Front Yard:
Jonathan cleared a lot of the brush and bushes that had just been "let go" over the past several years. He really wanted to grow grass and have a yard to mow. In order to do that we had to rake everything up and get back to bare ground to plant grass seed. He also did some power washing of the house and front and back stoops. He replaced rotten boards and repainted the stoops along with the bird feeder to match the house. We also had to solve some drainage problems....water ran through 3 areas of the yard during heavy rains and snow melt. I drew on my Agronomy class experience at ISU to tile part of the yard, build a drainage creek bed with a footbridge, and create terraces in the back yard. Here are some pictures of our progress on the front yard:
Side Yard:
How about that green, green grass?!? It really put a smile on our faces to see it come in so well after all our hard work. We cleared and created more yard space in the side yard as well as adding a storage shed to serve as a nice place for Jonathan to build a work bench and shelves to store his tools and work on other projects.
Back Yard:
Believe it or not, we spent most of our time in the back yard working on terracing and several special projects. Jonathan repaired and painted the stoops and built a kayak rack that we staked it into the ground on one of the terrace levels. I dug up two different overgrown brick patio areas, leveled, and layed a new bigger brick patio to create a nice outdoor eating and gathering area around the fire bowl and grill.
Jonathan also planted grass in the backyard. We used big boards to walk on while the grass established its root system. You may be wondering....what is in the box on the upper patio????
Jonathan drove home one day from Blain's Farm and Fleet annoucing that he was going to build a wood burning hot tub. With some internet research he put together a good plan and got to work. You start with a metal stock tank. Build a box around it using 2x4's and T1-11. Line the box and bottom of the tank with pink board for insulation. He used cedar to trim it and tongue and groove to make a cover. We ordered a wood burning hot tub heater from www.cowboyhottubs.com and picked up several feet of stove pipe from Menards. Add water and wood to burn and wah lah......a back yard hot tub that only costs us some time and energy to stoke the fire.
Steam rising from the hot water past the stove pipe.
The heater's fire box. The rest is submerged in water. We've discovered that the fastest way to get the water hot is to start a fire in the fire bowl with big logs and then shovel the hot coals from the fire into the heater adding some small sticks and logs to burn on top.
One website recommended using a canoe paddle to stir the water to help evenly heat the water. It also heats up faster the more we stir it. I used a wood burner to add a fun name on the paddle to double as a sign for the hot tub.
Last night we had the temp up to 105 degrees F. A nice treat on a cold night.
Inside:
We've also been busy inside the house. We have 2 bedrooms and one bath on one side of a duplex on campus. We put up the usual pictures and decorations and worked on several other specials projects as well.
I used the woodburner again to turn this old spare paddle into a welcome sign in the entry way by the front door. 
An old white board was used to let people know how to find Emily and Becky (who rotate security duty in the evenings when visitors are staying on campus).
I gave it an upgrade using the woodburner and paint to make a new sign to match the colors of the house.
We put up some IKEA shelves to help us add storage and organization to the kitchen.
Jonathan bought a new TV (a wedding gift to ourselves) and we needed more DVD storage. He found this great corner unit at Bare Wood Furniture. He stained it and added the handles. It works great and gives us 4 drawers full of added DVD storage!
This is our living room.
We have been working to refinish this dining room table and chairs (the table is done, and chairs just need their new seats in this photo). We got the table from Jonathan's old roomate in Florida. He didn't want it any more. It came with 2 chairs (that are now painted blue). I stayed on the lookout for more chairs. I literally picked up two chairs off the side of the road bound for the dump in Florida. They were easy to repair with some clamps and wood glue and are now painted green. While we were in Houston someone put two more chairs out by the dumpster at our apartment; I assume because the seats were covered in pet hair. Those two are now painted red. It was quite a process stripping, sanding, repairing, reapolstering, and repainting, but it was worth it. Eat your heart out Pottery Barn! ;-)
This blog post has been a long process, covering several months worth of work. Thanks for looking at all the pictures and enjoying the fruits of our labor with us through pictures.
Grandpa Van 
