Holly Crap we have lived here for six weeks

Where does the time go?  I sure don't know.  I'm writing this up as a reality check for myself.  Me, being me, I see a place that still has unpacked boxes, a garage filled with randomness and a backyard full of holes and dirt.  I need to remind myself this isn't a sprint its a marathon and its just fine for us to have stuff to do, as long as we are still moving toward the finish line.  OK enough of a sports analogy.  This is my list of all the many things we HAVE accomplished since we've moved in.  I'm not going to even get into what needs done, as that list is currently occupying a notebook with diagrams and everything. So here I go....

What we have accomplished in the past six weeks:

• We bought a freakin house!
• We moved in.
• We determined that the majority of our current possessions are place holders.

      Outside...

• We had the landscaper tree guy, Pawl, come out and tell us what's what with all our trees and plants.
• We had Bear and Shawn come out climb through all our trees and give them a much needed haircut, so they are happier and healthier now.

Our Honey Locus in the front yard is sporting a leaner look since its trim.

• We poisoned every weed in the back yard, trying to kill off the dandelions and mustard weed.  It worked... kind of... we are doing it again this week.
• We dug out two horseshoe pits and discovered our soil is so dense it almost acts as concrete when you get to a certain depth.  (This also included wheel-barrowing ~12 things of sand out of the dirt part of the yard and onto the concrete randomness of the yard)

That would be the pin that you throw horseshoes against, in Rich's hand.  Only 18 inches of it was out of the ground.

• I poisoned the evil black locust tree.  I don't think its working though.  Since the little bastards are popping up everywhere.

When I first counted there were 26 of these lovely little suckers popped up in the yard.

• I have begun to tackle the lilac bush.  We have decided to chop away at it as we see fit and if it dies, it dies.  But the big unruly bush must go.  I'm envisioning something bonsai like.  (Which after hours of chopping at the bush with pruners, I came to an entire other lilac in there, which made me acknowledge we needed a chain saw, which of course thrilled Rich.)

That pile of twigs on the ground was all the dead stuff I pulled out of the bush.  I will be clearing at least 50% more out.

• Rich has been determined to get two stumps out of the back yard.  One is currently conquered the other is about 80% of the way there.  (This involves digging, cutting roots, more digging, more cutting, some pressure washing to see whats what and more digging and cutting.)

This hole is now twice this size and we still have more to go before we can pull it out.

• I have been digging up our backyard to try and dig out all the sucker saplings that are popping up.  Rich and I know this will be a continual issue for years.  I really wanted to get all the woody stems that I trip over out of the yard.  This has led to feet and feet of roots being pulled out of the yard.

Not the best pic, but this is a 4 foot long root I dug out of the yard.  With a wheel barrow full of others.

Doesn't look like a place you just want to kick back and relax at?

• We bought a 'Shanna powered mower' as Rich likes to call it.  And we have actually been mowing the little patch of grass out front.
• We are trying to get the grass to fill in out front- without success as of yet.

Rich added fancy pants 'I can grow anywhere' seed to this and.... nothin. 

• We bought a leaf blower/ sucker.  Which has illuminated all kinds of things in the landscaping beds out front, as well as just being kinda fun to use.
• Rich edged the front yard along the sidewalk.  Once we get things pulling together little by little, this will be a nice addition to the yard.  (You can see it in the picture above, of the lacking grass.)
• We are trying to determine the color we will paint the house down the road.  Why?  Because we really need to paint the fence and we would like to do something with the concrete to give it a little life.  So we are trying to think ahead so everything will tie in together down the road.

       Inside

• Master Bedroom unpacked, all the clothes put away in our crazy closet, white trash window coverings created and old TV set up with Netflix so Rich can watch a sitcom to fall asleep.
• Master Bathroom cleaned.  Shower scrubbed until it wasn't icky, new toilet seat installed vanity cleaned out and over the toilet cupboard put up.
• Hall Bathroom mostly cleaned.  The shower surround needs a lot of scrubbing and I just haven't done it yet.  But the facilities are usable and not icky.  So we are good in the interim.
• Guest Bedroom.  Not a thing done, except we got the hot water heater fixed.  So now we can actually close the access to it in the closet.

Doesn't this serene view just make you want to come and stay for an extended visit?

• Office (Third Bedroom) is mostly functional.  My desk for work is up and running and has been since the second day in the house.  The rest of the room could use some love.  I currently have taken everything out of the storage and am trying to reorganize it, soooo it's in the it is worse before it gets better phase.
• Living Room is functional, just not pretty.  We have the furniture in place and we managed to get the TV wall mounted. Now I just need to dig through our possessions and see what kind of stuff can spruce it up a bit.

Perfect example of the big beige box we live in :)

• Dinning Room is functional, just not pretty.  All the furniture is put together and currently the table top is housing a pile of stuff that needs organized in the office...So we've been eating in the living room in front of the TV.

Doesn't this just scream 'I want to sit down for a big family meal'?

• The Kitchen, I don't really know what to say about it.  It should be functional, however Rich and I can't really figure out how to use it effectively.  It still feels weird working in there, which should be weird on its own since its a bigger space then our apartment kitchen. It really isn't up there on the pretty front.  Cabinets are flaking and our faux butcher block counter top has seen better days.  But it should be functional.  I 'm sure we'll figure it out.
• Future Dining Room= chaos.  We don't know what to do with this space until it is the dining room.  Right now it seems to be a home for wayward chairs and mirrors.

Hard to believe that this will be the kick ass heart of our home one day.

• The Garage, I know this isn't really 'inside' but I'm throwing it in here.  We are fortunate to have a large garage.  Even when it was full of random boxes from moving in, we could still park in the garage.  This weekend I started laying down some foundation in there so we can slowly work towards a well organized area.  So Recycling center done and area created for all outdoor/ gardening type things.

I should call this 'Rich's Happy Place'.  A home for all things lawn related.

And just for comparison... we can throw this out as a 'Shanna Happy Place' nice big shelves for all our recycling needs.  Oh and those are a pair of Rich's shorts hanging down off the top shelf.  With all the work being done in our dirt pit of a backyard, we have recognized a need for a garage laundry bin- where all the really dirty stuff will live until washed.

So wordy post done.  This was more for me than anyone else.  I need to stay focused on the little things accomplished each day, so that the monster to do list doesn't scare me into the fetal position under my desk with a stuffed animal.

Much Love- Shanna