i heart our yard

until now, we've never had a back yard to speak of. our first house in raleigh was on the corner of the main drag in the neighborhood with no fence, so if we grilled out, we'd have a dozen people walking by asking us what was on the menu. we thought we were upgrading with our house in asheville, until our neighbors behind us decided to put in a pool and all of a sudden we were staring at a hundred middle schoolers splashing around every time we sat down in our family room. needless to say, a private back yard was way high up on our priority list when searching for houses here in raleigh. it's 6:30 pm on a friday evening. i'm sitting outside underneath two whirring ceiling fans, watching liam and susanna ride their bikes on the deck and having a grand time. chris and my dad (ever the loving grandfather) are setting up a super-duper playset in our big wooded section. we can sort of see one neighbor's house in the distance, but i think we could sit out here in the nude and no one would be the wiser. (never fear ... we won't. the mosquitoes are biting.) there are still boxes and boxes to be unpacked, artwork to be hung, and window treatments to be installed. i sort of dread walking inside. but outside, it's perfect. and well worth the ten-month wait.