Home Improvement

So, I wouldn't call us home improvement project savvy.  Don't get me wrong.  Troy is a wonderful carpenter/handy man but we tend to only make major improvements on a "need to" basis or on a whim.  Never somewhere in the middle.
 
Troy is usually ready to tackle the project as long as we have the money and he is not asked to paint.  I am the one who walks in and out of the doors of Home Depot and Lowe's hoping "Yard Crashers" or "House Crashers" will ask me if I need any help with projects.  I just never have a plan for how to start.  (For those of you who  have a life  don't watch home improvement shows, the designers on the "Crashers" programs catch unsuspecting customers of Home Depot and Lowe's and ask if they can come in and do the improvement project for the home owner.)  I keep an eye out for TV camera's everytime I walk into Home Depot now.  Maybe I look too needy! 

Anyway, back to the original purpose of this post.

As you all know, our life A.D. (After Dogs) is very different than B.D.  For example, we were perfectly happy with the fact that even though the fence around our backyard looked a little worse for the wear, it fit the purpose for the moment.  Within 3 days A.D., the dogs had made a break for it and were finally coerced back into the yard by our wonderful neighbor, Monica.  So, we had to rebuild the fence sooner than originally intended.  A long week of backbreaking work later, Troy and some hearty helpers from our church rebuilt the fence.  It is beautiful and dog proof! 

Now that the fence looked FABulous, it made the overgrown weed infested flowerbed surrounding the front of the house look even more disgusting.  So, we decided to pull out all the vegetation in the bed, lay down a weed blocker, and cover the whole area in landscape pebble.  Good idea, right? 

Not so much.

Three trips to Home Depot and thirty, count them thirty bags of pebbles later, we decided it looked too plain.  So, I bought two new shrubs (exactly like the two on the side of the house that by the grace of God we haven't killed) and I planted them in front of the bay window.  I know that sounds simple enough but, if you remember, the dirt in the flower bed is now covered in weed block material AND 30 bags of pebble!  But I was determined and finally planted both shrubs.  See?

I'm so proud, I took two pictures!

This was our big project for the summer.  Pretty cool, huh?

I know I promised to post pictures of the new office we redecorated this past spring but my side is totally covered in piles of paperwork  it's not totally picture ready, yet.  As soon as I finally organize my messiness it is, I'll post pics.