Home Improvements (It is better, right?)

This took forever!

Jason and I have been working hard to make improvements to our yard. Jason's taken a liking to trying to grow things in pots, so as you can probably see in this picture, we now have pots covering a lot of our patio. We added mulch around the edge of the patio; the grass there was sparse at best in most areas, and there is a place that floods right in the middle. Jason is going to build a little "bridge" over the mulch directly in front of the door going out into the yard. It may not look like we've done much, but this is actually the product of several weekends' work.

Along the side of the house, we've planted strawberries. They've been growing well and producing berries, however we haven't gotten to eat any of them because some nasty white slug things keep eating them before we can pick them!

R.I.P

Originally, we planted azaleas on either side of the area where the bridge will go. They died. (Remember how I said one area flooded? Yeah, it still does when it rains a lot, even with the mulch.) So, after the drowning of the azaleas, we decided to plant these rhododendrons instead. Of course, we failed to notice when we purchased these beauties that they are low-light plants. Since they were planted out in the open, all that's left is burnt-to-a-crisp twigs. Oops...

Edgar always enjoys our pursuit of lawn perfection, because he gets to play with all kinds of cool new toys, like this giant piece of mulch he discovered. I'm glad someone gets to have fun!

We also bought a new grill, since we left our old one in El Paso when we moved. Jason was determined to get a charcoal grill (I think he's scared of the gas ones, though he claims it's just because it's annoying to fill the tank). At least it seems to be functional and we haven't destroyed it yet.

So, there you have it. Our new-and-improved backyard paradise. It's a little better, right?

A work in progress...

As you may know, we recently got new furniture for the living room, since our couch was damaged in the move to Illinois. We're still working to get things set up the way we want, but I thought it was decent enough that I could take a few pictures.

The view towards the hallway.

From the dining room. See how we mounted the TV on the wall?

Looking in from the garage door.

(Yes, our DVD player is currently sitting on a box in front of the fireplace. )

View of the sectional from the front door towards the garage.

View from the hall.


Our old TV is still sitting on the floor in the living room.

We don't have anywhere to put it yet!

You can see that we still have some finishing touches to take care of, such as hiding all the wiring to the TV and removing some old stuff from the room, but I'm very happy with all our purchases thus far. It sure beats me and Jason squashed together on the love seat for all those months!

(Oh, and don't worry Michelle. That super nice TV stand is still in the room, next to the sectional with the cable box on it. We just couldn't part with it so soon! Ha!)

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

I haven't written in a while, but if you don't know, last week we were hit with around 8 inches of snow. Here are a few shots I got on the one day I was off work:

Our house

Jason clearing off the driveway


Edgar getting ready to go outside (Yes, he has booties!)

Playing in the snow!

One happy puppy ready to come inside

School was cancelled from Tuesday to the end of the week. I still had to go into work every day except Wednesday, when we got the bulk of the snow. We still have snow on the ground, except it's all a huge sheet of ice now.

Today was the last day of school for the kids this week. It was our first full week of school in I don't know how long, and it was a rough one. Teachers were sick; kids were sick. I had tons of fighting, crying, screaming, running, vomiting, snotty noses...you name it, we had it. One girl even ripped a fist-full of hair out of another child's head. And I got pee all over my leg (no, it wasn't my own pee). It was a nightmare.

Now I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend!