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Working from the Backyard

:: Tags: Backyard, Computers, Home

‘Enjoying my day for a change while working from home!’ – Arlington, VA

It’s nice to have days like this once in a while, when your working from home and both the weather and the workload are surprisingly pleasant. Even though I have a pretty nice backyard oasis to hang out in, I don’t use it nearly as much as I should. I’ve been told this by several people, so I plan on making it a habit to get outside and enjoy it more often in the future.

Backyard Project Part 4

:: Tags: Home, Home Projects


Getting ready to pour the concrete slab for the new patio & seat wall – Arlington, VA.

A month has gone by since my last post and our backyard makeover project is really coming along. Thanks to the weather, the crew from Land-Art have been able to lay down a lot more stone than we thought they would for this time of year. The colder than average temperatures would have driven me inside and shut the project down for the winter, but not these guys… they are determined to have this project finished before spring. When the temps dropped below freezing for about two weeks, they brought in kerosene heaters and put up a huge tarp, so that they could finish the last of the flagstone work.
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Backyard Project Part 3

:: Tags: Home, Home Projects, Photo


Shotcrete time… our in-ground spa starting to take shape! – Arlington, VA.

This is the third installment of photos from our backyard living-space makeover project by Land Art Design and J. Proctor Pools. After several months of work on the project, we were finally ready to shoot the concrete for the in-ground spa. I’ve seen how this is done in videos before, but I’ve never seen shotcrete done in the flesh… it was very interesting to watch.
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Backyard Project Part 2

:: Tags: Home, Home Projects, House


Forming-out & plumbing the in-ground spa – Backyard Project – Arlington, VA.

Here is the second installment of photos from our huge outdoor living space improvement project. As you’ll notice, the project is moving along quite well and you can actually see the in-ground spa really starting to take shape. Once all the piping is installed and re-bar is bent it will be time for the concrete guys to do their thing and spray the actual pool. I should have photos of that in my next backyard project post.
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Backyard Project Part 1

:: Tags: Home, Home Projects, House


Jesse Proctor ‘breaking ground’ on our new Backyard Spa Project – Arlington, VA.

Well we have finally decided to redo our outdoor living space. We have always wanted to incorporate some type of water feature into our backyard living area, but were told that we couldn’t have a swimming pool due to the storm water retention system located underneath our yard. After months of research and consulting with different contractors and county inspectors, we have determined that the storm water system actually belongs to us and as long as the system if functioning properly we have the right to build over and around it as long as it meets code. A large pool would not work since the main storage pipes are only 5 feet underground, but we did find that there is enough area beside the system to build a large in-ground spa that we can incorporate into our backyard landscaping project.

The project was scheduled to start mid October and take anywhere from 6 to 8 months depending on the weather. I didn’t think it was a great idea starting a project like this in the fall, but I was assured that as long as the pool contractor was able to get the pool formed and shot before the first freeze, the project would stay on schedule. This is my first installment of photos from the project… keep an eye out for more to come over the winter!
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Dylan Being Dylan!

:: Tags: Dylan, Fun, Home, Photo

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Dylan showing great skill and patience while organizing his Hot Wheels Cars on the table.

Here are a few pictures of Dylan around the house having fun and just being himself… which is a normal kid thing I guess!?

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Landscaping Project…

:: Tags: Home, Photo

Just a few photos of the yard after the trimming, planting and mulching project we completed this spring. Wow, I sure am happy that the grass came back after the worker who put in the patio damn near destroyed it last winter!
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The Blizzard Of 2009!

:: Tags: Home, Photo, Weather

I haven’t seen this much snow at one time in Arlington in years. I think the last time we had a snow storm of this magnitude in the Washington DC metro area I was still in high school… yea, it’s been a while!! I managed to click off a few photos during breaks from my shoveling duties and have uploaded them for your viewing pleasure. As beautiful as this area is when it’s covered in snow, I really hope we don’t get anymore this year… I’m not sure my back could handle it!
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Townhouse For Rent!

:: Tags: Home, Thoughtful

Well its taken a while, but Julie has finally finished fixing up her old townhouse and making it rent ready. It was mostly just cosmetics that needed to be done with a couple of small repairs like new faucets in the master bathroom. But now that the place is completely emptied out with fresh paint and clean carpets, we’re ready to put it on the market… for rent.

I’m not going to go into details about location or price… lets just say it’s in Arlington and very close to the Key Bridge. Our Realtor has taken on the job of finding a qualified tenant and then managing the property for us after that.

This is really helpful because it will free up our weekends once again. It seems like every weekend for the past several months has been spent working on the townhouse. Now finally, we can relax a bit and do something else with our spare time!

I’ve also added some photos of the inside that I took this past weekend while finishing things up….

UPDATE: Here’s the new online listing.
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House For Sale!!

:: Tags: General, Home

House for sale!

I have finally finished fixing my house up for sale and listed it on the market! My realtor has warned me that the market is in pretty poor shape and right now is not the best time to be selling a house. At the same time I don’t have a choice as Julie and I have already purchased and moved into our new home. I guess there isn’t much one can do about the timing of things, but I don’t believe that dropping the price on a home to make a quick sale is the way to go either. After all, people put a lot of time and energy into their homes over the years and to have to settle for less than what it’s truly worth all because of the ‘timing’… well, that just isn’t fair!

Any way, I have a little time still before I get desperate about selling… so for now, I’ll hold out and see what the market does for the first quarter of 2008!

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