Thursday, August 23, 2012

Home Is Where the Heart Is… or is it where the dogs are?

Hanging out in the backyard.
Life as a housewife has commenced. So far, so good!  I haven’t caught the house on fire, and I’ve managed to have lunch/dinner ready when the moneymaker gets home. Those are the requirements, right? It also turns out that with all of the time in the day and not a lot of things to do, I can actually keep a clean house. Who would have thought? Billy has been enjoying his short commute from La Casa Roja (5-10 minutes) and two hour lunch breaks. Life is simple. Life is good.
Billy and I in Cancun
Last Monday-Friday we were in Cancun. It’s an eight hour drive from Ciudad del Carmen. Katy and Memo driving across the Yucatan= awesome! We stayed at the beautiful Fiesta Americana Condesa All-Inclusive Resort. We met some new friends at the pool and hung out with them most of our stay. As some of you probably know, the water in Cancun is beyond gorgeous. It may have been prettier than the water in Antigua; it glowed. We spent our days swimming in the ocean or drinking in the pool and going to dinner at night at the several restaurants on the resort. Billy was also sweet enough to plan a couple’s massage for us on the beach! It was a wonderful few days in paradise, but we were happy to return home with our pups.
The dogs in Cancun at our hotel.
We brought Jake and Mancha home last Friday from Cancun. My generous parents have been keeping them in the US until we settled into our home in Carmen. The dogs flew from Houston to Cancun, where we picked them up to bring them home. The moment we pulled up to La Casa Roja, the dogs LOVED it. It seemed like they knew that we were home. Jake and Mancha ran through every room in the house with what Billy and I swore were smiles on their faces and tails wagging.
My happy place.
Our landlord, Vicky, showed up Saturday morning to bring over some tools for us to use. She asked if Billy knew how to use them, and I giggled. Verdict is still out on that one, haha jk. She also surprised us with a beautiful hammock. I am in LOVE with this hammock. There is something about the bright colors and the character it adds to our backyard. My Mexican home is complete! She told me I could only use it on Saturdays and Sundays. Apparently she doesn’t know my agenda these days. :p

How could you not love this sweet pup?

Billy and I were apprehensive of how Vicky would feel about two pups in her precious backyard/house. With all of our apprehension, not 5 minutes into her visit and 12 hours after the dogs arrived, the owner stepped in DOG POO while hanging up our surprise hammock. DOG POO! I couldn’t believe my eyes. How in the world did she even manage to step in it when both she and the dogs had barely spent any time in the backyard? She was a good sport about it, while I watched, mortified, from the kitchen window. Billy and I had a good laugh about it once it was over. Needless to say, I guess I'll be trying to teach the dogs how to pick up their own mess in my spare time :p.
I’ve always enjoyed the saying “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” I don’t think either of us planned on living in Ciudad del Carmen, but it has been a heck of a way to start our life together. We really love our house in Carmen and can’t wait for all of you to see it in person. We've been getting to know the city so that we can be great tour guides for all of you! We are coming back to Louisiana in September for a visit. We hope to see all of our friends and family… and maybe a little LSU football J. Geaux Tigers!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Real Casa de Landreneau


The interesting and challenging journey of finding our Mexican house began in early May, the week before our wedding. We flew down to Ciudad del Carmen to check out the city to see if we could see ourselves living there. We found a house on that trip and returned home to get married. When we returned from our honeymoon, we were greeted with disappointment. The house that we liked fell through after a few weeks of negotiating. We optimistically thought , “Oh well, we have time.”
On our second trip in the middle of June, we found La Casa Roja after we looked at 15-20 places. Defeated and frustrated, our eyes lit up when we saw its modern, fun exterior with the splash of red color. We immediately asked our realtor if he could show us the inside of “the red house” and that’s how it became La Casa Roja. We instantly fell in love with La Casa Roja and told the realtor, “We will take it!” Apparently that’s not how things work in Mexico. :P
After living in a hotel for a month during negotiations, (getting fat off of Chili’s) we were handed the keys to La Casa Roja on Thursday night. Through the pain and torture of trying to finalize the lease, we could not be more excited to say “We have our Mexican HOME!” It’s the real Casa de Landreneau.
I would venture to say we looked at at least 30 homes in our trips to Carmen. La Casa Roja is absolutely our favorite one, and this process has made me appreciate it so much. If someone just gave us this house, we would never know how special it is. We hope that you love our home as much as we do and that you come to visit soon!



Entry way once you enter the garage
  


The ride!
 

Front door inside the house
 

Our living room/guest bathroom/stairway
 

Dining room/entry way to kitchen
 

One of my faves, the dining room wall

Kitchen where I'll work my magic :)

Our bathtub, unheard of in Carmen.

Back patio where I foresee grilling and chilling

Backyard with our very own palm tree :)