Gratitude Post #95

1-I am grateful for my builder. If you ever build a house you should use Majestic Homes. They have been so great to work with. There have been many frustrations along the way, but they have always worked hard to make things better. The painter wanted to charge $150 per color change ON TOP of the thousands of dollars we are already paying to have 3-tone paint. It was too late to get bids from other painters at that point, so my builder is donating $200 from his commission and his realtor is donating $200 from her commission so I can have my girls' rooms painted (because they felt bad about the whole situation). I am having them leave the bathrooms white so I can paint them myself, and with the "3-tone paint credit" from those spaces I'm having my laundry room painted. I figure everything else can be gray until I get around to changing it. I am so happy! The thought of having my whole house gray was a little depressing. :)

2-I am grateful for the ability to shop around. Whether it is looking online for the best price on appliances, comparing prices at Home Depot and Lowe's or being able to get multiple bids from contractors in order to make a decision...I love having options. Remember when I said how grateful I was for Chantel at Hansen Lighting? Well, I lied. She assured me several times that I was "staying within my budget" when picking out lights. Apparently she thought that meant spending DOUBLE what I was budgeted for. I about died when I got her bid that was well over $3,000! Yeah, my budget is $1800...so not even close! I am still ordering most of my lighting from her, but we had to shop around at Lowe's and HD for fans and vanity lights because they were SO expensive. I am even taking floor model chandeliers at a huge discount and I'm still way over my budget, but at least I'm closer. However, I must say I would still work with her again because she has been super awesome to work with and wasn't the least bit snotty when I said I wanted to get some of my lights at Lowe's because they were cheaper there. AND, I could not find chandeliers I liked anywhere, even online. So, she did help me tremendously...so I shouldn't say I lied about being grateful for her. :) Also ,we are going to get some amazing appliances thanks to a friend with connections and I'm hoping to get some shutters for a good deal too. My yard sale mentality has made it hard to pay full price for anything!

3-I am grateful for McDonald's and Maverik. I probably owe 10 pounds to each of them...but for as often as I'm in my car these days, and for as often as I forget to eat breakfast and/or have days that must be fueled by caffeine, they make me happy. I have got to wean myself off of caffeine and gas station donuts soon, but for now they keep me going. :)