Progress

Since the front yard has been a bit of an eye sore, we've started focusing our attention on the back. Matt and I spent Sunday afternoon pulling up more ivy- we are honestly very close to being completely finished with this process!!! I'd say we're about a 1/4 away from the finish line, which means completing the task before the Fall (our goal so we can start planting back there) is so doable. I will surely post pics when it is complete, but for now it looks like this:

 We still don't know what to do with our treasures yet. :)

A bit boring, yes, but remember, it used to look like this!

        

        

. . .This week it hit me that I only have two weeks left until I go back to school. That's it?! No! It went by too fast!! This summer more than any other, I have loved being a stay-at-home wife. In fact, I feel like I would be quite content making it a permanent job. :) Although I do love my kiddos so, and know I'll be excited once I get going again. Anyway. . . that being said, after going into a short freak-out mode once the reality of summer ending hit, I quickly figured out the things I have yet to do (and when I make a list of things to accomplish for a given period of time, you better believe they will get done!). SO, I spent a couple days working in the back, finishing the paint that was started here. Thanks to Matt's mom, I inherited some planters and stands that were the perfect ingredients for my vision of a homier patio. Two of them just needed a little refreshing. I love spray paint- it's cheap, quick and easy.

    

          

             

Then it was straight the the paint. I wanted our back entrance to have a fresh new look like our front entrance got, so I started there.

Before 

 After

Railing refresher! So clean :)

And then the door...

Before

After

Before painting the trim, I attempted to take off the black metal piece that used to go to the old storm door. I gave it all the muscle I had... and I pulled out all the tools I could think of, but no go. :/

 Looks like a setup Jack Bauer would use. . . how did this not work?!

After some sweat and frustration, I decided to move to something I could have success at- hacking down the jumanji tree behind the patio area. This is what it looked like after Charlie hacked it back on our major yard day in May.

And this is what it looked like this week:

Seriously?!

 Sure enough, there's the stump- again, really?!

 I found these loppers (non technical name :) ) at Tuesday morning for $5.99- sweet! Perfect for hacking.

 Look at this thing!

Success- and actually a great before-paint picture of the patio... that's next!

Little did I know, that the patio area was NOTHING like painting the front and back steps! It was very porous and extra mossy.

I'm sure there's a better way (don't tell me what it is now), but I used a scraper/razor to get rid of the moss before painting- awful nails-on-a-chalkboard-type sound. . . just take my word for it

Not gonna lie, I thought a few times that I would not mind paying someone to finish what I started (terrbile sounding... fully aware of that). BUT!. . . 1.5 gallons of paint later, I finished! Yes I typed that right- it took 1.5 gallons for that small area! I eventually stopped using the tray all together and started dumping the paint to speed up the process a bit.

So the "before" will be what it looked like when we bought the house, that way the difference will look extra dramatic and make me feel more justified for the amount of sweat that poured off my face as I painted.

Drum roll please..........!

Before

Ewww. . .

Yucky. . . 

After

WOW! (I should probably let you come up with your own reactions)

P.S. Notice my little herb garden in the front of the patio?! They're so happy!

Yay!

 

These are the planters and stands that Matt's mom didn't need anymore filled with my favorite $0.99 flowers from Home Depot. Here's what we have:

Impatiens

Zinnia 

Begonias ($2.97 for this big guy!)

Moss Rose

And orange impatiens for my Clemson pot :)

I am very thrilled to say that my big summer goal for this area is now complete, and one more item has been checked off of our to-do list. Hooray!