We Could Totally Squat Here

We have a (sort of) HOUSE!  Oh, my gosh, we are so excited!

The left of the house is the garage, the front door is in the center, and the guest bedroom is on the right

The view from the guest bedroom to the street.

I am standing outside on the covered patio, facing the back of the house.  In the center of the picture is our fireplace, the far right of the structure is the master bedroom.  There is a 3-4' gap in the lay of the foundation between the outside of the fireplace and the master bedroom.

There is a hairline fracture in the foundation, so I took a picture.  I hope that's not a bad thing (the fracture, not the picture).

No, this is not New Orleans circa September 2005.  It's very hard to tell, but I am standing in the corner of the house in the eating area next to the kitchen.  Dead center will be the stairs, on the right side of the picture is the master bedroom, and on the left side (the large opening) is the foyer/hallway leading to the front door.

Master bedroom facing to the backyard.  I'm hoping they remove those 2 x 4s before we move in.

Standing in the master bath, looking into the master closet.

Hmm... this is the garage side of the house, but I'm not sure what that door is.

If you squint really hard, you can see the stairway leading to the second floor. 

Formal dining room with a nice view of our neighbor's house. 

Standing in the garage, this is the door that leads into the house.

Back outside.  Clearly, we had a bit of rain on Saturday.

We're going from a four-car garage to a two-car.  This might be a hard transition for us.

Judging by the pictures, I'm guessing the workers will be done by Friday and we'll move in on Saturday.

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve; or, Not All of Plano is Ugly

Brian and I are trying very hard to give Plano a fair chance.  After all, it can't help it that it is ugly and flat and filled with cookie-cutter houses.  It is just difficult some days, especially when we think about where we came from:

:

And where we are:

Just to reiterate, here's where we were:

And where we are:

No doubt, we were in serious need of some nature (and not just a view of a longhorn from the tollway).  So last week, while Brian was in Alabama, Nolan and I checked out Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.  And we fell in love (or I fell in love.  Nolan mostly likes pointing out the knocked-down trees.).

I took Brian there for the first time last night, and he was in agreement that it was the best part of Plano.

Arbor Hills is a 200-acre park where guests can enjoy miles of trails, including approximately three miles of cement loops (based on my GPS watch).  There is also a mountain bike course, restrooms, a huge playground, an observation tower, and a pavilion.  

But those aren't the only reasons we love it.  We love it because of this:

And because the view isn't of a freeway:

   And when we walk on the extra-wide paths, this is what we see:

 And there are dirt trails that we haven't yet explored:

Because there's an awesome bridge to the observation tower, which provides amazing views of the surrounding area:

 Because there are wild cacti growing in the woods:

 And we see signs that say this:

Because there are open fields that aren't private property:

And because Nolan loves looking for the numbered bird signs (we still aren't sure what they mean):

And Nolan loves riding in his stroller here, so I am able to get in some good exercise with my son accompanying me:

Because there's this tree with a bench underneath it, which sort of reminds me of the tree at the end of "Shawshank Redemption":

 And the trees in the woody parts remind me of my parents' place in Minnesota:

 Because there is a creek that runs through the preserve:

And because when we see views like this...:

 ... for just a few minutes, we forget we live in this:

And that makes us feel like this:

This Used To Be Orange Groves... As Far As The Eye Could See!

Things in the Overhauser-household are settling in to a somewhat-normal routine.  Brian works, Nolan and I go the gym, Brian comes home from work, we walk the dogs, then the three of us hang out in our tiny disaster of an apartment. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Sometimes on walks, we see neat things like dead snakes.  Apparently this is a python, and was most likely a pet that died and somebody laid it in the grass next to the dumpster.  Ah, nature.

Brian did break the routine this past week by traveling to Alabama for work.  Nolan and I had a couple of date nights, then Brian returned and we were back to normal.

We also went and saw some local wildlife:  The turtles that hang out in a creek near our apartment.

Don't get me wrong. Having such a low-key lifestyle IS nice, but it's also incredibly boring.  We don't want to get too settled in our apartment because we'll only be here for a couple of months.  I have zero pictures on the white walls, no plants (I think I killed my Washington lavender), and no decorations.  It's bland and cluttered.

I try and get things organized, but it's frustrating because there is such a little amount of space in which to work.  It's also hard to get certain rooms straightened up (i.e., Nolan's) because it is about 9' x 8'.  There is little room for anything after you put in a full size bed, a dresser, and a changing table.  Oh, and said room doesn't have a closet.  You can imagine where all of his toys are.  Or rather, where they are not.

Every day that passes brings us that much closer to our new house, and we are all so excited.  I've picked out paint colors, and we are in serious discussions about what we want to do in our yard.

As for the completion of our house, 24-hour rain on Thursday and Friday killed the opportunity for foundation to be laid.  However, Nolan and I did drive up on there Friday afternoon and noticed that the plumbing is set and the foundation should be next.

School starts tomorrow, so that will hopefully breakup the monotony.  Huzzah!

Farms and Aquariums and Book Depositories

Greetings!  We've had quite a lot going on the last few days, so here's some updates:

Wednesday:
Nolan and I checked out a local farmstead in Plano, called Heritage Farmstead Museum.

It showcases a couple of different homes from the early 20th/late 19th century, as well as farm equipment, a traditional kitchen garden, barns, servant quarters, and other buildings and areas.  It was kind of cool because it was right in the middle of a residential/retail area.  You'd think you'd have to drive clear out to the sticks to find something like that, but it was right across the street from Chase bank and a 7-11.

Mammoth donkey

  (Nolan learned a lot about nature from the donkey.)

 When we were there, a very nice woman invited us to come back on Friday for a preschool educational event.  They do different events a couple of times per month.

Thursday:
Brian and I went out to dinner with a couple of his colleagues at the super-cool (and super yummy) Jasper's in Plano.

While dining, we sat approximately five tables away from this guy:

No Cheryl Burke (and no disco ball trophy, for that matter), but former Cowboy running back Emmitt Smith was in attendance.  We never approached him--although I tried to convince one of our dining companions to do a Date-Night-Will.I.Am.-style picture:

No such luck.

Friday:
Nolan and I went back to Heritage Farmstead Museum for the aforementioned preschoolers event.  This week was entitled "Bug Out" and involved looking for bugs in the various gardens, planting sunflowers, feeding the chickens, making a bug craft, and going for a wagon ride (which Nolan declined to participate in).

There is another event next week called "Pirate Adventure."  Not sure how pirates fit in to a late 19th-century farm in northern Texas, but who am I to judge.  We plan on going and dressing up in our pirate finest.  Arrrrrgh, matey!

Later that day, Brian, Nolan, and I went out with a friend from Spokane (in town for work) and her boyfriend.  We had many-a-laugh and many-a-glass-of-chardonnay.  It was good to catch up on Spokane, as I miss my beloved Spoklahoma very much.

Saturday:
After taking Allister on a half-mile walk, and Kona and Spots on an almost-three-mile walk, Brian and I decided to hit up the Dallas World Aquarium, located (obviously) in Dallas.

We were kind of confused as to why there were anteaters, leopards, jaguars, monkeys, sloths, and a billion birds at an aquarium, but it was really cool.

 

After leaving the aquarium, we walked around the Historic West End for a little while, grabbed a late lunch at the Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse, and ended up over at Dealey Plaza, aka "Where JFK Was Shot."
 

Formerly known as the Book Depository, Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK from the second floor from the top (sixth floor in the building), far right side.  The white X-mark in the road (located about 1/3 from the bottom of the photo, just right of the center) is the approximate location of the first bullet that struck JFK.  

Plaque attached to the former Book Depository (notice "allegedly" has been circled by--most likely--conspiracy theorists)

View from the sidewalk outside the Book Depository.  JFK's vehicle was traveling the same direction as the red truck when the president was shot.

Dealey Plaza, view from the grassy knoll.

Grassy knoll

This photo was taken from about the same location as the famous Abraham Zapruder film.

View from the grassy knoll.  JFK's vehicle made a tight left turn from the road behind the tree (right in front of the light-colored building) before traveling downhill on Elm Street where JFK was shot. 

We toured the Sixth Floor Museum, which was incredibly interesting but also incredibly expensive.  It was $16 per ticket (Nolan was free), and the only thing that was different about touring the museum than just watching a History Channel one-hour special was being able to see the view live and in-person.  No photographs are allowed, and you can only get within about 10 feet of where Lee Harvey Oswald was when he shot the president.  The grassy knoll was free.

The one thing that was disturbing to me was the people who would quick rush out in to the street, stand on one of the X-marks, smile broadly, and have a friend take their picture.  I mean, this is where JFK was SHOT.  Our 35th president's brains were spread out on that road, and you're going to pose where the bullet hit his skull?  To me, it seemed disrespectful and inappropriate.

After leaving downtown Dallas, we came back home and relaxed.  The dogs were happy to have us home, and we were happy to rest our feet after all that walking.

Stay tuned for more adventures!