One thing that’s always been fairly important to me in regards to living arrangements is the place has to have a homey yard, particularly when it comes to the back. I grew up lucky enough with a pool, but the rest of our yard is relatively small and covered in cement with planters around the perimeter of hap-hazardly planted shrubbery that feral cats loved to give birth to their litters in. It’s a decent backyard, but it always left a lot to be desired in my eyes.

My desire is to have a yard that has a decent sized cement area where grilling can be done. Nearby, the rest of the yard would be grassy and set-up nicely with pretty, yet durable outdoor furniture. I want a place where I can invite friends over during seasonable days and evenings and entertain. Shooting the breeze outside while cooking up some easy food to enjoy and have a great time. I’m a sociable person and I like to entertain, but it’s been difficult to do so since the husband and I haven’t been able to properly set-up shop in our homes yet.

What’s keeping us? Currently we don’t have our furniture from storage. It’s something we’re working on right now and a long story, but we’re essentially living in a bachelor pad. Before, we were shacking up in my parents’ home and while it was homey and filled out, it wasn’t ours. We’d have to ask my parents before being able to invite others over. Prior to moving back to CA, we lived in South Carolina and our home’s backyard was a mess with spiders and bugs and needless to say, I never opened the windows in the back of the house OR the backyard door unless absolutely necessary. It wasn’t landscaped at all and faced a wooded lot, so little desire to be out there was present. Once again, before that we lived on base and we were still acquiring furniture so a lot of space went to waste. We seem to have that problem quite a bit.

I am very determined and convinced I will have my backyard, complete with even a hammock (thanks to my Marinara friends who finally introduced me to the joys of one!), and nobody can stop me!