The move.

Just for memory's sake, let me discuss what a horrible idea it is moving with a mobile baby. He unpacks what you pack. He knocks stuff over. Sometimes onto himself. He climbs on the boxes.  I have no advice on how to move more gracefully with a baby. Yes we could have been more organized. But I think in the end, it is just an awful experience. 

And let's not forget how the move just put little Case out of sorts. He is needy. He is clingy. He wakes up screaming and doesn't know where he is. He wants to be held and cuddled. We are worn out from the stress of moving and this guy can sense it. And this past week has been nothing but stress. Working at the old place just to come home to a house full of boxes, no groceries, an anxious bulldog, and a cat that tries to escape everytime you open the door. Trying to get back in a rhythm as soon as possible for Casey's sake. 

We will be completely out of the old house by this weekend, and hopefully back to making progress on Verde Street. And making it home. Yes, home.

5 first impressions

The move happened last weekend. Although we have been going back and forth to the old place to finish projects, clean, get the last of our crap, we have spending the night at Verde Street. And here are some first impression to remember from our first week.

1. We can hear the church bells chime every hour at St. Francis. It's dreamy.

2.We get quite a few homeless people milling around. I met a man yesterday named Johnny G. and gave him our bananas. He sang a song he had written about Jesus to Casey. Casey laid his head on my shoulder and smiled. Johnny told me he didn't want to be homeless anymore and I asked him if he was staying at the shelter. He said the shelter is depressing. I guarantee he is right. Told him I would see him around. He was very kind and I will be praying for him. I want Casey to grow up knowing the homeless are not villains. If we lived in a community surround by gates, I'm sure I would not be having these kind of experiences. Love that we have opportunities to love our unloved neighbors.

3. My dream of living within a couple miles of train tracks has come true. We can hear the trains bump together at night and toot their horns. I point them out to Jay everynight when we are going to bed. I think it's romantic.

4. There are more projects here than we realized. Everywhere we look, we see potential. But we also see things we want to change. We are dreamers and a little crazy. We will see what happens.

5. LOVE the neighborhood. We have met most of our neighbors and we got good vibes [except for 'issues'-Sandlot-dog next door] . We know 3 couples who live within a mile of us. If you are a Bakersfield dweller, move downtown and let's get this Downtown Renaissance going.

27

My birthday in iPhone photos.

Started out the day with my boys. 

We skipped out on church because we could barely locate our underwear and 

deodorant, let alone something appropriate to wear to church. 

The 9 1/2 finger man took me to breakfast at 24th Street Cafe. 

And the drive was super short because we had just spent our FIRST NIGHT on Verde Street! We spent all day Saturday moving [huge shoutout to the Richerts for hanging with us ALL day. We are amazed by your friendship. Also, thankful for the McConnels making quick work of unloading and G-parents for watching Case] and were exhausted. Breakfast was just the ticket.

First day of downtown life is starting out pretty sweet.

The next part of the day was filled with visitors. Grandma & Grandpa Swen, my parents, Kim, Aunt Deby & Uncle Mick. They brought over gifts. And house warming gifts. And ceiling fans. It was lovely.

Then Casey napped and I watched the Bearded Man attempt to put up the fan in Case's room. And we had our first experience with this funny old house. I don't really want to go into detail, but the wiring was not done correctly and Jay said the word 'janky' about 10 times and griped about how people need to do things properly the first time. But for most of this part, I was on Instagram. No lie.

Finished the evening with our oldest friends at the Padre Grill. 

Thanks to KB for taking cheesy pics with me. Here's us being 27. 

The weather was lovely. Great food. Visitors, friends, and calls. Feeling very loved. A relaxing celebration to ease my way into my 27th year! 

Break.

The past two weeks have been a flurry of excitement and activity.
Let's recap.
Buy a house.
Easter #1.
Easter #2.
Monday night Bible Study.
Jay works on the house every other evening of the week.
Ally & Casey are sick all week. [being sick while taking care of a sick baby is NO JOKE. I do not recommend. like ever.]
Weekend [is it time for a break?]
More work. Jayson goes to urgent care.
Monday night Bible Study.
Jay works on the house every other evening of the week.

The point: We are running around like crazy. Jay is exhausted. I'm bringing him food over at the new place while he works. And all the while, poor Casey has no routine to rely on whatsoever!

Today, I left my bedroom door open to the backyard. I was gathering laundry. Straightening up. And I was aware that Case had crawled outside. I was continually checking on him. And the second that I turned around, he dumped the dog bowl full of water all over himself. 

And he loved it. He was banging on the bowl, babbling up a storm. 

So, I just stopped. And I just sat down with my camera and watched him play. And it was fun. And I need to remember to enjoy more of these little moments during the craziness of house stuff. And I need to slow down a little. Rushing never helps. And now, I need to go to bed.

The house is warming.

A couple of weeks ago, Jay's parents moved into a house that they had recently renovated. There was some leftover carpet from their renovation and the carpet guy offered it at a discounted price because it was a remnant. 

Even at a discounted price, Jay and I couldn't afford to buy the remnant piece nor could we afford to pay for the labor to have it installed. And that's where Jayson's family stepped in. They offered to buy it and pay for the labor. How generous! We are very thankful!

So this means new carpet went in TODAY on Verde Street. An unexpected addition to our home and a definite step up from what we had [especially the carpet pad-so squishy on the feet!] Don't you just love it when stuff gets done! 

On top of this gift, Grandpa Swen stayed to monitor the whole time while the carpet was being installed. I stopped by with Case this afternoon. As I drove up, there was Grandpa, sitting out front in a camp chair eating some In-N-Out. I asked him how it was going and he said,"Well. It's going alright for the one guy doing all the work. I go in and check on him periodically." 

I bet you do Grandpa, I bet you do.

And then he tried to feed Casey some french fries. Which I put a stop to. I mean, the kid isn't even one. He doesn't need to know about french fries for awhile longer. Cause once you start, you can't stop. 

The install turned about great. And I am just so thankful. Thankful to have something new and clean when we have so much old and dirty. 

The Fence [Goal #1]

Fixing the gate is one of our #1 priorities. For the sake of Rosedog and for the sake of security. But if you know my husband, you know that he doesn't just want to fix the existing fence. He wants to make it his own. And I jumped on board. 
That gate has seen better days. It doesn't close. The wheel that was once attached is lying in the flowerbeds. The recycle can is blocking a giant hole in the fence and protecting us from what we believe to be a somewhat viscous Rottweiler. Even the owner (and our new neighbor) describes the creature as having some "issues." A little unnerving as a mother of a curious and animal loving baby.  The troubled beast is for another time. Back to the fence/gate!

Here are the Before photos.

The view from the side patio out to the East.

Ok. Here is the plan.

We are going to extend the fence about 10 feet forward, create a new gate (which eventually, when we have the money will be motorized, allowing us to pull in the backyard), and enclose the side patio for more privacy. We plan on using the side patio as our main grilling/outdoor eating area for the time being until we can put some major work in on the backyard. The new gate/fence will be 6 feet tall and we are looking at doing horizontal planks for a fresh feel. 

When we bought Verde Street, I knew I wanted to keep most elements of the home true to the 1920's feel. However, I am a modern girl. I want things updated. I was talking to a designer friend and asking her about this dilemma. How do we combine modern elements with '20s design and have it feel effortless. Her response, "And there lies the struggle."

So, I am going for it. I'm going with my gut and adding in modern elements. And praying that combining things I love just 'goes.'

And yes, all of this fence business is going down simultaneously as the flooring stuff and the packing stuff and the Jayson-going-to-urgent-care stuff [he is fine, by the way]. After a two hour trip to the urgent care after cutting his finger with the table saw, he actually went back and FINISHED patching the floor. The man is a stud and crazy.

[Here is a little preview of the floor progress made yesterday! This is where the floor furnace was! Time to sand, stain and seal! ]

3 fence posts are in the ground and the cement is drying. And I am sure 9-and-a-half-finger-Jay is busy at some project. He cannot be stopped.

Follow me on pinterest to view more Verde Street Inspiration!

Goal #5

Resealing or refinishing the hardwood floors was the last goal on our 5-item short list. I know what you are thinking. They look good. Don't spend the time and effort. 

But when you see them in person, there was some rough spots . 

Huge gaps, a rotted out board, water damage. 

I wanted the floor furnace gone. That corner offers usable space and when this room only offers about 350ish sq ft of living space, every nook and corner counts. 

And we thought, it will be way easier to work on them now when the house is empty then to do it after we move in with a baby wanting to crawl around the floor.

And we are do-ers and jay is confident. So we went for it.

Before we did anything, Jayson researcher. And over researched. And read. And thought about the steps it takes. And looked up where to rent an industrial sander. And practiced using an imaginary industrial sander[I'm really not joking. He even revealed his imaginary sanding practice to our bible study last week and I responded with, "you guys really don't even know how weird he is yet."] He borrowed tools from a contractor friend and got advice from him. Talked to some flooring people. And then called me and told me every detail. I explained to him that it was hard for me to visualize what he was talking about because I was not there and he replied,"I know. I just like talking about it." 

[I love his thoughtfulness and how detailed he is. We may have to come up with an alternative if he wants to discuss every detail of every project from here on out. Someone want to be a stand-in for me?]

First thing he did was take out the floor furnace. [I foresee a fun DIY for re-purposing that floor grate!]

Then he chiseled out the boards that he was going to patch with new flooring.

He put in new support beams where the floor furnace used to be and then patched the hole.

And there is always time for some tomfoolery to showcase your hard work. 

And then came the patching of the floor.
Which got interrupted with a trip to urgent care. 
And just for memories sake, here is our conversation while he is at urgent care:
Me:OMGosh! Are you okay?? What happened?
J: I'm fine. I cut myself on the tablesaw. I was just working too fast.
Me: Oh no! I'm so sorry. Did you hit the bone? Do you need stitches?
J: I don't know, I can't tell. No, no stitches. It is more like a chunk. 
(Pause)
J: I'm afraid I won't be able to pitch right anymore.
Me: You'll be able to pitch (me thinking this is an odd concern)... I mean, I think your glory days of pitching are kinda over.
J: Yeah.... I guess so.

Here's to hoping that is the first and last time projects for Verde Street send Jay to urgent care. 

We are going on Day 3 of working on the floors, so I will be be sure to show the rest of the process and the final results.For now, I think Sunday is telling us to take a break and get some rest.

First Goal Completed!

Here is a reminder of our current goals that have to be completed in order for us to move in:

1. Fences need to be repaired

2. Buy washer/dryer

3. Clean house/clean up backyard for Rosie

4. Replace French doors so they close all the way and lock

5. Reseal hardwood floors.

Half of #3 completed! Full disclousure, we paid someone to do it. But well worth the money. They took out two dead trees, cut down all the weeds, got the sprinklers working, and cleaned out the shed. We have got ourselves a clean slate people!

Bet you didn't not we had pavers back there, did ya??

 While I was snapping pics of our clean up backyard, I started taking some photos of our Japanese Elm. I have a growing obsession with it.

Random addition to this post - I snapped a picture of one of our windows that has been painted over from the inside and the outside. It is very odd and a bit creepy. Old homes and their quirks. It is one of the features that we look at and have no idea what to do with. I'm sure we will encounter many more. Happily.

So there you have it. We have officially started the list. And have completed half of one goal. [That's it???] 

Sheesh.

Please excuse me while I get back to work.

French Doors

One of the things on our '5-item short list' was to replace the french doors in our main living area. While we love the charm of the old turn locks, we would actually prefer that the door DOES, in fact, lock. We have some decisions to make...
Wood doors? Steel doors? How many windows [known as lites in the door community]? Do we install? Pay to install? And how much are doors anyway? I'll keep you posted...

1.4 Lite French Door //2. Traditional Craftman Door // 3. 10 Lite French Door

4. 15 Lite French Door

I put these in order of top picks. I am really intrigued by the 4 lite french doors. I also have seen the traditional craftman doors look really beautiful on Pinterest. However, that style does not match the style of windows our home currently has. And since we are not replacing windows, I am not sure it is the best option. The 10 lite is very common and runs about $140 from Home Depot. It is also what Verde Street already has. We know what we are getting into and it is the cheapest option. This steel 15 lite is about $259 from Lowes. I have seen 15 lites looking good on Pinterest as well.

Here is the BEFORE. As of now, we are still researching our best options. And praying that it  doesn't turn out to be way more expensive than we think. [but isn't that almost always the case?]

What option would you pick for our french doors??

Check out my Verde Street Pinterest Board to see more inspiration.

Easter 2015

This year, we celebrated Easter both Saturday[with the Swens] & Sunday[with the Bazemores]. Both families put on an Easter egg hunt. It was fun for the older kids; Case was content after he found the first egg. Next year will be much more exciting. 

Casey still has a strong aversion to grass. He does not enjoy the texture at all. This definitely inhibits ones desire to crawl around and grab eggs. We will keep working on it!

Easter Sunday!

After Saturday's egg hunt, we wised up! The kid hates grass, so skip the crawling! We brought out his walker in the front yard and tested it out! He loved it. Our current font yard has a slight slope to it, allowing Casey to speed walk to the sidewalk. Watch out eggs! Case is on the loose!

Bazemore Egg Hunt. Lyra obviously gathered more eggs. What a sweet cousin she is; sharing her treats with Casey. 

 We expected Casey to use his walker and cruise around the backyard. But as soon as we put him out there, he just kinda stood there. Typical Casey. Never shows off his skills when people are around. He is NOT a performer.

 We sat them down with some of their treats[puffs, yogurt melts, etc] and staged one of my favorites: cousin photo shoot! Lyra was trying to tell Casey something with her complex babbling. Listening to her say, "I love you Cece" is almost too much to handle. Dying from cuteness.

House Tour

As you have already read, we got our keys last week. Did I mention we are excited??? 

Time for a tour of Verde Street!
Here are the stats:
Built in 1925
2 bedroom/2 bathroom
1338 sq.feet

Front exterior.

Verde Street faces North.

Patio.

Here is the side patio on the East side of the house. We believe that it was originally a sunroom and one of the previous owners removed the exterior wall. We have big plans for both the patio and that sad little gated fence there.

 Main living space. 

Dining Space.
The main living space is what sold us on the house. All of the houses in our price range did not have such an open, airy feel. The windows flood the room with natural light making the room feel much bigger than it is.

On to the kitchen!

In these pictures, the kitchen doesn't look half bad. But if you were here, standing in the kitchen, you would see it needs a deep cleaning. And you would also notice how the space is not utilized very well. We are on it.

The laundry room is off of the kitchen. And yes, what keen eyes you have, that window there IS in fact a door turned on its side. Old house quirks.

Backyard.
The door to the left of where Jay is standing is the basement. But it is just this small little room with the water heater. Just some room for storage. In a '20 home, we will take any storage we can get.

Stinkin cute DIY-ers.

Master bedroom/bathroom.

We decided to use this as the master bedroom because it has the en suite bathroom.

2nd bedroom. 

This is going to be Casey's room. 

Just outside of Casey's room is more adorable built-ins. Here is the 2nd bathroom that is shaped like a Tetris piece. Should be interesting to reconfigure it in the future! 

I refrained from writing out every idea we have for every room. That would just be overload. 

We have TONS of ideas and very little money so the name of the game is priority! After we got the keys, we made a 5-item short list of things that have to be done/we really want them to be done by the time we move in:

1. Fences need to be repaired

2. Buy washer/dryer

3. Clean house/clean up backyard for Rosie

4. Replace French doors so they close all the way and lock

5. Reseal hardwood floors.

That's it. Those are our goals for the next couple of weeks so we can move in as soon as possible. I will keep you posted with our progress along the way!