8 Years

8 years. Wow. 8 years of home ownership, 8 years of blogging. So many projects. 2 kids, 2 dogs. This month also marks our 10 year wedding anniversary. Time flies!!!

While I haven't posted a lot this year, we've spent a lot of time working on our house and making improvements. Not necessarily things that are photo-pretty or blog-worthy, but they've made a big difference for us as a family of four and the way we live. I feel like we're in the phase of fine-tuning things to work better until we have the opportunity to do something big.

• Repainted the boys' playhouse (it was peeling like crazy)
• Made a sea shell wreath (because I'm sentimental)
• Stained the deck (necessary maintenance, but looks so much better)
• New driveway gate (the new one is so much better and less claustrophobic) 
• Redid the playroom (with professional help, to fit the ever-expanding toy collection better)
• New living room bookcases with doors and lighting (I need to share phase 2)
• Reorganized Oliver's room (a better layout for playtime, toys and flow)
• Rearranged and reorganized Matt's room (a better layout for a toddler to play)
• Sealed the driveway (necessary maintenance but looks so much better)
• Fixed the lawn (it's now the nicest in the neighborhood and brings Mike joy)
• Reorganized every cabinet, closet and cluttered part of our house and fixed tough spots
• Redid the garden beds on a big scale - and the results are showing!
• Began to update the patio and deck (cushions for comfort, shade, flowers for color)
• Enjoyed the 2017 Summer garden Planted the 2018 garden (for the love of gardening)
• Built 2 obelisks for the garden (adding loveliness and structure to the garden)
• New front porch bench (ideal for waiting for the school bus)
• And of course - Morgan!

It's been a year of fun experiences and some tough things too. We said goodbye to Georgia. There was a lot of winter illness, stress and an uphill climb of life. But overall it's been a good year, a great year. Our family is happier and stronger than ever and I think it's only going to get better from here.

Here's to year 9!