Hello Energy Efficient Home and Trees!

Really loving the energy efficiency of our home.  The gas bill was so low this month!  We ran the heat basically all month.  Our gas bill was about $27 and we are on budget bill so I actually pay $37.  Also, our electric bill was so much lower.  I do however wish I could say that about our water bill.  It is averaging about $70/mo.  We really aren't home enough to justify what much.  Our Sewer is actually more expensive than the water portion.  Our last home our water bill averaged $107 quarterly and for bi-monthly here it is $150 this month.  Crazy.

I am getting anxious to decorate for the holidays.  I think I may decorate early!  I have been doing some crafty burlap wreaths for the holidays.  I posted my first creation on my facebook and ended up having people wanting to order them!  So now I have yet another side business to add to my 10000 other things going on.

We had some random purchases this weekend.  On Friday a gentlemen came by our door selling peep holes.  If you have the door like ours it has a window at the top.  But really there is no way to see who is there unless you look through the window.  That was the quickest sale I have ever been apart of.  He told me about it.  I turned away to answer my sons question and he was already drilling! AHH  needless to say it is a convenience to have that nifty hole there to see who is knocking.  But now I see how he makes his money.  Lastly, our back yard came with no trees or plants.  Our neighbors have been planting which prompted us to look as well.  My husband was doing some yard work and a gentlemen rolled up to our house with a truck bed full of trees!  So now we have a Red Maple and Red Bud Tree in our back yard. The Red Bud they placed by our morning room so hopefully it will be pretty to see in the spring time.

I hope you all are enjoying your homes.  I really love reading all of your posts.  Sorry I don't leave as many messages.  A lot of times I check my blog while I am on break at work.  So responses don't happen as easily.  Hope you all have a wonderful week!

The Red Bud we planted by our morning room window.

The Red Maple near our property line

Energy Efficient

Last month we were able to go without using air a few days.  Also, we signed up for the energy savings program.  All in all we saved almost $100.  At least $50 of it was due to the energy savings program.  I am super excited for the coming winter months.  These bills are much better than what we had in our previous home which was a ranch.  Now we are cooling/heating 3 levels and still manage to have a smaller bill.

We don't really have any hiccups to report.  Other than our garage outlets don't work.  I also noticed a punctured spot in the garage door from the inside.  I am not sure if it is from pre-move or post.  It's more of a cosmetic thing but it does bother me.

Our development is moving quickly.  Our street is almost complete.  Which is really exciting.  My car is always covered in dirt.  One other thing I noticed.  Our home faces away from the sun so it is much harder to keep plants alive. HA! My poor mums are struggling.  I love the fall and all the decorations.

Hope you all are enjoying your new home.  If your building I hope your process is going smoothly.

Until next time....have a great week!

New Homes need yummy smells...

Just wanted to share with all of my new home owner friends.  I am a consultant with Gold Canyon Candles.  As my new neighbors have been moving in.  I have been giving them a mini candle or tealights.  We have a scent called "Warm Welcome."  Which fits the situation perfectly.  But I have also been giving Pumpkin Patch.  Which is the scent of the month for October.  You receive 10% off anything Pumpkin Patch.  Large, Medium, Small, Mini Candles, Tealights, and scent pods for your warmer.

Large Candle 200 hours of burn time 19.57

Medium Candle 140 hours of burn life 15.08

Small Candle 65 hours of burn life 11.48

Mini Candle 30 hrs of burn life 7.88

Tealights (these are large tealights) 20 hours of burn time each 8.08

Scent Pod (warmers) 20 hours of burn life 5.38

Burn life means the life of the scent and the wax.  It burns ALL of the wax and the scent lasts until the wax is burned out.  

Perfect gifts for new Neighbors :)

IF you need extra cash or just love candles shoot me a message and ask me how to join in this exciting adventure.  And earn a FREE all paid vacation.

sperkins0306@gmail.com

Click Here  to visit my webpage and browse our scents and specials

Virtual Catalog  click here to view the Fall Catalog

Coyotes and yard...

Good Morning All-

The last couple of nights I have been awoken by howling and barking/yapping.  It does not sound like a house pet either.  At one point I heard a horrible screech.  I am thinking we have coyotes since we back up to a field.  Last night was the worst.  Our "Doodle" had her head in the window growling.  I really hope once they they build up behind us.  It pushes them back.  We have a small shitzhu as well.  I worry for her being outside at night if those are roaming around.

As for the yard fiasco.  I am not sure if I touched base on it too much.  I advise everyone to make sure your land is correctly graded and fully utilized.  After we moved in we noticed that our yard seem smaller than what we were thinking.  We had some taller grass and water setting areas behind our house.  My husband went back and walked through that tall area and seen our property line markers.  Which were not included in the grading and seeded areas.  There was about 5 extra feet missing.  Being that we have two pets and want to install an invisible fence. We would like to utilize this space.  I pointed this out at our 30 day.  And they said when the homes under construction next to us get graded they would do ours.  After about 30 more days the homes were finally at that stage.  Well guess what............they graded ours but left it a dirt pile?!?! Really?  I even asked if that would be seeded since it should have been from the beginning.  I emailed the PM this weekend about it.  The neighbors already have grass peeking through.  He says they will take care of it this week.  I sure hope so because my dogs and kids are really wanting their fence and play set.  I don't want to install something that could be ripped up.

After that is finished we are golden until our 10 month!  Here is to hoping for no more hiccups =)

More Pictures...

Here are a few photos in panorama view from my iphone.  So some of the rooms make look squeezed together :)

First things though....we have had some crazy spiders around us!  I think due to the dirt and construction.  I found one in my basement last night!  I am thinking because the last week I have had the windows open enjoying the cool weather.  They may have snuck in.  We will be spraying today and the windows will be closed. ICK

Basement-- as you can see I still have a lot to do :)  Our TV is mounted on the wall though.  It is not in view.  Behind me, in the unfinished portion, is the laundry room.

This is the front room when you come in the main entry.  We made this a study/sitting area.  In the main floor plan they have it as a dining room.

This view is standing in the morning room/dining into the kitchen.  The accent wall is called "Peppery"  I can't take credit for my color combos.  I took them from a sherwin williams magazine.

Another from the morning room. 

This is standing in our main living area towards the kitchen.

Our main floor living room

Our main level living.  Our dogs even have their own sitting space ;)

This is looking at the stairwell to the front door.  The stairwell/ front room wall is also a grey accent wall.

Our Master Bedroom Still working on it!

Another view of the master

The hallway upstairs--I am standing in my daughters bedroom to take this picture.  So in total we have 4 bedrooms upstairs.  You can see my goldendoodle too :)

So there it is! Still working and have many things to complete and decorate.  I haven't even started on our guest bedroom. All I know is I am in big trouble when the new HOMEGOODS opens :)

SOD adjustment

I completly forgot to add!  For those of you watering the heck out of your yard.  We just got our first water bill.  We are billed every two months.  Our bill was $225 for water and sewer.  Which is HIGH to me.  I was dreading this bill.  Inquire with your water department about a SOD adjustment.  Our water company said that our county will give adjustments for new built homes who need to water their grounds for obvious new landscaping.  We are waiting for them to get back to us on the adjustment amount.  I just wanted to share :)

Life in the fast lane....

Wow.....I have been really wanting to be  blogging away lately.  Yet, I have been busy with starting a new job and the kids starting school.  Then to throw in our new home and organizing.  What a crazy hectic life.  Yet, I wouldn't change it for the world.

We finally had our 30 day inspection.  After two visits from the gentlemen doing the repairs everything is done until our 10 month.  Our list consisted of these items:

Master bathroom toilet made a horrible sound everytime it flushed (this took two times to fix)
Trim piece by the sliding glass door needed replaced.  It looked like they used beavers to cut it to size.
Our front door flooring trim piece was scratched up horribly.  So they replaced this.
The hall bath upstairs had not been sanded behind the toilet when they installed everything.  It was a mess.
Our master closet had a light moved.  So when they patched the hole it was not painted.
Stain was spilled in our hallway upstairs.  After two attempts it came out! Whew.  We were so worried we would have to replace it.
Settlement on the side of our home--We are still waiting for them to level out our 5 remaining feet of property/land.  They managed to forget!  Our dogs would not be happy if we shorted their invisible fencing :)

Really these were all minor things.  My poor neighbors dishwasher had been down for almost a month!!! Every time they tried to fix it they had the wrong part, wrong color of machine, or it didn't arrive.  I can breathe easily and say I could survive with the other things.  But not without my dishwasher HA!

Our street is really booming.  We picked a great lot and I am so happy.  Our house is on the end of our "section."  So beside us we have the much larger homes!  Which are so pretty, but the way we face our views are phenomenal and no one is in front or behind.  And no one will be in front or behind of us.  This is because it is breaking into the other development section.  Another cool thing we found out.  Our neighbors have quintuplets who are all the same age as my daughter! Plus they are all girls.  They also have two boys for my son.  Our yards back up to each other so it will be a backyard block party all the time.

I know I had mentioned I would post pictures.  I only have two for today!  One is of the new rug I got at Kohls for our dining room and the other of the picture wall I did in our basement.  I literally have only hung photos in our basement, bought two couches and mounted our tv.  I need to do so much more!  One step at a time....

Enjoy and hope you all have a fabulous week.  Also, fall season is here.  Check out my candle website to order some yummy scents for your homes.  I have been warming scents with my windows open.  I love hearing people walk by our home and say, "MMMMM something smells so good."  Plus their inexpensive.

www.savannaperkins.mygc.com