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!