The past few weeks have been really busy. After a lot of moving furniture in the heat (for some reason I always move in the summer), and cleaning, Drew and I are all settled in to the new house. The only things left on the list are to hook up the last 2 speakers for surround sound, find reasonably priced tolerable barstools, and get some things to hang on the walls. Also, we are still waiting for our new bed frame to arrive but that is not in our hands. I eventually will also re-paint some of the rooms but I am waiting for my parents to visit in October so I can consult my Dad about color. He is much better at visualizing what color will compliment a space than I am. In fact, almost every color I used to paint at the old house was something I copied from my Dad's color choices.
In addition to moving, we had to get the old condo ready for my parents to rent out and then find them tenants. The worst of which was patching up the cracked sealant on the roof to get through monsoons until it will cool off enough that we can reseal the entire roof. Anyway, two graduate students are moving in on Friday. I hope that they love living there as much as we did.
As for the new house...I love it more every day. I am really enjoying living outside of central Tucson for many reasons. First, I can run to desert trails in less than one mile and I have so many different options for jogging routes. Although I loved the Rillito river trail, pretty much my only choices were to run West or East and I was getting bored with it. Also, on a run the other evening I saw a gila monster! It was gorgeous and was the first one I have seen outside of the Desert Museum. Additionally, I am thrilled to have a home with more space. We have one bedroom that is a 'dedicated guestroom' and another room that is currently a dog nursery (although in the near future we are hoping that it will be a nursery for a bipedal mammal). Also we live very close to both Saguaro East and Fantasy Island. I am chomping at the bit for cooler weather so I can ride my mountain bike to, and then around, the trails over there. Finally, I live in road bike country. I think that all of these things are going to help me be more balanced. Yes - THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN SCIENCE and it is time that I started living as such.
Anyway, in case you are interested here are some pics.
This is our new kitchen. One of the first things we did was replace the electric range/oven with gas. I have always wanted a gas stove but there was no line in the old house. I am very happy with this one and have been cooking a lot more. Note the pot rack, which has also been a long time desire of mine (I have coveted Lisa's for years). Also, I love the little desk in the kitchen. It is the perfect work station and great for cooking from online recipes (I use epicurious a lot). There is also room in the kitchen for a little breakfast table. The old owners left a little radio/CD player in the kitchen so I have become accustomed to eating my morning cereal and listening to NPR at that table every morning.
This is the living room/dining room area. Drew is hiding under the Arizona blanket (he was feeling shy).
Master bedroom/bath. There is a walk-in closet off the master bathroom, which brings me joy every morning that I do not have to dig around for something clean to wear.
This is the 'dedicated guestroom'. Sarah will be the first to use it in August! We are excited to have guests so please come stay at the Maurer-Burke Bed 'n Breakfast. Note, the TV in the there has cable and I will bring you coffee in bed every morning if you don't get up too early.
Front of house/front patio.
The garage is notable because it houses 1 car, our bikes and Drew's gym. I am also a fan of the utility sink and the peg board.
The back patio and flower beds include a lime tree, a mandarin tree, and a bunch of fresh mint! Therefore, we have 2 of the 3 most important ingredients for mojitos in our backyard. This will be very handy when Sarah visits! Also, the little chiminea is hooked up to the gas line so we can have an outdoor fire whenever we like. I love this space. The empty bed was where the tomatoes used to live (I am sorry Lisa). Unfortunately, the water was turned off for a few days between when the last owners moved out and when we could take official ownership and they all died. The last few sad little green tomatoes were then eaten by our dogs before I got around to pulling the dead plants up. Anyway, this is the future site of basil and hopefully some peppers. The whole landscape, front and back, is on a drip system. I hadn't realized how nice it is to sleep in and not worry about watering.
I love this house and the neighborhood. The first weekend we were here our next door neighbors brought over homemade cookies and they have already invited us for dinner. We didn't really have any friends in Lazy Creek so I am excited to get to know the people around us better. Most of them are young couples with dogs and no kids. Well that's about it for now.
