Virtual Tour, Monterra Ridge Edition

Here we go:
This is the front of the house. There are basically two construction styles for homes in Tucson, brick and stucco. We much prefer the stucco style. While we didn't find the exact southwest/Santa Fe style house we wanted, I still think this house looks nice from the outside. At least it isn't one of the dumb/out of place looking California and Florida style houses.
I love this screen door. It is nice and sturdy and has a deadbolt lock so that you can open your house to let the fresh air flow through, but still remain securely locked inside. This door is much prettier than the one at the rental.

Once you come inside, to the left we have our laundry closet. It has enough cupboards and shelves and you enter through the garage. Sadly, I am getting WAY behind on laundry. One might think that dryer plugs and outlets are standard, but one would be wrong. Our 3-pronged dryer plug does not fit in the 4-hole outlet. We are going to have to air dry our delicates until that is remedied.

This treadmill is a pleasant surprise...my husband came through again as the king of obtaining free stuff. It is housed in the bike shop corner of the 3-car garage. We kind of had to have a 3 car garage because there are no basements here, and limited storage space.

This is the 3rd space in the garage. Patrice has big plans for this space once we get rid of the remnants of the trash from the move. I am impressed and amazed at how hard he worked and that he managed to get all the trash compressed into that one little corner.

The right hand side of the garage. We still have some containers to sort through...our shower curtain is in there somewhere! But again, I am impressed and amazed that THIS is how the garage looked after just a couple days after the move.

What you see when you enter the garage. Again, some things to sort through, but it is nice and organized and not too overwhelming.

This is the inside of the front entry. We limited ourselves to just these two masks because we do not have proper wall space for the entire collection.

Immediately to the right of the entry is our dining room. Eventually, we will hang our tapestries on either side of the mirror. Patrice was missing some hardware, so that will have to wait. (Probably just until tomorrow or Monday.)

I love the arches and nooks and niches in the house. There are two arches and a column that separate the dining room from the rest of our living space.

The office is immediately to the left when you enter the house. It is not decorated or furnished yet...Patrice is on a quest for a nice desk. He also has plans to build shelves in the closet and (*squeal*) a bookshelf for me.

Pretty French doors that close off the office. (Ignore the boxes on the floor outside the doors.)

I think this small corner opposite the front door is a nice place for our rustic mirror.

The previous owner had stuff and stuff and stuff on every ledge in the house. He had some nice stuff, but just too much for my taste. I think our pottery fits well above the hall closet and bedroom door (with the arch...I love the arches!)

It was quite a dilemma to find a good spot for our most recent portraits of Nicco. This is the best option. Soon, Patrice will mount the TV on the wall and install all the other various components and eventually, we will have a nicer piece of furniture in which to hide electronics and wires.

The living room. Cozy! The only carpeted space besides the bedrooms. I am really glad to have some carpet. It is just so much more comfy and cozy than tile and wood. I am also really glad to have tile and wood in all the high traffic and wet areas. No more carpet in the bathrooms! Hooray!

The TV corner. I like its cozy nook.

Breakfast nook.

We don't have enough cabinet space for all our glasses, so these butcher-block tables will hold them. I love how that print looks with the blue countertops.

The kitchen. I like having an island. It is too bad that it only fits three of our tall chairs. Four would have been better. Oh well.

I like the tall ceilings. It makes the house so open and bright and large.

I don't like having too many family pictures in the living spaces, but I had to have our Naked Nicco beach pictures. They are in the hallway leading to the guest room, guest bath, and Nicco's room.

I like the lighting features in the house. The previous owners had nice taste. I also like the warm, but subtle colors they chose for the walls.

Tip your head to the left so you can see the super fantastic sky light.

One side of the guest room

The other side of the guest room. We had a small debate about which room to make Nicco's and which to make the guest room. First, we chose this room for the guest room because it is ever so slightly larger to accomodate the king sized bed, but then we thought we would prefer this to be Nicco's room because it is inside and not facing the street. Also, the Lt. Colonel who owned the house before us left a curtain rod with little jets hanging over this window, so you know, that makes it Nicco's room. Then when we arrived and laid out the frame for the bed in the other room, it just barely fit and cut off access to the closet. It fits better here and just makes more sense. The airplane curtain rod was quickly removed, I pulled off the clips from the airplanes, and now Nicco has 10 brand new airplane toys. All's well that ends well.

Nicco's room.

Again. Soon, we will hang his F-15 fathead and his autographed Nascar trading cards picture.

Guest bathroom, sans shower curtain. We may have to break down and get a new one. I like the blue tiles. I thought they were kind of weird the first time we saw them, but they have grown on me.

I also like these two little windows above the tub as an architectural feature, and for the natural light they bring to the bathroom.

Speaking of bathrooms, this is the toilet closet in the master bathroom. Tile on the floor! Yahoo! I also like the closet idea for the potty.

Pretty mirrors and lights and faucets. Must have double sinks in the master bath. I apparently missed the tub picture...it is nice. We have glass blocks for the window which are not my favorite, but they do make the bathroom nice and bright.

You can't really see how cool this little entry to the master bedroom is, but trust me, it is a cool little entry! Come visit...I'll show you!

I thought I would replace our bedset with a nice chocolate brown and soft green pillows to coordinate with the walls, but I think the red we already had goes nicely. Red and green are complimentary colors, after all, and this particular shade doesn't make it look too much like Christmas.

Ah, look at the bright sunlight coming in from the sliding door patio/pool access! I love the tall ceilings...now I have to figure out what to put on that wall above the dresser.

Now we go outside...the grill is behind the breakfast nook. We have a big bush that hides the pool equipment and the cinder-block wall, to a degree.

Our camping furniture will eventually be replaced with actual patio furniture. I took this picture this morning, so you can see that we get the sun in the morning and we'll get it again in the evening, but during the day, our patio is pretty well shaded.

There is a post-hole for an umbrella. Some day...

The pool view from the patio side. I like that iron gate. It isn't ugly like so many we saw. I also like that it was already there so we don't have to find and install one ourselves.

One of our tropical patio plants. I'm going to have to learn how not to kill plants. You would think that desert plants would be pretty hearty. I guess we'll find out!

Pool from the pool side of the patio. I love the little wading ledge. I also love that it has the pop-up cleaning system so we don't need one of those ugly slinkies. (Nicco called them "bonkers")

The pool-side hammock, beneath the palms. Ahh....

Our mountain view. It cost about $20,000. Worth it, I say.

The hot tub. Even in Arizona, you can't beat a nice soak in a hot tub.

And that is my house. Come visit! (Just call first.)

Get Ready...

...because I know (all 3 of) you are anxiously awaiting photos of our new house! I am currently at the library because my internet is not hooked up yet. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow...

You may need to set aside some alone time to read the super fantastic post I have planned for tomorrow. I will be sharing pictures of every nook and cranny of our new house. If you thought the first virtual tour of the rental was big, just wait!

Transcendentalism

My brain hurts. I just spent 35 minutes with a student who wanted me to explain a quote from an American transcendentalist and which element of transcendentalism dominates that particular quote "in simple terms." Have you ever read Thoreau? Emerson? Whitman? Are you familiar AT ALL with American transcendentalism? "Simple terms" hardly apply. Ever. Ouch...I need some tylenol. And chocolate. Maybe just chocolate.

Day of Rest

For the past half hour or so, Nicco has been climbing up onto the arm of the couch, whistling (but since he can't actually whistle, he puts his two fingers in his mouth and screeches) to get his daddy's attention, then jumping onto the daddy, lying vulnerable on the couch below. Apparently, this is exhausting. After several repetitions, Nicco brought all his stuff to me on the other couch and asked "Is this the rest store?"

If only such a store existed. Then again, in true need of rest, I would be entirely too tired (read: lazy) to go to a store to buy some rest.

Bouncy House

When I asked Nicco what he wanted to do today and he said "play a game on the computer, or two, or three, or seven or more, or....whatever." I decided to get him out of the house for some unplugged fun. The bouncy house has drop-in play three days a week for an hour and a half, so we took a little drive to bounce and slide. The boy released plenty of energy in that hour and a half and was ready for puzzles and books when we came back home.

He mimicked the olympic sliders at the start. I giggled as he pushed himself down the slide. A couple of times he got up enough speed to propel himself over the barrier at the bottom! I think it was $7 well spent.

Arbitrary Thoughts and Miscellaneous Moments

• This is my new trick to get Nicco to practice writing his name:
  

It's that game you play where you make dots on a page then take turns connecting the dots to make squares...whoever completes a square marks it with their initials. He started out making me hold his hand to write his "N" but after we played several games, he filled in his squares with the consecutive letters in his name. He had no idea he was practicing writing! HA!

• Nicco asks his daddy if he "brought [me] a surprise today" when he comes home from work probably 3 days a week. Once in a while, the answer is yes. The other day, the surprise was this crown from the Renaissance Festival. He wore it most of the following day and got mad at me if I called him King Nicco, promptly informing me that he is not a king, "this is for my birthday!" Now he thinks his birthday is just around the corner.
  
  
• Nicco got his hands on the camera again. This Penguins DVD was his surprise/reward from his daddy for being such a good big boy at the doctor. I think I like the Penguins of Madagascar better than he does. With lines like "Private! You know how I feel about the metric system; we go with feet, and inches!" and "Kowalski, intelligence..." "...Significantly above average, but I don't like to brag." and "You'll find sarcasm is more effective when you don't giggle it out like a naughtly little school girl." and with lobster warriors who have New England accents, can you blame me?
• I love the Olympics. I get nostalgic and almost weepy listening to the music. I get emotional and weepy when I see parents in the stand. I know I will most likely not (but possibly...who knows?) be the mother of an Olympian, but I just think how proud and nervous and excited those mamas and papas must be! I get sick to my stomach sometimes thinking about how much I love my little boy.
• I think Canadians are jerks. It's Diana's fault. She told me that they are being stingy with ice time (and she knows, because she and her family have interacted with the Olympic team and coordinators at the Salt Lake Oval) and I have heard 2 different broadcasts that mention other teams complaining about not getting enough practice time. Could that poor sportsmanship have contibuted to the death of the Georgian luger? Hmm? Maybe. Big jerks. So I was glad to see Jenn "The Real Deal" Heil lose dramatically to our own charming and delightful Hannah Kearney in the women's moguls.
• I HATE sports where winners are judged. I thought it was pretty crappy that the French guy got 6th place in the men's moguls when he was soooo fast. I realize that he didn't perfectly execute his second jump, but 6th? Really? I think it was a conspiracy to let the Canadian win. Big jerks.
• I also hate cocky athletes. I much prefer humble athletes and non-attention seeking athletes, like the Canadian-turned-Australian guy whom everyone in the media thinks is a big jerk because he doesn't do press conferences. I think he's a super cool dude for defecting to a country that lets HIM decide for himself whether he can be a successful businessman and world class athlete. Again, demonstrating Canada's big jerkiness. Oh, and by the way, Apolo Anton Ohno, you did.not.win. You got second place. And you were lucky the two skaters in front of you screwed up big time so you could get a medal by default. So, good for you, Mr. Ohno, but save the champion of the world celebration for an undisputed singular gold medal winning effort, when you are actually champion of the world. Blech.
• Back to the weepy-mom syndrome I suffer from, did anyone else cry at the Tide commercial Lucy's friend was in? You know, the one that says "To their moms, they'll always be kids." Win for whoever came up with that one!
• Our Relief Society Birthday Dinner is tomorrow night. Don't these women know it is LOST night?
• I saw picture of a guy wearing a jacket over an Obama t-shirt that presumably said "progress" but his jacket cut off the "pr" and the "ss" on either end, so it looked like it said "ogre." HA!