T-minus two weeks until our first wedding!

This past weekend consisted of laughs, sweat, tan lines and many trips to Lowes. We were blessed with incredible weather that allowed us to get as much as possible done. When you think about everything that has to be done, it’s a little overwhelming, so it’s best not to do that…instead, we create a list of things that we would like to get done each weekend and/or weekday.

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Chad’s weekend started early by getting to work on the property on Friday. He began to build the retaining wall next to the barn. Not only is this generally a heavy/hard task to do, but he also had to cut some railroad ties to make it work. We ended up finishing this wall on Saturday morning (right before we had a potential bride come to visit).

IMG_2876 This was the first time I had ever cut a railroad tie so I wanted to make sure this moment was documented. Let me just say, in that moment, I felt like I really knew what I was doing (and looked the part too).

**For future reference, I ended up cutting several railroad ties on Sunday :  )

Also on Saturday, we put the second coat of paint on the chicken coop and started scraping the back side of it so that (hopefully) we will be able to paint it in the next few days!

After we met with our potential bride and groom (which they were super chill and cool), we put on our second layer of porch stain. 3

This photo was taken about halfway though our second coat. Our goal for this week is to put the sealer on it ASAP. We wanted to do that this weekend, but it was still a little damp on Sunday evening to do it.

On Sunday morning, Chad and I started working on digging our french drain (picture is at the top-don’t be fooled by my smile). I have to say, this was one of the messiest, hardest things I have done yet for this property. We put this in as essentially a backup for drainage. While I’m glad we have it done, it wouldn’t want to dig another one anytime soon : )

The last thing I want to mention is probably the biggest thing we achieved this weekend, which was…you guessed it! Another retaining wall!

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The main purpose of these retaining walls is to create and define spaces. This area in particular is phase one of a spot we are creating for a ceremony site. What the photo doesn’t show you is, there is a tree that we are centering this area around and behind it, is a spring that produces an awesome sound of water falling.

The next two weeks are going to be a mad dash to finish everything, but we just have to focus on one thing at a time.

Stay calm and carry on!