Pictures of our hard work

Due to a few requests, I have decided to post some pictures of our new and improved yard. We are basically done with the work we want to do, with the exception of a large project in the backyard. We want to turn the whole back part of it (in front of the brick fence) into a flower bed with river rocks and potted plants, etc. That will come later, as I think we will hire someone to carry in and spread the 100 bags of rocks!

The first is of the front of the house. It shows where we ripped out the big bushes and made flower beds with purple periwinkles.

The next is a close up view of the new flower beds. I also chopped some pieces of this really cool bush in the backyard off, stuck them in a vase of water for a week, and they grew new roots! So then I planted them in the front and they will turn into new bushes. Pretty sweet!

The back is where we have done the most work! We ripped a HUGE overgrowth of ivy off of the deck. It took us 4 hours to remove and bundle up. Now we just want to build a tin roof on the top :) Here is the first picture:

The next picture is a view of the whole backyard. We removed 4 rose bushes, another huge bush, and a bunch of grapevines growing on the brick fence. We also trimmed a bunch of trees that were hanging over our yard from the neighbor's yard with Kevin's new pole saw that is "the coolest thing ever." We are so domestic.

Last is a picture of our adorable dogs enjoying a sunny day in their new backyard. We love them so much!!!

In other news, my family is arriving at about noon tomorrow!! I am so excited to see them and for them so see our house. It is strange that we have lived here almost 2 months and they have yet to see it. But I forgive them, because they have been super busy! Then my sister is going to stay with me for a whole week, and it is going to be awesome! Then, I'm driving her back so San Antonio and I'll stay for almost a week to visit with some friends back home. It is going to be a great couple of weeks! And then school will be back in no time...

Tonight I'm headed out with the "tres amigas" and some other friends to sushi and karaoke. Last week I actually sang by myself, which if you know me, you know it a huge deal. We'll see how confident I'm feeling tonight.