Home Improvements ...

One thing I {and the hubs} knew we wanted to accomplish this summer were some house projects.  We knew we couldn't do everything we wanted right away {like the garage that we both desperately can't wait for!} but we thought it'd be a good idea to chip away at some of the little projects we had on our "wish list" to complete.

First up was some yard work.  Now mind you, I told the hubs that I would gladly do this by myself, or that I was sure my mom would come down and help me.  Of course, it didn't help to pick the hottest day and to do the work right smack dab in the middle of the afternoon - but I'm thankful that the husband helped {who am I kidding, he did the majority of it!} and we now have edging all the way around the house! 

Here's before in the front of the house ...

And after!  I can't wait for the hydrangeas to bloom here! 

And what is the side of the house {but we use it like it's our front door}

We will be inheriting some plants from my mom to go here.  Some daisies, hostas and a rose bush - and another family friend has offered us some plants that she wants to divide up!  So very thankful for that! 

The hubs let me know that he is done with outside work - he'll cut the grass but no more planting so I guess that will all be up to me!

Another item on the list was trying to figure out where we would put the boxes and boxes of books we had.  The hubs and I had tried to figure out where we could put bookshelves, if we would build some or get premade. I giggled to myself when I saw the hubs looking up ideas on pinterest - gotta love it!  Since our house is so old {and nothing is straight} we ended up with shelves that could attach to the wall. 

 A before shot of our "office" area at the top of the stairs.

During construction.  One of these boys was a little more motivated than the other ...

And after! 

We both LOVE the way this turned out.  Funny thing is though - the shelves are not level at all! Originally we hung the shelves so they were level.  We got the first one up and noticed that on one side of the window there was about a one inch gap, on the other - a 5 inch gap ---- so that wouldn't work!   We ended up making it level with the window and thankfully no books have tumbled off yet! :)

However, with all of these shelves we still needed more room for books - so we turned around and figured we could make the room cohesive by putting smaller shelves on the other side as well. 

Before

 After

This gives us some space to grow with books {as the hubs has an addiction to buying books I'm pretty sure!} and I stuck the picture up of Otis to reserve my shelf for books that are still at my parents. :)

I was also so excited to find what the hubs and I both thought was the perfect spot for our "Our Story" sign.  I always pictured this going on a gallery wall of some sort but our house just doesn't have the perfect space for that - so we made our own little gallery wall above the window if you will. 

We filled the frames with pictures that explain us {as of right now} - us sailing on the Salty Dog, on the ferris wheel at Cherry Festival, an engagement picture, and our first Christmas married {with puppy Otis of course!}

We were both really happy with how it turned out.

And we end with a picture of the hubs and Otis.  Because honestly, this picture just makes me giggle with how Otis sits like a little toddler :)