It's been a while since I've shared an update about our humble abode, but we've made a couple of updates to the outside since February. I can still remember how I felt when the front door flung open and my eyes met the gorgeous house that would later become our home. I swooned over the original hardwoods, thick molding, glass doorknobs, updated kitchen, closet space, and stunning master bath. The outside, however, made me cringe a little. With one look at the overgrown bushes all over the yard, you could tell that it was once someone's happy place -- someone used to tend to the bushes and water the flowers. But after being neglected for many years, it was slightly overwhelming to look at.
And when we moved in, we didn't waste any time: we dug them all up within six months of calling it home. Our big summer project last year was covering our deck, and then we took a few months off as we prepared for Bethany to be born. There were plenty of other things that we wanted to get done after the deck, and we kicked our quest for beauty back off again in February.
First up: clearing out the far side of our yard near our driveway for two specific dreams we wanted to make reality: a fire pit and a grilling station.
This is what it looked like before, picture taken in February 2017:
And this is what it looks like as of June 2018 after many, many days of hard work and patience:
We are so proud of this little nook, and I am especially thankful for my handy husband who has such a talent of making things come to life. He and I make a great team with projects like this, much like in life: I'm the dreamer and he's the doer. We still have a couple things we want to do to this space, but we are so happy with how it currently looks and functions.
Next up, which happened in the middle of the previous update was: the removal of four large trees next to our house.
This is what the side of our house looked before the tree removal, picture taken in February 2017:
And this is what it looks like now, as of February 2018:
The more we clean out, the more we make room for our vision. We love our home so, so much, and we are inching our way (slowly and steadily, albeit) to get the outside as beautiful as the inside is. We've been blessed with gift cards and just plain generosity to make a lot of our outdoor updates happen, and the rest has come from getting our hands dirty and making our bodies sore. But, oh, our hearts have been so full to do these things. Making this house even more our home.
We've got more plans that we are hopeful will come to fruition in the next year or so, but we are really just along for the ride, making improvements as we are able. I'd love to finally see shrubs surrounding our home one day soon, but I'm content to plant them whenever we're able. The best part is making these memories with my family, all while looking forward to how we will make even better memories in years to come. We're simply living and doing at our own pace, being grateful every step of the way.
And for us, there's no other way we'd rather do it.
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