Progress has been made, finally.

Progress has been made with the patio. Our steps from the house to the patio have been put in and they look good. We are going to have to stain the pickets for the railing but that's no big deal. The patio looks much "neater" than it did before. Its nothing spectacular, overall, but its what worked with our budget. We got to keep our flowerbed and Brian came up with a good idea to make two other beds on either side of the steps down to the yard. That way it adds some color and dimension. Although we'd love to have a fancy patio with some teak furniture or something we have to work with what we've got for now. I had two plastic/vinyl Adirondack style chairs from my apartment patio that came with me when I moved in here. We were given a really nice mosaic cafe style table and three chairs from a friends of ours that didn't want it anymore. And Brian brought a few side tables/plant stands and a loveseat from his old house---we just need to get some cushions. None of it really matches and looks kind of crappy right now, but our plan is to paint all the metal items (table base, side tables, cafe' chairs) the same color Rustoleum so it matches and its protected, as well as paint the ugly Adirondack chairs a color that better matches. They are so ugly now, but so incredibly comfortable (as was the price when I bought them).

We planned on replacing the privacy walls, but to save money, Brian is just going to fix whatever is broken, replace a few boards that are warped, power wash them, and then stain to match the steps.

We plan on sprucing up the existing flowerbed, and like I said, making two new ones. Initially we were just going to put flowers in it but after talking with our neighbor, we are considering doing a veggie garden, which would help us save some money next summer on vegetables.

I'm starting to get excited about it. I sat out there earlier tonight to talk on the phone and it was so relaxing. I can't wait til its all done.