Spring Time

I should have been grateful for this mild winter, but I have been waiting for Spring.  It was so dreary there was nothing to blog about for 2 months.  

It has been fun seeing the trees sprout back to life, discover what flowers would pop up (the original owner was quite the gardener), watching Brian obsess over plants that should turn into food. Everything else is unnecessary to him, except maybe the flowers that attract pollinators.  The kids love the freedom to head out back and play for a couple hours.  We've been busy making bird feeders, setting up a little garden for the kids, chasing the rabbit, and unbusy lounging in the hammock and having peaceful dinners outside. Here are a few pictures:

Rain and broken umbrellas don't stop them from going out

Esme's bird feeder

Eli and I worked hard on this beauty

The birds are yet to appreciate

Pear blossoms

Some of the many bulbs coming up

Of course the radishes are flourishing and the better
stuff like carrots, lettuce, beets, chard are slow-going

Eli's kid garden Easter basket

Esme's Easter basket

The kids have their own little spot to care for their flowers and watch new ones open. We'll have to set down some rocks so there will be a place to uncover bugs and their peas should be sprouting up soon.  Soon it will be warm enough for their tomato plant, cherry tomatoes and peas sound like the perfect things so they can munch while they play.

Painting Again

We're almost out of white walls. That's fine with me, its so much work, but Eli came in to help me a little today. I was doing the detail work by the molding and windows with a paint brush and told him we do the big spaces with a roller because its faster, so he went and got the lint roller to show Wolfie how its done.

You see, he's getting a new room. Esme will move out of mine and into his old room that was turned into a nursrey by the people we bought the place from. I don't want them waking eachother up all night, so he'll move in where Manders was. They're both getting this great Martha blue on their walls because I love it so and one gallon can do both rooms. Can't wait to put things together, never decorated a kids room.

There's No Place Like Home

That's what the kids and I say now that it's winter. The frigid, "fun" snow is not enticing at all. It's like pulling teeth to get Eli in his snow suit and out there with Brian. It's only happened twice since the first snow.

Esme never likes getting out, always ends up screaming no matter how well-fed and rested I get her before heading out. A couple weeks ago I thought she was screaming from gas, but I've realized she hates being awake more than an hour, so sticking put so I can get her to bed exactly when she needs it works best.

Luckily we love our condo, which now boasts a large outdoor freezer. Eli has enough space and too many toys to keep him busy. And for some reason all my hobbies revolve around the home. I enjoy cooking, need to clean before I can relax. If boredom ever set in I have sewing projects in mind, bread recipes to try, and fudge recipes calling my name.

If cabin fever does set in in a couple months we'll probably go somewhere warm-relatively speaking- like Moab.

Grandma's House

40 years ago it was quite a jump in price for my grandparents to move from Bakersfield to Grandpa's home town of Santa Barbara, but they made the sacrifice and many generations have benefited. It makes it pretty easy to make the long journey when you're going to where the temperature never goes below 40 or above 75 and the beach is a couple of minutes away. People care about their community and it must have the highest concentration of Prius' anywhere. I could go on, but, to convince you quickly,I figure if its Oprah's favorite place, it has to be good.

Aside from the town itself, I love my grandma's house. It scared Brian on our house-hunt last year to learn that I prefer old houses that tend to come with character and maintenance. Grandma's still has the original windows with little door knobs that swing the window out. Her hardwood floors even have the little wooden pegs for nails in each slat. My favorite indoor feature is for sure the stove. I can only dream of having a Western Holly like hers. Classic. It has a griddle in the middle, perfect for toast and quesadillas. And Brian says my only reason for wanting a gas range is to warm up tortillas right on the burner. Good enough reason, I say.

Outside, my grandma's garden is obviously the best. With mild temperatures, lots of trees don't even lose their leaves in the winter. Flowers keep blooming. The summer I lived with her I soaked up all I could about plants and went with to her gardening club, touring impressive gardens in the area. No matter the season when my mom would take us on the 6 hour journey down to grandma's there was some fruit ready to eat from her trees. Grapefruit, pomegranate, guava, orange, apple, avocado, which I was sad to learn has been replaced by persimmon. Here are some highlights, in the middle of winter, mind you:

Succulents are my favorite and she has many of those. Someday, I will have a garden filled with the ones that can survive around here. If I can find a time when the weather is just right, maybe she'll come out and visit. That perfect climate makes Santa Barbara residents quite wimpy, I've learned.

I had to connive to get this picture of grandma smiling, she had to think I was just taking a picture of the boys who are now photoshopped out. Hope she doesn't kill me.

Togetherness

Who knew, a marriage question should be: What kind of TV shows and movies do you like? Not just How many kids? and Ham or turkey at Thanksgiving?
He likes violent martial arts movies and ridiculous sci-fi shows. He has tried to convert me, but every show I sit through only heightens my distaste for them. I prefer more informational, home-building shows on channels like TLC, HGTV, and FoodTV. For a while, to be together, he would watch something on his laptop while I watched the flat screen television he drooled over in the store.
Some time ago we realized documentaries could keep us both in the same room. While we both agree on PBS, History, and Discovery channels, it is The Office that has truly brought us together. We love it, and now that all the seasons are available for instant download on Netflix, we can be together all the time, not just Thursdays.

This Is The Place, Jefferson Place

Tomorrow will be our 1 year anniversary living here and it's gotten me thinking, and hoping that those 3 extremely nice men in our old ward don't still hate us for helping us move on the hottest day ever into a place on the 3rd floor.
Although she's not a beauty from the outside and being that she was last on our list of homes to see, we were pleasantly surprised when we came in. It's the most spacious condo I've ever seen with vaulted ceilings and tons of storage.
Here are a few reasons why we love our condo:
3. Your Standard Communal Amenities- We pretty much go swimming every day in the summer, there's a killer sledding hill for the winter (with a bunny or a death slope) and a newly updated clubhouse with a pool and ping pong tables we could reserve for parties. Eli would consider all the friendly neighborhood cats to play with to be the most important, plus, we don't have to feel bad about not getting him one. And I might just be the only one enthused about the new dumpster for paper recyclables, at least those I won't have to collect and drive across town to dump anymore.
2. It Is A Blank Slate-I don't know how the people before us survived 3 years with stark white walls, mini blinds in all windows, and carpet in their master bathroom, but we have changed all that. Being a first home and not too expensive we've been able to take some DIY risks with decorating and tiling (More on this to come). Luckily the place is new, 2001, so the plumbing and electrical systems that I have had to deal with during our beautification have been simple to handle, even for someone reading out of a how-to book as they go. Thanks to Eli's napping we have 5 rooms painted colors like tan, grey, sky blue, and even Kermit the Frog green. Tiling has happened on the fireplace, back splash, and master bathroom-Thank you Anna and Joe.
1. Location, Location, Location- We are seriously 1 minute off the freeway, so you must come see us when driving pas the 9000 S. exit on I-15. Especially exciting to me is the fact that we are two blocks to an entrance to the Jordan River Parkway where we can ride our bike (Eli has a kid seat on my bike) for like 10 miles past animals, a historical little shopping village, under bridges, and stop at playgrounds. We even ride out bike about a mile away to the closest mall and great shopping center across from it.
If this sounds like the place for you, I know of a few units for sale.