Hi Everyone!
Alas, the Austria Scoop is no
more as I am here back in the States. What I do propose is to tell you about
things I’ve seen in Austria or happenings around where I live. Sure, many of
you don’t want to know about where I live most of the time but now that I’ll be
in two places, maybe there will be things you’ll love to hear about.
But if you’ve been following
me, you know we’ve decided to keep our Nevada house, at least for now, and it’s
only 30 miles from lost wages – errr – Las Vegas. The other place we’ll be living
is Los Alamos, New Mexico, which happens to be only an hour and less than an
hour from two of my favorite places in the world – Taos and Santa Fe – both have
been places on my ‘to live at’ list forever. Matter of fact, when I first got
married, I begged my husband to get a job in Los Alamos and for years he tried.
We both think it ironic that he gets to work there at the end of his career
though that’s at least another ten years.
Anyway, we’re fixing up the
Nevada house with a new roof, possibly new windows and just a general overhaul
because it needs it. And the New Mexico house will be renovated in certain
areas because it was a duplex at the start of its life. It’s gone back and forth
between a single family home and a duplex for a while now. It has a half acre
and we have plans for the backyard as well.
When we were looking at
homes, we decided from the start we wanted to live on top of the mesa instead
of the other places we could have. Don’t get me wrong, we looked at the other
places but nothing appeals more the me than a home in the mountains and at 7300
feet, this one qualifies. The first house we chose was one that was a duplex
converted to a single family home with a yoga studio and two kitchens. The DH
was in a quandary as to what we’d do with another kitchen when I told him that
we could build a master retreat and use the plumbing for an awesome bathroom.
Once he was on board, we were
happily making plans when we got in a bidding war. Unfortunately, we lost that
house but the next one we bid on was two houses down with more done, like the
windows, the electric, new roof and furnace upgrades plus it was cheaper. We do
have to put in a drive and a garage but we figure those things balance out because
the cost would have been about the same overall. We also have to get new siding
but we have a plan and we can’t wait to do this.
We’ve talked for years about
doing a renovation but the DH has been afraid because of horror stories. I
reminded him that we always ‘negotiate’ things, so why not with this as well.
Again, he’s on board and I can’t wait to have a fantastic summer home. The heat
in Nevada is killing me and I’d decided within the first couple weeks that I
couldn’t make this my home during the hot months. Hence the two places. Here’s
a couple of pictures of the places appropriately marked.
Front of New Mexico House |
Front of Nevada House |
And who would I be if I didn’t
wish everyone in the US a Happy 4th of July! Keep it fun…keep it cool…and
keep it safe. Hope you enjoyed this little look into what’s been happening with
me on the new Monday Scoop. See you all next week!
Lynn
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