A Visible Backyard

One of the most exciting things about moving to a house from a condo is that we'll have a yard. Although I'm excited to have a space for outdoor entertaining and that kind of thing, my immediate focus is on having a yard for Smokey to run around in. We take him out for walks several times a day and on various "adventures" (he knows that word - don't say it around him unless you want to activate the puppy cyclone!), but it's so rare that he actually just gets to chill outside. On his lazier walks, the poor little guy always tries to plop down in the grass to sunbathe and avoid coming back in, but I'm always in a rush get back to work or whatever I'm doing. No question, he's going to LOVE having a yard and not being so leash-dependent.

But before we can Smokey let loose on his own, we need a fence. And before we can get a fence, we need to make way for the fence. You might remember that our backyard was previously in jungle status - as in, not possible to see more than a few feet into it. This past weekend, we started trying to fix that (which you may have known already if you follow me on facebook or Instagram).

Three Ridges Hike

Like many Americans this year, we decided to take off July 5th so we could turn the 4th of July into a nice, long weekend. Like not so many Americans (or Virginians, at least), we decided to go hiking and camping - I say that because the route we took is supposed to be one of Virginia's most popular backpacking circuits and we barely saw anyone. At the campsite (which apparently gets pretty packed), I was shocked to find that we were the only tent! (Although it might've been the weather...)

Wannabe landscape designer

One of the drawbacks of new construction is that there's zero landscaping to start with - no patio, no deck, no gardens... just a whole lot of empty, ugly space. In our case, we've got trees in the backyard (which, as I've mentioned, is currently in 'jungle' status), and the remainder of the yard is bare dirt. It's a little overwhelming, and I've definitely been having trouble visualizing ideas for what we might want to do. Because the first floor is just a few feet above the ground, we knew we just wanted a patio rather than a deck in the back, but I couldn't picture at all what that patio might look like. And the front yard is massive (at least by DC area standards), so I had no idea what to do with that either.

But this weekend, I found a new time waster (not that I have to search too hard to find those...). I downloaded the free trial version of Realtime Landscaping Pro 2013. The full version is $100, and there is a 'Plus' version (instead of Pro) that is $80, but I found the free version suited my needs perfectly... this version was awesome for designing a general landscaping and hardscaping layout - to help me plan where we'd want a patio, walkways, mulch, etc. and to help me visualize what that layout might look like. If you've already got your basic layout and just want to plan more specific details like what kinds of plants you want, then this free version is not for you - the options for specific plants and materials are pretty limited in the trial.

Our virtual front yard

{Mini-Getaway} West Virginia Ski Trip

Earlier in the winter I snatched up a Travelzoo deal for a night of lodging plus two lift tickets for $89 at Canaan Valley, West Virginia (yep, lodging and two lift tickets for $89 total - score!!), and we finally made use of it last weekend. It's definitely a small ski resort, but we had a great time checking out somewhere new to ski (for Bryan) and snowboard (for me). The snow conditions were amazing - so much fluffy powder to play in (something we're not used to on the east coast!), no crowds at all, and the lodge was pet friendly, so we got to bring Smokey along with us. Plus I was so excited to be on a snowboard again, since I hadn't been since we were in the Alps two years ago! Here are a few pics from the trip (please excuse the iPhone photo quality!).