I was going to save this post until after we've finished our backyard patio area, but that could be a few more weeks at the rate we're going (difficult to find time for Jared's help with yard projects when he's working a very busy hospital rotation). I'll still do a complete post about our finished patio/pergola when it's 100% finished, but for now here are some progress shots!
A month or two ago I stumbled across a picture of a very simple black pergola somewhere in Italy. It was made of two black metal rods coming out of the ground, and then another two rods attaching to the home. It was open on all sides, but grape vines grew up the legs and over the top of the pergola to provide shade and greenery. Beneath the pergola was a long table where this Italian family would have dinners together and with friends. It was a light bulb moment for me and I realized that the thing I wanted for my birthday was an outdoor living space so I could spend all my summer evenings outdoors under the ever-starry Wyoming sky! A bonus would be a nice long table to host dinners with my whole family. But seeing as we live 7 hours away from the nearest family and our patio is only 10'x10', a cute little lounge area would have to do. Maybe we'll have a bigger patio and a longer outdoor table for family at our next house, and live close enough to have everyone over for dinner occasionally!
^^This is our patio "before" shot. Hopefully I'll have a solid, completed "after" shot by the end of May. We've still got a good amount of work to do on the finishing touches though.
^^The Jareds breaking ground on the project. They spent a good few hours at the hardware store picking out the perfect supplies before this. I'm so grateful I didn't have to figure out any logistics, and that Dad brought has truck to transport it all. What a great birthday present.
^^Jared digging the post holes. Dad walking under our janky ladder that we found abandoned in a nearby empty lot. Luv this phase of life haha
^^Big thanks to Dad for bringing all the power tools. We own a jigsaw and dad's old drill, but they weren't going to cut it for this project.
^^Jack enjoying an ice cream sandwich moments before Savvy snatched the whole thing away in one bite. We avoided a meltdown when Grandpa shared the rest of his with Jack.
^^Coming along! There are holes in our house now, no going back!
^^The finished product, concrete poured and everything. They did it all in one day! I'm so impressed they were able to make this happen so quickly. It's going to look a lot more filled in once we have our bistro lights hung tightly from a wire all across the top to look almost like beams. I'm considering cutting off the foot that hangs out over the ends. It would be perfect in a traditional pergola, but I think since ours is so simple I might have to cut them to commit to a more simplified/modern pergola feel. I'll see how I feel after everything else is finished. We are also going to stain it black, and we're in the process of building two planter boxes to attach around a corner, which will hold honeysuckle vines climbing up a trellis and eventually growing over the top, plus some other plants. I can feel my gardening genes coming in. This will be my first outdoor planting experience and i'm getting very excited. Jared also planted a LOT more grass seed this week, and we'll fertilize in a month or so. By the end of the summer our backyard will look amazing, mark my words!
^^Grandpa reading Jack his favorite "Maps" book while he gets ready for bed.
^^I wish I'd gotten a better picture of this, but I hope I can hold onto a picture of this moment in my memory forever! It was the morning of Mother's Day, and while the rest of us got showered and ready, Jared took Jack on a short walk around the neighborhood. Jack insisted on picking "Edelweiss" (actually dandelions) for Mama and Bama. When they got home he came running in, big smile on his face, wearing his plaid jammies tucked into his blue winter boots. Both fists were full of dandelions. He brought one fistful to me and ran the other fistful over to my mom. Jack's mischievious, but he really is such a sweet, polite, thoughtful boy.
^^Jack "helping" Grandma with her Mother's Day hydrangea. I'm so grateful I could spend Mother's Day with my wonderful Mom this year. She is the best mother and grandmother in the world, and I'm not saying that just because I'm biased. She does the best job of keeping our family together with dinners and traditions, and the grandkids just adore her. I love you Mom!
^^Mother's Day swinging at a park by where the pioneers crossed over the North Platte River. I love that we get a good bit of pioneer history in Casper.
^^Grandpa getting one last play session in with Jack. Next time they come visit this dirt will all be grass! We'll keep a patch of dirt on the side of the house for Jack to play with his dump trucks in.
^^Goodbye Mom and Dad! Thank you so much for making my 28th birthday weekend the best ever!
Ok so don't judge the patio for how it looks here. In hindsight I think I'd prefer to have the pergola be a bit shorter/smaller to be more proportional to the house, but oh well. This is our practice yard. I've been taking an online interior design class through Casper College and I put together a mood board for the patio furniture, lighting, rug, etc. It's going to look magical when everything's in. So far we have this beautiful outdoor table that Jared's parents gifted me for my birthday, and a beautiful outdoor sofa that Jared got me. After the cafe lights, planter boxes, and trellises are in place, we'll stain the wood black, bring out our arched rattan shelf, and fill it with plants and a small fire pit. I can't wait to show you!
A month or two ago I stumbled across a picture of a very simple black pergola somewhere in Italy. It was made of two black metal rods coming out of the ground, and then another two rods attaching to the home. It was open on all sides, but grape vines grew up the legs and over the top of the pergola to provide shade and greenery. Beneath the pergola was a long table where this Italian family would have dinners together and with friends. It was a light bulb moment for me and I realized that the thing I wanted for my birthday was an outdoor living space so I could spend all my summer evenings outdoors under the ever-starry Wyoming sky! A bonus would be a nice long table to host dinners with my whole family. But seeing as we live 7 hours away from the nearest family and our patio is only 10'x10', a cute little lounge area would have to do. Maybe we'll have a bigger patio and a longer outdoor table for family at our next house, and live close enough to have everyone over for dinner occasionally!
Ok so don't judge the patio for how it looks here. In hindsight I think I'd prefer to have the pergola be a bit shorter/smaller to be more proportional to the house, but oh well. This is our practice yard. I've been taking an online interior design class through Casper College and I put together a mood board for the patio furniture, lighting, rug, etc. It's going to look magical when everything's in. So far we have this beautiful outdoor table that Jared's parents gifted me for my birthday, and a beautiful outdoor sofa that Jared got me. After the cafe lights, planter boxes, and trellises are in place, we'll stain the wood black, bring out our arched rattan shelf, and fill it with plants and a small fire pit. I can't wait to show you!
My Mom and Dad came to visit over the weekend for my birthday/Mother's Day! I have the best parents in the world. We had a great time. My Dad and Jared built me a pergola while they were here, and Jack is distraught that grandma and grandpa aren't here to play with him and watch shows with him anymore. I have a few more finishing touches to put on the pergola (furniture in, build a planter, hang bistro lights), but I will do a post all about it next week when everything is (hopefully) in place. I'm so impressed they were able to build it all in a day. For now, Jack is about to wake up and we have a busy day ahead, so here are some picture of Jackster on my memory card from last week..
Finally, our pictures from visiting Cedar City a month ago! Look how pretty Cedar City is:
Last month we drove to Utah so Jared could have a casual interview with a family practice clinic in Cedar City. Prior to this I had done some extensive research on all the family practice clinics in every city across the state of Utah--big cities, tiny rural towns, and everything in-between. I made a list comparing each town's population with the number of family physicians in that town, and I determined that a handful of towns looked to have a definite family physician shortage. This is what my brains are used for now haha. I actually love doing stuff like that. Anyway, Cedar City topped my list. From the numbers, they had what looked like half as many family physicians as they needed in a rapidly growing community.
The reason I did this research in the first place is that we would love to move to Utah after residency, but Utah pays their family physicians quite a bit less than surrounding states--enough less that we would be living pretty tight trying to chip away at Jared's med school debt for several decades. Oftentimes rural communities that have a doctor shortage will pay doctors more, so we thought we'd explore that possibility in Utah. Fortunately, Cedar City fit this bill AND seemed like the exact type of place we would love to live. It's beautiful, within close proximity to several gorgeous national and state parks, has lots of fun college town stuff going on, lots of mountains and hiking right in town, is close to sunny St. George and also a ski resort, and is within 3 hours of family. So Jared e-mailed his resume to every family practice in Cedar City, and pretty soon we heard back from one of them!
However, when all was said and done, me and Jared agreed that we probably wouldn't actively pursue the job for now. The salary number they pitched Jared was barely more than he could get paid in Utah Valley. Since our top priority with Jared's next job is to make enough to chip away most of his debt, we just don't think we could justify it. Bummer--we really like Cedar City and the drive there is beautiful. But if we were willing to settle for the number they gave us, we'd probably just go straight to Utah Valley for our next move. Still, we're keeping them on the back-burner until we've explored all other job locations we're considering. More on that later! Anyway, it was a fun day and hopefully we'll be able to spend more time around Cedar City in the future. Here are some unrelated pictures I haven't posted yet from Jack dying Easter eggs in Utah:
Jared has also been in touch with a hospital in Elko, NV. They are in desperate need of family physicians, and it's good to get multiple offers in this industry, both to know what's out there and for negotiating. This hospital sent Jared a packet full of brochures and info a few weeks ago and has been trying to get him there for an interview. Mom tells me that Elko is a hole of a town, but we've never been and we're open to giving it a chance. Technically Evanston is a hole of a town too, but for our next job we're open to "holes of towns" if the offers are right and they're close enough to family. Plus, Elko has some really pretty mountains nearby. I'm excited to go see them for ourselves. Jared will be able to take a few days off in June, so he's been e-mailing back and forth with Elko to see if he can set up an interview then.
I think our last consideration for Jared's next job is to keep poking around in and around Utah Valley to see if any interesting offers pop up. We'll keep in touch with the doctors he knows there up until we feel like it's really time to get signing! A recruiter has given Jared's resume to clinics in Nephi and Spanish Fork. We'd love to interview there. So far no word from either clinic, but we'll wait and keep checking in.
So anyway, that's where we are now. I'll check in on the subject again if/after we visit Elko next month!
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