Halloween Blast From the Past

These are from a Halloween party our senior year at UGA - and my lovely roommates Gina, Kirsty, and Josie! :) Aren't our costumes great?

"Another post about GRASS? Seriously?"

Yes, another post about grass. Sorry, that's the kinda stuff that excites us these days!


We have done some work in the backyard, as I alluded to a while back. The grass was pathetic (weeds, really) and we weren't feeling the wobbly brick surrounding the patio. In our dreaming, we had envisioned a deck for this area. But we've come to the decision that perhaps it's just not worth it for this house. So now we are embracing the patio, like it or not!


As a reminder, here is what we started with....
We planted grass, and as of today it's about 50/50. Half mud, half green guys. Not exactly the lush green carpet we were hoping for, but I guess that's the best you can hope for when you have an insane dog who does 100 mph laps around the yard on a daily basis. Her paws can do more damage in 2 seconds than you would imagine... see below.


The area around the patio was taking the worst hit - it just WASN'T growing - and the patio just looked kinda stark with no border.


So we gave up and shoveled up what little grass had grown around the patio and put in plant beds. We planted gardenias on the sides, and hostas on the front, with a little walkway in the middle to get you out into the yard. They are small now, but we know the gardenias will eventually be huge, and we're hoping they will close in the patio and make it nice and cosy. Even now, the beds make a HUGE difference!! They define the space so much better.

Unfortunately, Roxy does not understand the concept of stepping stones. We have had to line up the chairs in a barricade to force her to go on the path. Usually, she just jumps the chairs. We have had some minor casualties, but so far I think the plants are all still alive. The gardenias even have a few blooms, so they must be doing alright at least!

And as for the grass, I guess that's what reseeding is for.

Family Photo

Just for fun, wanted to post this perfect picture of Roxy and Sandy, with their friends Shayla and Kaly :)

...Motivation...?

Hopefully, a few months from now, you will all be able to say this to me. :)

Last week, Tony and I joined a gym. It was a long time coming. We had done such a great job working out before the wedding, that apparently we felt we didn't need to do anything for FIVE months after... bad idea.

They had a special - buy 3 months, get one free. So from now til February, we have no excuse not to go. Although, somehow, we have already found "excuses" not to go, except for once. However, I suppose that excessive dirt raking and carpet scrubbing kinda count as exercise... right??

My point in writing this is to put it out there - if everyone knows we are trying to get in shape and lose weight, and come February we haven't, then that's pretty embarrassing.. And now that it's almost November, that means that the non-stop food eating binge known as "the holidays" has begun..

And have I mentioned I work in advertising? People try to bribe us with food ALL the time - AND IT WORKS! Bagels, cookies, etc come through our doors on a regular basis. And somehow I feel the need to eat some every time -- what is it about free food that causes that "I should get some now because it's free and it might not be there in a minute so I need it" reaction??

So enough of my complaining. Please make fun of me if I'm still fat a month from now!! :)

i LOVE fall !!!

Fall is upon us! I decorated and mentally prepared for fall mid-September, so it is a little strange that it is actually cold now! Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love the crispness in the air, the bright blue of the humidity-free sky contrasting with the beautiful leaves, wearing a sweatshirt without actually sweating...
And of course one of the most exciting parts about the season is the excuse to decorate! Last year I scoped out the 70% off sale at Target on Nov 1 (which I plan to do again this year, duh) and got a few things. But I definitely could use more! I guess it's one of those things that you accrue slowly - stuff.
I've included some pics of my decor-on-the-cheap "autumnal display" - as my mom so eloquently puts it! I've decided to go the pumpkin route for a theme - cliche, no? But I think it's seasonal enough not to be limited to October 1-31. And plus, I like them! I've got 8 right now - Tony has forbidden me from getting more! For now..

My fun DIY project for the season was buying those foam faux pumpkins and painting them "classy" colors, then adding glitter to ruin the classiness!

My mom would be proud - I have two mums that have yet to die, and I have had them for about a month! I have very brown thumbs.

And the most important part of fall - pumpkin scented candles!!

I'm excited that it's 50 in the morning and 70 in the afternoon, but in about a month, I'm sure my Georgia self will be freezing!!!

Baby

Don't get too excited mom.

At work today we heard about a new ad campaign online. It's for Volkswagen, and for some crazy reason unrelated to selling cars, their website has Brooke Shields helping you make a picture of what you, and {insert partner here}'s baby would look like. Pretty hilarious at 4:30pm on a Wednesday in the cube. Our baby is above. Pretty terrifying, dontcha think?

He seems to have gotten Tony's facial features... and Donald Trump's hair. This is definitely one of those babies about which you say "he's so..unique..looking!" Let's hope reality turns out a little more favorably in the looks department than this, when the time comes!

If you want to make your own bundle of terrifying joy, check it out here. It's even scarier on the site, because the baby will look around as you move your mouse.

Winky!

Sandy and Roxy have a new cousin, and Sadie has a new sister! Tony's parents got Winky (or as Tony has decided to call him, Winkers) over the weekend. He is 4 years old. He and his brother ran 5 miles away from their house to the woman's house where they adopted him - he and his brother didn't get along, so they couldn't keep both. He is a sweetheart and you would think that he's known all of us for years - jumps right in your lap and stares into your eyes, for as long as you keep petting! From what we hear, he and Sadie are getting along pretty well.

I'm sure Sadie is happy to have a little friend, especially one who reminds her of her old brother Spud.. :)

Mom's 2nd 49th Birthday!

This weekend my young and beautiful mother turned the big 5-0! (Well, technically, she crested the half century mark on Tuesday, but we turned the weekend into her birthday instead). Tony and I, and Caitlin, came into town, and together with dad and Courtney's help, we planned a fun surprise party for Saturday night. Luckily, the UT game was at 7pm and on payperview, so it was the perfect excuse for my mom's friend Elaine to "invite" them over to her house to watch the game. She just failed to mention that 25 other people would be there too!

My aunt Patty came in town for the weekend from Virginia to surprise her, so I think my mom figured that was all of the surprising she was in store for.
We were all on Elaine's porch when they drove up, and you could tell she was definitely surprised! She was decked out in UT orange and even brought cupcakes, thinking she was contributing to the dinner!
We had wonderful food and drinks, and an awesome cake, thanks to Sabra's talent (she made my awesomely delicious wedding cake too)! It was a great time, and I hope it was fun for mom! She deserves to get all of the attention for once! Love ya mom!



Three generations!




My lovely sis's!


Hampster and Tony - chatting it up

Ta-Da!

Now, I know that all of you reading this share my excitement for dump trucks, bobcats, and fescue... and thus you have been on pins and needles waiting for my play-by-play of the front yard saga... yeah, I know, it's sad that these things really are eventful for us!!


But we really are excited about our yard re-do, since it is one of the first major things we have done to improve our house. It was prefaced by lots of discussions (not fights, surely..), saving $, and wishing. It is a very visible change and we are so excited to actually be doing something!

A quick reminder of the scary Before:

And the fabulous After:

It may not look like much in the pictures, but in real life it makes a huge difference! Our yard looks ten times bigger, and you can actually tell that a house is back there.

It's impressive how quickly they demo-ed the whole yard - two guys did it in about 8 hours (including their innumerable smoke breaks):

Giant pile of stuff (and that was just the first ten minutes worth):

Stump grinding - fun for all:

Bobcat!

The dogs had an eventful day watching!

Next they brought in 3 truckloads of dirt - I don't think they were expecting to need so much - even they were fooled by the ivy!

Hopefully the layer of dirt will smother any of the ivy they didn't manage to dig out - unlikely, since that stuff is ridiculously resourceful... but oh well!

So there you have it! It took us a 16 months, but we finally have a blank slate to work with. Seeding comes next (after raking the tire tracks out of the dirt!) and we now have the freedom to plant what we want! And I can promise you this - I will never, ever, ever, plant ivy in this yard, or any others!