In other news, back in May we got hit with a pretty hard hail storm. It shredded our newly planted landscaping in back and also did some damage to our house. In ones way though, Mother Nature worked in our favor. We hated the outside of our house, but couldn't justify new siding in the foreseeable future. Even though the hail only damaged one side of our house, the insurance company couldn't match the aluminum stuff we had so we ended up with the whole house redone and the detached garage! Oh, and a new roof, but that's not as exciting. Anyway, we're sorry for not having some Taylor pictures (we've tried to upload some videos...or Al has...but it hasn't been cooperating), but hopefully those will come soon (Al has to take over the blogging for now).
For tonight, I just wanted to show some house progress!
The front of our house before the facelift. In this picture you can also see some stone by the sidewalk. I had taken 2 days off from work and did some landscaping. It was actually very therapeutic. Out all day in the sun for 2 days, improving the yard, getting away from work and having "me" time.
Here is the side of our house (the side that was actually damaged) with all the ivy and overgrown foliage. Ugh.
Close up of the side (before). Seriously, everything had been so unkempt when we first bought the house in 2006 and we just hadn't had the time to work on this side yet. Unfortunately it's the side that is most exposed since we're on a corner.
Back of our house (picture taken in 2006 before our patio). Notice all the ivy on the addition. It was beautiful in the summer, but looked bad in the winter. Plus when it dies off, it's impossible to come off (the front of our house was an example of this).
Here's a picture of Al taking things into his own hands. We decided that since we were changing our house color, we wanted to get rid of the awful brick in front. It had been painted white and was falling apart anyway. Al worked on it for a few days with a small sledge hammer and a crow bar. It actually came out pretty easily! We just have to pay for the siding that covers that area since it wasn't a "necessary" add-on. Well worth it for us!
Close up of the front of the house. You can see what the ivy does to the siding and brick when it dies off. It's IMPOSSIBLE to get off too. Yuck.
A fun shot of all the brick we took off of the house. Woo!
Ok, drum roll please! Just to give you an appetizer, here is the "after" picture of my landscaping. It was really gratifying to do this myself, but now I know that I could never do it for a living. I was so sore for days! In case you're wondering, the white-looking stuff behind the stone is grass-mulch mix. Next season it should fill in nicely.
Close up of one side. The one plant in the front is a really nice hosta, but the white flower got chopped off by another storm we had in August. Next year it will look even nicer. I love the perennials in the back because they are at peak time right now (September) with bright pink color. The middle ones now have a purple daisy-like flower. It's amazing how many new neighbors you meet while doing some landscaping. I was surprised by how many people stopped while driving by to tell me how good it was coming along. So nice!
Front of the house after new siding and new roof. Next season we're going to look into tearing out the big bushes and redoing the landscaping. We want big bushes like this for the privacy, but the ones we have are dying out and in bad shape. We also need to find a way to cover the foundation. It will be really fun to get some ideas from the landscaping company we used for our patio.
North side after new siding and all of the bushes ripped out. We will hopefully landscape this area too next year. Al is working on getting the shutters up on this side currently. The one bad thing about the new siding though is that the window trim looks shabby now (older windows) and are covered with dead ivy remnants.
Back of house. It looks SO different without the ivy! So bare, but nice. Al redid the downspouts and tore out the ivy roots, except for what is on the chimney. We're debating on leaving that part. You can also see the handrail by the backdoor that Al put up about a month ago. He is getting to be so handy!
Back of the house with the new siding and patio. We like how the Texas sign looks against the new house color.
Ok, so that's all for the house, here is your reward for looking at all of that. Taylor and daddy during the first game of the year. So precious! She's getting to be such a big girl 
