our backyard is practically complete!

yes, it's true! it's crazy to see how much progress we made from just a few months back when our yard was a dirt pile covered in snow. i can't take much credit for the sweaty physical labor (okay, pretty much none at all), so a big thanks to jason and his dad! :)

once the patio itself was complete, our biggest challenge was finding a patio set that didn't break the bank. $800 for the standard matchy-matchy table and chairs that everyone else has? no, thanks! we spent several days visiting lots of different big box stores, home stores, and department stores looking for the perfect addition to our yard. there was one day where we actually visited 2 different targets a total of 4 times just to pick out our chairs! (they were on clearance, too!) we found the chairs first, which actually made it a little easier to find a table. the table came from meijer, of all places! (also on clearance, hooray!) the umbrella was half-off at at home. (the store!)

finding flowers was the easy part, and i must say, i know nothing about flowers. at all. did you know annual flowers don't come back every year? well, i didn't. luckily, it's that time of year when flowers are on sale because they've already been in bloom for several months and can no longer stand the hot weather. we picked up a few different species (is it okay to call them that? i don't want to get overly scientific) at menards and goeberrt's farm, and decided we'll leave the more creative gardening for next spring!

all we have left is to create a step or slope connecting our back gate to the patio, as well as adding some grass to the (unpictured) right of it! jason also has plans to build a bench out of cinder blocks and wood that will sit next to the back steps leading in and out of the house.

for now, we will finally enjoy sitting on our new patio with a drink in hand! yay!

our patio before we bought the umbrella!

showing off our pretty seat cushions from target!

pretty flowers from menards and goebbert's farm.

more flowers!

june progress report

okay, so i may not be the best at keeping up with this little blog of mine. uh oh.

here's a progress report since the last time i posted:

1) we've been working on our backyard! (okay, maybe i haven't been doing much, but jason most definitely has!) when we moved in, we were given a wide-open dirt pile to work with. it sounded really bad at first, but once we realized we had the freedom to do anything we wanted, that made it all better. we decided we were going to build ourselves a patio (i use *we* loosely) and decorate the rest of the yard with wood chips, rocks, flowers, herbs, and you know, other yard stuff! the photo above is from a few weeks ago, and i'm happy to say we are much further along! the patio is complete and the rest is underway. in fact, jason is outside working on it as i write this (don't tell him that).

the huge pallet of sand and stones that made our patio what it is today!

the much dreaded first day of work.

2) i painted our front doors! we have french-style front doors which made it double the fun. we were taking a walk this spring and saw that there were a few houses in our association with colorful doors, so we did it, too! i have a thing for teal (obviously), so i chose a brighter shade and went for it. it's not 100% complete, it still needs some touching up around the ends, but it looks amazing. below is a photo from paint day! i will post another photo of both doors soon.

3) we installed a mirror and floating shelf in our dining room and i'm in love with it! it's home to a few picture frames, a candle, jason's grandfather's antique whiskey glasses, a terrarium, and more! plus, the mirror brings so much extra light into the room, especially with the chandelier on.

that's all for now! finishing up the backyard, going to start working on the front yard, hoping to finish up my office (it's in progress and will actually be put to use soon - photos coming!), and also our bedroom. 

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