As most of you know my husband Chris and I were fortunate to be gifted a mortgage free home through Operation Homefront and Chase Bank this past August. This is a wonderful program for ALL Veterans. Operation Homefront has teamed up with Chase and now Wells Fargo to donate homes to those selected. All that you have to do is register with them and apply for current homes they are offering. You tell them about your current situation and how the home will benefit you, and from there you go through a selection process. The committee will then determine the family that they feel will most benefit from the home. Once you are selected it will take about two years before the home is transferred into your name, and during those two years it is treated as rental of sorts. The goal is to make sure the family is able to sustain the costs of owning a home. Though there is no mortgage payment the family is still required to pay property taxes for the home. Anyway, that is a general idea of how the program works, for more information click on the link below.
So, we were told once we were selected for the home that it could take anywhere from 3 to 4 months before it was ready for move-in. During that time the orginization is getting bids from contractors for renovations for the home. Well, we had gone out to the property on several occassions and were getting pretty discouraged, not because we are ungrateful but because we are so excited to be able to be given this opportunity and with it we are looking forward to be able to start our family a lot sooner, because we could see that nothing had been started on the home. We finally contacted Paula, the wonderful committee member who chose us, and she got back to us stating that if all stays on schedule they will be done with the ronvations by November 28th, then they would add 4 more weeks for the closing of the house and as of right now the key ceremony is set for around the 2nd week in January!! Also, she asked us for what furniture we needed for the home! We were so shocked we had no idea that on top of getting a mortgage free home it was going to come furnished and with all new appliances!
So this past weekend we took another trip out to the property to see what had been started and to our merry surprise quite a bit had been done already. The entire back of the house has been repainted, all new double paned windows have been put in on the back side of the house, a brand new back door, since it is a two story home it had two a/c units but one had been stolen so we have a brand new unit, the walls on the inside are starting to be painted, and the kitchen is now missing its sink; which Chris is hoping that means they are going to do all new countertops, but I will just be happy if it means a new sink :) . Also, right before leaving I noticed the stairs in the front have had their carpet taken out, so we get brand new carpet, I am hoping for wood floors but I wont hold my breath lol.
After seeing the state of the home our excitment has been renewed, and it is starting to feel real! 2013 is bound to be a fantastic year!
www.operationhomefront.net/homesonthehomefront
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
My Senterpiece Experience
So, last week I went to my first floral consultation for my wedding and I was a complete and nervous wreck prior to the meeting. I couldn't tell you why, but my nerves were out of control. The funny part being how well prepared I already was for the meeting. I have my colors, and I took the time to print out all of the flowers I was interested in as well as how I wanted to see my bouquet, the Bridesmaid bouquets, the boutinerres and even the centerpieces.
I thought for sure the nerves would settle upon arriving at the florist, The Senterpiece, but they did not, and during my consultation I was asked about things I hadn't even thought of! I guess I knew in the back of my mind that I was not as well prepared as I had originally assumed. Nonetheless they helped me with ideas and showed me tons of pictures of what they could do for me, and I was pleseantly surprised. I was also very pleased with the pricing they were able to generate for me, very affordable in my opinion.
I am supre excited to see the final products and to continue working with the fine folks at The Senterpiece, I knew upon reading the hundreds of reviews they were going to be super easy to work with.
To Be Continued....
www.senterpieceflowers.com
I thought for sure the nerves would settle upon arriving at the florist, The Senterpiece, but they did not, and during my consultation I was asked about things I hadn't even thought of! I guess I knew in the back of my mind that I was not as well prepared as I had originally assumed. Nonetheless they helped me with ideas and showed me tons of pictures of what they could do for me, and I was pleseantly surprised. I was also very pleased with the pricing they were able to generate for me, very affordable in my opinion.
I am supre excited to see the final products and to continue working with the fine folks at The Senterpiece, I knew upon reading the hundreds of reviews they were going to be super easy to work with.
To Be Continued....
www.senterpieceflowers.com
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