Let's get this party started, eh? Let's Better our Homes and Gardens!

Our little patch of heaven and hell right here on earth:

(Well, as spied by GoogleEarth, that is.

Hmm, must have been taken before we redid the roof. Yikes.)

Dave and I have lived in Farmington, Utah for the past 7 years, the last 6 of which have been spent in our "starter" home. We bought this place, our first (and very possibly last) house back in April of 2004 with the grand idea of wanting more yard than house. Boy, did we have no clue what we were in for! Never has the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for" been more poignant to a pair of people. But we ever strive to maintain that this place is a Rosy Thornbush rather than a Thorny Rosebush.

Through the years we've been relatively diligent in cataloguing and documenting all of our work done on the property, both inside and out of doors. It's actually quite effective in driving away depression when we can look back at where we've come from and realize that while it may not seem like it sometimes...we actually ARE making progress!

Since we've done quite a bit of living and much, much more learning, I've realized that we've built up a pretty good knowledge-base that can be shared with anyone wanting to venture into similar projects. Or, if anyone just wants to know what we've been up to 'round the house, this is the perfect place to stop by and see.

I do a great deal of drawing to get my ideas past that pre-visualization phase and one step closer to becoming realities, but sometimes I'll also enlist the help of one of my favorite software programs: Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Deluxe.

Below is one of those pictures of our house that I don't particularly like making public, but it's all part of the work-in-progress.

And this is my rendering of the house in the BHG program. Actually, you can see that this is one of my tinkerings since I've moved the front door. Best hundred bucks you can spend for getting your ideas out of your head and onto your computer screen (Best for the home projects, that is. Decent for the yard projects, but not quite up to scratch for keeping up with OUR yard.).

So, that'll sum up the first post. Years worth of past projects will be coming soon, taking you through the step-by-step as well as current successes and failures.

Here's to happy homes!