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| Hiking near the ski basin |
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| Town Square |
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| Building in Madrid, NM |
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
"Family" time
I was so grateful for the ability to scoot off to Santa Fe, NM for a long weekend, as after about 8 weeks playing the trying-to-make-new-friends game, I needed some be-myself-with-people-who-know-and-love-me time. How wonderful to get quality time with Billy and Lisa, and bonus that I got to explore a new city! The result? A happier Lauren after a weekend full of laughter and love, and new city that I HAVE to to B back to :) Santa Fe is absolutely wonderful! Thanks for the hospitality, Billy!
"Making the Home"
I have no problem with anyone who wants to be a housewife. But I think it's safe to say it's not a title I ever thought I'd have. Stay at home mom? Maybe. But housewife? No. And yet, here I am, in the desert, with a brand new job title. It even says so on our home purchase paperwork (shudder). But with everything going on with the house, for now, I'm doing my best to embrace it and enjoy this time. Who knows when I'll have this much time to myself with so few responsibilities again (thank you to an older and wiser friend who encouraged this attitude!)? Brad is super supportive, too, and we now joke when he offers to help with dinner or something else domestic, that he should just chill out and let me do my job - let me make the home :)
Crazy enough, some of the things that I never really enjoyed doing (ie: cooking), I am actually finding a lot of joy in. And since I've got this medium, I'll use it to lay out all things renovation, cooking, and design. Let the fun begin!
Crazy enough, some of the things that I never really enjoyed doing (ie: cooking), I am actually finding a lot of joy in. And since I've got this medium, I'll use it to lay out all things renovation, cooking, and design. Let the fun begin!
New House Pics
Catch up
As you can probably imagine, life got a little crazy once the house situation was finalized.
Our offer on Sandra Terrace was accepted (yay!) and that started a crazy chain of events: packing up and moving out of Brad's apartment, scheduling all of our stuff from DC to arrive to the new house, and of course, the unpacking. And the unpacking and the unpacking and the unpacking.
There were never ending amounts of boxes (just over 200 to be exact), but after a couple of long weeks of making unpacking and organizing my full time job, the boxes were gone. Of course what followed was starting the list of all the things we want to do to the house to really make it our own, and the first big one is the KITCHEN! Yes, we'll be undertaking a kitchen renovation, complete with flooring, moving plumbing, HVAC, etc. I'm sure it'll prove to be a crazy couple of months, but we're so unbelievably excited for the finished product - and secretly I'm excited to see how I do at my first crack completely redesigning a room :) Thank heavens for Pinterest, or I have no idea how I'd have kept all my ideas straight! Stay tuned to see the process unfold!
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| It's ours! |
There were never ending amounts of boxes (just over 200 to be exact), but after a couple of long weeks of making unpacking and organizing my full time job, the boxes were gone. Of course what followed was starting the list of all the things we want to do to the house to really make it our own, and the first big one is the KITCHEN! Yes, we'll be undertaking a kitchen renovation, complete with flooring, moving plumbing, HVAC, etc. I'm sure it'll prove to be a crazy couple of months, but we're so unbelievably excited for the finished product - and secretly I'm excited to see how I do at my first crack completely redesigning a room :) Thank heavens for Pinterest, or I have no idea how I'd have kept all my ideas straight! Stay tuned to see the process unfold!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
My turn!
Hi from the sunny Southwest!
My mom puts me in the blog title but never lets me write! She's taking a nap, so I thought I'd take a minute to share how things have been for me the past month.
Dad came home in April and told me he'd be seeing me really soon in Phoenix. I was there a few months ago and it was okay. I do remember that I missed squirrels but there were little lizards EVERYWHERE that I could never catch, just like those darn squirrels.
Soon after Dad left, I could tell something was up. A couple of weeks ago, I spent a lot of time with my best friend Maddie and when I walked into my house one day, it was empty! It smelled the same, so I wasn't too scared, but was really confused.
We went back to Uncle Billy's house and I got to spend tons of time snuggling with Auntie Bar and Auntie Lisa on the couch. Auntie Bar was crying a lot, which made me sad, but she said it would be okay. We slept at Uncle Billy's that night and the next morning, we had to say good-bye to Uncle Billy and Maddie. It was hard because they're two of my most favorite creatures in the whole world. We took a long walk down the Avenue, and started ANOTHER long car ride. Mom says we're headed to our new home in Scottsdale.
During the drive, we stayed in a couple of hotels, but the best part was that we stayed people's houses, too! We stayed at Auntie Claire's house one night and I got to snuggle with her and my favorite friend Auntie Carlie. I really love her. We also spent some time in Mom's hometown, Wichita. I got to see my cousin Maggie (who looks so much like me!) and I got to see my favorite cousin Ella. She's a little crazy sometimes and wants to play A LOT, but once she calms down, we run and run and run. We even both slept in the bed with Mom (and I don't let many dogs share my bed time with Mom)! I almost had as much fun with Ella as I do with Maddie!
We finally got to Scottsdale, and I have got to say...it's HOT here! Mom's been great about taking me on walks but yikes! That first long walk was rough. Dad ended up carrying me part of the way because I was pooping out. I think they learned their lesson about the long walks in the desert heat. It just feels so different here from back home. And those lizards are still EVERYWHERE! There are also lots of bunnies that I want so badly to chase, but mom says they're cute and she won't let me. Bummer. The best part of my weekend? I found a sunspot just as good as the one at my house in Del Ray.
I'm meeting my new vet tomorrow, so I'll let you know how that goes!
My mom puts me in the blog title but never lets me write! She's taking a nap, so I thought I'd take a minute to share how things have been for me the past month.
Dad came home in April and told me he'd be seeing me really soon in Phoenix. I was there a few months ago and it was okay. I do remember that I missed squirrels but there were little lizards EVERYWHERE that I could never catch, just like those darn squirrels.
Soon after Dad left, I could tell something was up. A couple of weeks ago, I spent a lot of time with my best friend Maddie and when I walked into my house one day, it was empty! It smelled the same, so I wasn't too scared, but was really confused.
We went back to Uncle Billy's house and I got to spend tons of time snuggling with Auntie Bar and Auntie Lisa on the couch. Auntie Bar was crying a lot, which made me sad, but she said it would be okay. We slept at Uncle Billy's that night and the next morning, we had to say good-bye to Uncle Billy and Maddie. It was hard because they're two of my most favorite creatures in the whole world. We took a long walk down the Avenue, and started ANOTHER long car ride. Mom says we're headed to our new home in Scottsdale.
During the drive, we stayed in a couple of hotels, but the best part was that we stayed people's houses, too! We stayed at Auntie Claire's house one night and I got to snuggle with her and my favorite friend Auntie Carlie. I really love her. We also spent some time in Mom's hometown, Wichita. I got to see my cousin Maggie (who looks so much like me!) and I got to see my favorite cousin Ella. She's a little crazy sometimes and wants to play A LOT, but once she calms down, we run and run and run. We even both slept in the bed with Mom (and I don't let many dogs share my bed time with Mom)! I almost had as much fun with Ella as I do with Maddie!
We finally got to Scottsdale, and I have got to say...it's HOT here! Mom's been great about taking me on walks but yikes! That first long walk was rough. Dad ended up carrying me part of the way because I was pooping out. I think they learned their lesson about the long walks in the desert heat. It just feels so different here from back home. And those lizards are still EVERYWHERE! There are also lots of bunnies that I want so badly to chase, but mom says they're cute and she won't let me. Bummer. The best part of my weekend? I found a sunspot just as good as the one at my house in Del Ray.
I'm meeting my new vet tomorrow, so I'll let you know how that goes!
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| My sun spot. I blinked in this one, but I let Mom post it b/c it makes her laugh so hard! |
Monday, April 29, 2013
62nd, 93rd and Sandra Terrace, oh my!
The house hunt has been nothing if not eventful. We made an offer on a house on 62nd Street (sight unseen!) while Brad was in DC the weekend of April 6. Thank goodness for inspections - due to a less than stellar one (read: roof, HVAC, and windows), we decided to move on.
We then made an offer on a house Brad found on 93rd Way. All things considered, this house would be just fine. But that's sort of it. It feels fine.
Similar to feeling stuck between two chapters of my life, I was stuck between two house hunt scenarios. Had the house been a wrap by the time I got here, I'm sure it would have been great. Or had we not found anything by the time I got here, we'd have tackled this project together. But as it turned out, we received a counter offer the day before I arrived, leaving me time before we had to respond to do some looking of my own. And only because it complicated things, I obviously found one I love.
So we've retracted our offer on 93rd Way, and have made an offer on Sandra Terrace. Hopefully we hear something soon - FINGERS CROSSED!!!
We then made an offer on a house Brad found on 93rd Way. All things considered, this house would be just fine. But that's sort of it. It feels fine.
Similar to feeling stuck between two chapters of my life, I was stuck between two house hunt scenarios. Had the house been a wrap by the time I got here, I'm sure it would have been great. Or had we not found anything by the time I got here, we'd have tackled this project together. But as it turned out, we received a counter offer the day before I arrived, leaving me time before we had to respond to do some looking of my own. And only because it complicated things, I obviously found one I love.
So we've retracted our offer on 93rd Way, and have made an offer on Sandra Terrace. Hopefully we hear something soon - FINGERS CROSSED!!!
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