Views from the Porch

I bet you're all wondering what the heck we've done with the backyard, right? You're thinking, what the HECK have they been doing for the last 3 months?

Well, you can't see the majority of the grunt work, i.e. the irrigation system is underground! But you can see some painting and such.


First of all, we put a lot of trenches in the yard and ran the irrigation tubing. THAT took a while!


Then we put in the valves to control the irrigation (we're still working on that part - the leak hasn't stopped).

The next step was the electrical - you can see here how we put the conduit for the lighting inside the block wall surrounding our back yard. Betsy helped us a lot at this point!

This is what the finished electrical looks like with the lanterns installed (you don't see the flood lights here) and the outlets. They are all on different circuits, and there are independent switches for the two types of lights. As you can see, we also painted our block walls La Fonda Copper. I'll put more pics up later. I gotta get myself to work!

Take care and talk to you all soon!

Jenny

Instead of going to Urbana this weekend, I...

Sounds like an English assignment from 3rd grade, doesn't it?

Last weekend I did glamorous things... I went to Chicago, saw the art museum, hung out with T-bone and played pool. Life is good on 3-day weekends. My parents are in Barcelona this week, you know, hanging out and seeing the sights.

Life is less glamorous here at the Watson castle. As with most other weekends, (you guessed it) we worked on the yard! We are getting some major things done though - we installed a sink & vanity Travis built, and I painted the outside wall of the house a really light blue color. Frankly, it looks REALLY cool. I can't wait to stain the floor, install ceiling fans, and get some nicer furniture out there. It will truly be *the place* to be in Scottsdale!

Otherwise, life is cranking up at Mesa Community College. I'm teaching 19 hours (12 online) and I'm doing all I can to get ready for the semester. You quickly forget how much work you do for those first few weeks! Copies, anyone?

To complicate matters, I went back to school this semester at Iowa State for my masters. We have homework due tomorrow, so I can't slack in that department, either. Oh well, it'll be a good program, and the marketing plan we develop may come in handy as I help develop this culinary/hospitality thing at MCC. :)

Hope everyone is doing well! Keep warm and stay in touch!

Jenny

Back to the grind...

So I haven't written in a while, but now it's time to get back on the wagon!

Travis and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Urbana & Chicago - lots of fun - visiting with Chris. In the meantime, classes started yesterday, and I am teaching my first class for the semester tonight. I'm teaching a total of 12 hours online, so I will be busy in front of my computer for most of the work week, and teaching 2 night classes - Gourmet Foods and Food for Fun & Fitness. I have a lot of work to do, but I'm having a great time.

After this semester, I don't have a job anymore; so I am doing all I can to impress the department while I am here. I am also trying to get as much experience as I can while I am at Mesa. Regardless of where I land, if I want to teach, this is a great opportunity to get my feet wet!

As far as the home front, we're still working on the back yard - hopefully we can get everything wrapped up in the next couple of weeks. We need to finish the irrigation for the vegetable garden, fix a leaky irrigation valve, install plants & sod, and put in a brick walkway. Eventually we will be staining the concrete and painting the outside wall of the house, installing ceiling fans, and maybe getting a new table for outside. The backyard will look something like an oasis when we're done, I think!

I am also starting grad school this semester, and I actually have homework due tomorrow, so I better get to it. It's going to be a busy semester, but I am hoping to make the best of it. I'll also do better with the posts - maybe once a week... if you're lucky!

Jenny