Lauren & Jason's Guide to Houston

One of our good friends recently moved to Houston for a job opportunity.  She loves the city so far, and to help her get even more acquainted with all of the fun things Houston has to offer, I decided to make her a list of all of Jason and my favorite places to eat and drink.  Well, I went a bit overboard, and it turned into a 7 page guide of Houston neighborhoods and our favorite places to eat, drink, and hangout.  Click here to view the document. 

Then, to make things even easier, I mapped out all of our favorite spots.

 
View Eat & Drink in a larger map

I'm sure this is going to be an ever changing document and map as Jason and I discover more spots and fun things to do around town.

It's Starting (A Walmart Update)

Over the past week or so, we've watched a chain link fence be installed around the Walmart property and a construction trailer has moved in.  We've heard demolition will begin in the next few days and last for about 5-6 months.  Luckily, demo should take place between 7 am - 7 pm Monday through Friday, which seems reasonable.  Then construction should begin January 2013 and be completed within a year.  We're hoping they do some pest control prior to starting demolition so we don't get an influx of critters into our neighborhood. 

We've also gotten an update on a few changes to the design of the store. 

First off, Walmart has purchased the property at the corner of Wayside and Hwy 45 so 1) they have increased the size of the building from 150,000 sq. ft. to 180,000 sq. ft., 2) the building/ parking lot has been shifted to the west a bit (away from our neighborhood), and 3) there will now be two entrances off of the Hwy 45 feeder instead of just one.  (We're still waiting to hear the results from the traffic study.)

The elevation perspective doesn't look too bad.  It looks like they've tried to make some visual improvements to the front of the store (vs. it being just a big plain box.)  The garden center and auto center have also been moved to our side of the store. 

We've been told that they are going to try to keep most of the existing trees and are consulting with an arborist to see if any need to be removed (due to damage caused by the drought or prior hurricanes.)  At the most narrow point, we will have a 61 foot buffer between the neighborhood and the parking lot.

We're not as concerned with traffic from trucks as they should be using Maxwell Lane for deliveries.  Because of this, they will be making some improvements to the quality of that street. 

A couple things still remain up in the air, like whether they are going to hire security or whether they are going to be able to sale alcohol. 

Overall, it doesn't look that bad.  Yes, there will be more traffic.  And yes, it will probably be more noisy.  We've been thinking about planting a few more trees in our front yard to help buffer some of the freeway noise anyways. 

I think it will be very convenient.  H-E-B is less than 2 miles away from us now, but that keeps us from making frequent grocery trips.  Maybe being within walking distance of groceries will give us more of a reason to cook at home.  Also, we can avoid taking our cars all the way over to Shepherd for oil changes.

Fishin' In the Bayou

Today Jason tried his hand at urban fishing.  We saw tons of fish swimming around, but none of them were biting Jason's lures.  Oh well, it's still such a pretty day outside, so it's just nice to be out.  Enjoy the pics!

 

Turf Wars

While the majority of our front yard is doing great, we had a fairly significant patch of dead grass between the sidewalk and street. Over the past week, we decided to do something about it.

Lawn last week.

First we removed all of the dead grass. Then we tilled the existing soil, added
some compost and lawn starter fertilizer, and raked smooth.

We watered over the last week and bought some St. Augustine sod.

Today we laid the sod.

We didn't have a lawn roller so Jason used our big shovel to push the sod down
into the existing soil.

Then we gave the newly laid sod a deep watering.

Before & After


The backyard was looking pretty bad as well. But unlike our front lawn of St. Augustine grass, our backyard is Bermuda. Last weekend, we mowed it as short as possible, raked it really well, added a layer of topsoil, and put down fertilizer and Bermuda seed. Then, we watered it every day this week.

I don't know if the seed is actually taking or if it is just looking better from the daily watering, but it does look more green this week.

Last week.

This week.

Also, we have some berries growing. The birds usually get to them before we do, but they're pretty either way.

Blackberries.

Blueberries.

Mojitos

After working in the yard all day yesterday, we wanted to make some refreshing drinks to take to Paloma's housewarming party.  Mint is taking over our backyard, so we figured mojitos were the way to go.  Since I don't drink liquor, Jason took the lead on making them. 

Ingredients for a Pitcher of Mojitos

• 10 limes
• 30 mint leaves
• 10 strawberries - optional
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of white rum
• club soda



First, juice your limes.

Muddle the lime juice, mint leaves, strawberries (if you so choose) and sugar together.

Add to pitcher.

Fill with ice.

Add rum, club soda, and stir.  Garnish with some fresh
mint leaves and sliced limes.

It's that easy!  Anyone need some mint?  We have plenty around here!

Country Home

After creating all of these pretty mood boards through Pinterest reflecting what my dream Country Home would look like, it got me thinking about how I might want the floor plan of my future house to look like.  After thinking about it for a couple of months, I jotted down on a piece of paper on my flight to San Francisco this week.  Then, when I got home last night, I was determined to make a more user friendly version using Floorplanner.

This is what I came up with.  If you click here, you can go to the website to view both 2D & 3D versions, along with inspiration pictures uploaded from Pinterest.

Ok, so let me walk you through my dream home.  It's a 2800 sq. ft. 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with a library and a formal dining room.  When you first walk through the front door from the wraparound porch, the library will be to your left.  There will be floor-to-ceiling built in bookshelves, with plenty of room for Jason's record collection as well.  The dining room will be to your right, with a pass through to the kitchen.  If you walk to the kitchen from the dining room, there will be a side door to your right leading you to the two car garage and garden area.  The casual living room and kitchen (with a breakfast nook) are towards the back of the house, which will preferably look out over the nice pastures or perhaps a stream (yes, now we're just getting hopeful.)  During the winter, we will be able to enjoy the fireplace.  There is also a guest bath available on the first floor right behind the stairs. 



The second floor includes a master bedroom and bathroom, three guest bedrooms (for when our future kids and grandkids visit), another guest bathroom, and two storage closets in the hallway (one for linens and the other for a washer and dryer.)  The master bedroom will also have a fireplace.

So, I think it's pretty awesome.  Once again, I encourage you to view the web version for more detail. 

Ruckman Haus B&B

This weekend we headed to San Antonio for a wedding.  The wedding was fun, and it was really nice to catch up with some of our high school friends we haven't see in awhile.  While there, we stayed at Ruckman Haus Bed and Breakfast in the historic Alta Vista District.

The bed and breakfast was lovely.  The innkeepers, Prudence and Ron, have done a great job with the place.  

View from the front.

Inviting entrance.

We stayed in the French Room.

We wish we could have stayed longer and used those soft robes!

We enjoyed relaxing on the balcony off the back of the room.

Not only was the house beautiful, rooms nicely appointed, and balcony relaxing, but there was complimentary beer, wine, and margaritas.  Also, our breakfast this morning was delicious - Belgian waffles with fresh fruit and sausage... mmmmm!

I'm off to San Francisco for training this week.  After all of this traveling over the past month or so, I'm looking forward to spending time in Houston when I get back.  I know, I know... don't complain about a free trip to San Francisco, but I really am ready to spend some time at home.  Our house and yard to-do lists are really starting to add up!