Sunset from the deck...

Last night we had an amazing sunset. We have something in Alaska called "Alpenglow", which is where the sunset casts a pink glow on the surrounding mountains. Last night there was GREAT Alpenglow and we went outside on the 2nd floor deck and watched it for a few minutes. Our camera doesn't do a very good job of picking up the pink, so the picture doesn't do it justice, but at least you will get the idea.

Spring Snowstorm - Anchorage, Alaska

Yesterday we had a HUGE snow storm! It had been in the mid 50's and sunny all week and it looked like Spring was here to stay. Guess not!! Enjoy this video I took this morning!

This weekend was also supposed to be the "Heart Run" it is the largest marathon in Anchorage with over 8,000 participants. As you can imagine, it was cancelled.

The world is smaller then we think...

Howdy -

So this is a break from the regular house updates to blog about something that amazes me.

We have been having AMAZING weather the past week or so, however, the past few days there has been a haze in the air. Apparently so many people called the local weather service station that our local newspaper ran an article on where the haze is coming from.

The fact that we have a haze isn't amazing, it is what is causing the haze that blows my mind. It is actually coming from 2 sources. First, a forest fire in Russia...Second, a sandstorm in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia!

The Russian fire isn't that surprising, Alaska is very close to Russia, so I guess that I can see that. But a sandstorm in a Mongolian desert affecting the weather here in Anchorage, Alaska?? That is pretty crazy.

I'm not sure why, but this news story just amazes me. Here is the link...http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/384424.html

House Progress...

Hello Everyone -

Here is a quick update on the house. We now have the living room, master bedroom and office done!! The kitchen is coming along nicely and we still have the guest bathroom and the guest bedroom to finish.

Enjoy the pictures!



(The kitchen is all primed and ready for paint, notice the new oven hood)



(the office has been turned into a room to prime and paint the kitchen cabinet doors)



These are the colors in the master bedroom. There are 3 walls of the blue and 1 accent wall of the brown)




(living room with the new color and blinds back up)




(another of the living room)

(the office finished, notice the new light fixture)

It's Official...

Hello!!

Well, we are officially homeowners! We got the keys yesterday and have already started working! The living room is about 1/2 painted, the office is about 1/2 painted, all of the kitchen cabinets are off and ready for painting, the new fridge and dishwasher get delivered today and we have already had our first homeowners headache, a clogged sink that we can't get unclogged. Oh well. I don't know if it seems real to us or not yet, all day yesterday we had to keep reminding ourselves that it was officially ours. We took a lot of before pics, so when the work gets completed we will post the before and after so you can see the difference!! We plan on spending the next week finishing the painting and the other work we want to do and then moving next weekend (the 26th & 27th).

SO, now that we have much more space you are all officially invited to come stay with us!!

Tomorrow is the day...

We got the call this morning that we are closing at 3pm tomorrow!!!

We are VERY excited!!!

(we had to change this post because we were originally told we could close today at 3pm, but we just found out it got pushed back till tomorrow)

Still waiting..

Hello Everyone -

We still have not closed on our new house. The new closing date is next Tuesday, April 15th. We were supposed to close today but we got a call from our mortgage person and he told us that our new interest rate is lower then we had initially received, which is a GREAT thing! So they are changing all documents to reflect the new rate and we should be ready on Tuesday. The interest dropped 1/4 of a point, which doesn't sound like a lot, but its a pretty big deal when you're looking at a long term investment. The 1/4 point decrease adds up to almost $10,000 less in interest paid over the course of our loan. So we certainly don't mind waiting for this.

Even if closing happened next Tuesday it will still only have taken us 26 days from the date our offer was received until closing, which is GREAT, considering most closings take 30-60 days.

We still feel VERY good about this move, there have been a couple of other units in the same development that have come on the market in the past month that are smaller than our unit and are listed at MORE then what we paid for ours!! The Alaska economy is still very strong and we are not feeling the real estate and/or economic strain that is happening in most places, so we feel confident that this is a very good move!!

We will update more when we close!

Tis The Season...

For Home Buying and Baseball!!!

Here are a couple of quick updates:

Yesterday I flew to Seattle for Opening Day of the Seattle Mariners 2008 season!! I had a free airline ticket that was set to expire so I decided to use it to watch some baseball!! It was a great experience, lots of exciting pre-game ceremonies and entertainment and the Mariners won 5 - 2!! Which made the experience that much sweeter!!

Also, we got word yesterday that we could potentially close on our new home THIS Friday!! Or next Monday or Tuesday at the latest!! We are going to walk through the place again tonight to look over everything again. We are VERY excited and can not wait to close so that we can begin with the painting and the changes that we have planned!!