A work in progress...

Thought I'd fallen off the face of the Earth, did ya? Nope! I was just buried up to my neck in sand and dirt and SOD! I'm SO EXCITED!

We built this house almost SEVEN years ago, and had starry eyed fantasies about how easy it would be to finish the back yard. We had no clue the amount of work and the money we would sink into it! But, we made huge improvements this year. (Mind you, all of this dirt is left after we had TWENTY TONS of sand hauled away!)

BEFORE:

DURING:

We were so lucky and incredibly grateful to have so many people help us out! My family was there, Cris' dad and some friendly neighbors! Thanks for putting in the hard work, everyone!

I think we picked the hottest day of the year so far for the work. There was a little bit of sunburn, lots of sweat, and sore muscles the next day. Thanks for helping put this "vision" into reality!

AFTER:

I have some grand ideas for filling the planters with lush plants, shading the yard with leafy trees and growing moss between all the rocks... but my husband assures me I've spent enough this week! It's taking every ounce of self control I can muster to resist maxing out the credit cards at the nursery. It's that feeling of being so close!

We still need to put in a few cement pads, acquire some patio furniture and some lighting, then is Bar-B-Que time! Wahoo!