Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Jonna Bag!!!

This bag is named after my wonderful friend Jonna. We have been called twins at times and I think we must have been separated at birth! :) She is a wonderful Christian woman who inspires me in many ways. I am very, very thankful for her friendship and example.

She LOVES big, bottomless pit, bags so this one is for her.

It measures approximately 21.5" X 28" (Handle Included)
The bag includes two interior pockets and a magnetic closure.
The handle is very unique in that it is three strips braided together.

Shown in Cherry Linen fabric combination. Choose from any of the four fabric combinations or create your own!

Price: $45.00









This pattern was designed by ithinksew.com

Monday, April 19, 2010

The Narey Bag!!!





In Cherry Linen!

Back View:



Interior:



I love this bag! This one is done in our Cherry Linen Fabric combination. Amy Butler fabrics are wonderful! Mine is the one posted a couple of weeks ago in the Wallflower Slate combination.

Available in 4 different fabric combinations or create your own! Only $32.50

To order... yours today simply e-mail me at gritsembroidery [at] yahoo [dot] com

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Septic tank systems, gas lines and easments....

Well let me just start out by saying our lot is 2.25 acres. It is a triangle and has huge road frontage on a local 2 lane hwy. However on the left hand side of the lot runs two gas lines. One of those gas lines requires us to have a 50 foot easement on that property line. Then of course there is a easement on the road frontage of, I believe, 25 feet. Now before we purchased our land, January of '07 we had it perked for 4 bedrooms. In order to do this we had to stake a house out on it. Of course we didn't really know what we were going to build. At the time we had only lived here for 6 months and we were thinking we would build this house, but bigger. It needs a laundry room amongst other things. So we laid out a 70' x 70' square. Huge right? That's 4900 sqft. We think there is no way we will need that much room, especially since we planned to have a basement. So we think, " we're good, we'll never have any problems putting a house on here." Fast forward 3 plus years. We have designed a house that is 2352 sq ft on the main floor with a full, partially finished basement underneath. However the house is not a square or a rectangle. It has an angle in the middle of it that causes the house to turn. It also has a large front porch and a back porch. This makes our house 80 feet long and 54 feet deep (front the front of the front porch to the rear of the back porch). Now when they did the septic layout 3 years ago, due to easements and house size they discovered we only have about an acre of land for our septic system. Now that we have a house designed they tell us that is you have a basement that adds 30' around the perimeter of the house.

We have a beautiful view if we can place the house where we want it. The surveyor staked it based on the septic layout of 3 years ago. It is only 65' off the road. We were planning to put it more like 120' off the road. We're not so thrilled so they say we can rotate it to face the upside of our property. We loose our view and are now looking at a neighbors garage. After much time spent trying to stake out the new location of the house we decide to leave it where it is. It will be a little noisier on the end where the kids rooms are but we can add more sound insulation for that. The thing is why have a big front porch if you never want to sit on it??? Hopefully Monday the man who does the septic layout will come out again and lay it out on the property and we will know for sure that everything is going to fit. Who ever thought you would have this issue when you have 2.25 acres??? Not me.

Here are some pictures of the property as well as a picture of the house we have designed the exterior of our after.


This picture is taken from the (if your looking from the road) left side of the property about two/thirds of the way back.



The mow line on the right is our property line. Our grass, weeds, field whatever you would like to call it is not mowed. yet. The view I'm talking about...... beautiful huh?



This is looking across at our property. The land in the bottom of the picture belongs to our neighbor. Sorry I can't describe/define it better.

Here is the picture of the house that inspired ours. Our will look very similar with a few changes and we won't have a cedar exterior. We are planning to use Hardie Board or Certainteed Fiber cement siding.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spring Break

Well the kids received a two week spring break this year. It started on Good Friday and will end this Friday. Derek had the day off so he helped tremendously in getting the kids packed for our trip to Bama. We were able to leave around 11:15 that morning. It was a hard day. Not long into our journey I was informed that Brother Paul Collier, a great Christian man, very dear to our family, had passed away. I had known this was most likely going to happen and had decided to go anyway. The kids love him and his family so much and I couldn't bear to put them through the funeral. I finally told them the news after we arrived at my parents around 3:00 pm. They took it pretty well but we all have moments when we get choked up.

The trip was a safe and uneventful one. My mom was waiting when we got there. Of course the kids immediately dove into the toys. Later that evening, after dinner and my dad had arrived home, mom and I ran down to Toys R Us. I was able to get Operation, Twister and connect 4 for $16.00 after a $5 gift card. I know there is a rebate to submit but I haven't found it yet. Once I submit the rebate my total should be around $2 a game!

That evening we went to see the fireworks at my nephews ball park. The kids had a blast but Caleb's allergies were already starting to get the best of him. Let me just say that with a double dose of Zyrtec and Eye Drops he was still miserable and had to stay inside the whole trip. My poor baby! That was torture with the weather so beautiful and cousins to play with.

Saturday was a birthday party for Kelly's three kids. It was great to get to visit with her and her family. I hadn't seen her grandmother in years and it was wonderful to sit down and chat with her. The kids are adorable and I'm looking forward to spending more time with them. That evening both of my brothers and their families came over. We enjoyed pizza and each others company. Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful Lords Day. Mom, the kids and I visited at Mt. Olive church of Christ where I grew up and it was soooo good to visit with most of those loved ones who still worship there and are still living. The congregation has lost a few over the years. Monday was spent getting great deals. My sister-in-law went with my mom, the kids and I to Target, KMart (it was was doubles week there, they doubled up to 5 coupons per customer, per day, up to $2 in value!) CVS and Walgreens. We got some excellent deals including $ .01 pens at Walgreens!!!! Got to love that! Most of the rest of the week was spent visiting with friends and family and trying desperately to help Caleb feel better.

Thursday after lunch we left for home. We had a safe trip and arrived home around 3:15. Our Gospel Meeting began that evening with Brother Gardner Hall. We had a very good turn out each night with many visitors. He preached wonderful lessons on Evangelism and one on the work in New York/New Jersey where he lives. I dealt with migraines from Friday through Sunday and was not able to attend worship Sunday morning.

We had a showing Saturday afternoon but we aren't sure if they ever came or not. I'm going to have to ask my Realtor about that. Once migraine finally left me I was able to enjoy a lazy, Sunday afternoon with Derek while the kids slept and then services again that evening. Monday was also a lazy day with only a short trip to the doctors office to see about allergies and to check on Levi's ear drum. It has healed beautifully! As well as a trip into Target for a few items. Levi needed new shoes desperately and I was a able to find him two pairs of sandals.

In house news they have staked the property and will be staking out the house today!!!! I'm meeting my in-laws so that they can have Caleb and Lily for a few days and I will definitely be dropping by there on my way home. Well I thinkI've rambled on long enough. What's going on with you and your family??

~Stacie~

Monday, April 12, 2010

Trips, Gospel Meetings, coupons.....

I don't have time to right it all now but I will later today, kids co-operation required :)

Enjoy this beautiful day the Lord has made!

~The Boss Lady~

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Finally.

Finally, today, this afternoon, we will sign the construction loan for our home. It's been a long, frustrating journey so far and it is only going to be longer and more frustrating however rewarding it will be. I will hopefully be able to go out to the property and get a before shot up very soon. Our builders have already contacted their surveyor and he will be going out there soon. They are also talking with someone (I don't know his job title) about getting a driveway/entrance cut into the property.

We have two concerns right now. One is that our house plan, being a house with a basement, is not going to work with the septic layout. We had the land approved for septic 3 years ago when we purchased the land to make sure we could put a 4 bedroom house on the property. However we didn't know what kind of house we would be building at that point. We simply laid out a 70 x 70 square, much more house than we would ever build, and then had the septic installers make sure there was enough land for a 4 bedroom septic system. Now, going back and looking at the septic layout we aren't sure if it will work with our house plan. Lord willing it will work out, if not we are definitely going to have to make some major changes to our house plans.

Two is the appraisal value. Not only did the original appraisal that we had to have done in order to get the loan, come back very low. It seems that many final appraisals have been coming in low. Lower than even the construction cost of the home. Our builders informed us of this when they finished another home last week and it appraised signifigantly lower than it's construction costs. It's all because of the economy, unfortunately.

In other news, Levi seems to be feeling much better now that he has had antibiotics for a couple of days. The kids and I will be leaving tomorrow to head to Alabama for a few days. I don't know how long. Originally we were going to stay until next Thursday but that may change.

We're going this afternoon after we sign the loan and eat dinner to Publix. I've got my list laid out with all the sales and coupon matchups. Hopefully it will all work out as planned.

GRITS Embroidery News:

I've sold the first Jessica Bag! The one I completed first has been sold! Yipee! I'm loving my tie front bag (hopefully it will be getting a new name soon). I'm going to be making one of these!
It already has a name. I'm calling it the Jonna Bag!!! After my amazing friend Jonna! She happens to be the SIL of Jessica! LOL :) She has chosen the Cherry Linen fabric combination for her bag. I can't wait to get started on it but it's going to have to wait until after our gospel meeting. BTW that begins next Thursday night the 8th and runs through Sunday. We would love to see you if you are in the area.

Well I think that's all for now. Have a wonderful day!

~ The Boss Lady ~