april showers. & april flowers.

hey friends. long time, no communication, huh?

So, what's new?
For those of you who don't know, I reside in the great city of Augusta - home of the Masters [golf tournament].  It's exciting because Augusta truly is stunning this time of year.  We seem to have azalea bushes and dogwoods all over the place, which of course are in full bloom these days. I have the joy of living in an older neighborhood that is completely adorned with such plants.
Anyway, where was I going with this? Two directions with this...
First... as you may recall, my yard has been in complete disarray.  I decided with the impending extra visitors and such, it was time I tackle the overgrown bushes, uncut grass, and simply unpleasant curb appeal.  With the help of Dad, we basically gutted the yard.  We decided to try our hand at a little construction project...I mean, manswell with all of our reno experience.  [Do you remember the initial attack of the yellow jackets here and here? Well, we actually tried our hand at carpentry then because we were too defeated to tackle the yard but wanted to accomplish something.  But of course, that's besides the point].

So Dad and I purchased some pieces of wood and some stain and used some drywall screws we already had to assemble the piece.  Of course, I didn't take pics of this process.  But our vision was a planter to emphasize the walkway to my front door.

This simple change to my yard [well, after the MAJOR overhaul] has added a sweet little touch that makes the house appear cozy.  Love it.

Ok. So these rabbit trails...the second reason I launched into the Master's spill was because I managed to find someone to rent my house out for the week... meaning, I had my work cut out for me. I was contacted 2 weeks out from Masters, then cancelled on 1 week out, the re-contacted the Friday prior to the Sunday they would arrive. So- we're talking working at incredible speeds to create anther bedroom and complete some [untouched since Nov. 2010] projects...

 The gray room quickly became adorned with a hodge-podge of decorating elements leftover from who-knows-what.  So, found this mattress and box springs through a facebook status...and the bedding was my college bedding.  And the curtain is actually a shower curtain from my roommates collection.  I pulled the euro pillow from my bed.  And the [incorrect size] headboard is propped up behind the mattress.  Classy huh?

And then, I tried to clean out the junk craft room to make it look presentable [because, let's face it. If you were renting a house for a week, at some point during the week, you are going to snoop through the closed doors and rooms]. So we cleaned and hung some curtains.  Its a start.

So now.  having been in the house 7 months, we're still seeing some progress :)