Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Pool (Sorta) Progress #1
We are waiting on our permit from the county before we can do anything with the pool. While we wait I thought I'd share the updated plans.
The actual pool didn't change. See this post to learn more about our pool. What did change was the location in our yard. In the original drawings the designer had placed our septic tank in the wrong spot on the plans so the whole thing had to be moved over several feet.
Here is the new pool location (basically right out the guest house front door):
Here is the updated "artists conception" drawing:
Here is an actual photo of our patio that I edited so you can see what it looks like now and what is going to be removed:
Now we wait...
The actual pool didn't change. See this post to learn more about our pool. What did change was the location in our yard. In the original drawings the designer had placed our septic tank in the wrong spot on the plans so the whole thing had to be moved over several feet.
Here is the new pool location (basically right out the guest house front door):
Here is the updated "artists conception" drawing:
Here is an actual photo of our patio that I edited so you can see what it looks like now and what is going to be removed:
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
New Room by Room Tour
Want to tour our new house? Here's the new room by room tour! The tour isn't complete but the house isn't either! You'll get the idea and I'll update as things change. In the future you can find the tour under the "Tour Our House" tab at the top of the page.
You'll notice a few things are unfinished... like... we don't have closet doors. Jerry says the door man's kids have no doors, just like the cobbler's kids have no shoes! They are on the way though (finally!). We ordered them this week. The original closet doors were mirrored and I'm not a fan of those so we took them down before we moved in. We've been living (closet) door-less lives for several months now and I can't wait until they get here!
You'll notice other things like sparse decor and furnishings... no curtains or valances... these things will be changed/updated as money and time allow. Lots of progress has been made since I posted the first peek. We got all new carpet and the whole interior painted before we moved in. You'll see our lovely new stainless steel appliances including french door fridge and double oven in the kitchen. Those things and the soon-to-be-built pool took priority over a new couch and curtains.
The guest house interior is missing from this tour for now. I'll update as things get more settled out there. Right now it's a major work in progress. If you want to see "before" pictures of that (or the main house) you can go back to this post.
Below each photo you can see a short description, just in case you're not sure what you're looking at!
Ready? Good. Here's the tour...
Enjoy! Come see us in person sometime! :)
You'll notice a few things are unfinished... like... we don't have closet doors. Jerry says the door man's kids have no doors, just like the cobbler's kids have no shoes! They are on the way though (finally!). We ordered them this week. The original closet doors were mirrored and I'm not a fan of those so we took them down before we moved in. We've been living (closet) door-less lives for several months now and I can't wait until they get here!
You'll notice other things like sparse decor and furnishings... no curtains or valances... these things will be changed/updated as money and time allow. Lots of progress has been made since I posted the first peek. We got all new carpet and the whole interior painted before we moved in. You'll see our lovely new stainless steel appliances including french door fridge and double oven in the kitchen. Those things and the soon-to-be-built pool took priority over a new couch and curtains.
The guest house interior is missing from this tour for now. I'll update as things get more settled out there. Right now it's a major work in progress. If you want to see "before" pictures of that (or the main house) you can go back to this post.
Below each photo you can see a short description, just in case you're not sure what you're looking at!
Ready? Good. Here's the tour...
Enjoy! Come see us in person sometime! :)
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Rain and Clouds
Monsoon season had arrived here in the desert, and with it lots of moisture and storms. Nothing new for us. The Shown Family is used to humidity (and rain)! At the same time, we know rain is a big deal in the desert and rare enough that we all enjoy it when it happens.
We had quite a storm this afternoon. The boys were happy because they were finally awake when a storm moved through. We've had several storms this past week, but the boys were already in bed when they started so they missed them. (Unfortunately, the weather ruined our plans to hang out with Grandma Molly and Grandpa John because they didn't want to drive during bad weather.)
It was a good old fashioned thunderstorm with lots of rain, lightning, and thunder. Felt just like Wisconsin! We hung around on the back porch and enjoyed it. Then, once the worst part of the storm passed over we let the boys out to splash around.
Even Sam got in on the fun. He had to stay in the yard though. He doesn't mind the rain or getting wet at all.
We saw several neighbors out enjoying the weather. Several cars driving crazy through the puddles and lots of dirt bikers as well. They looked like they were having the most fun and had to have gone home soaked!
The best part of the storm was the clouds over the mountains. We live right at the foot of the San Tan Mountains. I am working on a little house tour so I just happened to take a couple photos of our normal view of the mountains yesterday.
Here is what it looks like normally. Actually, normally there aren't any clouds, just a lot of blue sky.
And here's pretty much the same shot after the storm today. There were clouds right down on the mountains. These aren't the Rockies or anything so this shows just how low to the ground the clouds were. There were two layers of clouds one higher and then one lower on the mountains with clear sky in between.
Here is our normal view facing another direction.
Umm. Hello? Mountains, where art thou?
Very slowly you could start to see the mountain peeking through...
Ha! It's a peeking peak!
Here's one last shot before the clouds moved off for good. So beautiful!
We had quite a storm this afternoon. The boys were happy because they were finally awake when a storm moved through. We've had several storms this past week, but the boys were already in bed when they started so they missed them. (Unfortunately, the weather ruined our plans to hang out with Grandma Molly and Grandpa John because they didn't want to drive during bad weather.)
It was a good old fashioned thunderstorm with lots of rain, lightning, and thunder. Felt just like Wisconsin! We hung around on the back porch and enjoyed it. Then, once the worst part of the storm passed over we let the boys out to splash around.
Even Sam got in on the fun. He had to stay in the yard though. He doesn't mind the rain or getting wet at all.
We saw several neighbors out enjoying the weather. Several cars driving crazy through the puddles and lots of dirt bikers as well. They looked like they were having the most fun and had to have gone home soaked!
The best part of the storm was the clouds over the mountains. We live right at the foot of the San Tan Mountains. I am working on a little house tour so I just happened to take a couple photos of our normal view of the mountains yesterday.
Here is what it looks like normally. Actually, normally there aren't any clouds, just a lot of blue sky.
And here's pretty much the same shot after the storm today. There were clouds right down on the mountains. These aren't the Rockies or anything so this shows just how low to the ground the clouds were. There were two layers of clouds one higher and then one lower on the mountains with clear sky in between.
Here is our normal view facing another direction.
Umm. Hello? Mountains, where art thou?
Very slowly you could start to see the mountain peeking through...
Ha! It's a peeking peak!
Here's one last shot before the clouds moved off for good. So beautiful!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday's Lunch
We've been in a bit of lunch rut lately so I've been trying some new things. As we were swimming on Friday morning Wesley and I were talking about something different we could make. It just so happened I bought a big bag of mostly ripe bananas for $.99 at the grocery store. So we decided it might be fun to have banana splits for lunch. After all it's lots of fruit plus some dairy too!
After hearing several "Is she kidding?" comments, I passed them out. Justus wasn't happy, but everyone else enjoyed the unusual lunch. Unfortunately, this will not be making it onto the regular lunch menu. But it was fun and something different!
After hearing several "Is she kidding?" comments, I passed them out. Justus wasn't happy, but everyone else enjoyed the unusual lunch. Unfortunately, this will not be making it onto the regular lunch menu. But it was fun and something different!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Fourth of July
What can I say about our 4th of July this year? First, the weather was AWESOME! The day started out cloudy and rainy which is always very exciting in the desert. The sun came out here and there yet the temps stayed relatively low. I think our high was only about 90, which is much lower than it has been for many weeks. We spent a good bit of time outside exclaiming our astonishment that it was cooler here in Arizona than back in Wisconsin. Actually, it felt a lot like Wisconsin to us with the unusually high humidity.
We had a relaxing day. Swam in the morning and prepared some food for our feast later in the day. Grandma Joddy and Grandpa Steve drove up and spent the evening with us. Grandma brought watermelon, coleslaw, and some very good potato salad. (Roz you missed out!)
I made a few festive foods. Red, white, and blue strawberries...
These were super easy. Just wash and dry the strawberries then dip them in white almond bark and blue sprinkles. The boys loved them! (Thank you Pinterest!)
Red, white, and blue drinks...
Again super easy. First, you have to use a clear glass filled with lots of ice. Then the trick is pouring the most sugary liquid first. In this case, Sobe Pina Colada for the white, Gatorade Fruit Punch for the red, and G2 Blueberry Pomegranate for the blue. And you have to pour slowly! (Thank you again Pinterest!)
Jerry did the grilling honors. We made our new favorite Bacon Cheddar Burgers and some hot dogs. Unfortunately, the grill got a little hot with a double batch of greasy burgers and we had a small flare up. I wondered why Grandpa Steve was asking if we had a fire extinguisher until I looked out the window and saw the flames. Jerry is an excellent grill master so it is quite unusual to see four foot flames when he's manning the grill. Jerry says he doesn't have any hair left on his arms but he managed to save the burgers. They were a little blacker than normal but still edible. In the end it was a good thing we didn't need to spray the fire out with an extinguisher because we don't have one. We weren't allowed to pack them when we moved and we never got around to replacing them. Guess we better add that to the "to do" list.
For dessert I made a cake. It was white cake mix with my yummy homemade frosting.
But, surprise, the white cake mix wasn't white after I was through with it!
After dessert we went out and did a few pop-its and smoke bombs before the grandparents left. Then we sat around and waited. We didn't buy any of our own fireworks this year, even though they are finally legal in AZ, because they are so expensive. We figured we'd be able to see the big fireworks just a few miles to our east. While we waited the boys jumped in for a quick swim...
... and did a few sparklers...
... and got in our jammies...
... and sat with Sam.
Right at 9pm the fireworks started. It is nice that it gets dark here so much earlier. In Wisconsin it seems it's never dark enough for fireworks until after 10pm. We could (mostly) see the big fireworks show but they were a bit far away. Unfortunately, we could just barely hear the booms. Next year we might have to drive and get a bit closer. Although it was nice to just march everyone right into bed when they were over and not have to worry about driving home.
And don't worry, we did talk a bit about why we celebrate the 4th of July. In fact, Justus impressed us all when he knew Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence!
We had a relaxing day. Swam in the morning and prepared some food for our feast later in the day. Grandma Joddy and Grandpa Steve drove up and spent the evening with us. Grandma brought watermelon, coleslaw, and some very good potato salad. (Roz you missed out!)
I made a few festive foods. Red, white, and blue strawberries...
These were super easy. Just wash and dry the strawberries then dip them in white almond bark and blue sprinkles. The boys loved them! (Thank you Pinterest!)
Red, white, and blue drinks...
Again super easy. First, you have to use a clear glass filled with lots of ice. Then the trick is pouring the most sugary liquid first. In this case, Sobe Pina Colada for the white, Gatorade Fruit Punch for the red, and G2 Blueberry Pomegranate for the blue. And you have to pour slowly! (Thank you again Pinterest!)
Jerry did the grilling honors. We made our new favorite Bacon Cheddar Burgers and some hot dogs. Unfortunately, the grill got a little hot with a double batch of greasy burgers and we had a small flare up. I wondered why Grandpa Steve was asking if we had a fire extinguisher until I looked out the window and saw the flames. Jerry is an excellent grill master so it is quite unusual to see four foot flames when he's manning the grill. Jerry says he doesn't have any hair left on his arms but he managed to save the burgers. They were a little blacker than normal but still edible. In the end it was a good thing we didn't need to spray the fire out with an extinguisher because we don't have one. We weren't allowed to pack them when we moved and we never got around to replacing them. Guess we better add that to the "to do" list.
For dessert I made a cake. It was white cake mix with my yummy homemade frosting.
But, surprise, the white cake mix wasn't white after I was through with it!
After dessert we went out and did a few pop-its and smoke bombs before the grandparents left. Then we sat around and waited. We didn't buy any of our own fireworks this year, even though they are finally legal in AZ, because they are so expensive. We figured we'd be able to see the big fireworks just a few miles to our east. While we waited the boys jumped in for a quick swim...
... and did a few sparklers...
... and got in our jammies...
... and sat with Sam.
Right at 9pm the fireworks started. It is nice that it gets dark here so much earlier. In Wisconsin it seems it's never dark enough for fireworks until after 10pm. We could (mostly) see the big fireworks show but they were a bit far away. Unfortunately, we could just barely hear the booms. Next year we might have to drive and get a bit closer. Although it was nice to just march everyone right into bed when they were over and not have to worry about driving home.
And don't worry, we did talk a bit about why we celebrate the 4th of July. In fact, Justus impressed us all when he knew Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
The Real Pool: Part 1
Well, it's official, we have signed on the dotted line. We will be getting our dream pool. I plan to document it all here on the blog so you can follow along with the building fun! Hopefully, it will all go smoothly and in a couple months we'll be open for (swimming) business!
When we moved to Arizona I told Jerry I wanted two things: a place for guests to stay and a pool. We looked for a house that had both, but didn't find any we liked or that were in our price range. We figured adding a pool would be easier than adding a guest space so we kept that in mind while looking for a house. The added bonus is that we can have the exact pool that we want instead of one a previous owner had built. Don't get me wrong ANY pool would have been good in the AZ heat but I'm hoping this pool will be worth the wait!
It all started with this picture...
I saw this pool when we were looking at houses. I'd never seen anything like it. I could just imagine my boys having a blast down on one end while I sat at the table with a lemonade at the other. When we told the pool builder what we wanted we forwarded this photo along with our list. And, in the end, our pool will be very similar to this. I did edit this photo a bit for you, flipping it and adding the text.
Our original dream pool also included an attached hot tub/spa, but since we don't have natural gas on our property it made things a bit difficult. Jerry was a bit sad to give up his part of the dream pool but there's still hope... we can always get a separate hot tub later.
Here are the actual plans for our pool:
You'll have to wait to see where this actually is in relation to our house since the plans we currently have are not correct. The pool ended up too close to the septic drain field and we had to have the designer move it over.
It's a good thing Jerry and I pay attention to details. We had a few frustrating conversations with the designer about the septic lines. He didn't have them placed correctly on his original drawings which we were not allowed to get copies of until we signed the paperwork. So the first thing we did when we got our copies was go out and measure. I'm still not sure he believes us that he had them placed wrong, but whatever. He moved it and we're waiting for the new "official" plans.
Here is the "artist conception" drawing of our actual pool... with fake Jerry at the grill and dogs. :)
The placement is wrong on this as well so ignore that. The rocks at the end of the pool will be a grotto/waterfall/slide like in the photo above, not just a pile of rocks as they appear here in the drawing. You'll be able to swim under the waterfall into the cave where there will be benches. Apparently there are cup holders under there as well... how your supposed to get a drink through a water fall is a bit of a mystery to me though! :)
Here are a few of the details in case you want to know:
Free form, 37' 4" long by 23' 7" wide, 106 ft perimeter, 619 sq. ft.
Max. depth (by slide) 7 ft.
Min. depth (by table) 3.5 ft.
Infloor cleaning
Basketball sleeve
Baja (lounge) step with umbrella sleeve
5 ft. TrazoCrete table with bench and umbrella sleeve
Artificial grotto/waterfall/slide
Pebble finish
Salt water chlorination
Heater for an extended swimming season
~700 sq ft. of decking
Estimated time to completion: 11-12 weeks
So make your guest house reservations... this pool will be right outside the guest house front door and we want guests who will enjoy the pool with us!
When we moved to Arizona I told Jerry I wanted two things: a place for guests to stay and a pool. We looked for a house that had both, but didn't find any we liked or that were in our price range. We figured adding a pool would be easier than adding a guest space so we kept that in mind while looking for a house. The added bonus is that we can have the exact pool that we want instead of one a previous owner had built. Don't get me wrong ANY pool would have been good in the AZ heat but I'm hoping this pool will be worth the wait!
It all started with this picture...
I saw this pool when we were looking at houses. I'd never seen anything like it. I could just imagine my boys having a blast down on one end while I sat at the table with a lemonade at the other. When we told the pool builder what we wanted we forwarded this photo along with our list. And, in the end, our pool will be very similar to this. I did edit this photo a bit for you, flipping it and adding the text.
Our original dream pool also included an attached hot tub/spa, but since we don't have natural gas on our property it made things a bit difficult. Jerry was a bit sad to give up his part of the dream pool but there's still hope... we can always get a separate hot tub later.
Here are the actual plans for our pool:
You'll have to wait to see where this actually is in relation to our house since the plans we currently have are not correct. The pool ended up too close to the septic drain field and we had to have the designer move it over.
It's a good thing Jerry and I pay attention to details. We had a few frustrating conversations with the designer about the septic lines. He didn't have them placed correctly on his original drawings which we were not allowed to get copies of until we signed the paperwork. So the first thing we did when we got our copies was go out and measure. I'm still not sure he believes us that he had them placed wrong, but whatever. He moved it and we're waiting for the new "official" plans.
Here is the "artist conception" drawing of our actual pool... with fake Jerry at the grill and dogs. :)
The placement is wrong on this as well so ignore that. The rocks at the end of the pool will be a grotto/waterfall/slide like in the photo above, not just a pile of rocks as they appear here in the drawing. You'll be able to swim under the waterfall into the cave where there will be benches. Apparently there are cup holders under there as well... how your supposed to get a drink through a water fall is a bit of a mystery to me though! :)
Here are a few of the details in case you want to know:
Free form, 37' 4" long by 23' 7" wide, 106 ft perimeter, 619 sq. ft.
Max. depth (by slide) 7 ft.
Min. depth (by table) 3.5 ft.
Infloor cleaning
Basketball sleeve
Baja (lounge) step with umbrella sleeve
5 ft. TrazoCrete table with bench and umbrella sleeve
Artificial grotto/waterfall/slide
Pebble finish
Salt water chlorination
Heater for an extended swimming season
~700 sq ft. of decking
Estimated time to completion: 11-12 weeks
So make your guest house reservations... this pool will be right outside the guest house front door and we want guests who will enjoy the pool with us!
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