Category Archives: family

Extending your living space, and creating a social space with an outdoor sitting room

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The deep freeze we are in with this week’s inversion has inspired me to daydream about warmer days and outdoor living.
I was amazed by the transformative effect adding a small 9×9 ft. sitting patio to our front yard had on our home. Most of the houses on our street are brick bungalows with large front porches with sitting areas. In the summer these porches are a great place to eat a casual meal, read the paper and visit with neighbors. We have been looking for a solution to our front porch envy for many years. Our objective was to create a usable sitting space that would aesthetically blend in with our neighborhood and small xericscaped front yard. We settled on a ground level flagstone patio. Chase from Sage’s Way Landscapehttp://sagesway.net/ did a wonderful job installing the hardscape.
This summer we enjoyed the added outdoor living space immensely. We enjoyed eating meals visiting with friends and neighbors on a regular basis in this new space. It has proven to be a great social meeting space. After a season of use I will be considering some minor improvements like adding some additional shade and perhaps adding a stone bench for some additional seating. It has been really satisfying to envision a new space, design and implement it.

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Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to My Blog (Repost from 2012)

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I am re-sharing this post from 2012, since it is just as relevant in 2019 as it was Seven years ago. I am planning to start writing/blogging again, so I thought I would kick things off with one of my original posts from 2012. Things that I am grateful for are mostly unchanged…. The kids are older, wiser and more mature. Jen and I are older and perhaps a bit less mature. I am perhaps even more grateful and appreciative now with the added 7 years of abundance and perspective. I wish everyone a happy and abundant Thanksgiving! Added a few updated photos inline to the post below. If you enjoy reading this post please consider reading my other old posts and sign up to recieve notifications of my future musings

Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to my Blog! I have been procrastinating from starting this blog for a long time (years). I am not sure how frequent I will post or how it will evolve, but, that is the nature of the Iterative living theme. More on the Iterative Living theme and my initial vision for this blog later. For this first post I wanted to reflect on the things I am most Thankful for. Here is a list of the top five things I am most grateful for:

1-My Family– I am most grateful for my family. Starting with my wife, the love of my life, my soulmate and best friend. I can’t imagine life without her. She completes me and makes me a much better person. Next my children. I am so blessed to be able to experience the joy and wisdom of parenthood. Unconditional love and inspiration from my children is a gift that I will continue to cherish throughout the journey to come. Finally my Parents and Siblings. I would not be who I am without the influence of my greatest teachers. My parents taught me how to empathize, question and love the world around me. My brother and Sister taught me how to empathize, learn from and partner with the people in my life.

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2-My Friends- I am blessed with an every growing community of friends. I cherish each and every one of you, From my first friend to the one I have just recently met. Although we may drift in and out of touch I have confidence that we will remain connected and continue to benefit from the connection. I appreciate all I have learned from my friends. Many of you have provided me with support and inspiration in ways that are beyond comprehension.

3-Abundance– In both Material and non material ways, I realize that I am rich beyond measure. I realize that I have way more then I need. I acknowledge and appreciate this bounty and hope that I can continue to enjoy and appreciate all that this allows me and my family to do. The context of this abundance only makes me more interested in finding ways for others to have opportunities to have the same level of abundance in their lifes.

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4-Perspective– I am grateful for the perspective and empathy that I have been tought to have. It is easy to get lost in the moment and not step back and fail to look at life through the prism of larger perspective. I am so glad that I can view and appreciate the empathy and perspective that comes with age and experience. I hope that I use this perspective to influence positive change in the world.

5-Health– I am grateful for my families good health and the activities and experience that this good health permits us to experience.

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