The House I Grew Up In By Christina Winter

To a second grader the house below was anything but exciting.  It was an orange house that had been abandoned for 4 years.  The yard, which consisted of 10 acres, was overgrown; the house itself had a musty, old smell and yes...it had shrews which if you don't know are FAR worse than mice!  However, my parents bought this house with a vision and a dream in mind that as children we would learn to appreciate, desire for ourselves and one day realize all the lessons we learned from hard work as well as something you can take pride in.  As a family and with some help from friends and a contractor or two, we spent many days fixing up the exterior and interior of our home.  It didn't always go smoothly, there were tears, some blood and as a young child many four letter words were heard.  As the years passed and projects were finished this house became more to each of us then anyone had envisioned.  We grew as a family and learned to get over struggles and together created a home.  Today this house exists somewhere else...the ten acres of land have been developed into many homes, our driveway became an entrance road to the neighborhood and the basement well I am guessing was gutted out and destroyed.
As I am now in my own house and starting my own family it only made sense that we bought a house that needs some updating, has a nice sized yard, and an unfinished basement.  It is great to know that our house has potential, and with some sweat, maybe some tears and I am sure some blood we will create a home.  
Front Exterior Before

Overgrown Driveway Before

Back Exterior Before (in Winter)

Backyard Before (in Summer)

Process of Landscaping Backyard

After Driveway

Back Exterior After

Backyard After

Upstairs Before (Pardon the Family Christmas Photos)

Downstairs Before

Upstairs After

Downstairs After