Mortgage Companies can be the death of a home buyer!

The title of this post is seriously how I feel. After dealing with all of our summer drama about our house this is what I thought about mortgage companies. I feel as though mortgage companies have ONE job.....give people who are qualified and deserving a loan to purchase a home.

Chad and I had a very interesting experience when buying our first home. We decided on Wyndham Capital Mortgage who is based in Charlotte, NC. Chad stumbled across them while he was doing his research back in May. We were connect with a man named Dennis Mccoy. Chad absolutely loved him, and I believe that the feeling was pretty mutual for Dennis also. Chad being an accountant knows numbers and can talk that language that not many of us can follow much less have an intelligent hour and half long conversation about. Chad and I were so thrilled about this company. They gave us everything we needed.

After we found a house, everything continued to go really smoothly until the night of July 3rd. We were told by our real estate agent (Szana Marr- who is AMAZING) that due to an unpermitted bathroom we would not be able to purchase the home. These were the rules of our mortgage company. I was DEVASTATED to say the least. I cried the whole weekend. Of course, we could do nothing about anything that we needed to do because it was a holiday weekend. When Chad and I got back into Atlanta that Monday we quickly set out to call Dennis. Without boring you with all the details of the process, Dennis went out of his way to find a way to get us our loan and it HAPPENED (obviously because you all know we got our house...keep reading though...this post has a reason.)

Dennis and our real estate agent Szana made our dream come true by finding us the perfect house! If you are buying a home in the Atlanta area...I SERIOUSLY recommend both of these people! Now that we are settled in...I had not given much thought to Dennis until last night. About 7:00 pm my doorbell rang. I went to the door to get it and found a package. Chad and I quickly opened up the package to find that Dennis had sent us a tin FULL of some of the most amazing cookies! They are from the Carolina Cookie Company. Y'all....these cookies are AMAZING! There were an assortment of oatmeal raisin (my fav.), Chocolate Chip (my fav.), and Sugar (my fav.)!!!!! You guys should seriously check this place out!

http://www.carolinacookie.com

They would seriously make the best little gifts EVER! You can thank me by posting in the comment box and letting me know what you think about them once you have had them. You will not regret it.

Now all I need is a glass of milk and some trash TV! ;) Have a great Friday!

Relishing the last days.....

Well folks......

The lazy days of summer are coming to a close for me. However, this summer has been anything but lazy for me. As someone put it yesterday....I need a vacation from my summer break.

It has been one of my most enjoyable/active summers except for the summer that I met my husband. I hold that one a little closer to my heart than most summers I have experienced in my lifetime. With all the exciting things that have happened this summer, I am excited to have a nice relaxing night at Chastain Park tonight watching Idina Menzel sing her tremendous lungs out (for those who do not know Idina Menzel: rose to fame by performing on Broadway, sings "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen, and was the one who got her name butchered by John Travolta at an awards ceremony.)

I actually have never been to Chastain Park to see a concert, so I am excited to see what all the fuss is about. We are going with Chad's parents and Chad's sister/her husband. Chad's parents have gotten us a table to sit at while we watch the performance. You are allowed to bring a picnic with you to the concert. I have made a little mozzarella, tomato, pesto, and pasta salad. It looks scrumptious and colorful enough to be enjoyed on a summer night at the park!

I used the recipe below to make my pesto. I tweaked it a little bit for my own taste profile (a little more Parmesan and pine nuts.) I am a little prideful about this pesto because I have been working hard to grow my basil plant that was OUT OF CONTROL! ( No picture evidence unfortunately) All of my basil came straight from my own basil plant which makes the pesto taste even better obviously!

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/how-to-make-pesto/

I used this recipe for the pasta salad but used tri- color Rotini pasta instead!

https://lexbake.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/mozzarella-and-tomato-penne-pasta-salad/

I will have to get back to you about all of my adventures tonight with some pictures. I have come to find that everyone that reads my blog is all about the pictures. Maybe I need to invest in a good camera Chad! ;)


Hope everyone has a fantastic Friday summer night!

Night 1/ Day 1 of the new house!

Hello All-

All of these new adventures has gotten me so excited to blog again. I have been busy/absent for so long from the blog world. I hope to gradually change that. Adult life is just so much more busy than college was. I have NO idea why that would be the case! ;)

My amazing parents, brother, and his girlfriend came to help us move into our brand new home this past week (although I have no picture evidence that they were actually here). They helped us move our big items, build an amazing fence and two separate gates, build up our amazing deck, and did odd and end things around the house. They did all of those things with a big smile on their faces. I am so grateful for their amazing help and to have such an amazing family who did not once complain about anything. I love them SO much and so thankful for everything that they did!

Night 1 all alone with no guests in the house was a huge success. Chad made a delicious steak dinner on our brand new grill (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!). We paired it with grilled corn, pear gorgonzola salad, and of course, parmesan bread!

We paired it with a delicious wine that we receive from Club W. Chad has recently signed us up for this awesome website that gives you a flavor profile and recommends red/white wine monthly based on your palate. (another post maybe about Club W if you are interested?) Anyway...one of the wines we bought was called Grenache. It was absolutely delicious! Our entire meal was excellent!

Day 1 of being home alone with the Sophie has been full of cleaning/organizing for me and playing for Sophie. She is loving her new backyard!

This girl NEVER wants to come inside now. She just comes to the door to make sure you are still watching her!

        Check back for more adventures from the new house soon!!

New House!

Hello everyone!! Things have been super busy around the lives of the Cone Family! Chad and I have bought out 1st home. We are so excited and could not be more thankful for this opportunity. We are absolutely thrilled to have moved only about 4 miles away from where we have called home for the past two years. We are nestled in the cutest little neighborhood. Sophie is enjoying herself in the massive backyard that she now gets to chase birds and squirrels. Check back for videos of those great adventures with Sophie!

More pictures to come once I get my new house organized! Check back soon for our adventures!

Degree Spray Deodorant!!!??? WHAT??

Influenster sent me this amazing product for free to test out on their behalf. When this product arrived on my door step I had never seen it before. I decided that I would wait until in the morning to try it out. I very quickly stumbled out of the bed the next morning with only 20 minutes to get ready and be out the door. I noticed the Degree Spray Deodorant on the counter where I had left it the previous night. I twisted the top to make it spray and began to apply it to my underarms. Boy was I awake then..... The spray was EXTREMELY cold but amazing! It went on totally clear as a good respectable deodorant should. It was very easy and quick to apply. A word of warning though...do not spray too too much. It creates this cloud of deodorant around you. It can be uncomfortable to breath it in. The deodorant itself has a great sent to it. I definitely recommend this product. I really enjoyed it and will continue to buy it over a regular stick. I will say I do not think it will last as long as a stick might, but it is worth it! "I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

Another Gift from Influenster!!

Another free grift from Influenster! I was so excited about this box!! The softlip cube is amazing! I would say this is a vital accessory in every girls purse! The good is that amazing Elizabeth Arden face cream! The bad are those times of the months, but with the new Playtex sports tampons.....you are prepared and ready to continue to move on with your day!! 

Thank you influenster for the free Vita Vox Box!!

MIAMI....KEY WESY....COZMEL

Chad and I are so excited for our trip tomorrow! We are flying out very early tomorrow morning to Miami. We are going to hang around for a little bit in Miami then board the boat! Our first day is in Key West. We have planned to do a sunrise 28 mile jetski ride! We are so excited and have a water camera to take pictures! We plan to eat and just walk around and explore! We then go to Cozmel to spend the day. We do not have anything planned. Skorkling is supposed to be amazing in Cozmel, so we plan to do that! Anything else is up for grabs! Then we have a day at sea and then home! We are very excited! Can't wait to share pictures!