Yard Work and Home improvements

Yes believe it or not I am making a new post! (Stephanie I hope you enjoy it, I had you in mind as I was working on it!) We have recently done a bit of home improvement where it was greatly needed. I tell you there is not much better than putting effort into your own home, a home that is yours and you pay for! Both projects did end up being a lot of work but in the end they were totally worth the sore bodies, hours of labor and chunks of change!

HOME

First is painting our living room, I hate painting and as horrible as it sounds I was glad that Cory didn't have a job at the time and I did because he did all of the painting while I was at work!
Captions are below each picture.

I did kind of like this color when we first moved in, enough that I kept it for about 8 months but then I just started feeling like the room was closing in on me

My kitchen wasn't really a place I wanted to be, it felt kind of like a dungeon

So light and airy now! The room seemed twice as big!

The color in the kitchen was definitely much lighter, I can't say that it made me want to be in there more than before though...

YARD

Alright now for the yard renovation!!! Wow and wow and wow, this was about a week project and what Cory and I thought we could do just the two of us ended up taking the very gracious help of my parents and sister and her husband, plus Isabel my niece! Again captions are below

BTW- the only reason I am not in these pictures is because I stopped to take them!! I promise I worked hard, my body is really sore!

Laying down the weed mat, I really hope that this proves to make a big difference in the long run.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves about my yard, grass and weeds growing up through the fence.

My dad and brother in law were great enough to bury a few sprinkler lines for me.

More weed mat, yay

Disbursing the dirt around, it was such clean dirt, I couldn't help but squish it in my hands and smell it!

Cutting down the weed mat

Digging out the lame, pre-existing top soil

Jake is really working hard... "Hey aren't those used for hauling around dirt?!"

This is my friends dog Lilo that we were dog sitting, she was so cute and very interested in everything we were doing. (and taking any tools she could sink her teeth into!)


NOW FOR THE BEFORE AND AFTERS. PREPARED TO BE SHOCKED!!!!

I had weeded this one a little bit a few days before the picture was taken but it still made little difference

The picture says it all

Look at all these weeds! UGH!

We were not able to get the black soil laid here yet because we ran out but even with just the blended soil it makes a huge difference

It was so hideous before!

I just loved the black soil we used, it made all the difference.

This one was the biggest difference in the whole yard, it just makes all the work and money worth it!

This is right in the middle of the front yard and it is my favorite part! I couldn't believe how great it looked!