A few years ago, about when we found out we were pregnant, we started working on some repairs and improvements to the house, inside and out. For years we had just left things as is and not bothered with it, but we finally decided it was time to turn the house we lived in into a home we loved.

We started with the living room. Out went the nasty carpet, and in went cherry laminate flooring. I decided I wanted orange walls, and Josh reluctantly agreed.

It looks great, of course, and we get complimented on it a lot.

Eventually, we'll ditch the old nasty couch, but right now, there are other more pressing things to get done. Next we did the baby's room, which I have blogged before I think, and over last summer we tackled our bedroom. Out went the nasty carpet and in went oak laminate flooring, and I decided I wanted the walls blue. Josh reluctantly agreed.

It looked great, of course.

We still have some molding and trim work to do, but again, one thing at a time.

This spring we've started working on the outside of the house. Josh has developed a green thumb - or at least a green fever. Here's what it was before.

It was cute, but we wanted to change it. Those huge bushes were tiny when we got the house and of course, seven years later they were out of control. And I had never liked the ones one the other side to begin with. Josh spent days clearing out all the bushes and weeds from the beds.

We decided we needed to stain asnd seal the deck - it was looking in pretty rough shape.

Josh picked out a redwood stain, and I reluctantly agreed. It took us both days to stain, much longer than I thought.

It looked great of course. We added the lattace - I don't have a picture of it since it was all completely put on, but it now goes all the way across the front, and then we started adding plants back.

The bush spread over the porch railing is a climbing rose bush with white blossoms when it's in bloom; the pink roses are Queen Elizabeth, and the bush on the right is a very fussy purple Hybrid Tea Rose bush. Josh calls it the retarded cousin.

We planted azalea bushes all along the edge of the property line to try to make it prettier, (gorgeous when they're blooming) plus establish a boundary so that our neighbor's kids don't come over and hack our stuff down, as they have in the past. The pipe has hoels drilled along it and is there as a temporary sprinkler to water the bushes all at once.

Today Josh worked out in the ridiculous humidity to make it prettier.

He dug up the earth around each bush, added in soil, lined it with a cute fence and then topped with mulch.

Here's what the bush looked like before.

And here's after.

We've also been working on container gardening.

We got about half a dozen tomatoes from my plant, and then I killed it. I don't know how or why, but it didn't survive. Josh's pepper plants, though, are started to blossom.

Next year I would like to have raised beds and compost. Josh has all kinds of big plans. I'll keep you posted as we progress.

I've always looked forward to summer. It's always because summer is fun, and bright and sunny and happy, but it's also been because summer means trips home to see family, a break from school, and either time off, or the start of another interim job that I'm excited about.

Not so much this year, and that's a bummer.

We have a trip to California for Jeremy's wedding at the end of June; the following weekend, Leah and Keith are coming up for the Fourth of July, and immediately after that, I'm on a plane to NY to see my family for a week. But other than that 2-week oasis in the middle of the summer, I've kind of been dreading it.

Josh has always been really good at making himself be happy in circumstances he doesn't like. I have always been more of the mindset that if you don't like your circumstances, change them. But now I'm in a situation where that is simply not immediately possible. Long term, yes, but for the time being my choices are to be unhappy, or to be happy.

Ugh.