MISSION: OASIS

The long weekend promoted the commencement of the looming backyard project. Let me rewind to our house hunting experience.... We were looking only in resale with pools because we figured that we'd go for it since Phoenix was one of the few places in the country we could justify owning a pool, but as our journey continued to find our house, we grew more and more discouraged about the market. You see, when we were looking to buy the market was going down and it was a great time to look. However, most homeowners were still in denial that the Phoenix bubble had popped and they were still trying to get top dollar for their mediocre house. One of the stand outs was a house priced over quarter of a million dollars which had doors gnawed on by dogs as well as a rug conveniently covering up the floor boards completely chewed and warped, not to mention the house smelling like an ash tray. We were frustrated after a week of that, so by our friend's advise we looked at new builds. We ended up falling in love with a new build that was basically a spec home, move in ready that fell out of escrow and was on a DEEP discount! Part of our deal with buying it was a pool- at least the deal between John and I. So anyway, to make a long story a little shorter we had plans for our backyard which included swimming. Once I found out I was pregnant and broke the news to my darling husband, pretty much the first thing he did was call the pool guy and cancel the check. So sad. But in reality it's what we had to do. So anyway, we (ie: John) have reworked and redesigned the plans and now he's taking on the project as a DIY. What started as a pile of dirt will soon be beautiful. Yesterday morning, before the sun even came up I heard the beeping and commotion of the trucks dropping off loads of bricks, dirt and cinder blocks. They rented a bobcat and our friend, Karl drove it all day transporting dirt from here to there. Bright and early, day 2 and John is already out there shoveling away. He's taking off this entire week to work on our yard!!! And this is only "Phase I" out of 3 phases. After this week, we should have a curvy retaining wall along the back, an extended patio made from pavers (equipped with poured concrete for a fire pit and built in BBQ- which will be completed later in Phase 3), and mounds of dirt strategically placed to create depth and provide proper drainage. More to come about this post as it all comes together!