This is where we used to live

The other night, LG and I got lucky and had AD home for one more night than expected, so the three of us made an impromptu trip to the downtown district of the town we used to live in (we now live one suburb closer to the D) for some ice cream from the fabulous Dairy King. When we lived over there three/four years ago, AD used to make me climb on the back of a tiny moped to get ice cream (it was embarrassing, and a high school acquaintance asked if she had seen me riding around town on the thing when I ran into her at a concert a couple years ago—but the ice cream was worth it). These days, we travel by hatchback or truck (much less embarrassing), and after ice cream, we usually cruise past the old rental house on our way home.

So we had our ice cream and were heading down the street, past

-  the “green house” where the owners had painted VOTE OBAMA on their front window 

   during that election and had rain barrels that I coveted (but now I have my own!), past

-  the “yuppie house” where the twin golden doodles lived with the yuppies who would never 

   acknowledge you when you greeted them on the street, past

-  the “crazy garden house” where the yard had more square footage of red, pink and purple 

   flowers than grass, past

-  the “weirdo house” with the spray bombed ‘80s Suburban and an array of greasy looking young men working on cars well into the night in the dark garage (and I’m pretty sure someone was living out of a small RV in the driveway for several months).

What’s funny is that I can easily identify a yuppie, crazy garden and weirdo house in our current neighborhood. I’ll have to look for a green house, though my neighbors might say it’s our house when they see AD siphoning water from our second story bathroom into aforementioned rain barrel… Anyways, all of those houses were still there and from the looks of it, were still inhabited by the same people. However, as we continued down the street, we realized that the little blue bungalow where we used to live was not. Not there.

It was a little blue bungalow (our third blue rental house in as many years) with a deteriorating foundation, a creepy cellar under the front porch, a detached garage made sturdy by some sort of cable system, a yard full of dog poo to pick up, and the endless sidewalks of a city corner lot to shovel. But that house was cozy. The second story master bedroom was long and narrow, with gabled ceilings and room for a sitting area. Though we lived there for a year and a half and experienced each of the seasons, my memories of life there seem to be from winter; maybe because I spent the first three months (January - March) and another month (March) the following year at home looking for a job (and believe me, with the exception of this past winter, March is definitely still winter in Michigan).

This is where, two weeks into his new job, AD split the seat of his pants at work and I had to take him another pair of pants (boy was he lucky I wasn't working at the time. He will probably be mad that I included this detail of our life on Evergreen Street, but it's a memory I don't want to forget, 'cuz it was hilarious).

This is where I learned to love a yellow living room (the cove ceilings were a bonus; currently on my second yellow living room with cove ceilings).

This is where AD got the nickname Pee-pie during a game of Scrabble with my brother and I.

(in aforementioned yellow living room)

This is where AD tried his hand at a paver patio and roofing the garage.

AD's patio and our new grill

Enjoying smoked brisket and ribs with Nana, Mom, Dad, and BZ

This is where we came home one day to find a giant pile of wet wood chips in our side yard. Luckily, our neighbor across the street was the city building inspector, had an idea who had dumped it there, and made the pile disappear.

This where AD also tried out a Nascar-esque mustache (momentarily. Again, AD is going to be mad at me for putting this in here, but I've been waiting four years to use this picture for something).

 
This is where we brought our new [to us] pop-up home (with an El Camino, ha!), set it up, and then slept in it for the first night because it was Halloween and we were worried someone could vandalize it. That winter, AD also pulled it into the garage and deflated the tires so we could set it up and "camp" in the garage. He then showed me how to set a tire back on its rim using carb cleaner and a lighter.

Notice the house and the garage in the background. Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of the El Camino; this pic is from "Poppy's" maiden voyage the following spring.

This is where we learned to brew (and bottle) beer.

This is where AD shotputted our cooler across the backyard because I scratched his car with it. We no longer have that car (black Subaru pictured above), but he put a gauge in my car (which I still drive) with the lawnmower a few years later, so I'd say we're even.

This is where AD scared the crud out of some people who were trying to get in our front door in the middle of the night [by opening the door with no clothes on and a rifle in hand].

This is where I came home after I got laid off.

This is where SG would hop down the stairs from our bedroom to the first floor, and left two little paw indentations in the carpet on the right side of each stair.

I don't have a pic of the paw prints; I hope this pic of SG that Halloween will do.

This is where we realized that we would probably be staying in Michigan for the next few years, and decided we'd better find a less expensive place if we were ever going to save up enough money to buy our own place.