First Weeks in Belfast

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here for sixteen days already.  We’ve been so busy.  Chris has worked every day except last Saturday since we got here (not complaining, just pointing out that we’ve been busy).  I’ve been pretty busy, too, getting everything in order and picking people up from the airport.  It’s so pretty here.  The weather hasn’t been too terrible.

There are so many places we want to see.  The only problem is our weekends are usually busy with work.  We switched flats about a week after we got here.  I wanted the one we’re in now because it has a more open floor plan.  There’s a lot of noise (in terms of neighbors going in and out and cars), but it’s worth it. 

Back in Washington, Chris is about a thirty minute drive away from work.  Here, we’re less than two miles away from the work site.  I even walked to work and back one day!  It’s great being so close.

I’ll try and update after we do or go somewhere different.  Perhaps next time I’ll post pictures of our flat (but that won’t be until I have everything put away).

Fence Installed!

We’re definitely excited that the fence was installed while still being here.  Now the neighborhood kids won’t be running through our backyard and shed while we’re gone (and even while we’re here).  I’m hoping the picket fence in the front will help keep them out of our front yard.  They can still enter our yard on the side, where the hill is. 

 

Because of the easement, we needed to put the picket fence back 6 feet.  I plan on taking out the grass (and trees) and putting a bunch of plants in front of the fence. 

Our neighbors can still see into our yard.  I plan on putting some plants that give us more privacy.

 

I really want to start on my yard projects now!  I’ll probably start this fall, when we get back from Belfast.

Fence!

The fence people are coming tomorrow!  We got a call this afternoon to see if we were available tomorrow morning at 8 for them to come and put posts in.  Not much warning time, but we don’t care.  It’s finally going to be put in!  I was afraid it wouldn’t happen by the time we left (which should hopefully be sometime in March).  They’re coming back on Friday to finish the rest.  I’m so excited!  No more kids running through our backyard and going through our shed (which we put locks on after the fact).  Right now the backyard is only partially fenced, what the neighbors have fenced.  We’re going to finish fencing the back yard.  Also, we’re going to have a picket fence put in that will go just in our grass area.  The kids will still be able to get into our front yard via the hill of dirt on the side.  I plan on putting a retaining wall up after we get back.  That should keep them out for good.  Pictures to come shortly!

Not much else has happened besides the fence.  We still have no idea when we’re leaving for Belfast.  I’ll keep you updated!

Artsy Wine Stuff and Yard

We’ve been saving the bottles of wine we drink.  I applied an adhesive to some of the labels several months ago.  Then, after waiting a couple months, I tried to take them off.  It didn’t work that well.  I filled the bottles with boiling water, which helped take the label off.  Unfortunately they don’t look perfect, but that’s probably as good as I’m going to get them.  I still have a lot more bottles left.  I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with the labels.

Chris and I have been saving the corks as well.  I hadn’t really thought about what to use them for.  I figured I would figure it out someday.  The other day I randomly got a thought for what to do with some of them.  It’s going to be pretty difficult and time consuming, but I think it’s worth it.  I want to take the outline of a wood letter and fill the inside with the corks.  I didn’t find my idea online, so I printed out my own letter, cut it, and stuck corks in it.

    No, B is not for Boy.  I am not pregnant (though I know a few who wish I was).

I’m not sure how we’re going to do the wood.  One option is to get block letters and cut out everything but a thick border.  I’ll have to see what Michael’s has.  It’ll be a pain to measure and cut all the corks so that they fit and look nice (as well as the wood). 

We had the utility people come out and mark the lines where the utilities run.  The good news, it doesn’t interfere with our plans to finish building the backyard fence.  The bad news, it basically ruins most of my plans for our side yard.  I figured this would happen, so I was trying not to get my hopes up.

Looks like someone went crazy

  Our front yard.  I had planned on doing a picket fence around our front yard.  That way we can play with our dog in the front yard and not worry about him getting hit by a car.  Also, I have always wanted a picket fence.  Now, we’ll have to bring the fence 5 feet into our yard.  I think it’s worth it; Chris hates how much it would come in.  If we do that, I plan on taking out the grass in front of the fence and putting in pretty border plants. 

  I can live with everything else.  This is the cable that completely ruins my plans.  It runs right through the middle of our yard to the corner of the house.  It’s the communication cable, which I’ll pay to have moved.  The hill on the side of the yard is better viewed on the second picture.  I had planned to bring in the bricks about 6 feet to make it even with the other part.  Then, put a bunch of retaining walls up to make it look nicer.  I plan on planting mostly vegetables in that area.  Also, I plan on taking out the flower bed that’s in the middle of the lawn and putting grass in. 

We’ll see how everything all works out.  I plan on measuring and recording slopes and where everything is before we leave so that way I can plan while we’re in Belfast.  I love planning things, even if they don’t happen.  I just like thinking about it.  Chris hates planning and listening to my plans because all he thinks about is how expensive it will be.  I try not to let it get me down. 

Washington

So I’ve lived in Washington for over a year now and lately I’ve been thinking about what I like here and what I miss from living in Arizona.

What I’ve grown to like about living in Washington

-  The fact that I can grow so much here!  I love being able to have a garden and not have to do much with it (besides getting rid of all the weeds).  I love how green it is.

-  Spring – I never appreciated the different seasons much until I came here (appreciated it in Germany, too)

-  I guess Chris being here with me.  Though I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.

-  Walking around barefoot at night and not worry about stepping on a scorpion.

-  Having my own house and yard (technically it’s Chris’).  I have so many plans for them!

What I loved about living in Arizona

-  Getting to see my family and friends often.

-  How not humid it is.  I also loved the weather.  The sun.  Monsoon season.

-  The cacti and the mountains and the awesome sunsets (the desert in general).

-  How clear the nights are and being able to see so many stars in the desert.

-  Wearing a jacket in the winter because it’s “cold” (in the 70’s).

-  The citrus trees at my parents house.  I never bought a navel from the grocery store until I moved to Washington.  Even now I don’t like to do it because they’re so bleh.  And the lemons are so small!

And now for my observation.  In Washington there are a lot of Asians.  I haven’t seen this many in one place since I was in China.  On the other side of that, there definitely aren’t as many Mexicans here as there were in Arizona.  I guess I do miss that about living in Arizona. 

Another observation (this one more of a con):  People from Washington do NOT know how to drive in the rain.  It’s rather irritating.  Come on people, you drive in this every day!  I mean, it makes sense in Arizona.  I just don’t get it.  They also love to slow down for the curves on the highway.  And yes, there are a lot of curves on the highway.

Well there you go.  I’m sure I’m missing some things from my lists.  There are just the major ones that I can remember for the time being. 

We can do it, yes we can!

Chris and I started the exercise Program P90X several months ago.  It’s a 90 day program and we were supposed to be done sometime in November.  A little after a month through the program, we both got sick.  After not working out for a week, it was very hard for us to start up again.  It was really hard to be motivated for it, especially since the workouts were an hour long, 6 days a week.  We looked into something more cardio based to start off with and found Insanity.  It’s a 60 day program and we’re on week 2.  The workouts are only 40 minutes and a lot more intense.  P90X seemed to be more for building muscle where as this one seems to be more for losing weight.  We plan on starting P90X back up again once we finish Insanity.  I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going.  We have our fit test next Tuesday.  Hopefully the results are positive (goes without saying, but still had to be said). 

For Thanksgiving, we had planned to go to Portland to visit Chris’ Aunt and Uncle.  That didn’t happen because of the fact that we got snow a couple of days before and we live on top of a hill.  The snow finally started to melt the afternoon of Thanksgiving, but by then it was too late to make it.  We’re planning on having Christmas dinner with them.

My dad and sister are picking up a chocolate lab puppy for us tonight!  My dad’s going to raise it until we get back from Belfast.  We have our reasons for doing it this way than getting a puppy when we get back.  We’re hoping his chocolate lab (who’s 14 months) will teach it good manners.  We’re also hoping they’ll wear each other out.  More to come later (with adorable pictures!).

So much for updating often

We’re still in the U.S. and have no idea when we’re going to Belfast. 

News from the past few months:

-  Chris’ parents moved to Arkansas.  My dad said that it was because I moved to Washington.  Perhaps…

-  I went to Arizona the end of July for a couple of weeks (it was so much fun to see everyone again)

-  Chris’ sister is living with us now.  Originally we were supposed to be in Belfast and she was going to look after the cats and the house.

-  Chris and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary by going to a lodge & spa for a night.  It was a lot of fun.

-  We haven’t really done too much or planned anything because of the fact that we were supposed to be in Belfast last July.  Our lives our currently on hold (or so it seems).

-  We did end up getting a new fridge when I found out that we weren’t going to be leaving for at least a few months.  The people we got the house from took their fridge with them and put in a crappy one from the 70’s that was not energy efficient.  Now we have a nice French door one.

-  Our dryer started making funny noises.  We are planning to buy a new washer and dryer once we get back from Belfast, so this was horrible news.  I did a little research and figured out that we just need to take it apart and put some WD-40 in certain areas.  Luckily, we haven’t had any problems since.  I just hope it will last another year without any problems!

-  I have so many plans for our yard area.  I can’t do anything until we get back from Belfast, so it’s been frustrating.  We want to fence the rest of our backyard and I want to put a white picket fence around our front yard.  I also want to put retaining walls up for our side yard and plant fruits and vegetables.  I also have big plans for a deck in our back yard, but that won’t be happening for a while.

-  I’ve been baking and cooking lately (once in a great while).  I enjoy it, but I hate how dirty our kitchen gets (and I hate cooking/baking in a dirty kitchen, which is usually how our kitchen is).

-  We installed a kitty door panel (it goes where the sliding door would go) for the cats to go out to the balcony.  Before I would just leave the sliding door open enough for them, but I started looking for another way because I would get bugs in the house.  The first month or so I would leave the flap open during the day for the cats.  I tried training them a few times, but it didn’t work out so well.  One morning, because I guess I wasn’t up early enough, Rigby managed to figure out how to go outside.  Chris’ sister got to witness this milestone.  Marvin eventually figured it out as well, so I no longer need to leave the flap open the flap for them.  A few weeks ago a raccoon had managed to get on our balcony (great feat seeing how we have netting over the top).  After that, I’ve been locking the flap at night.

-  I planted most of my spring bulbs, which I probably won’t get to see.