Southern Living: OUTSIDE

 We officially became home owners within the last few weeks.  We spent several weekends checking out properties in Mississippi and would you believe that we bought the FIRST property that we saw.  We did tons of looking on-line before visiting and just fell in love with this place.  We made an offer, negotiated some terms, signed a million papers and got the keys so the place is officially ours.  Here's a little BEFORE tour to show you what the place looked like when we first got it and also to document the changes we make in the future.

We live on a darling cul-de-sac.

Big trees and well established homes.

 We have a hot pink crepe myrtle of our very own.

It's also worth noting that the previous home owner built the home.  She has been working on the landscaping for 17 or so years and has quite the green thumb.  She's a darling older lady who just moved a few streets over.  She even offered to come back to the house and give me a little garden tour.  I confessed that I do not have a green thumb and I would happily take any gardening guidance she had to offer.

The set up is a little unique... the garage is open to the backyard.  We were very thankful to have a garage (most properties we looked at only had carports) and the open layout gave us a covered patio as well as an uncovered patio.  We have attic storage above the garage and a closet for storage in the garage.  You can never have enough storage - right?!?!?

 The backyard is a dreamy little secret garden and I just know we are going to love spending time out there.  I'm envisioning patio tables, grilling, lanterns, a swing for Olive in one of the trees, baby pools, water tables and more!!  Oh and some gardening on our part to maintain the place.

 The previous home owner was very generous to us.  She left us hoses, sprinklers, potted plants and more.  She seemed really excited that a young couple was moving into the home she'd loved for so many years.  We have never had a yard before so we were very appreciative.

I don't know what all of the plants are {yet} but it seems like a lot of them bloom.  I have seen the hydrangeas in bloom and I'm anxious for next Spring to see what other surprise blooms are out there.

 The yard seems like the perfect size for us to learn the ins and outs of taking care of a yard.  The only worrisome thing is the container of SNAKE AWAY she left in the garage for us... heaven help me!  I did see a tiny frog, squirrels, birds and hummingbirds hanging out back there so I'll choose to focus on those instead of the slimy creatures.