Tour-de-Home Depot

This last weekend was so draining, but it was worth it because I feel like I accomplished so much.

I drove to four (yes, FOUR!) different Home Depots and two different Lowe's over the course of the weekend, all in the quest to get the yard lights that I needed for my landscaping project. Wouldn't you know I needed 17 of these lights, and the most any of the stores near me had was six. I quite literally bought every last one of these things between the four stores I visited, and the Lowe's stops were to find a transformer to handle all the juice needed (200W is too little, and the next one up at Home Depot was 900W, which is waaaaay overkill).

We finally found a 600W transformer who's box hadn't been mangled and still had all the directions and whatnot inside (you'd be amazed how difficult it seems to be to find products that haven't been tampered with in some way, shape, or form at these stores. It's unbelievable what people will do to items they don't intend to buy!) I'm glad we found everything we needed but after spending a whole afternoon in the Land of Men, I needed a beer.

We're in what feels like the home stretch with landscaping the yard, but I'm hesitant to even say that because every time I think we're close something doesn't go exactly the way we planned it would, and suddenly we have a few more days of work to finish what seemed like a simple task when we started. The silver lining to all this is it's giving me that much more time to contemplate my plant choices, and I'm much more confident in what I'll be putting into the ground than I was a week ago. I've decided to go the drought tolerant route since we don't get a lot of rain in CA typically, and water prices were just raised (again) in San Diego county.

Progress is visible after this weekend though, the roses are now in the ground! (although the below pic was taken right before they were planted...)

While we were staging them for planting a neighbor passed by walking his dog, and he stopped and told me, "what you guys are doing looks so good! We all love what you've done with the place, it's absolutely beautiful!" I was so proud at that moment, because when you hear things like that from strangers it's such a good feeling. The real icing on the cake though was as he was walking away, he said, "your house is the crown jewel of the neighborhood!"

The Crown Jewel!

Nothing could have made me happier than hearing that! My heart nearly burst from my chest with pride. Not only did that mean that my neighbors appreciated all the work I've put into the house... that meant whoever wrote that nasty gram was wrong. I am a good neighbor. And maybe if they’d taken the time to knock on my door and introduce themselves, ask my name and find out what my plans for the house were, they would have found that out first hand.

Instead of assuming I was a deadbeat and leaving a nasty note in my mailbox.

In addition to finishing up the yard, I now have to put thought into how I want the garage laid out for when the electrician comes out to hook up the sprinkler and light timers in there. Because naturally, there are no existing outlets on the wall that the timers need to go on. Because that would be too easy (perhaps my next tutorial will be on Garage Organization 101?)

After all this designing, contemplating, trial and error, I feel like I need my own show on HGTV...

A Time To Plant...

...a time to rip my hair out in frustration.

I thought the hard part was over when the hard scape portion of my yard project was done. We put up a new fence (custom made by Dad!), distributed gypsum to help break down all the lovely clay that makes up pretty much all of San Diego County, put in drain pipes and filled in the planter that was empty (and non-existent) before. I've even had gutters installed to help preserve the hard scape and newly minted planter beds in the front yard from the roof runoff that we were having while it was raining. For what felt like the entire month of December. What I didn't anticipate though was how hard it was going to be to decide what, exactly, I was going to put in those planters.  Besides plants.

Why is this so hard?

Sure, I know where the grass and roses are going to go, but I'm still left with three empty planter areas and a whole host of possibilities that makes my head spin. I know part of the problem is I'm putting undue pressure on myself, but this is the front yard of my house.

My calling card.

The first impression people will have of me as a homeowner, before ever having laid eyes on me or met me.

Every opinion formed of me by every stranger who ever passes by my home will be based on what they think of my yard.

Yea, no pressure or anything.

(Normally I don't care too much about what other people think, but my home is a source of pride for me.  That and I have an HOA.  'nuff said).

If it sucks, then that's all people will be able to see. It will distract them from all the gorgeous stack stone and the five stone, variegated, tumbled pavers I just put down. That and the fact that I took the time to painstakingly scrutinize five shades of white to ensure my gutters perfectly match my trim and stucco?  That will all be for naught because all they can think is, "what were they thinking with those plants?"  (Overly dramatic?  Perhaps, but bear with me... I'm trying to make a point). 

If it's fabulous, I can relax knowing that I'm not the one bringing down everyone's property value, and can have the self satisfaction of having raised the bar for the neighborhood that much more.  In the spirit of full disclosure I should note: we received an anonymous nasty gram in our mailbox about the state of our yard right after we'd moved in, which neither of us have forgotten or quite forgiven.  The ink wasn't even dry yet on our mortgage, we'd been homeowners for a matter of weeks and suddenly there was a note saying "If you don't have time to take care of your yard, you should hire someone to do it for you."  It was all I could do to keep D from going door to door demanding to know who'd written it. Luckily for them we were already planning on ripping the yard out (which is why we weren't watering it), but that only added fuel to the fire.

Rude, gutless neighbors aside; I want a yard I can be proud of. Something that's beautiful for my benefit, first and foremost. I've been scouring books and nurseries for ideas, and let me tell you, if you want to be overwhelmed pick up a copy of the Sunset Gardener's Handbook. Ho-ly Cow. Anything you could ever want to know about any sort of plant is in there, which is probably why it's not the best place to start. It's a lot to digest all at once without actually being able to see anything in person.

Naturally I'd love D's input on these sorts of things, but of course his living in a different country doesn't lend itself to helping with weekend projects such as these. Dad's been my man power during the last six months, and for that I've been eternally grateful. Next up on our list is to finish distributing the mulch in the planters, rototill everything in to mix it all up, finish removing the last of the tree roots from the 20’ tree I had ripped out of the front yard, and then rent a trencher to dig the trenches for the sprinkler and electrical conduits. (Ah yes, Landscape Design 101 continues...) After that we can install the sprinklers and start to actually plant some plants!

Which of course brings me back to... what exactly am I going to put in the planters?

Makeover

So, I've been really bad about updating my blog.

I thought for sure with D gone I'd be blogging constantly - and yet, true to form - I've found an all consuming project that has taken pretty much all of my free time. Who knew my foray into the land of landscape design would take over my life?

In two more days I will no longer have a front yard that remotely resembles the yard I had when we bought the house just two and a half months ago. It's been a thrilling process as far as dreaming up something in my head and seeing it come to life on such a large scale. Yet at the same time, it's sad/scary because D hasn't really had a hand in any of it, and the last time I was dealing with dollar figures this high I was buying a car.

Things are really moving along though. It feels like all the pieces are falling into place at breakneck speed, and I still marvel at all the different working parts needed to remodel a yard. Just to give you a better idea of how I've spent my free time in the last month and a half, here's an overview:

Landscape Design, 101
First there was the whole design phase where I spent a few weeks deciding what I wanted the 'new' yard to look like. That included discussing semantics with my dad like where to place the conduit pipes to run the electrical and water lines through for the sprinkler system and lights in the yard (because what's the point of redoing your yard if you're not going to install an automatic sprinkler system while you're at it?) All of these were going to be laid down under the pavers, so I had to map them out on my plans to make sure they were included in the bids.

Then there's drain placement so the hardscape and landscape drain properly. Then there's walkway width (because of course, you don't want them too wide or too narrow). Naturally that segues into the overall flow of the hardscape and landscape placement and their functionality, not to mention the Ever Present Question, "and just how much is all of this going to cost me?"

After we got all of those details squared away I started shopping my design to various paver companies to get the answer to said Ever Present Question. I looked at paver colors, patterns, sizes, and shapes and settled on what I thought would go best with the house. I got quotes that were in line with how much I thought it'd cost, and I got quotes that made me scratch my head and go, "do they think I'm a schmuck or something?" After going over the numbers and driving around to see the workmanship from their reference lists (HIGHLY recommended if you're ever hiring a contractor of any sort... a reputable one will have a reference list they will give out gladly, and should frankly volunteer), I settled on the outfit who had the best quality of workmanship and ironically, was the lowest bid as well. Funny enough, picking an outfit was (almost) the easiest part of the process...

After the designs were done I started researching what all I'd need to get done before they ripped out my concrete. Turns out, quite a bit. I had several trees in the yard I wanted removed (well, I wanted everything removed actually,) so I contacted local arbor specialists to get quotes from that group of people. Since the plants all needed to be removed before the hardscape project started, finding a yard demo company was a pressing matter. On top of that, since they'd be digging to remove the plants, I needed Dig Alert to notify all the utility companies (gas, electric, cable, water, telephone) so they could come out and mark where all their lines and mains were so no one would accidently rupture the gas line and blow up the neighborhood. Minor detail. After giving all of them my laundry list (removal of 13 trees, plants, shrubs, bushes, grass, with rototilling and grinding out the stumps of all above mentioned trees) and receiving quotes, I had my crew chosen and a demo date set.

And still, we're not done. Since the side yard was getting redone as well, I needed my air conditioner moved so they could break up the concrete beneath it and put pavers down so it would look all nice and pretty when they were done. Did you know it costs $100 just to have an AC guy come disconnect your AC and move it a few feet to the backyard? Yea, neither did I (and apparently that's a great deal too!) Oh, and if you want it moved back and reconnected, that will be an additional $250. Of course when they removed the AC they found it had been placed right in front of the dryer vent (genius!), so the whole backside was covered in dryer lint, which naturally makes it less efficient. (They also found a black widow spider living in there, which makes me glad I wasn't home for that particular project. Not a fan of arachnids). Knowing this for when we reconnect it, we can move it further down the wall and prevent that from being an issue in the future. But moving it farther down will cost an extra $50 since we'll need longer wires and lines to move it away from its current outlets.

This is the point where you stop caring about an extra $50 because in the grand scheme of this project, it's become a drop in the bucket.

Oh, and none of this even takes into consideration the fact that I have an HOA in my neighborhood, and they have to approve my plans before anyone is allowed to come destroy my yard. Luckily that's been the easiest part of this whole project. I received a 'unanimous' approval less than 24 hours after emailing them my plans. Guess my neighbors hate my yard as much as I do. :P

So in the last four days my entire yard has been dug up and rototilled, my AC has been moved, and the outlines of my hardscape have been spray painted onto the yard so I can see what my paper plans look like in a life size scale. As you can imagine, the excitement is really starting to set in. More than anything I feel so incredibly fortunate that my parents live so close, and that my dad is retired and can act as project manager while I'm at work during the week. Him being available like this is really what even makes this whole thing possible.

What will make all of this worth it of course will be having a beautiful new yard to enjoy.

That and the look on D's face when he comes home and doesn't recognize his own house (LOL!!)

One Year

Today's the day.  One year ago today I married D (and the Marine Corps for that matter).  My how time flies when you're insanely busy.

I actually got to talk to D yesterday morning which was a very happy surprise.  We hadn't spoken on the phone since he arrived in Japan over two weeks ago, so hearing his voice was a great way to start the weekend.  He hasn't had Internet in his room since he got there, so there's no way to email, IM, or skype.  I really miss being able to talk to him on a regular basis, but its amazing how something as simple as an hour long phone call can make you feel so much better. Our lack of communication since he got there has been making me more and more anxious. I feel like there's so much going on that I want/need to talk to him about, and yet I can't.

Unfortunately he was calling because he'd had a particularly bad day and really needed to talk to me, but I was glad that I heard the phone ring and woke up so I could take his call.  It also made me glad that when he had a bad day, the one person he wanted to talk to about it was me.  You have to understand, my husband is not a complainer.  He's a Marine.  He compartmentalizes things that bother/upset him because that's what he was trained to do.  They can't allow anything to distract them because depending on where they are and what they're doing, that could put people's lives at risk.  Do I wish he was able to talk about what's on his mind more than he does?  Absolutely.  But I understand why he doesn't, and I just hope someday when he's no longer active duty he can learn to process things as they happen rather than store them away to be forgotten. 

We were also able to talk about the tentative plans for the yard which is something I've been itching to do.  It's been weird meeting with designers and getting estimates and mapping things out without him here to bounce ideas off of, get immediate input on.  I'm really excited about it all though, the yard is going to look so great when it's done!  I'm meeting with another outfit this week and after I get numbers back from them I should be able to make a decision about who to hire.  I'm still having moments where I sit back and say, "holy cow, we own a house."

Other than adjusting to D being gone life is starting to take it's familiar "on my own schedule" shape.  I feel perpetually tired, and yet I can't seem to get to bed before 12m or 1a.  I'll just start puttering around the house doing little things that need to get done and before I know it, it's waaaaaaay past my bedtime.  If D were home we'd be in bed by 1030p every night.  He's a routine guy like that.

For our one year anniversary gift (to ourselves) I got us an anniversary journal.  It's a gorgeous hand bound book with entries for us to write about each anniversary - how we celebrated, memorable moments from the year, and a place for us to share our thoughts on the last year with one another.  I figured since we'd be spending the next few years apart it'd be a good way to document the time we did get to spend together, and also a great thing to be able to look back on further down the road.

I don't know what the next few years are going to be like, but I know this first year was our best yet: it's the longest amount of uninterrupted time we've spent together since we met, and I can't think of a better way to spend your first year of marriage.

Happy Anniversary D, I love you.

I am Strong, I am Invincible, I am...

Exhausted.

No, this has nothing to do with the crazy schedule I keep (spending 1.5 - 2 hours in the car every day commuting to work would make may people crazy, but luckily I love my car and have five years of LA traffic experience under my belt, so I'm thankful that my 30 miles only takes 45-60 minutes...)

This is the mental exhaustion before the storm. I can recognize it now because I've been through it a few times - two seven month deployments will do that to you. No matter how ready I get for D to leave for an extended period of time, I always get anxious before he goes. I can't help it. I get caught up in all the things I want to get done before he leaves. This trip is only for about six weeks so it's nothing major (ha!), but it comes at a rather inopportune time.

For example: the fact that we could potentially go into escrow and move while he's gone. Kind of a big deal, no? This is the first "big decision" thing we've done together since getting married and it kills me a little inside to think that he might miss out on that moment. Not to mention what a cliché it would be for the lone military wife to be signing all those papers with her trusty POA (power of attorney) beside her on the table instead of her husband. (Never mind that our offer was accepted over a month ago on the property, and under normal circumstances we'd have been in escrow for a while now, but as JB would say, "that's a whole 'nother Oprah...") Short sale? There's nothing short about it.

I'm trying to focus on the positive though, like six weeks of unadulterated "Me!" time I have to look forward to. My weekends are already filling up and I'm looking forward to some quality girl time with friends I haven't seen in a while. I can hardly believe that April's already half way over, and that my 10 year High School reunion is just a mere two months away.

Oiy.

In other strength testing news, the washing machine is on strike. Sadly, the strike went into effect sometime between the wash and rinse cycle, and I spent a better part of last night 'fishing' for my gym clothes and underwear. This was followed by a 'rinse' cycle in a bath tub whose stopper is broken, all while in my underwear so as not to soak my only dry pair of pajamas.

Lovely.

Of course, this now moves the washer to the top of my 'to do/fix before D leaves' list, but I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone.