Renovations begin!

Derek and I spent 2 hours last night shoveling dirt when I got home from work and then 8 hours today shoveling dirt and gravel. We feel like we are 100 years old. Our backs are so sore we can barely stand up straight. BUT it is such a great feeling of accomplishment seeing such an improvement in the house. Now the dogs have a nice little backyard and they won't be covered in mud and weeds. Woohoo!!

We also met our new neighbors for the first time today and they are GREAT! They all came over while we were working on the backyard to welcome us to the neighborhood. There is a sweet couple across the street from us who were super friendly and even came over with beer for us while we were shoveling. They also offered their help and tools. We also met the elderly man who lives next door to us (Dale) and he was super sweet. I am so excited to be living on such a friendly street!

Here are a few before, during, and after pictures of our hard labor today!!

This is before...
First we shoveled out all the weeds, bricks, trash, top layer of dirt, and lots of other random things to get this...
Then we laid down weed tarp...
Then we began shoveling and hauling in the gravel and smoothing it out...
And TA-DA!!!! The dogs have a nicely landscaped dog run!
Then we also did the part on the other side of the gate...
And the after pic...
We are totally exhausted but loving every second of it! It really was super fun to do this together (even though we probably won't be able to move tomorrow). We feel so blessed that we are getting to experience all of this together and that this is our home!

More pictures!

First family trip and picture at the new house!

First trip to the house for the dogs!

The dogs checking out their portion of the backyard for the first time...lots of work to be done!

Bear helping pick up leaves with his face. :)

Gracie waiting patiently for her backyard to be fixed.

Derek shoveling gravel up against the fence to fill up the holes and keep the dogs secured.

Helping board up the fence!

Lots more pictures to come soon. I will actually have our first "before and after" of the ceiling lights Derek installed! They look beautiful!!

Continued Blessings

God has continued to provide for us above and beyond with this house and especially now so in the little things. There have been so many awesome gifts that I just have to share about!

First off a HUGE thanks to Meghan Harvey for giving us / and letting us borrow some amazing house fixing up items. Especially the gift of a lawn mower! That was a huge blessing! Then even more so the way it got into my car. I drove out to Seaside to get the mower yesterday and when I wheeled it out of the garage I realized I could barely lift one wheel off the ground let alone the entire machine. Literally as I was saying this fact to Meghan on the phone, two guys walked up. I asked if they would help me and they said no problem! It took them a whole two seconds to pop it into the back of the Rav. Such awesome timing.

Then today I saw on the UPS tracking website I've been stalking for the past two days that our bed frame was delivered. So I drove over to the house to move the six boxes into the house. When I got there I realized they were all a minimum of 50 to 100 pounds and long awkward boxes. I somehow managed to get 4 of them in the house (with a minor shoulder and wrist injury) and then realized I could barely lift the edge of the last two boxes off the ground. I stood up feeling defeated and a utility truck pulled up in front of the house. I asked the guy if he'd help me and he did.

Seriously God has blessed us with some amazing things regarding this house and some of my favorites are the small things such as these. Having someone right there to help when you need it the most. It makes me think about wanting to make sure to pay attention to be that person God can use to help out others in need. Those people were lifesavers in my situation and I hope to be able to be aware enough to be that for someone else as well!

p.s. I will be posting more pictures soon!!

A few pictures!

Here are a few pictures of the new house! Hopefully these will soon be the "before" pictures and I can post "after" ones if all goes well over the next few weeks!!

The front porch

Front View

Front View from the other side

Guest bathroom (with new tub and floors!)

Kitchen and bonus room

The living room

The dog's backyard area

1/3 of the backyard

The house needs some major fixing up and we have already begun a little. We installed two ceiling lights last night which took about 10 times longer than I thought it would! I had no idea of all the electrical work that went along with doing a single ceiling light.

We also have windows ordered and the roofer is set to come out next week as long as the weather cooperates. I also met with the plumber today and got a quote which hopefully will be completed next week. Now I just have to decide whether to tackle painting the outside of the house by myself over the next couple sunny days or take a risk and wait for my parents to help out when they get here next week even though the forecast says rain the entire time.

It's very exciting and I'm trying not to feel overwhelmed at all there is to do and know that we can space it out over years! I know the house will be so home-y and comfy some day and I'm excited to experience it! Now off to Home Depot to get a new mailbox! :)