Checking out Santa Cruz

Steve and Lisa have had a couple of wonderful things happen in their lives recently including their moving into a really nice rental house and Steven being accepted into UC Santa Cruz's Master's program in Chemistry. I don't want to steal any of their thunder but did want to show by way of this small photo essay what we thought of their recent move.

As you can see from the above picture, they have a back yard - not huge but bigger than many $1 million houses have.

During our recent visit there Steve and Lisa shared with us some of the planting they have been doing to get the most out of their space. Here Steven was explaining that their citrus is a dwarf that they have transplanted from a 1 gallon to a 5 gallon pot by the deck.

Other than some very pretty flowers, this potted plant has some very sharp needles - on BOTH sides of the leaves. Steve also showed me how, once the leave and dried up the needles look even more threatening.


Inside, we got a tour of how much more space they have in their living room and entertainment center. And this is in spite of the bunny condominium between the couch and the stairway:
The condos are even more luxurious than they appear as many of them are actually two-storied affairs. Steve and Lisa have laid down laminate flooring outside the condos to make cleaning up a little easier.
Upstairs we saw that they have even more space available so they don't have to put away Lisa's hobby in order for Steve or work on his or vice versa. We were impressed with all the storage and their usage thereof.
Our final treat for the day (lunch at Hula's was an earlier treat) was a demonstration of the Wii guitar and drum playing game. I couldn't picture how playing musical instruments could be part of a game. They almost has us convinced to get a Wii set.

Thanks, Lisa and Steve for setting aside one of your Sundays to entertain and visit with us and give us such a good introduction to your new home.