the great outdoors

i suspect that you're shocked to see me posting again. if you haven't completely written me off, maybe you even wonder where i've been. i wish i could tell you that i'd been sunning in st. john (uh hum) or something like that but i've been working my tail off outside. we are so proud of the way our house has changed over the last two years. we have worked so hard to make both inside and outside reflect how grateful we are to live in such a wonderful place. we take a lot of pride in our home and i believe it shows.

over the last month we have marked a ton of projects off what started out as a LONG to-do list (and i won't even bore you with the inside list)...there is a short project list that still remains but we've made amazing headway. so far we've:

• completely redone our front porch (stripped, sanded, refinished and painted the floors, railings and columns)
  
• cut down trees and ripped out an entire section of a huge flower bed that was ugly and served no purpose (i am sorry i do not have a good "before" picture of this area. it was hideous and the transformation is amazing)
  
• moved 35 cubic yards of mulch into all of our flower beds and the new playgroud we made for wil
• created a new playground area for wil that we have big dreams for
  
• painted the shed
• weeded and cleared out all dead brush
• planted all flower pots, window boxes and placed some new plants in the ground
• cleaned all gutters (thanks ry...it was a gross job)

we've done it all ourselves and it's felt great. we have worked every night after wil has gone to bed and i have worked through every nap. we feel great about what we've accomplished and we cannot wait to see it all complete. still on the list:

• ryan is installing a fence on two sides of our shed giving me a private potting area, plus storage that will be out of site (not to mention...OUT OF SIIIIIIIIIIGHT & DY-NO-MITE!)
  
• a bluestone landing in front of the shed and a pathway to the potting area gate
• powerwash the house (blah)
• make the tire fort and tire sandbox
• buy and hang a hammock (on the wishlist...not necessarily the to-do list)
  

i feel like i have accomplished amazing things and working with ryan has been so much fun. we've high fived more than i care to admit, had some good laughs and really worked as a team to achieve all of these things. the best thing is this: we did it all while managing to find time to hang out with friends, play with wil and get in a few dates. hard work is good for the soul...it has been great for mine.

enjoy this photo gallery of then and now.