Backyard Part 1

This project begun awhile ago and is technically still not finished...but I reached a milestone today.

Before I get to "the milestone" let's go back in time:

This was our backyard when we moved in (notice if you will the weeds along the fence. They ended up getting about 3 1/2 feet tall before I did anything about them...)

After some time, I trenched the yard and laid PVC pipe for sprinklers. Now I'll have you know, this was all a slow process. I used a trencher that my dad had rented to do his own yard, I used left over spare pieces of PVC and fitting once he was done laying pipe...you know, the cheapest way possible!

And here we are today, wetting down this area of the lawn. Mind you, the sprinklers are STILL not done and i did the pipe months ago! haha don't judge...

And Viola!

(Did i just type the name of the instrument, or the word you say when you are revealing something? I don't know, I hope you get what I am trying to say...)

Insta-lawn! Well, it wasn't very instantaneous. It took some time to lay down. but nevertheless, a heck-of-a lot faster than throwing seed! You see, my dad bought a bunch of sod to do his own yard and when he told me he was buying some, I asked him if i could take the leftovers. Luckily for me, he had about 320 sq ft of extra! So we laid in the front section of my backyard. The rest of the yard needs some leveling and other work done but still, we have a little backyard with grass now!!

I have never laid sod before, and it was actually kinda fun!

So the plan is to finish the sprinklers ASAP and then probably next summer, fill in the rest of the yard with sod! I love my little yard...

A "little" project

So ever since I can remember, I have been obssesed with miniature things. Awhile ago I found a miniature paper model of a guitar on the website uncommongoods.com.

Because Jessica is the best wife in the world, she got my the model for our anniversary.

As I had a little time here, and some time there, I have been cutting, folding, and glueing this model together.

And I've done it.

The whole thing is paper. It was awesome to build. Next, (I hope) is a paper grand piano model...We'll see...

The Greatest "Project" Ever!!

So on Tuesday, August 2, 2011, Jessica and I completed a project that has been in the making for, oh, about 9 months!

Asher Cameron Mitchell was born at 12:21 pm weighing a whopping 9 lbs, 4 oz (Jess's OB came into the recovery room after and picked him up and looked at me and said, "This is a big a$$ baby!")

It was basically an amazing experience...we went in Tues morning at 10 and Jess got all prepped and before 2 1/2 hours passed, WHAM! We're parents!

He's pretty much the cutest baby in the world, just sayin'...

(a little Zoolander action going. Haven't seen it? look it up)

I love our little family. As of right now (Fri. Aug 5th), we're still in the hospital. So I don't know if it has sunk in completely, but it is an amazing feeling to hold him and look at him and know that he is ours, forever.

Fence Part 2

So the last post I showed the fence built...but it sat on my back patio for a month...

But I finally put it in!!

You'd think that once it was built, putting it in would be easy? Yeah not so much...well it probably would've been had I dug the holes in the right spots (I had no idea how hard it was to dig 2, 1' 7" holes!!, then to do them again!) and trim one side cause it was like 1/2" too wide...

I got my dad to come over and help me carry the fence over to its spot, then RE-dig the holes, then I borrowed a saw from my NASCAR and beer loving neighbor across the street to trim the side, then set it in!

...and voila!

Because I've been trying to do everything involving the least amount of money possible, I opted out of buying cement to set the posts in using the logic: "the indians built their houses with dirt and water!" so we used just that, dirt and some water!

and here's a before-and-after pic I took on a nifty app I found on my phone:

And because I am SOO resourceful (yeah don't laugh), I have plans to use the lumber from the old fence for another up-coming project!