Adventures in Landscaping....part 2

Today we redid some of the landscaping in our front yard. This post is called "Part 2" because in 2009, we did the landscaping in our front yard for the first time. However, we didn't have the best idea of what we liked and what to do so what we had done in 2009 had not aged well. Instead of using stones or mulch, we used soil pep. Which is just another way of saying soil. Which means that even with weed cloth underneath it, it really is still just chunky soil so when seeds land on top of it, they grow. Also, our grass was encroaching on our flower beds, helped by the soil pep.

So we decided to take up the soil pep and old weed cloth (which we hadn't done the best job with) and re-line the beds with brick instead of that black plastic tubing. We also had a big gap between our deck and the ground that looked scary and liked to grow weeds so we closed that off as well.

I forgot to take before pictures so I just have during and after but I'll try to explain it as best as I can.

This picture is during. We had taken up the soil pep and weed cloth. So for a before picture, imagine more dirt and weeds.


Here is my handsome husband building the brick wall for under the deck.


Also during. The brick border and wall being put in place.


I had to make a quick run to the store when we pulled up some weed cloth and found an ant's nest. It was icky. I was very excited that I found this all natural bug killer though. It actually worked really well! And it was made from lemon seed oil so it smelled really good after we sprayed it. And it is totally safe to use around animals. Unless they are bugs. Ha!



We are dog sitting Rowdy this weekend and he was exhausted by all the yard work!


Siri was also quite helpful.


We had to make a quick run back to the store because we needed more rocks.


And done! Here is the left side.


Here is the right side!


The whole project.


And from the other side so you can see the wall better.


Then we celebrated the completion of our hard work!


And then we took those two adorable dogs to the park! They swam for well over an hour and we tuckered them right out. It was their reward for being so patient and well behaved while we worked all day. And it was our reward to have two exhausted dogs that wouldn't cause us any trouble after a long day's work!


It was a hard day but a good day and we are so happy to have this big project behind us!

3rd Anniversary

Today Henry and I celebrated our third anniversary! I can't believe it has been three years since this:



In those three years we've honeymooned here:



Bought this:



Vacationed here:



And survived this:



Henry has been studying here:



and I started working and studying here:



We've enjoyed countless, precious moments with him:



and been woken up many times by him:



All that brings us to this:



A day to remember where we began, and look forward to where we're going.

Happy Anniversary to the best husband a girl could ever ask for!

Playing catch up...again.

I can't believe it's been 3.5 months since I've posted! Time has just been flying by. Henry and I finished busy semesters at school and we both have the summer off! Henry has been going to school for almost 2 years straight without a break so he is getting a much deserved long break from school. The plan for him is to go straight through until graduation after this summer so hopefully this break rejuvenates him and provides a much needed rest!

My school plans have taken a bit of a change. The closer I got to student teaching, the less I felt like teaching! It's not that I don't want to teach, it's just that I don't want to quit my job! I love my job and have such a great time doing it. I work with wonderful people, have great benefits and like what I do. In addition, I get free tuition....sooo...I decided to switch gears and get a Masters. I was back in an English class this last semester and I loved it SOOO much! It was my first time back in one since I graduated in 2004 (how has it already been 7 years!!!) and from the first week of the class, I started thinking about a Master's in English. A Master's would help me progress in my current job, and would allow me to teach at the college level if I wanted to do that. Did I mention free tuition? I have a really hard time passing up free tuition. I might just stay there and keep getting Master's and just rack up the degrees. :)

So after school ended in early May, I spent a few weeks preparing for the GRE which I took right before Memorial Day. I haven't received the written scores back yet but I got a 630 each on Math and Verbal. I have to say I was REALLY surprised. From my test preparation, I was not feeling very confident. Maybe the make the practice tests really hard on purpose. Although, I would love to see the video of me taking the test because there were definitely times where I had no idea what they were asking and was making faces and dramatic gestures. So I was truly surprised and happy when that 1260 popped up. I should know the written scores by this Friday and I'm hoping they're good too. I'm actually feeling a little more confident in those. Now I just need to finish the application process! I need to write my entrance essay and scrounge up a writing sample. My motivation to write an essay write now is non existent after being out of school for a month. Hopefully it shows up soon because the deadline is July 1!

Henry and I have lots of big projects and fun plans for the summer! We will be redoing some landscaping, drywalling our garage, and doing some organization projects inside the house. When we moved in and unpacked we kind of just put things anywhere and now things are getting a little chaotic. We went shopping today to plan out and pick out our new landscaping stuff and I am so excited to get it started!

We also have a very busy travel time coming up! We have a trip to the farm at the end of June, a trip to Boise over 4th of July and a trip to California in the middle of July. We have 4 weekends of travel in a row! That's big for us...we're homebodies. :)

So that's about it for now. I'll try to stay more current and take pictures of our fun adventures and projects this summer. In the meantime, here are some picture of a hike to the M that Siri and I took a couple weeks ago.

One of the views on the way down:


I had to climb over that rock formation.

Siri acting more like a happy mountain goat than a Labrador: