Home.

This is the view from my childhood home. This is where I grew up. This is where I used to play. It has always been wide open desert. I will be so upset if they ever build anything in this spot.

I've been away

It's been about a week since I have been online or even turned on the computer. I have to say I have quite enjoyed my time away. But I knew it couldn't last. I figured it probably was time for me to check my email, start my next online course and basically see what all I have been missing.

As for around here...

Spring has arrived. Well at least in our front yard. The tree we bought last year started to grow leaves and as of today is surprisingly quite full with tons of tiny leaves. The leaves are a very bright green and so far it is the only tree on our street with new leaves. I think the surprise hard freeze we had in February is to blame. Lots of plants didn't make it.

And for even more excitement....

It's here! Our painting has arrived!

It looks so much better in person. I no longer wonder if I made the right choice. I have to say I really love looking at it. The colors are so amazing and it makes me smile every time I catch a glimpse of it. I had been waiting until I found a painting before deciding on any decorations for our home. Now that the decision has been made I look forward to painting the walls and adding a few accessories here and there.

Soon to arrive... I hope

It took years but the husband and I finally found a painting that we both like.

What is even cooler is that his parents bought it for us for Christmas. I can't wait to see it hanging on the wall behind the sofa.

Well...that is if it ever arrives.

backyard blooms

With all the rain this past spring our backyard just exploded in color. The lantana were blooming like crazy and there was green everywhere you looked. It was the prettiest I think the backyard has ever looked (so far)....and to think it was mostly due to weeds. 

It's only thing we haven't killed in the backyard....so far (the flowers, not the weeds).
 

Of course now that it's June (the photos are from March) there aren't that many left.

There's no secrets this year

The last days of 2009 (that would be December 30 & 31) we had new windows installed in our home. I LOVE our new windows but the experience of getting them installed is starting to mess up that love.

We have 2 bathroom windows. We ordered frosted privacy glass and frames that opened from the bottom AND the top since one of the windows is actually inside the shower.

When the windows were installed it took two days. The first day to take out the old and put in the new, the second day to plaster & finish up. The first night (before the plaster) I was trying to figure out how to open the bathroom window from the top. We found that the windows that were installed only opened from the bottom. (As you can see from the photo, a window that only opens from the bottom is not really ideal).

The next morning when the installers returned we explained the situation and they plastered and finished all the windows except the bathroom windows. We then had to wait for the correct windows to be ordered and the window trim for all the windows (as the company did not even order it).

Fast forward to February. The installers return to install the correct windows. I get a call at work from the husband that although the windows are now the correct style, they are missing the privacy glass. But no one realized until after the windows were installed (and plastered in). So yet again, we wait for new windows. But this time the company was only going to change out the glass and not the entire window.

I do not really like that we will have new windows that were no longer considered new. I worry about the window seal not being as good as an original window.

Fast forward to March. The windows are in and the installers come. It appears that the company had ordered 4 Top windows and no bottom windows. Installing just the glass has chipped the actual frame, we were told we could paint it (although we were originally told that we could not paint this type of window). I don't want to have to paint over chips on my window frames when they are supposed to be brand new.

So now we wait to see what happens next. I wonder how long it will take this time.