the great weed-y outdoors.

i like to think we have a nice front yard, but it's become rather overgrown with weeds, and some of the grass isn't the healthiest. like everything else, we have some lofty plans, including a box-hedge surround and gate, but with limited funds right now, we'll have to stick to what we can do for little or no money with our own hands. and so, we spent several hours de-weeding this past weekend.

look at the size of some of these weeds and weed patches! james sprayed weed killer last week, so some of them are dying, but the whole lawn is so littered with them, we really have to dig them up for any good to be done.

some small sections of the front yard after we spent an afternoon de-weeding. there is still lots and lots to do, but i love that it makes such a huge improvement!

heh, we just kept piling up the weeds as we ripped them up. we really only got to less than a quarter of the yard, so we have lots of work ahead of us just to get the grass happy and healthy again, but it is definitely satisfying work. we both sit and work at computers all day long, so we actually rather enjoy being able to do stuff with our hands, even if its considered mundane.

before and after: kitchen round one.

remember this kitchen? this is what it looked like when we first got the keys to the house.


since then, we've replaced the floors, bought some appliances, put in the luftig range hood and the stenstorp island from ikea and some tabouret stools from overstock. and tada! here it is:

i love it so much now! while there is still lots to do, i think it is finally in a good and functioning place for us to move in and be comfortable. well, for me to be comfortable cooking. i'm really looking forward to all the counter space! next steps including putting in a pretty lighting fixture (already purchased!), installing trim that we had ripped out to put in the floors / put in the range, putting in some open shelving (i have so many ideas), maybe a new faucet.. but all of that will wait for a little bit. first order of business is to get moved in and put this kitchen to good use!

here's our dog-child sanford "helping" me while i built that kitchen island:

and maybe most exciting, is that our appliances finally got fully installed. i have somewhere to do laundry! in machines that i own. that are shiny. and quiet. i can't wait until we eventually get these into the house, but that's another project entirely..

appliances sneak peak!

they've arrived! but not yet installed since it just so happened that we have no power right now with the electrical work happening in the home. but i had to share!

you may also noticed that the cabinets above the stove have gone missing. more on that at a later date, too!