thing that sticks out of the

roof line that allows the ceiling to be a normal height in that area, plus windows!!

The second time, the builder's rep/realtor sent them back to the architect because she found a few things he didn't include (<-- this was the first and maybe only thing she's ever done to help us!).

The third time we were to review them (about 2 weeks ago) we actually met with the architect.  My husband, who is an engineer so he freaking knows what he's talking about, had a good meeting with the architect and we just had to wait for one more meeting.  The new bonus room was beautiful!! It looked perfect and we were so excited that we had come to a resolution.  Everybody was in good spirits and we left feeling like this was all gonna work out.  ALL the architect had to do was move our pedestrain door in the garage over 2 feet.  It was supposed to be an easy meeting and then we'd FINALLY be finished with that part!

Well yesterday we went to the meeting (without our realtor) because it was supposed to be a simple check off and our realtor has a previous commitment. We sit down and realize that the builder's rep brought her broker/boss with her to the meeting.  That's funny, because he hasn't been around for any of the rest of this crazy process.  So first she says, you have to pay for the extra square footage that having stairs to the bonus room requires.  Um, what?!  I'm pretty sure we agreed to pay a significant amount of money for the bonus room, which of course requires stairs because it's on the second floor!!!  When the rep realized that we were a little ((WHAT?!)) by this, she states, "well if you don't wanna pay the additional $5,000 for that, then the architect drew up these plans which have about 6 inches shaved off of every room so that it doesn't add square footage for the stairs."  First of all, that's a no go.  You're not just gonna shave off inches from random rooms and we'll be okay with it.  IF we were going to agree to shave off some inches (which is a last resort) we'd like to do it from where we choose! Thankyaverymuch.  For instance, our master bedroom is going to be much bigger than we need/want and we'd love to take the inches from that room.  AND isn't it pretty obvious that if the floor plan you agree on has only one story and you want to add a bonus room, upstairs!, that you would have to add, STAIRS? Wait, maybe they're planning on giving us a free elevator?!

Then the builder's rep pulls out another sheet of paper that says we'll need to pay $5,000 for the addition of the dormer in the bonus room.  Yeah, remember at our last meeting when everyone was happy and NOT. ONE. WORD. was said about an additional cost involved?  That meeting, where the rep said, "I'm glad we could make you guys happy!" with a big, fat, fake smile on her face? 

At that point, I wasn't sure who was going to blow first.  I looked over at my husband who said to her, "I'd like to know why that wasn't mentioned AT ALL at our last meeting?!"

She says, "I'm sorry if I forgot to mention it but I think I told you at some point that it might cost a little extra."

So I'm thinking in my head, "Are you kidding me, you deceptive little brat?!  You're saying on top of all the extra money we agreed to pay for the addition of the bonus room, now you're gonna need an extra $10,000 for it to be to our liking and to include stairs?!"

But I said to her, "Okay, we're NOT happy with this.  You are trying to bait and switch us, you've totally misrepresented the idea of a bonus room in the first place, how dare you do this to us at this supposed 'easy meeting' when our representative isn't here and you knew she wouldn't be here."

Baron continued with telling them both how unhappy we've been with her, the builder's rep, and that we've been jerked around from the beginning.  We said we are not going to pay for that and we will be meeting with our realtor, our realtor's broker and who ever else needs to be involved in order to find a resolution. 

The rep and her broker said blah, blah, blah, we told you that most of our bonus rooms look like the long skinny unusable one did, we told you that a long time ago, blah, blah.  Then she made a rude comment about how if the money was a problem we could just add it to our mortgage.  Okay hon, listen, we got this.  We will not be seeking financial advice from you!  Add if we did add it to our mortgage we'd end up paying twice as much in interest.  We're not ignorant like you. We are not irresponsible with our money and we will be making a wise decision.  DO NOT pipe in with your free financial advice.  Why don't you work on doing your job well first!

We called our realtor when we got home and she was just as on fire as we were.  Her broker is calling the rep's boss today and we're going to the actual builder and tattle tell on this girl.  She has been nothing but deceptive, hard to deal with, and totally ignorant about everything involved with building our house.  I have a feeling if the builder actually knew how his hired realty company was handling things, he would not be pleased. 

This got crazy long, sorry!  I'm mostly writing all this so we have something to look back on later.  I want to remember all the craziness involved with building so if we ever think about it again, we'll reconsider, haha! Kidding. Kind of.

I was so proud of my hubby and I. We are both somewhat soft spoken people but we let them have it yesterday, it a professional way of course!  We'd of course love the threaten to just walk away but that's the problem, they totally have us because we want to be in that house and neighborhood!!

We'll see what transpires, everything will be on hold for now because of upcoming travel for both my husband and myself so we probably won't even get back to all the arguing for a few weeks.  We've come to realize that we'll probably have to renew our lease for a month or two but there's not much we can do about it.

Getting to Know Me

So I stole this idea from Sweet Tea in Sicily, go check out her blog.  She's also recently married and moved a long way away with her new groom...like overseas!  I thought moving to Alabama was far away!

1. Post a picture of yourself:

Here's the most recent one.  Max and I in Blue Ridge, Georgia on Thanksgiving

2. How old are you?
26! Woah, when did that happen??

3. What is your zodiac sign?
I used to be a Virgo but didn't they all change a few years ago?  I don't know, I've never put any meaning behind that stuff.

4. What did you do on your last birthday?
A few days before my birthday I received my first speeding ticket ever, so I went to the courthouse the morning of my birthday to sign up for driving school. Yipee!  I think we went out to dinner or something that night, nothing too exciting, getting old is no fun!

5. What is one thing you'd like to accomplish before your next birthday?
I'd like to lose about 10 more pounds and maintain my weight loss.

6. What is your hair color?
Blonde, with a hint of green if I've been swimming too much in the summer :)

7. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Nope, Momma wouldn't let me when I was growing up and now I'm glad she wouldn't.  Good job, Momma!

8. What color are your eyes?
Green/Blue, they change a little bit if I'm wearing a bright blue or green shirt

9. Do you wear contacts or glasses?
No, I tried to wear some colored contacts for a brief period in high school and walked around twitching my eyes all day. 

10. Have you ever considered plastic surgery? What would you have done?
Never seriously, I'm such a wuss that I couldn't get past the pain of it!

11. Do you have any tattoos?
Oh dear, I knew this was coming.  I have one on my hip, the only one I'll ever have!  Remember I said I was a wuss, it huuuuuuurrrrt!  It's a really pretty swirly tree from a picture I took while I was in Africa, it means a lot to me.  I'm glad that I got it but I won't do it again.

12. Do you have any piercings?
I'm a rebel, I have two holes in each ear ;)

13. Left or right handed?
Right handed, my Dad and brother are both lefties though.

14. Do you have any pets?
2 Boston Terriers, that's not a secret!  Macey is almost 4 and Max is 9 months.

15. Share 2 habits?
I bite my nails, I try so hard not too but it's a habit I just can't seem to break!  I crack my knuckles a lot too, I know it's bad!

16. What's your ideal career?
Soccer mom :)

17. Is your life anything like it was 2 years ago?
Haha! Not at all!! Two years ago I was living in Jacksonville, Florida working night shift as a labor and delivery nurse.  I had just started dating a guy who lived about 2 hours away from me.  My oh my has my life changed!

18. Ever broken any bones?
Does a stress fracture count?  Last summer my foot starting hurting like crazy and got really swollen suddenly one night.  My coworkers (over-reacters!) convinced me that I had a life threatening blood clot and wheeled me over to the ER.  Nope, not a clot but a stress fracture.  I got some crutches and was to be totally off of it for 2 days until I could get in to see the orthopedic specialist.  I got fitted with a little boot thing and was able to work with it.  When I went in for my checkup the doc said it wasn't healing and I had to be on total rest for two weeks. Uggggghhh!  I lived on the 2nd floor at the time and had a dog, so my momma came and picked me up and I spent 2 weeks at my parent's house, recovering.  My foot was sore for a really long time and it's finally back to normal, 'cept for when it's really cold outside :)

19. Share something about yourself that others might think is weird.
I can get worked up and nervous about almost anything!  If someone called and said, "You won a free trip to Paris!" and I'd be all like, "Oh my, what will I wear? Where will the dogs stay? Too much to do in too little time, ahhhh!"

20. What are four things you can't live without?
My husband, family & friends, Diet Coke, my pups

21. Are you more like your Mom or Dad?
I would say that I'm a great mix of both. My sense of humor is spot on with my Dad's.  He is the funniest person I've ever been around. My personality is a lot like my mom's though.  I love my parents <3

22. Do you have any siblings?
A "little" brother who's about 6 inches taller than I am.  He's 23 and works as an EMT in Florida, I'm very proud of him.

23. Are you going out of town soon?
Heading to Salt Lake City, Utah in a few weeks! So excited to explore a new city with my hubby.

24. Do you have someone you can totally be yourself around?
I'm very blessed to have a bunch of family and friends who totally get me and support me even when I totally am myself ;)

25. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Here's what I hope:  I hope that we are settled here in Alabama and really feel like we're at home. I hope that we have a child by then and that we have friends and family come visit often!

Alright folks, that's enough for today.  It's nice to have random link ups and surveys for those days that you're just feeling uninspired!  Tomorrow, I'll try to come up with something a little more exciting to talk about!

I know I've said this several times but today we're meeting with the builder's rep to hopefully completely sign off on our plans for the house.  I can't wait to get into the design center and pick out everything for our home!  I'm so thankful that Baron (and my) schedule allows us to meet up with these people at all hours during the day.  I don't know how people build/buy a house when they work an 8 to 5 job that doesn't have that kind of flexibility!

Recipe Roundup

Hey gals,

So the interview went very well.  I felt comfortable with all the questions and I feel like they responded to me well, should hear something in a few days.  Monday thru Friday 8am-5pm will be quite the adjustment but might bring some "normalcy" to our lives.

Wanted to chat about some new recipes I've tried lately.  My Mother in law got me this cookbook for Christmas:

It's full of a ton of recipes that I can't wait to try!!  I've made a meatloaf and a pasta dish so far and can't wait to try some more.  Weight Watcher recipes have come a long way even since I've been doing it on and off for the last few years.   How about this one from the 70's:

Doesn't that look delicious haunting?!  I'm so thankful for recipes that actually taste good and can work well with the Weight Watchers program.

Another great place that I've found for a lot of recipes is this website:  Skinny Taste.  I know I've linked her site before but I seriously can't get enough of this website.  Everyday it seems, there's a new recipe posted and every one I've tried has been great!

These are some of our favorites:

Thai Chicken & Pineapple Stirfry (Little spicy, beware!)

Slow Cook Sweet Barbacoa Pork

Chipotle's Cilantro Lime Rice (make this with the Barbacoa Pork and some black beans, yum!)

Crockpot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili (almost feels like cheat night served over whole wheat noodles)

Roasted Potatoes, Chicken, and Sausage (One dish wonder, easy peasy, and a hit!)

Autumn Penne Pasta with Sauteed Brussel Sprouts (Even better leftover, a great way to sneak brussel sprouts into your diet!)

Last one from Skinny Taste: Tuscan White Beans with Spinach and Shrimp

Okay, I should stop now because it's not really listing my favorites if I list every recipe on her website.

Veggie burgers and roasted vegetables have been a staple at our house lately.  I haven't found a vegetable that I don't like roasted yet.  Broccoli, Squash, Cauliflower, Zucchini, Brussel Sprouts, Onion, Carrots, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, you name it, you can roast it!  Just turn up your ovens to 400 degrees, pop in your cut up veggies that you sprayed with cooking spray, roast for 10 minutes, toss, then cook an additional 10 minutes.  Easy and delicious!



Veggie Burger with Roasted Brussel Sprouts and a bit of Bleu Cheese= 6 points!





Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?

Here's what I'm doing today.  I have an interview this afternoon with a doctor's office in town.  I'm nervous, but maybe that'll help me out a little bit.  I keep telling myself that I don't have to have this position.  It's not like we have 12 kids to feed or anything.  I guess it's just human nature to want to be liked and wanted.  Here's hoping!  Cute outfit? Check.  Rain? Yeah, bummer.  Ready for anything? Check!

We are still waiting to schedule our appointment at the design center so that we can pick out everything for our house.  This is taking forever!  It kind of doesn't even feel like we're building a house, because we've been stuck in the same position for two months with no progress being made.  Our realtor is pushing for us and trying to get us in to the design center before Baron has to go on his next business trip. 

This week feels like it has the potential to get crazy!  Interview today, WW meeting tomorrow, hopefully two house meetings, taking the dogs to a boarding place for daycare to get them used to it, lots of stuff to do!!  Crazy is better than boring I guess!

Happy Monday Y'all!

It's been a year!

Hey y'all!  Another way random post comin' at ya today, but that's how my brain works.  Baron always says to me, "Brekke, you switch topics so fast that I can't keep up!"  Haha, c'mon rocket man, I can assure you I'm not talking rocket science! 

- Yesterday the sweet, Amanda,  from Kevin & Amanda invited me over to meet some of her girlfriends and have a Chocolate Taste Testing and Painting party! How fun!  Stephanie from All Artful taught us how to paint like professionals.  The amazing thing was our paintings all turned out great!  Amanda just got back from New York and had a bunch of chocolate for us to taste test.  Helllllllo, cheat day!


My finished painting!



- Our meeting with the architect yesterday went great!  They had fixed everything that we had issues with and we should get to finally sign off officially on Friday. Yay! Enter panic mode, because that means we'll have to make all the decisions about color and such very soon after.  I can't believe that we'll be living in our first house this year!


- A year ago today I was driving to Gainesville to visit Baron.  When I got to his apartment there was a note on the door that said this...

"Dearest Brekke,

Meet me at the location of our first kiss.

Love, Baron"

So I drove like a madwoman to this little chapel on the water where I knew I was gonna run in and find him.  I got pulled over on the way, started sobbing and told the guy, "I'm about to get engaged!" and he let me go (thank you officer!)  I ran up to the church and as I opened the door about three or four people walked out together and were smiling at me.  One girl even had tears in her eyes.  I looked inside and saw Baron all dressed up standing at the altar.  I ran down the aisle to get to him and he said all kinds of nice things, then got on one knee and asked me to marry him.



Reinactments of the day :)

- I heard about Free Crappy Portraits from several other blogs that I read and just had to send in a photo.  Seriously, I love this picture, and I don't think it's crappy at all!! Captures us so well.  All you have to do is send in a picture with a short description of the people in the photo.  Here's what I wrote:

"Baron is a real rocket scientist, like too smart for his own good. Brekke is a "Domestic Goddess" at the moment. We just moved to Alabama from Florida after our wedding in May. We're both big Florida Gator fans. We love our two dogs, Macey and Max (both Boston Terriers, one black and one brown), and we're both kinda miserable right now because we're trying to lose weight, haha!! Baron likes flying remote control planes and checking up on the stock market (boooooring!) and Brekke enjoys learning to cook, blogging, and obsessively painting her nails. Oh and she drinks A LOT of Diet Coke."

We're featured on their website today, go check it out and get yourself one! I seriously want to have this framed!



Happy Wednesday y'all! I hope the rest of the week is good for you!

Tuesday

Well all the Christmas decorations are put away and it feels like the holiday season is over.  It always feels like it goes by way too fast.  We had a great Christmas and New Year's even though we didn't do anything too exciting.  Baron is back at work today so vacation is officially over.

We're meeting with our realtor, the builder's representative and the architect today to (hopefully) finalize all our house plans so that we can get this show on the road.  It's been almost two months since we signed out contract to build.  After we sign off on our plans then we have to schedule an appointment at the "Design Center" dun dun dunnnn.  Apparently this is a several hour long appointment where we select all the different colors, finishes, etc. that we want in our house, and apparently they won't start construction until we've been through the design center.  It's a little bit frustrating because we'd thought we'd be done with all that already.  Hopefully today we can finally sign off on the plans and then we can schedule our appointment to pick everything out.

Random: I made another delicious recipe from Skinnytaste.com the other night and I think you should try it!!  Thai Chicken & Pineapple Stirfry.  I left out the hot pepper and used soy sauce in place of fish sauce, and Sweet Chili Sauce because I couldn't find the pineapple dipping sauce.  It was sweet (and spicy too, beware!)

We tried using chopsticks but let's be serious.

I hope to make several new recipes this week to help get out of the boring-weight-watcher's-food-veggie burger-rut.