It is hard to believe that I have been working for almost an entire school year. I can't believe that spring break is behind me and we have 8 more weeks left. CRAZINESS! One year down, only 29 more to go before retirement. Whew...
This weekend was beautiful. It started Friday with Matt coming home early and getting to spend some time outside. Saturday, Chapstick and I ran around downtown and enjoyed the beautiful morning. I am really enjoying running outside right now because of the beautiful flowers and colors. Everyday there is something new blooming and something else to admire. It is amazing how the world is God's canvas to paint on, and man-oh-man he is an incredible artist. After our run, I came home and grabbed a shower and it was off to run errands with Matt. We had quite the list, which included checking out some patio dining sets. We have been dreaming of sun-drenched evenings with grilled food and a cool breeze for quite sometime now. We have a large back deck that was all but begging to have some company, so after a lot of deliberation and questioning, we broke down and bought one.
Looks pretty good, huh? We are debating an umbrella (Matt thinks it looks naked), but I am afraid that it will take away from being able to eat
outside if we are covered up! I like the openness of it.
After our table buying, Matt was feeling generous, so we hopped on over to John Deere Landscaping and bought some shrubs. Our little house was in desperate need of some front yard loving, and we were finally married and sharing a bank account, so investing in some landscaping was finally in the picture. Here is a before of our sweet little home and sad front yard.
We spent some time a while back digging up all the hodgepodge that the owners before us planted (I think she just bought seeds and threw them out at will, because there was no rhyme or reason to the collection we had), so this weekend we just had to dig up the few weeds that had come up and tilled the beds a bit and planted away. It was haaaard work watching Matt do all that, let me tell you ;) He looked good doing it. I was making sure he did it right, and in order to do that, I must watch. I kid, I kid...kinda. I wanted to help, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) we only had one shovel, rake, etc so it was up to Matt to dig away. I would rather him have that responsibility anyway; last time I tried to do any sort of yard work (digging up and trying to create some monkey grass beds in the backyard), the grass only got REPLANTED a day later by Matt and his dad. OOOOH YES, you read that right. MATT AND HIS DAD replanted the grass I spent several hours digging up. It hurt my feelings when I worked so hard only to have it "fixed", therefore, the burden fell on my betrothed to plant the shrubs. He did a good job, as seen below. We aren't quite done yet-we have 4 HUGE scrubby azelas left in the corner and we have yet to determine what large thing to put there to fill the hole that those ugly things currently are filling. Enough rambling, onto Matt's handy work planting...
Bed next to our neighbor's driveway. It has been empty for too long.
Front of the house.
Target always has the cutest, springy doormats, and for super inexpensive too!
Another view of the yard.
While we were out planting Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon we got to meet more of our neighbors and chat with the ones that we haven't seen since last summer (people don't get out as much during the winter). I told Matt Sunday that one of my little wedded bliss fantasies were coming true. I had always imagined being married, out in the front yard gardening, a dog laying in the yard with us, and chatting with neighbors as we worked, and you know what, this weekend every single one of those things happened. Matt and I got to spend time together talking, dreaming, and enjoying each other's company. Chapstick got some good napping in on the cool green clover under our big (and finally sparsely covered with leaves) trees. And we got to meet and chat with neighbors. Matt and I never really grew up in a neighborhood. We don't live in a subdivision, but a neighborhood. Families go on walks and stop to pet Chapstick and say hello. We had some of our older neighbors come by and tell us how much they enjoy having young blood around, and then some just stopped by to shoot the breeze. Regardless, I got to live out a long-lived fantasy/dream/ideal whatever you want to call it. It was pure bliss.
Also Sunday we got to spend time with each of our families for Easter. I wish I had brought my camera to Mommie and Daddy's house. A lot of our family was there celebrating Easter and my Nana's birthday. What I wish I had my camera for was Chapstick's first swim in the lake-she did so well!! Matt and I felt like proud parents knowing that our baby was successful in her first swim and loved it. It was fun watching her leap into the water, chasing sticks, and swimming around trying to figure out where in the world they had gotten to. And if Mack came around (one of my parent's dogs) her in the water, poor Mack, Chapstick would start to wrestle and bite at him. Mack is a bit of a oaf and a baby (despite his massive size) and he did not like someone pouncing all over him in the water. I wish I had pictures of it. Mental note to do that next time.
So now we are to Tuesday evening. Work is back in full-swing and I am thankful to have a job to go to, but I am also thankful to know that the weekend is just 3 days away.
