The Pros and Cons of Living in a House

So, I feel that this weekend we fully enjoyed the benefits of living in a house. On Friday evening, we were able to have some of Kevin's friends over, and we all enjoyed playing in the yard with Guinness, and we enjoyed hanging out by the BBQ drinking some beers... And we didn't have to worry about talking too loudly, because we don't share walls with neighbors anymore...  It was pretty great. The BBQ turned out pretty fun, and the burgers and hot dogs were sooooo tasty. The pasta salad turned out great too, and the dessert was pretty good. I made something called "The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford", and I thought the name was hilarious, and I also thought it sounded really easy, and it was something I could make-ahead and keep in the fridge until we were ready for it. I liked it, but it was nothing amazing... I don't think I'll add it to my "Recipes I LOVE" board on Pinterest.  Oh, and McGee's friend's girlfriend was over, and she doesn't enjoy drinking beer, so I found an easy cocktail called a "Dirty Shirley" that we both enjoyed (it's really just a Shirley Temple with some vodka in it).  I meant to take lots of pictures of the BBQ fun, but I was having too much fun and forgot... Whoops!

Today, we have done a LOT of yardwork, because that was getting pretty necessary... Our lawn was getting out of control, and we had tons of leaves everywhere that were starting to get gross and decompose from all of the rain we've had. McGee did the mowing, and we both did a lot of gathering leaves and battling ivy. Remind me to NEVER plant ivy whenever I own a house... The ivy was quite obnoxious, and was growing everywhere. I did get some pictures of our yard! McGee was oh-so-happy that I was taking his picture while he was trying to work...

McGee is standing in the driveway we share with our neighbor (so that's our neighbor's house that you can see). 

You can see our fenced yard in the back... Along with the busted fence (the first tree guys did that... Luckily Guinness doesn't try to escape or anything). We park on the paved area between the house and the fenced yard.

I think he was trying to ignore me... 

Here are McGee's gnomes that our on our patio... We definitely need some Chargers representation. 

 Here is a gross mushroom that McGee noticed when he was mowing the lawn (at the bottom of the tree). It is so huge and disgusting. It looks like a creature. I think we just leave it alone though, right? And halfway up the tree you can see more mushrooms. 

Here's a close-up of the weird/gross mushroom.

Here are the other mushrooms growing towards the middle of the tree trunk.

Here's the side of our yard, after we'd spent a long time battling ivy and picking up decomposing leaves. It looks so much better than it did when we started!

 And here's another angle! You can see our patio area. I think I want to get some colorful potted plants for the patio. 

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!!