I don't really have any great pictures of what our backyard looked like when we first bought our house. But, I will just say that it was full of tall weeds, trash trees along the fence line, a few diseased fruit trees, 10 foot tall roses, and a whole lot of chinese lettuce, mint, and other random herbs. Right in the middle of the yard was a huge tree right on top of the sprinkler line with roots going all across the entire yard. This would prevent us from doing any work back there at all. After cutting it down and tearing it out, we discovered the roots wrapped around the line and a sprinkler head going right up the middle of the tree and out the side! Anyway, we had to completely tear everything out and start from scratch. We were able to keep a plum and peach tree, the roses (although we had to cut them all WAY back), and some 4-o'clock flowers on the side of the house. Everything else was cut down, torn out, killed with Round-up, roto-tilled, raked free from debris and rocks, and fertilized. Whew! And that was just the clearing out part. Once everything was torn out, we had to fix the sprinkler lines, and heads, and re-route and cap different ones so that it was in a good pattern (We still need to adjust some of them to get the best coverage.). Anyway, it was more than a year's worth of work that we put in back there--mostly by ourselves, but with a little help here and there from friends (thank goodness!). We had to buy several tools and the other shrubs and fruit trees and the sod we planted back there, but we figured all the labor we did saved us a few thousand dollars. The removal of the big tree alone would have been $2,000, and the sprinklers could have easily been another $1,000. The backyard is clean and open and grassy. The side yard is tilled and ready for a garden. The fence line needs a few more shrubs to fill it in a bit more. All in all, we are so pleased with how everything turned out. Shoot, we're downright ECSTATIC that the kids will be able to go out there and play and that the house won't get so full of dust and mud anymore! Here are some pictures that will give you an idea of the last two months of work that went into this yard. For a several months during the wet season, our backyard was just a soggy, muddy mess with a giant hole in the middle filled with rain water. After everything dried out, it was rock hard dirt (still with the black hole where the tree had been), broken pipes, 10 inch deep trenches all over from digging the sprinkler lines, 2-5 inch deep trenches from pulling tree roots out that spanned the entire yard, and random weeds. Once all the sprinkler lines were fixed and all the weeds were killed off, we began tilling and leveling the dirt. This is where the pictures begin.
I was getting tired of my same hairstyle that I've been sporting for the last several years. I've colored it a few times, and that was fun (in fact, I think I may go red again with this cut). But I was somehow VERY emboldened today and decided that today was the day I was actually gonna do something new. I wanted it to be fun and choppy. The stylist was pretty excited to help me start on this adventure. I really wanted to see how it would look for real, so I even had her style it and purchased the product she used. Well, when she whirled me around in the chair....I HATED it! I was so shell-shocked I couldn't say anything positive to this gal. I kept saying, "It's so different. Wow. You did a good job on the cut." Because the cut itself was a good cut. I was just so blown away at how much it changed the way I looked. She had so much product in my hair that it was not really a great style job that she did. Who knows why I still tipped her? Maybe because that's just what I do automatically when I get a cut. Anyway, I came home and Jeremy and the kids were out in the yard. As soon as I stepped out of the car, Paul stopped in his tracks and exclaimed, "Daddy! Look at Mom!" The other kids stared. Jeremy didn't say anything. Then I told him I hated it. He said he didn't like it either. Well, that sucked, so I knew I had to get a second opinion from a good friend who would be totally honest and maybe help it a little. Yay friends!! I texted my chum, Kasey, and explained what was up. She said to come right over. So, I jumped back in the car and headed there. Her kids answered the door. The first one said, "Whoa. You got a haircut." Yep. Another just stared. And a third said, "Umm, you look really different." At least they didn't say it looked bad! I wanted to puke and cry at the same time, though. But Kasey was super optimistic and pulled me into her house. She flat ironed it a little so it wasn't so puffy like the stylist made it (She had my bangs curled out like it was 1995!). Just that little optimism and flattening out really made a HUGE difference! I was actually kind of liking it. I think I can rock this cut if I do it right. Well, it's been a little more than an hour now and it's growing on me. It's still a huge shock to see myself with bangs since I haven't had them since the 3rd grade. I know it will take Jeremy a really long time to get used to it. He doesn't do well with change. I'm glad I had the courage to try something new. It was sooooo scary! I think in a few days, I'm gonna really love it. :)
