Back at it!

It is MUCH more fun to do yard work in the fall — though, I must say, I didn't 100 percent relish doing it with a sinus infection.

Here are some of our yard updates:

Take note of the new, darker mulch. Pine bark mulch looks pretty and smells good, too. We also replaced some dead bushes with Encore Azaleas.

Here is the tree that J is calling "the newest member of our family." He's coveted this tree for more than a year:

(Cedar)

We also finally tackled a flower bed on the other side of the stairs in front of our house:

(Don't let him fool you—I dug the trench for these pavers!)

What to carve in our pumpkin...?

And, good news for us on the horizon: We are meeting with a contractor to get an estimate for all of the work we need done inside our home. If it's reasonable, we might just have a new kitchen and bathroom soon! I, for one, think that would be the best Christmas present ever!!

A Look Ahead

I'm always happy to see what my husband comes up with next for our flower boxes.

Check these out:

And, on top of being beautiful (whatever they are!), they're attracting butterflies and hummingbirds — which totally remind me of our Jamaican honeymoon!

Here are the new hanging baskets we got to replace our dead ferns:

In all honesty though, after we OD'd on yard work leading up to July Fourth, we let our yard GO! Everything died. You remember those peppers I was growing?? Gone! Last weekend, shame prompted us to take action. Things are looking good again, though we still have a lot of weeding left. And, we actually cleaned off and used our patio and grill Sunday to make delish cedar-planked salmon!

I don't know about y'all, but we're looking forward to fall and the absence of mosquitos! The cooler weather this week has been just what we needed! In our household, fall means family holiday adventures (the boy LOVES Halloween), the return of red wine, porch sitting and just overall happiness!

There are a lot of things brewing on the horizon for us. We have a really busy fall approaching — I'm helping throw a b-rette party and I'm going to be in my friend's wedding, to name a couple of things. Plus, Jonathan and I are approaching our one-year anniversary. Big things are coming!

Backyard Bash

Long story short, my diet of late has been just about as bad as my commitment to blogging. But I guess you knew I fell off the diet bandwagon from the pictures of the scones. And it was all downhill from there...

It was a BUSY weekend, friends. Jonathan and I had a yard sale Saturday. We did pretty well considering we really only had a lot of little things. My parents-in-law did a lot better because they had genuine antiques and furniture pieces. All the money we made went to bills...oh, and a little to Lowe's, but I'm getting there!

After the yard sale our community group friends Sierra and Dane were wed in quaint Senoia. Our pastor officiated for them, so it was nice to hear mine and Jonathan's vows again :-) Really took me back.

Now I'll get to what you really want to hear about: More home improvement. We've decided to host a Fourth of July backyard bash for some of our close friends since we never really did have a house warming party in the midst of all our wedding chaos.

This means we have an actual deadline to reclaim our backyard and make it presentable. This is no small feat. Hours and hours of manual labor in — not to mention $1 billion at Lowe's — we've only just gotten up the layer of leaves and sticks that covered the upper tier of our backyard.

Now we have to work on the 12-foot hedges, coax grass to grow (okay, husband, call TruGreen) and hardscape a patio area! My birthday is May 12 and I'm hoping to get a big ol' gas grill so this grill master can prepare hamburgers and hot dogs for our party guests (invites to come!)

Here's what it looks like to date:

Here's what I hope it'll look like in about 9 weeks:

(What? I'm not asking for much...)

Oh, and since this is a mishmash of randomness, I'll go ahead and throw out that we're headed to Seaside, Florida in a couple of weeks to relax in paradise.

You can expect to see daily teaser shots: sunrises, sunsets, delectable-looking seafood entrees that I didn't have to prepare and white sand beaches. You will not see my pasty whiteness reflecting sunlight. :-)

Here are a few of my fav pics from my last trip to Seaside: