Yard Update Day 2

We started this morning around 9:30 and made some really good progress. Today our main goal was to fix the grading, install the trim, and pretty much have things ready to go so tomorrow all we need to do is put in the weed guard and the mulch...




Landscaping is tiring...




"Stop messing up my yard. I had it the way I wanted it..."

Friday's Update

Bryon spent much of his first day with no classes working out on the project in the yard. Here are some pictures from today, although they were from mid-day...we got a bit more done after we took these...(not a lot more to say, but more pictures to come tomorrow!)

Landscaping - Before Pictures - Part 2

So right after we took the last pictures in July, we started to prep for what we knew was inevitable...the project this weekend. Here are pictures from tonight, as we were placing the bushes and the ornamental grass where we plan on putting them. But this way you can see the shape it is in at this point... I should also warn you that I am experimenting with a different way to do our posts...I want to try to make the pictures much bigger and more colorful and I think I FINALLY figured out how to do that...Hope it works!!!! (Fingers crossed)

The before...

I know it has been a long time since we have updated the blog. Poor Bryon has been studying like crazy, and Maggie has been working on planning the next major project that we are doing at our house. (Which will happen next weekend).

Next weekend we are planning on completely landscaping our back patio. And when I say back patio, I mean all along the back of the house and around the patio. Not only that, but we are going to correct some grading issues that we had (causing some foundations problems (more on that in a minute). In a couple of weeks (probably either Labor Day weekend or the weekend after) we will use a temporary fence and block off half of the back yard (poor Roxie won't know what to do) and we are going to re-seed half of the back yard and hope (fingers crossed) that we will have success the first time instead of having to re-do it like we had to 3 times with the front yard.

Anyway...the before pictures:

This is the view of the back patio from earlier this summer (only slightly...okay REALLY overgrown with weeds)
This is the area around the air conditioner. We had to block off part of it to make sure that Roxie couldn't get to any of the wires or connections.
The view looking left from the patio.

The view looking right from the patio.

A closer view of the weeds.The view of the part of the backyard that we are going to strip and replace. We had the trees trimmed earlier this summer, which we think *might* make it where grass will actually grow here now.
Another view of the part of the yard we are going to re-do. What you see there now is completely covered in weeds. This was taken before the foundation repair. Now this has been completely stripped and the foundation was repaired (see the next part of the blog.)
In mid-July, we had one wall on our foundation repaired. Although we didn't get a lot of pictures during, I was amused around 1 pm at the pure amount of machinery that was in front of the house and in the yard. We had a bobcat (which broke down), a cement truck, the bobcat repair person, a structural engineer and I think a few others, all at the house at the same time...so I took pictures. Luckily, they didn't hurt the yard too much (especially after all of the work we have put into the yard the past few years).

Busy First Two Months of Marriage

Wow, things have really been hectic for us since the wedding. We figured that in the nearly two and a half months that we have been married, Maggie has been in town for only four weeks. Gotta love a job that travels. School is starting pick up for me as well, especially since we are at midterm. And it only gets busier for us the next few months. Maggie travels this coming week and is in town for about a month and a half before going back out of town for about four weeks. During this time period, I will be finishing this trimester with regular tests and then finals, then on into studying and taking Part I of the National Boards for Chiropractic. Yeah, fun times all around. And then, after all that, Maggie will be studying and taking the last of her big commissioning tests for her work. All the while, we are working in our backyard when we can, re-landscaping, killling, and reseeding the lawn. I think we will be glad when Novemeber comes around...heck, for that matter, we probably won't get a break until Chirstmas.

On the upside, we were able to get away for a weekend to Connecticut. I was a groomsman in my friend Ben's wedding. He and his wife Sarah, had their ceremony at her parents house, which, I must say was absolutely beautiful. It was definitely a wedding that will always stick out in our minds as one of the most lavish and amazing weddings that we will ever attend. We congratulate Ben and Sarah for their nuptials and hope they had an outstanding honeymoon and we thank Sarah's family for opening up their homes to all of us and being outstanding hosts and Ben's family for being just as hospitable all these years.

Calf Pasture Beach at Long Island Sound in Connecticut.

Big, expensive house along Long Island Sound.

Us at Calf Pasture Beach.

Brandon and Lindsay (friends from high school).

Maggie, Brandon, and Lindsay had never been to IKEA before...until now.

Ben and Sarah at the rehearsal party - after recieving gifts for the honeymoon.


Brandon and Lindsay with a dash of Ben.

The reception setup.

These were some inpressive porta-potties.
Inside the porta-potties.

The newlyweds.
Our place card next to a "Sarahtini".

Short Update

We know it has been awhile, but things have been a bit crazy. We are trying to settle down into married life, but between school and work it has been tough to get a routine fixed. We are planning on renovating our backyard this summer (and we finished our "clean up" of the front yard), so we will post more of that soon!

I have been out of town for the last two weeks for work, the first one, fairly local, and the second trip was to Denver. (A few pictures from the Denver trip to follow later).

We plan on a long blog update after this weekend. We are headed out to Connecticut to see our friends Ben and Sarah get married! I promise a ton of pictures to follow.

I am also working on updating our blog template to try to make it more "picture friendly" (I want BIG HUGE pictures instead of little tiny ones). Give it time...and it will happen...

And now...Pictures...


This was my first trip to Rockies Stadium...
We had the cheap seats...aka the Rock Pile WAY out in the outfield...