Why we bought our house and the backyard

It has been a year since we bought our house. We looked for a long time before purchasing this house. We wanted to buy a forever home that we would never have to move from or outgrow. We had a large "must-haves" list. Within a reasonable budget in Las Vegas it is hard to find a relatively large yard with a pool and a big enough house. But because we never wanted to move again (never say never though...) we were determined. Because we took so long trying to find a house that fit all the criteria we ended up being able to up the budget because we had saved a lot more money taking forever to decide and by increasing the budget we finally found our house. Which needed lots of work! We loved this house right away. It was in rough shape but the bones of the house were great. We also loved the size of the house and of the lot. And we loved the area and the neighborhood.

Another big concern while house hunting were concerns with baby Christina. We try to limit how much she affects our family as a whole, but to some extent she does and it's unavoidable. We wanted a house that was handicap accessible (this house is one story, has ramps, has a handicap accessible shower, plantation shutters that keep the house very dark for Christina, etc.) But more importantly we wanted a home that was enjoyable and like a vacation for the rest of the family. Brian and I are naturally home bodies anyway and we typically avoid traveling. But with Christina we are still hindered in the ease of travel that we could do. Also, things like taking our family on a hike or to the park are difficult with Christina (as in we can't do it!) So we wanted a home and backyard that we can enjoy and entertain easily with.

But like every other part of our house the backyard needs lots of work too! We don't like any of the landscaping, so much of it leaves debris and seeds that drive me crazy. Also, one of the palm trees is so big we fear it could damage the foundation of the pool overtime. Much of the pool equipment needed to be replaced and there is quite a learning curve to a pool, especially when the cleaning system doesn't work. The pool has been every color of green, back to clear and back to green again! Hopefully we have it figured out by the end of this summer!

The first thing we did when we bought the house was to add a fence to half the yard to block off the pool area (and simultaneously clean the interior of the house which was extremely dirty). Safety first!

This is an older picture of the pool (which is currently clean, cross your fingers!) But we have fun plans for the patio and extending the structure for added shade and decor. 

There is RV parking on the side yard but we plan to use it for basketball and riding bikes and such. At some point we may build a pool house/casita on this side of the yard.

Blue Steel