Working as Landscapers

When we moved into our house almost a year ago the yard was a disaster. This past spring we worked on it to try and get it looking decent. By the time Fall came we had given up. Brian decided the yard was not salvageable and that we should just start over. Last weekend we had sprinklers put in. This weekend we removed all of the grass/weed combo that was our front yard. Brian rented a sod cutter and cut our yard into long strips. All our our neighbor men kept coming over to see how the machine worked and to see what we were doing. It was cracking me up how excited these men got about the sod cutter. was like they had just been given a new car.

Brian and I worked Friday afternoon and evening. We got the small strip between the sidewalk and the street cleared and sodded. The real circus began at 8:00am on Saturday when the whole crowd started working. The hole crew consisted of Brian & Me, our neighbor Terrance, our neighbor Jay, our neighbor Rob and his son Reid and the extra teen living at Rob's house Matt.

I stocked up on water and Gatorade. They drank 25 bottles of Gatorade and a case of water. We worked and cleared all of the old year away. Then we raked and leveled everything. Then we spread 5yards of top soil. Thanks goodness neighbors brought their own rakes and shovels. We to countless wheelbarrow loads, p the woods behind our house. (That is another project. We are trying to level our woods out). Then we got the dirt wet and started laying the sod. It was 8:00pm by the time we finished. It took 6 people 12 hours but our lawn looks great! We also saved $2,000 doing it our selves. WE are so luck to have such great friends/neighbors!

Brian and I got up this morning and finished laying the rest of the sod along the side of the house and leveling out the huge piles of dirt and weedy grass in our woods. Now we are officially exhausted and ready for a very long shower!

The sprinklers in progress

Brian working hard

Part of the sod

Part of the old yard that I rolled up

The boys clearing our old yard away!

The snake the teenage helpers were chasing me around our yard with

Ta'Da!

Waxhapalooza

Since moving into our house in Charlotte we have made lots of new friends. One of our new neighbors has a huge party each fall. I think the party is an excuse for Jamie (our neighbor) to have a gig for his band. They call this party Waxhapalooza and it is a BIG event our entire subdivision is invited. Three Bands play, they serve TONS of BBQ (its the south, every thing is a BBQ worthy event) and they collect money for the Waxhaw Volunteer Fire Department. We took our chairs over and had a great time visiting with friends/neighbors and listening to some good bands. We are looking forward to next years event.

Jeep Rocks & Road Tour

We went to the Charlotte home show, just to check it out. When we got there we noticed several MUDDY Jeeps. As we walked into the home show there were people in Jeep outfits telling us about the Jeep Rocks and Road tour. They said we could drive jeeps on the road or off-road course, this caught Brian's attention so we walked around the home show then headed to play with the jeeps. We had to register and swipe our drivers license. Brian said it would be fun to test drive the Rubicon so we did. We both drove the course over one BIG hill, bumps, rocks, and at an angle. A jeep person rides along with you to supervise, make sure you are being safe, and of course talk about Jeep. Brian drove the course first and did a great job. I figured it seemed pretty easy so I would give it a shot.

When it was my turn to drive I thought the point was to make the ride as bumpy as possible I thought I was doing great because I hit every bump hard and bounced us all over the place. The jeep representative even stopped talking about the Rubicon and was holding on. Apparently that is NOT the point of off-roading... who knew? Also, I might have gotten close to driving off the top of a 40 ft hill. Brian decided that if we ever own a off-road vehicle I will not be allowed to drive it. I think this just means I am ready for the Jeep Safari in Moab.

EARLY HALLOWEEN SURPRISE

Brian came in last week and "needed me" to help him on the front porch. So naturally I went out to help. I didn't know he needed a reaction not my help!!!! He got his reaction. This giant spider was on our front porch. Since moving to the south I have encountered some of the biggest and weirdest bugs ever... this was one of the scariest. I guess this giant spider could tell our house was in full Halloween Mode and it wanted in on the action.

Top Sail Island & Family Fun

We went to our Aunt Melanie and Uncle Glenn's beach house for a fun weekend in the sun with them. I am pretty much ready to move there. Top Sail Island is beautiful. A couple of Brian's cousins were there as well. I had so much fun talking to Melanie and Cherish... they are full of great advice. I loved playing with and holding Baby Alaina, she is so stinking cute I wanted to steal her. I absolutely loved her beach wear!

Aliana soaking in the rays

Me and Alaina going on a walk

The girls... Melanie, Cherish, Alaina, and me.

Brian, Glen and Seth joked around and had fun catching sand crabs. They did a couple of improvements on the beach house but we spent almost the entire weekend on the beach (my idea of a perfect weekend). We took big long beach walks all together.

The boys

Sand Crabs

Brian

We all looked for shark teeth in the surf. Brian had just watched SHARK WEEK and he was a little nervous but braved the possibly shark infested waters.

Brian and Seth Picking up SHARK teeth

Shark Teeth Seth Found

The shark teeth the rest of us found

The GIANT sand castle Brian and Seth made.

Brian inspecting Seth's craftsmanship

The sandcastle

The boys resting after spending 2 hours building the sand castle

Us on a windy walk

On the sand

What a sweet view!

I love the beach!

THANK YOU GLEN AND MELANIE!

WE LOVE YOU GUYS AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!

Brian's Animal Fun

When we were up in Williamsburg for Labor Day Brian and Dave had a great time feeding all of the wildlife in the woods behind his parents house. We had a wonderful visit and were able to see lots of nature. We went to Cheatum Annex..(I prefer to call it cheetah man-x...sorry Dave!) it is a military base and it's gorgeous! We also went on a drive to look for deer. Dave knew a secret place on Jamestown Island were there were hundreds of deer. Brian was in heaven. I was sick so the only pictures we have were pictures Brian took of animals. Debbie and Dave have been feeding animals in there woods for a long time. Rocky the raccoon has been coming around quite a long enough that she has taught all of her 6 babies were the good food is. Here are a couple of spooky glowing eye pictures.

Summer

We had a fun filled summer and it is about time I post something about it. It came and went way to fast. Here is a recap of the Highlights.

We went to Atlanta 3 times... for the 4th of July, to buy fabric for a project (I'll get into that later in this post), to check on my Grandpa (he had his knee replaced) and of course to visit with our family.

I spent some time at the pool mostly with my friend Michelle.

We went to Orlando, Fl.

Us in FLORIDA. We didn't take pictures we didn't have our memory card in our camera... Oops! This is a cheesy phone camera pic.

Then there was my favorite part of summer... When my mom came to visit for a couple of weeks. You might think thats a long time to have your mom visit but we had a great time and did not want to send her back to L.A. While my mom was at my house we embarked on a major HGTVish project. My mom and I tend to think we can do anything. While it is great to think you can do a project the reality of completing it is another story.

I decided our new house needed drapes I'm not talking about pre-made panels from target or bed bath and beyond. I thought we needed custom one of a kind drapes. Now why I didn't decide that one or two rooms needed these custom drapes I don't know... I guess the phrase go big or go home applies here. I didn't realize how much work it was going to be either. While we were in Atlanta we went fabric shopping with my aunts. Brian stayed home and worked on man stuff with my grandpa GB. He and my grandpa were so cute working on their projects.

Brian says when I decide to do something there is no changing my mind and this was the case with this project. I was determined to get drapes made for a long list of rooms...

Living room,

Dining room

office

master bath

1/2 bath down stairs

Sun room/Kitchen

Family Room

I had no idea how much work this project was going to be!!! Wow! My mom and I spent 12-14 hours a day for 1 week sewing and sewing some more. When we finally finished I was very proud of our hard work! The drapes look great and make our house feel more cozy. We LOVE LOVE LOVE them and could have never done it with out my moms help. Here are a few pictures.

We started with this...

We used the entryway to lay out the HUGE panels

Ellie helping out

Brian's Office

Formal Living Room

Family Room

The pillows we made to match

The kitchen/sun room (This is my fave)

Summer went by to FAST but was fun filled! I wonder what our next project will be?