Completed Patio Project!

Warning: there are a lot of pictures of two adorable doggies in this post. Oh, and this post is mainly just pictures since the point is to show you the completed patio project. Enjoy!

It has actually been completed for about two weeks but everytime I think about taking pictures we are outside enjoying it and I don't want to move from my comfy spot to get up and go get my camera.

  I know, lazy! But we have been enjoying the heck out of it, especially in the evenings. We bought a little chiminea to go out there mainly because I thought it was cute but we will probably use our bigger fire pit most of the time. Buie put it together tonight (AFTER I had already taken these pictures).

This is the fire pit that we will use most of the time probably. I actually bought it for B about 3 years ago and it's been sitting in a box in our garage (along with about a million other things). B insisted that we have a proper place to put this fire pit before we opened the box. Hopefully we accomplished that goal.

And I'm pretty sure these guys are in heaven. Conner, my prissy little guy, doesn't much like laying on the cold rocks so of course he gets his own chair or just sits in my lap. :) Scooter is fine sprawled out on the cool sand and rocks. 

 The pergola turned out nicely. Here in another week or so, we will put a stain on it and it will be good to withstand rain, sleet, hail and the intense heat of Arkansas summers. We still have some landscaping to do to spruce it up and beautify it but that will be done in time. In the springtime, I'll hang my hammock in the pergola. Can't wait!

 Scooter and Conner. They are so used to posing for the camera, I hardly have to ask them. :)

Wherever these little guys are, we are pretty happy but we hope to have plenty of wonderful memories in our backyard and hanging out on our patio. We hope you enjoyed our little patio tour! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Check out other posts about our patio project:
Breaking Ground
Updates and a Conversion
Little Sandy Toes
Making Progress

Making Progress!

A few of you have asked for an update on our backyard project. Are we done yet? Are the rocks laid, etc.? I decided to break out my wide angle lens so I would have a more accurate account of this patio project we're involved in. We've been talking about building this patio for over two years now and I'm so excited that we are actually doing it! :) 

This is the view from our back porch when you walk out of our back door. We are fortunate to have a pretty big back yard for Conner and Scooter. This is also another reason we really wanted to have more useable space in our backyard. 

This has been Conner's favorite place to play the last week or so, right on top of the pile of rocks. Look how happy he is with himself. :)

The pergola is officially finished. Woo hoo! It is 10' by 16' and we plan to hang my hand woven hammock that I brought back from Nicaragua underneath the pergola.

I was very pleased with the overall design of the pergola. I love the decorative edges. I think it gives it a little something special, don't you? Right now, I'm in the process of figuring out what type of vine I will plant at the base of the posts that will grow and provide shade for us. I'm thinking Carolina Jasmine.

This is the view standing underneath the pergola looking back towards the house. Those rocks will obviously be laid down where this sand is. They have actually started laying the rock already and should be finished by the end of the week!

The dogs have loved the project. They love laying (and digging) in the sand. In the evenings, the sand is actually quite cool. It's been fun to see how they react to each new thing that is brought in. Of course they had to "leave their mark" on EVERYTHING! haha.

So right now it looks like a big sand pit, so pretty soon it will be a pretty patio.

All of these rocks (about 6 tons worth) will be laid down, more sand will be put on top and packed down nice and tightly.

And pretty soon we will be sitting here enjoying this view, watching the dogs play, hanging out with friends and family and maybe... MAYBE even watching our own kids play in this backyard one day. ;)

See how far we've come! 

Updates & a Conversion

Hi, there September! You sure got here quickly. I don't think I'm ready for you. But I AM ready for some cooler weather that's for sure!

Lately I have been working like crazy which is definitely a good thing. If you have a second go check out my new photography website: www.carabethstudio.com. It's a work in progress but I'm loving it so far.  I have been shooting a lot of precious newborn babies in the last couple of weeks. This fall I am booking up with family photos for Holiday cards. These are probably my favorites! Everyone is dressed in their best, the air is crisp, the kids are on their best behavior (most of the time). ;) I think my most favorite thing is receiving Christmas cards in the mail. I love it! I know Facebook, twitter and social media is in the present and real mail is a thing of the past, but please let's keep Holiday cards alive, people!

Anyway, I really don't have too much else going on in our lives. Our back patio is about halfway complete. We ordered the rock - it's gorgeous! The sand was delivered and they literally drove this huge Mac truck all up in our backyard and dumped 10 yards of sands in our backyard (apparently that's a lot). Our dogs think we are building them a playground. They are constantly running figure eights around the big piles of rocks and they play in the sand like they are frolicking at the beach.

Football season is here. Do I love football? Yes. Do I like to watch it with friends and socialize and wear my favorite teams colors and when the occasion arises even attend an actual game? Yes, of course. Do I LOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEE football so much that I will without question sacrifice everything else in my life, change my daily habits for the game and go out of my way to do anything I can to make sure that football is in my life everyday....um, probably not. Ok. I just wanted to clear that up. And on that note, GEAUX TIGERS! And the Kansas City Chiefs? Yes, that's right. You heard me right. This girl, a long time Cowboys fan is now converting to her husband's team, the Chiefs. Buie thinks that since we don't agree in college football (He pulls for Arkansas. I pull for LSU.) he thinks we should come together for NFL Sunday. If you know my dad and brothers or if you knew my granddad when he was alive, then you know why I feel like I'm betraying them. They are all huge Cowboys fans. I mean, my nephew Landon's nursery is decorated in a Dallas Cowboy theme. Let's be honest ladies, my first love was Troy Aikman. But after four years of marriage, here I am saying Go Chiefs! Yeah, that's right... I'm a good wife. ;)

Ok. That's all for now. Anyone wanna go up in my attic and get out my fall decor? It's only 210 degrees up there?  Pretty please?

Breaking Ground.

So my mom always told me I was talented and gifted and she was proud of me and I can do anything I set my mind to. You know all the things every good mother should say to her only daughter. But you see, these praises can bring about a false sense of security and confidence. I recently remember telling someone that I like to garden.... After looking at this picture, you will see that this phrase is almost laughable. 

I really DO like to garden. I promise. In my dreams, my yard looks like Martha Stewarts'. If fact, this area of our back yard once looked beautiful. You see, the former owner is like a Master Gardener. In fact, we are friends on Facebook and she such a nice lady and I'm actually horrified that she might actually see what I did to her backyard. So, to her, I say, I'm so sorry. :(  Please forgive me. It's my mother's fault for telling me I could do anything I set my mind to. Obviously keeping up with this garden was not one of them. So it went from this weed infested swamp fest that I was literally scared to go near for fear of being sucked in and Buie would never see me again...

Then Buie got a hold of it and it look like this for a while. Better but still an eye sore. 

After quite a bit of rain and two crazy dogs, it then became a huge mud pit. That was fun for a while, until it dried up and there were these huge holes all over it and it looked worse than ever before. What was once a lovely this garden with lilies and zinnias and roses all thanks to the former owner, had now because a huge thorn in my side. I hated to look at it because it just reminded me of failure. I let all of those pretty flowers die. I let all of the former owner's hard work just go to waste. I hated to even go outside because it would remind me of the huge project lurking over there in the corner. 

So we started dreaming of things we could do with this space. Should we plant a big tree to provide more shade for our home? Should we put in a pool? ha! ok, we quickly passed on this idea. Should we just landscape it with pretty bushes and/or flowers, something super easy to maintain? But we kept going back to the idea of having an area to gather and hang out with friends. So I started searching in magazine, Pinterest, DIY books and found a few ideas of firepit patio. We kept seeing these pergolas that provided shade and we loved the idea. Keep in mind this whole dreaming and searching process has been about 2 years. Probably because I'm so indecisive and it doesn't help that I'm a cheap skate. 

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Buie nor I both have any experience with woodwork or building anything at this scale. We attempted to get a quote from a larger company and it was WAY out of our price range. Disappointed we put it off for a while. When we mentioned our project ideas to the guy who mows our lawn, he informed us that he just happens to put in patios and pergolas. Man, did we hit the jackpot! And he's doing it for us for very little labor cost. It's CRAZY how much those big lawn companies overcharge you for labor! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have a pergola in our backyard soon. I'm even going to have a place to hang my hammock! :) 

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So this week, we broke ground on the project. The land was completely cleared and I am amazed at how fast things are getting done! I'm thinking this thing will be done by football season which is in a couple of weeks! :) We are already planning cookouts, backyard parties and just nights hanging out on our new patio. 

 The retaining wall is going up. We have to make sure everything is completely level. 

Check back for updates! 

Other backyard ideas on Pinterest.