Front Yard Project

Thomas and I started the front yard project right after Easter. Every year we do a family Easter egg hunt (because life is too short to grow up all at once) - and my mom does something fun, instead of putting candy in the eggs, she puts numbers and those numbers are tied to a list of "gifts" some are monetary gifts, some are "nights out with mom and dad" and others are service based. This year Thomas and I got like 2 family service projects. So we wasted no time in recruiting our family to help us break-up the foundation pieces on our cinder block wall and take it to the dump {which was my first trip ever and definitely worth another blog post...if I get around to it}. 

Early morning family service

 Well, now that we had the block wall out of the way, we felt like it was time to work on our yard. I mean, we had like 3 other projects going, and 1 in particular that is super important to finish...buuuuuuut this new idea was taking hold...and the block wall was gone, so...

Well, for starters: grass/sod is expensive, so we were looking at just seed, but birds are annoying...and then my dad called soon after we had made some designs and plans and said one of his neighbors landscaped their yard and had a few leftover pieces of sod and do we want it? We hmmm and haaah'd because we were concerned about our water bill {seriously? the whole yard will be grass eventually what's a few square feet to get started}, we finally agreed and Thomas went with our truck and picked up the scraps.

After some serious doodles during sacrament meeting and consulting with each other on our lunch breaks, we came up with a beautiful front yard oasis. Complete with climbing roses, a gazebo, paver patio, and 6ft hedges. The scraps of sod were a good start and we picked up our climbing roses next.

After we installed the roses we got some fishing line and using concrete screws we attached the fishing line to the block wall so the roses had something to cling to. The far left climber still hasn't bloomed, but all the other climbers have these beautiful multicolored roses. They are so pretty.

Wide shot of the bland yard.

I guess I forgot to mention that the sod was pretty much dead. So Thomas got up early each morning and proceeded to water our little patch every morning and every night.

Soon it turned green!! We kind of joked that we had our own putting green...but we knew it would be a matter of time before we had more grass...not sure exactly where we were going to get it though, my parents don't have THAT many neighbors.

We added oleanders!

 Welcome 6ft hedge! Well. It will be 6ft eventually.

 Things were really coming together...so we figured since our grass patch was doing well we started looking at pavers...but if we thought grass was expensive! Pavers are SUPER pricey. That didn't stop us from going to Home Depot and wandering around the gardening section and pricing and re-pricing the different varieties of stones. Then on a random Monday, our neighbor two doors down came over while Thomas was watering the yard and explained that he was foreclosing on his house and he had a whole bunch of gardening stuff that we could have, along with some pavers! So Tuesday night and Wednesday morning we moved 3 truck fulls of pavers and a whole bunch of gardening and Halloween stuff.

Path pavers

 Thomas kept up the watering and if you look closely you can see the pavers for our patio space.

Thomas watering the grass

 Everything was growing great! Our roses were getting bigger.

 We spent a lot of time at Home Depot, wandering around and one day Thomas saw that the sod they were selling was pretty dried out, so Thomas talked to the manager to see if we could get a discount and he just gave us the rest of the grass!! So we got it free! 

Free!!

Free-99

Well, Thomas got to thinking that if one Home Depot had dead grass, maybe another would...so we went to another Home Depot and they had 3 pallets full of grass and they gave it to us because they were getting a new shipment the next day and were just throwing away this stuff! So bam! we got more grass!

Keep on watering...

Thomas has been so dedicated with watering the yard, we just got some sprinkler things that we used to play in as kids so he doesn't have to stand out there and water it all by hand. We got some black tarp stuff from Costco and we're going to re-purpose the rock we scrapped off before we put the grass down, and use it to have a path. We are also going to plant grass or clovers between the pavers and eventually we will extend the roof line out to create an over hang. So it's still a work in progress, but we have accomplished A LOT in just about 2 months.

Yay! Coming together!

House of Cards

We have 5 dogs...many of you know this, but let me state their names and comment on their personalities real quick:  

D.O.G. - he is our 5lb Maltese. He really is more cat than dog (hence the name-I really needed the whole 'dog' concept sink in to his little brain). He was born of champion show dogs and still has a little prance in his step, even though he's never entered an arena. He prefers the finer things that life has to offer and works his way into your heart with his head tilts and playful jumps when he gets excited.

Bleeker on left, Cortez on the right. 

Bleeker - He is our pack leader. He watches mostly as the other dogs interact, but will get involved if activity is too rambunctious or if he feels one of the other dogs needs to be reminded who's in-charge. I think he still prefers me to Thomas because he will follow me around everywhere I go and stand by me when we are outside like he's guarding me, and he still pretends to not hear Thomas when asked to do certain things or looks to me like "do I really need to listen to that?"

Cortez and Harvey (yes there are two dogs :))

Harvey - Very sensitive and probably the most intuitive of the dogs. On trails he wonders ahead to scope out the area and then comes back to check in report. He LOVES to play catch, but doesn't share too well. Harvey had to take a backseat to Bleeker when we combined families and there was a "changing of the pecking-order" a few months after they had been together. Harvey skirted by with just a cut ear and a new found respect for Bleeker, but since Bleeker doesn't get involved in the day-to-day socializing Harvey still feels empowered most the time.

Zeus

Zeus - This is a one of a kind dog. We joke that he will probably be able to survive nuclear war because he is a survivor. He does not belong to any pack. I feel like this line from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown fits him perfectly: Charlie: "Snoopy likes me!" Lucy: "No, he only PRETENDS to like you because you feed him....that doesn't count." At the sight of a BB Gun he will start searching the air for birds and if he sees birds he keep will keep shooting his eyes from the birds to us with this expression of, "come on! They're going to get away!!!" If he hears the gun go off, he's running around trying to find {we assume} the fallen bird. He's our digger and when the other dogs are playing catch, he will randomly leap out of nowhere, grab the ball {most times in mid-air} and take off to the other side of the yard.

Cortez - Our large puppy. He is just under 2 years old and a bit of a spaz still. He is SO EXCITED for EVERYTHING. Time to go outside? He DARTS through the door {sometimes taking out D.O.G. or Harvey in the process}; time to play? He BOUNDS around the yard and pounces on Harvey when trying to get the ball or he runs back and forth waiting for you to throw something; time to eat? He will BARREL through the house and slam into his crate which then slams into the wall, and he looks around like "where's the food?", then sits because he knows he needs to do that before he can eat, but then stands because he's SO excited and then sits again because he remembers {again} that he needs to do that. I thought Bleeker snuggled, until Cortez came around. Cortez will snuggle, let you adjust and then snuggle once you've gotten comfortable.

On Valentines Day we decided (because we're crazy!) to adopt a cat for Thomas. We went to a few places and found two brothers at Petco. Fittingly enough they are Maine Coons, which if you don't know anything about cats they can easily get to be 20-25lbs (Google some of these cats-it gets pretty crazy). We have been slowly introducing the dogs to the cats, one at a time so they could get used to seeing and smelling them around.

Sunday March 2nd we went to the morning session of the Gilbert Temple dedication. It was maybe an hour and a half, but this is what we came home to:

Luckily Bleeker's nose wasn't as bad as the picture lends itself 

Dog blood and cat pee

Thomas gave Dirty Hairy a shower, check out those claws...Bleeker didn't have a chance.

We're just grateful the dedication was as short as it was or it could've been a lot worse.

3 Months!

Thomas and I are enjoying our 3-month anniversary today!! I typically don't make such a big deal about little things like this, but I received some good advise from my brother Ben a few weeks ago. He told me to celebrate everything. Celebrate little anniversaries, celebrate normal days, be grateful and be present in the relationship. I thought it was great advise and I know it comes from a very sweet place in my brother's heart. So today I got up and made him a breakfast drink, I have been sending him sweet nothings, also highlighting my cleverness {more than usual, because hello he's also as lucky as me to have someone so amazing for the last 3-months} and of course, reminding him why I love him. I am also going to swing by the store, get a nice card, maybe get him some soup from AJ's {because he loves it}, and top it off with a little carrot cake.

Every day is awesome with Thomas but it has been fun going a little over the top today.

On the way home from yoga

Suddenly I saw the hint of paws and then bam! 1...{oh please pass} 2....{come on please just slide under} 3...{please not be there} 4..thud-ump! - {no no no} my heart is pulsing in my ears, I don't feel my hands, am I still breathing? I take a breath. It was under the truck ahead before, do they know? We find a side road to pull into. We fall out of our cars, 'what just happened? Are you okay? The dog...? Did you see...?' One guy is crying, the other is grabbing his phone, we abandon our cars and run to the spot. {Please be dead, please don't be alive...what if it's alive?} A kid is standing on the side walk staring at the spot, soon family rush to his side. That is their dog. The street is three lanes deep, busy with traffic, cars fly by, then one truck stops, then another and soon we can safely pick up the limp body.

The traffic moves, we carry her to a tree and softly lay her down. Is that her heart - or just my pulse in my fingers? 'We're so sorry, is there anything we can do?' I gently hand the blood stained collar over. 'No, no there's nothing to be done. Thank you for stopping to help.' Walking slowing back, shaking from the shock, the truck that initially stopped had come back, and the lady wants to know if the dog is still alive because she will take it to the vet hospital. 'No.' Her face is set, her eyes full of strength and sadness. She walks to the owner.

What can you say for the people in this world who care enough to stop? In that moment 4 people, complete strangers to each other and the family, stopped to help. Life is a beautiful and fragile thing. I am grateful for the people who stopped to help for teaching me and reminding me how beautiful genuine love is in the hearts of others. I hope life is never too busy for me to stop and help. Don't pass the opportunity to witness first hand the charity of others.

Us or Them

So maybe I'm a little late in putting this on my blog, but I'm married! Thomas and I were talking about the big M-word for a while, but whenever we talked about it, we would STOP talking about it because the logistics for all his New York family, and the financials for the reception would start to overwhelm us. Then after this last general conference {October 2013} we got real with each other and asked a more simple question: Are we waiting because of us or are we waiting for them {meaning everything else}? And it really boiled down to everything else. 

Once we got that out into the universe it happened in no time at all. We got the license, set a date, invited the grandparents to be our witnesses, invited our parents because we're not good at being sneaky, and had the sweetest, simplest little ceremony any one could ask for. And it was perfect. 

With rings exchanged and promises made, we happily start our little trek in life together. 

We have started the long and tedious party plans for the family and friends - and while I am super excited that we are doing it, I am easily overwhelmed by the thought of how much work it's going to take. I feel like Scarlet from Gone with the Wind because I'm like "I'm not gonna think about that right now" - but now that the holidays are over, it's time to get organized. We did us, now it's time to do them. :}