Our Hibiscus is Blooming!

Just look at him go!

Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 07:41

Thursday, 26 May 2011, 07:12

Friday, 3 June 2011, 07:59

Small Town, Big City

Reflecting on our first month on the Eastside, we agreed our new community feels more like a small town than a big city. It sounds crazy, living a stone’s throw from downtown and all – but after walking Salem around the block yesterday, I saw little difference between our neighborhood and any-small-town-street Texas.

We’re fortunate to know all our neighbors. And not just the houses next to us – we know almost everyone on the two streets our lot straddles, and know more folks a few blocks away. We frequently chat with people and wave to folks walking by. Our mailman knows us. We knew we could expect a more “homey” atmosphere moving from an apartment complex to a traditional neighborhood – and maybe we’re just blown away by what’s normal in neighborhoods – but we didn’t expect this type of community so soon. It’s really great.

An urban farm near our house

Also small-town-ish: the landscape. The Eastside is nothing but two-lane streets, small businesses, and micro-farms. There’s not a lot of traffic. Lots of people grow industrial quantities of produce in their yards, raise chickens, and ride their bikes. It’s very different than what we’ve been used to: the crowded Lamars and Guadalupes of the city, with blood-vessel-popping commuters short-cutting down neighborhood streets paralleling Mopac. Plus, everything’s within a mile give or take from our house, and we run into people we know a lot. That’s new for us too…it feels weird being able to see the Frost Bank Tower from our street but live in a hey-Mary’s-chicken-got-out-again and the-postman-is-three-minutes-late world.

So all this to say, maybe we’re just learning what it’s like to be homeowners – but we’ve really fallen in love with the “small-ness” of our immediate community. Living in the big city, that’s a bonus.

Mumford and Sons Concert

Last night we decided to enjoy our first Eastside date. We set out for Cool Haus, a trailer eatery on East 6th serving Houston-sized ice cream sandwiches (homemade cookie + 1″ of ice cream + another cookie). But our plans were thwarted when we learned via Cat’s iPhone that Cool Haus is only open Thursday and Friday nights. So we parked on East 5th and decided to walk to some other trailers to find something yummy.

We got out of our car and heard music everywhere. People were everywhere – on top of cars, roofs, and some cases other people. Turns out one of our favorite bands, Mumford and Sons, was playing only 100 yards from where we were standing! So we got to listen to our favorite album…LIVE…in our new neighborhood. There’s nothing not to love about the Eastside.

Pictures from Our Yard

Took a stroll through the front yard this afternoon – a beautiful, sunny, 95-degree day! Here’s what I saw:

Our new mailbox!

Our front porch chairs (to be sat in this evening when it’s cooler):

Our healthiest rose bush:

Our healthiest lantanas (native plants that can handle deathly climates like ours):

And a quick glance at the Nunnery’s bright daytime colors:

I want to get a nun statue to mount in the front garden…

Life in Homewood Heights

So we’ve been in our new house for a week! While it felt very weird for the first few days (specifically the fact that “we own this place”), it’s starting to feel more like home as we slowly get rid of boxes. Our days have been highlighted by visits from our new Eastside neighbors, IKEA furniture assembly, and realizing there’s no maintenance department to fix the chips we’ve made in the walls. It’s been so much fun.

I would like to speak in this post of how wonderful our new neighborhood is. Before finding this house I didn’t realize Homewood Heights existed – indeed, the small neighborhood (only four streets) is tucked away atop a hill between 12th and Oak Springs, with two entrances and three dead ends. At our previous apartment, it was hard for us to build community with those around us, especially since everyone else had kids. While our new neighborhood is similarly diverse (since we’re a part of gentrification, this will be an interesting sociological experience – much more to say in another post here), we’ve been happy to meet at least 8 different neighbors so far – and look forward to a wine-and-weeding party at the neighborhood Community Garden this week.

Those we’ve met have had nothing but good things to say about Homewood Heights, commonly including (1) it’s a small neighborhood where everyone knows each other; (2) it’s full of friendly folks; (3) everyone walks “the loop” at night, which on Google Maps is Sol Wilson/Oakgrove/Crest/Ridgeway streets; (4) everyone rides their bike to run errands; (5) everyone has mailboxes on their house or on the street (our new mailbox is the old-style curb-side mailbox with the little red flag on the side!).

So we’re really happy we’ve been blessed with a nice neighborhood in the location we wanted, and thankful we know people around us. We hope we can stay here for a long time. The market tells us to do that anyway…

We’re Closing Tomorrow!

It’s been so long since we updated! And what to say? There’s much to say, actually – and the news is exciting enough to serve in part (maybe?) as an excuse for not posting for so long.

We’re closing on a house tomorrow (!!!). We can hardly believe it. We conceived the idea to buy a house last fall, going as far as hiring a realtor before we thought “is this really feasible right now?” Turns out, it is. And after two foiled (and stressful) attempts to buy two other not-so-good properties, we’re thankful for a gem of a first home.

Our new house sits atop a beautiful East Austin hill, roughly 1.8 miles from the State Capitol:

The house (after tomorrow’s closing titled “The Nunnery,” and for now referred to as “our ridiculously adorable house”) is a remodeled 1947 bungalow (before/after pictures here) – very typical on the Eastside, where older homes are getting makeovers left and right. The builder of the home has told us the tiny little neighborhood (Homewood Heights) is full of young married couples and families who have lived there for a long time. We’re looking forward to meeting lots of neighbors and being in fellowship with the community (please pray for this), which has, I must say here, a community garden!

We’re very excited – mainly about having a dishwasher, a washer/dryer, and non-window-unit AC – and want all of you to visit us! And we have something new and exciting to blog about now, so you’ll probably see a lot more updates in the coming weeks (empty promise for now).

Moving On Up to the Eastside

Effective June 30, 2011, we’ve got to be moved out of our first home in UT’s Brackenridge Apartments. Honestly, we won’t miss it much. It feels like home now, but it’s not where we want to be long-term. The old tile floors, window A/C units, and vintage Brady Bunch stove remind us of this daily. Bottom line, we know we’re moving next year – so we’ve started planning early.

We’re planning to buy a house. I know, it’s ambitious – believe me, we’ve agreed to take a calculated risk. It’s possible, though. We’re very excited.

Our realtor, our loan officer, and nearly everyone else we’ve run our plan by say we’ve got a great plan: buy a small, renovated Eastside home while they’re still affordable for fresh-out-of-college types with jobs like me, live comfortably in a small place, and wait for property values to jump. Some Eastside neighborhoods, divided harshly street-by-street, are being heralded as the next Hyde Park or Bouldin Creek. Our hope is to find a small home in one of these “up-and-coming” niches and be able to settle in for a nice investment in a decade’s time. The benefits? Living close to all our friends from Salina Street Church and living in biking distance from all of our favorite Austin attractions and eateries. Additionally, we’ve already made an investment with our church in the community East of 35. The neighborhood is special to us.

But let’s not jump the gun here…there’s still much to be done and much to be learned. At least it’s an exciting process!