There is so much to know about mortgages.  Just the word itself can strike fear in people’s hearts simply because mortgages can be so confusing with all the different types of mortgages and all the options that are available.  Fortunately there are sources of information to help you make the best decision for your situation.  One such source is Money Magic.  Money Magic is a UK firm specializing in all types of loans and in providing their clients with not only the lowest loan rates but also the best mortgage advice. Best of all, the mortgage advice, quotes and information are free.  You can simply surf their website, or you can follow three steps to get a free quote:  (1) fill out an online form, (2) receive a phone call during which you will talk to one of their advisors, and (3) then receive a free quote based on your specific circumstances.

I’ve never really understood what title insurance is.  Well sure, it’s insurance for a home’s title, but what does that mean?  Insurance against what? For what?  If you check the Yellow Pages, you’ll find that there are lots of title insurance companies, but what services do a  title insurance company provide for us?

Each time a land title transaction takes place, It is recorded with the local government.  Typically that is with the county government.  The transaction is then indexed by the names of the grantor (transferor) and the grantee( transferee).  In order to determine who owns the title to the property, those indexes must be examined.  Title insurance is simply protection against loss that arises from any problem that might arise connected to the property’s title.

For example, your home and/or the land it stands on might have gone through some ownership changes.  Somewhere along that chain of ownership, there may be a weak link that could potentially cause trouble.  There could be a problem with authenticating signatures or there might be unpaid taxes.  Title insurance covers you for any claims and legal fees that might arise from those issues.

Title insurance is necessary if you need a mortgage.  All mortgage lenders require mortgage insurance equal to the amount of the loan.  The insurance continues until the loan is paid.  The title insurance is paid upfront when you take out your mortgage.  While title insurance protects the lender up to the amount of the mortgage, it doesn’t protect your equity.  For that, you would purchase an owners’ title policy for the full value of your home.

I wanted to show a progression of our new home. I plan on making a progressive collage to frame to display in our home. This was one of the most fun times of my life – and now that we’ve moved in and are mostly settled, it is even better. So here is my online progressive collage:

Now that the house is done, we’re turning our attention to the barn and getting RT’s workbench completed.  We found a wonderful website, Formaspace, where you can design your own workbench.   I had a great time playing around with the design.  It has a drawing of the basic bench, and as you click the features (utility drawer, cabinets, support arms, overhead lights, upper shelves, etc.) you want on your workbench, that feature is added to the drawing.  You can see the workbench being formed right on the page.   How cool is that? 

 The past few mornings, RT has walked to the bottom of the hill behind our house where the West Harpeth River winds through a corner of our property.  There he has discovered a group of river otters.   He took the above picture this morning.  When we were in Alaska last year, we both enjoyed SO much watching the otters playing in the ocean.  So we’re thrilled that we have otters practically in our back yard here in Tennessee.  Saturday morning I’m going to the river with RT to see them for myself.

RT and I decided to have his office Christmas party at our house this coming Sunday evening.  There are two reasons for our decision.  Foremost is that we enjoy entertaining.  In the past week we’ve had company over for meals on four different occasions.  We’re looking forward to having friends over for a celebration.  The second reason is that having a big get together will force us to go ahead and finish our unpacking and decorating.  Right now we still don’t have any pictures on the walls.  All our pictures are leaning against the walls in both the dining room and the library.  It probably won’t take more than an hour altogether to put them up.  We just have to do it.  We also have to get lamps put up throughout the house.  There is only one lamp in the entire house right now, and that’s the small lamp on the bedside table next to my side of the bed. 

So we are shopping for lamps.  We need lamps and lamp shades for all the bedrooms, table lamps for the great room, floor lamps for the living room, and desk lamps for the library.  In my online search for lamps, I came across Farreys.com which has an enormous selection of lamps.  They have such a wide selection of lamps that my dilemma is in narrowing down the field and deciding which of the thousands available I want to get for our house.  They have just about any style, size or design you would want.   The thing I liked best about their website is that they have a search tool in the left sidebar.

We have a beautiful Tiffany style light fixture in our breakfast room.  So I used the search tool to look for other Tiffany style lighting.  I looked for a floor lamp to put in the great room to bridge the theme from the kitchen area to the great room.  The lamp at the top left is what I found.  Pretty, isn’t it?  Since the kitchen and the great room flow into each other, I think the lamp will provide the needed continuity between the two rooms.

We passed a major milestone (to me!) on Wednesday.  We (mostly RT) finished the shelving in the pantry.  Now all the boxes and cans are off the kitchen counters.  The kitchen looks much better, and the pantry is WONDERFUL!  It’s the pantry of my dreams.  Not that I’ve ever dreamed of a pantry, but you know what I mean.  It’s large and walk-in.  Right now it is terrifically organized, and I intend to keep it that way.  Now we just have the little pantry, the coat closet, the linen closet, the office closet and four other closets that still need shelves.  However, the important closets (master bedroom and pantry) are done!  YEA!

I was reading an article in today’s newspaper about how important lighting is – especially in small rooms. The article stressed that any part of a room that is in shadows doesn’t register to the eye.  So even a large room can look small if it isn’t lighted well.   Since RT and I are still unpacking things and still have several rooms to decorate, we’ve been looking at different  lights – like the et2 pendant light and, since RT is a pilot and loves airplanes,  a really cool bi-plane pendant light.  I think that would look great next to the recliner in the great room.

One of the rooms in our new house that turned out the prettiest is our powder room.  Here is a cabinet that’s almost exactly like the one in the powder room.  Isn’t it beautiful?  I wanted something that would work like a modern vanity but would have an antique look to it, and this cabinet fit the bill perfectly.

Now that I have the powder room looking wonderful, I need to turn my attention to the two upstairs bathrooms.  That’s where Homeliving comes in.  Homeliving is an online home accessory marketplace with a large selection of Home decor furniture – everything from curio cabinets, mirrors, accent furniture, grandfather clocks, and so much more.  I had a blast just looking through the website at all the beautiful furniture and accessories that are available. And their low prices are guaranteed.

I was especially interested in the variety of bathroom vanity cabinets.  They not only have classic and antique looking cabinets, but they have some modern and eclectic styles, too.  Their selection isn’t limited to just luxury bathroom furniture vanities.  They also have the wall decor, mirrors and other accents to give the bathroom the “wow” factor.

Looking at all the Home Decor Furniture at the Homeliving website was fun.  The only bad thing is that now I have to decide which items to order from all the ones that I love.

The land on which RT and I built our new house is very rocky.  VERY rocky.  One of the biggest jobs in grading the land so we could start building the house was getting all the rocks out of the way.  Ron eventually build me a beautiful flower bed with some of the rocks – moving them with a skid-steer.  Everyone knows that rocks are heavy, but I never realized just HOW heavy until we started working with some of the rocks we uncovered on this land.  While they’re undeniably heavy, they are also undeniably beautiful.

One of the next things we want to do to make the place look classy is to work on the entrance to the driveway.  We’d like to have the address engraved on a rock next to the entrance.   However, the idea of trying to work with a rock that weighs 1000+ pounds is daunting, to say the least.  Fortunately, we don’t have to.

 Artificial Rocks Factory has artificial rocks – with the molds taken from real rocks – available for address plaques or welcome signs.  In addition to being attractive and adding to the beauty of a home, address plaques also are helpful for friends and family to find your home, and they’re invaluable for emergency vehicles, too.  Of course you could put your address on a mailbox or over the door, but having it on a rock really gives your home or business a unique and classy look.  The rocks from Artificial Rocks Factory look like natural rocks because they’re made from construction grade cast stone – not from fiberglass or polyurethane.  They offer twenty different models of boulders that are approximately one-inch thick, hollow in the middle and open at the bottom.  The four models with the best looking and most appropriate front are used for address and welcome plaques. Customers can pick any of these four models with a custom rustproof cast aluminum ivy oval address plaque or address sign for up to five 3″ characters (numbers or capitalized letters) or up to seven 2″ characters (numbers or capitalized letters) in gold on a black background. The boulders are available in three natural looking colors, and they’re shipped to your doorsteps via FedEx Ground.

Now, what a unique and wonderful Christmas present these would make!  However, if you want to get them for Christmas gifts, you’d better click over to the website soon and check them out because the last day to order them for Christmas delivery is November 29th.  A rock with a “welcome” plaque will be delivered more quickly than the customized ones.