The Big Move!

The big move actually took place a week ago, but due to CenturyLink being slow on the transfer of internet service (shocker), this post was a bit delayed. I got ahead of the game quite a bit with the packing, so when the U-Haul arrived, all we had to do was make one load, one trip, and one unload. And I have to say, it was pretty dang quick and easy! I had great help from my family, payable in adult beverages and food of course. ;)  I truly can't thank my family, especially my parents (!!!) enough for the help.

 

{surrounded by boxes at the old house}

 

 {some help they were!}

 

{the moving crew}

 

{Carter's bedroom color choice......it turned out so great!!}

 

{painting!}

 

{unpacking by room.....still not done!}

 

This house is my adventure house. While it's the perfect size for our family, it does need some work. We are definitely looking forward to MOST of those projects. ;)  Cheers!

Beware the Wrath.....

For those who follow our lives, you know that we have had a problem in our new subdivision with the HOA. No surprise. They manage to offend at least one person, regardless of where you live. Or so I have heard.

So when we received our nifty letter from the HOA regarding my husband's work truck and trailer, we complained, and bitched, and whined. But we obeyed, nonetheless.

Then, we started to notice on our walks through the subdivision that there were many other work trailers, etc. that hadn't moved since we moved into the subdivision. And we were offended. We don't take lightly to double standards, or poorly enforced rules which seem to only be applicable to a select few.

So I stewed for a little while. And then I did what I'm known for. I wrote a letter. I have written many letters to the editor in my days. When something gets me fired up, I feel compelled to write about it. (uh, hence having a blog?) Below is my letter to the HOA......with some minor changes to preserve privacy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

June 4, 2009


[name of head dude]

[address of HOA]

Re: Covenants and violations thereto

Mr. Head-Dude:

We are in receipt of your letter dated May 12, 2009, which was sent to the homeowner of the house we are renting, located at [our house, no you can't have the address], which specifically addressed the work trailer parked at our residence. Your letter set forth that the trailer was a violation of the Association’s CCRs.

We took a walk through the entire subdivision with our child this week, and noted numerous other residences which are in violation of the Covenants. To wit:

(this next part was actually in a table, but apparently blogger doesn't like tables)

[address]

subject property: boat
violation: Paragraph 15

[address]

subject property: trailer
violation: Paragraph 15

[address]

subject property:boat
violation: Paragraph 15

[address]

subject property: trailer
violation: Paragraph 15

[address]

subject property: Sign in yard advertising business
violation: Paragraph 13

[address]

subject property: trailer
violation: Paragraph 15

Five out of the six violations listed above fall within the same applicatory paragraph to which you cite our violation. None of the boats or trailers are:

parked in a garage, or next to the home behind the front plane behind a 6 foot cedar fence. At no time shall it be permitted to be in view, when at the property.

The majority of the aforementioned violations have been present since we moved into [fancy name] Subdivision in April 2009. As your letter stated, the CCRs are for the benefit of all owners who live within the community. Therefore, we would request that the CCRs be applied to ALL owners who live within the community. Please advise as to your intentions to enforce these violations.

We would also like to know if the [fancy name] Subdivision holds meetings regarding the CCRs and/or violations thereof. If so, we would like a schedule of said meetings and the opportunity to attend, as members of the [fancy name] Subdivision.

We look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,



US

A Long Over-Due Project

I'm not sure who lived in our house before we did, but the landscaping was completely overgrown and we wanted it cleared out. It was like living at the edge of a jungle/forest. And while some people think that looks cool, it's not my idea of a nice backyard. So we enlisted some help from our families and spent about four hours clearing, cutting, weeding, trimming, grunting, and moaning....and maybe swearing. Carter played in his pool the entire time, which allowed us to really get our hands dirty and get the job done quickly.

Right side of the yard, including shed.......

BEFORE:

AFTER:
Left side of the yard, off the patio.....
BEFORE:

AFTER:

We still have quite a bit of work to do, but at least the bulk of the tough stuff is out of the way.

Thanks Mom, Dad, and Bill for your help!!

Double Standards Are Not Impressive

When we first moved into our new house, we were handed a copy of the subdivision covenants, which I read thoroughly. I knew we were going to run into a problem with Eric's work truck and trailer. But we took a shot anyway and kept it parked on the street, in front of our house. Of course, it didn't take long for the neighbors to take a convenient walk by our house and ask us if we had had a chance to read the covenants. And to provide us with an extra copy. So nice, these people are. So we took the truck and trailer off the street and parked them on the side of our house - there was plenty of room. Parking them behind the fence was not an option, as we have a boat already parked back there. Again, I knew we were pushing the rules since neither the truck nor trailer were behind a fence. But we were running out of options. It wasn't yet approved for Eric to leave the trailer at the jobsite, and he wasn't going to leave it parked out on some busy street for someone to break into.

We finally received, via letter, a formal complaint from the HOA(ssholes), setting forth that we had 10 days to remove the truck and trailer (from our own property, no less) or an injunction would be filed with the court.

Checkmate.

So Eric finally cleared it through his company to have one of the other guys take the truck and trailer and drive it until the next job, where they could be left at the jobsite, if Eric buys a hitch lock. Which we can do. Fine. Problem solved.

Until this last weekend, that is.

Now, we drive down the street and see this:

and this:

neither of which, as we so clearly know, are allowed.



So what's the catch? Why are these allowed to be parked for a week straight with no action?


Double standards drive me nuts! I'm all for rules; but they need to be applied across the board.





(excuse the poor quality pictures - I only had the phone camera on me)

A Tour

Welcome to our new home.

Come in the front door and follow me. I'll show ya around. ;-)

Our living room.....view from the front door.

If you turn around, this is our entry way...and the front door, obviously. :)

More of the living room. The tile on the fireplace will be replaced within a month. I can't stand the white tile or the cheap wood trim.

The breakfast nook.

The kitchen...and the boy having a snack.

View from the breakfast nook back out into the living room.

Guest bedroom....and someone playing with something they shouldn't be.

Carter's room....which is lacking decoration/wall art. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

And I heard some pounding while I was taking pictures, so I had to come see what all the commotion was.

He was quite into it!

Guest bathroom.

Laundry room (taken a couple days ago)

Back across the living room, just to the side of the front door, is the entrance to our bedroom. There was just empty space, so I added some stuff.

Our bedroom....which is also lacking wall art. I'll get on it, I promise.

Master bath......my favorite room. It's huge.

Separate tub and shower.

Shower is over here. Behind that door is the toilet. I'm not sure why it requires its own room.

His closet.

My closet. My favorite part of the whole house.....separate closets. :-)

Outside in the back yard....the boy is quite thrilled about the yard.

And Dada is quite thrilled with the shed!!

And that's our home. Sorry I am lacking in details....I am fighting off a sinus infection and not in the mood to blog. *gasp*

A Night of Fun....Only NOT....Well, Kinda

So tonight we headed over to the new house. I bet you'll never guess what we did.

Some people are a little more ambitious than others, and started before we even left OUR house!

The owner insisted that he cleaned the place, but it was not. Not even close. Yeah, the carpet is brand new, and even still has the plastic walk-way sheets down. However, none of the blinds or windows were cleaned. We spent three hours there tonight. I'm quite peeved. We have another meeting Wednesday and this will be brought up.

So...we took along the radio, cranked up some good country music, and made the best of it. Some people were quite the helpers.

While others just stood around and took pictures. Whatever. It's a hard job!

And at the end of the night, we were still in a good mood. I would call it a success.