John & Hannah Are Moving In!

We are so excited !! They'll be living with us starting August 1st.

Southern Cities Road Trip to Nashville

Tree Trimming: The Good Neighbor

As you know, there has been a tree growing into our house. We’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to discuss this with our neighbors. It came on Friday while Ben and I were having long islands on the front porch after a long week at work.

I suggested to our neighbor that I call a few contractors to compare bids in this upcoming week.

He said that he’d trim the tree on Saturday.

This isn’t a small tree. He’s not a professional (read: licensed) tree trimmer. He seemed pretty certain, though, so we agreed that he would work on it this weekend - even though we were going out of town.

I was not sure what to expect when I got home last night, but I was fairly surprised to not have downed power lines or a tree branch through our roof. He cut the tree back so that the larger limbs are no longer putting pressure on the roof. I’m still not sure how to properly thank him helping us in this huge way.

Before/After

I did the research and DC does have yard waste pickup, so getting rid of this shouldn't be too much of a problem:

No Central AC

Summer is here and so is the heat. I keep reminding myself that people have been living in this house without central air for the last 91 years.

We bought a few AC units from friends. Like most things, they sat on the dining room floor until we had friends over for dinner one night.

Our windows aren't ancient, but the springs are all broken. So in order to keep a window open, it has to be popped. Having a window unit in our bedroom makes a world of difference. Plus it blocks out the street noise! I feel really blessed.