The following post was sponsored by GM BuyPower Card from Capital One®.  All opinions are my own and not directed by Capital One. To learn more about the GM BuyPower Card, click here.

We did it. We moved. After having to call in a THIRD moving truck because apparently we have a lot of stuff, we got it done… or I should say, the movers got it done.

While I still may be among boxes and curbing kid meltdowns about how this all seems scary, we’re here!  And in classic House of Rose fashion, we certainly don’t have any shy feelings about making our presence known.

*cue Sloane

We were just out exploring the subdivision we’re renting in when we stumbled upon a Chicago Cubs flag… which wouldn’t have been a big deal except Sloane is a die hard Cards fan.

The second he spotted the flag he started screaming (at the top of his ever loving lungs) —

“BOOOOOO CUBS! BOOOOO CUBS!”

repeat repeat repeat.

Hi Tennessee, the obnoxious Roses have arrived.

I begged him to “SHHHH!” but in true Sloane fashion he just got louder.
Moving across town is no easy feat, but moving states with 4 kids in tow? Holy wow.

Being in our rental home has been hard because we are living out of boxes until our new home is done being built. But I will say that building our dream home has me excited enough to tough it out another few weeks! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, right?!?!

Since we are smack dib in the middle of the building process I thought it would be helpful to share a few tips I have learned along the way, some that will save your sanity and some that will save your marriage. Haha! #buildingisstressful

 

Realize that sometimes things don’t work on your expected timeline… and that’s ok.

When we said “Ok, let’s do this!” I had envisioned moving into our new dream home and everyone starting school settled, but that’s not exactly how it’s going down.

The reality is, school has started (many months ago) and our home is still getting final touches of paint and trim.

Building a home takes time (more time than we had) which is why we landed in a rental home.  While renting for a few months may not really seem ideal, it is certainly the sacrifice we have to make while waiting for our dream home to be built and it has allowed us time to really plan, save and prepare for moving.

Speaking of building a dream home… keep your expectations in check about the time it takes to build a home. However long you think it will take? Add about 8 weeks. Haha!

Still hoping I’m not too far off track so we can hang this sweet sign in our new home. I was hoping it would be in 2017, hence my sign, but it’s looking more like it could be the first of 2018.

Also, don’t forget, you and your spouse will NOT have the same opinion on every detail of your new dream home. That is ok. Pick your battles, compromise and remember that y’all are ON THE SAME TEAM.

Get smart with how you collect rewards for the money you’re going to spend building your dream home.

Two of the biggest investments you make in your life… 1. Buying a home and 2. Buying a vehicle…

Between moving and building a dream home, there are a ton of expenses, so it’s always a good idea to find the right reward card when you’re going through this process. If buying or leasing a car is in your near future, the GM BuyPower Card from Capital One could be a great choice because it let’s you accumulate Earnings toward a new GM vehicle. So at the end of what seems like a never-ending journey, you can be saving toward a new car down the road to boot!

Here’s the deal: when you’re approved for the GM BuyPower Card, you accrue 5% Earnings on your first $5,000 in purchases every year, then 2% unlimited Earnings on purchases after that. And we know all too well how easy it is to get to that first $5,000  when building a house!

Once you’re ready to redeem your Earnings from all those DIY home improvement supplies, new appliances and more, you can apply your Earnings as dollar-for-dollar savings when you buy or lease a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle. Even better? GM Earnings can be used on top of most current GM offers and incentives.

Mommy likey.

I’m all about earning rewards for things I am purchasing anyway.

 

Break it down to the essentials when working with your builder.

Building a home is not something you do every year or even multiple times in your life, so it’s certainly been a learning process for us and yet a super fun one to get to pick and choose all the details of our home.

You all (or should I say y’all now that we’re in Nashville? Too soon?) know I love my Pinterest boards and have got an idea or two that may be inspired by my wanna-be BFF Joanna Gaines.

When thinking about the building process we had to get down to the essentials of what our family really needs… as in number of bedrooms, bathrooms, home office, etc. Once some of those essentials were ironed out then we could move on to some of the details that I’d say are certainly more exciting like what shade of gray will we use… because there are so many options (and you know I am obsessed with grey paint).

Ask to see the samples and model homes again and again.

From tile to paint to countertops… we had to make a whole lot of decisions pretty quickly for what our dream home would look like.  And hear me out, I know that it is a total first world problem of “what countertops do I want?” but when you’re in the moment, it’s stressful.

One of the things that helped me the most was seeing everything actually in a home or a real sample for my little feet to walk across. Ya get me? Because how anything looks on last night’s episode of Fixer Upper and then in my own home is totally different.

Example A: Here are the countertops we decided on… but you know how I was able to pick them? I saw them in real life and then knew… that’s them. Thank you very much model home for being exactly what I needed to see.

Example B: Show me a few samples of tile and I’m lost.  I need to see the full picture of what they’re going to look like side by side and across an entire room.

When my feet hit this floor I was like YESSSSS. I want this tile!

To hear all our tips on building a dream home, don’t forget to check out our video on How to Save Money Building Your Dream Home… thanks to my hubby for making an appearance!