This last spring we spent a lovely weekend outdoors at a friend's house and came home enthusiastic about redoing our backyard.  Between the drought and being gone for four weeks this summer, we decided that of all years, this was the year to level the backyard and go without a garden. In early May we met with a landscaper to help us think through possibilities and nearly three months later we had finalized plans and a permit in hand to do the work.  

Construction/demolition started on August 12 and we killed ourselves the week before trying to get everything ready for the work to start.  We finally cleaned, primed and painted the last side of the house that has had mismatched paint for 4 years, fixed a door sill, and cleared out the yard.  We wore ourselves out.  We aren't as resilient as we were when we first became homeowners.  :)

We ended up hiring a crew to do a lot of the grueling labor and we've been responsible for the final touches.  After having watched a team of four work for nearly four weeks on the project, we decided it was the right decision to outsource it.  It would have taken us two years of Saturdays to get to where we are today.

We still have lots of work ahead of us (staining the fence, building the firepit, audio, electrical inspection, sanding and staining the garden beds, sealing the pavers and getting the long awaited turf) but it's looking good and we are excited about where it's headed.  We just hope that we'll get to enjoy it for a week or two before the desired rains arrive.

Here is a sneak peak of how it's looking against what it used to look like..

The Before Progress as of 9/5/15