06/09/2026
Welcome to 'Little Stories of Home'
The moments, lessons, and surprises that come with having a place of your own.
Story One: Katie & Nick - THE LAWN
The first house we looked at with our realtor I remember saying very clearly, “We’re just so excited to finally have a lawn.”
It sounds simple now, but at the time it felt like one of the biggest upgrades we could possibly imagine. No more tiny balcony. No more indoor grilling. Just…our own grass and yard and space!
Our realtor smiled like she’d heard that before, but we meant it. We pictured mornings outside with coffee sitting on our colorful adirondack chairs, Nick grilling in the summer while friends arrived with potato salad and a cooler, and maybe even doing the whole “yard game” thing. Are we co****le or giant Jenga people? We didn't exactly know, but we did know that we wanted THAT kind of backyard.
When we first moved in we’d stand outside planning it all out. Nick talked about a grill. I talked about string lights. We both agreed we were going to spend sooo much time outside. We filled up our amazon cart, and made a few trips to Home Goods. We were ready.
Then the grass started growing.
At first, it was kind of impressive. Like, look at us, we're grown ups and have a real lawn. But then it didn’t stop. And suddenly it wasn’t just a yard anymore - it was something we had to take care of. Oh, and we needed to buy a lawn mower.
Every Saturday started to look the same.
Mow the lawn, pull weeds, water whatever looked dry, and debate why one corner always looked worse than the rest. We also Googled things like “why is my grass turning yellow” like we knew what we were doing. We didn't.
And then came the part we didn’t really think about before buying a house.
The cost.
Gas for the mower, fertilizer, and tools we didn’t own yet. The “quick fix” trips to the hardware store that were never actually quick.
We joked that the grass itself was cheap, but the maintenance wasn’t.
We learned quickly that a yard doesn’t just sit there looking nice.
It asks for things.
The surprise wasn’t just the work. It was the time, the money, and the upkeep that we never really factored in.
I mean, our agent did say things like, "This yard has very simple landscaping - you'll want something with low maintenance!" It's not that no one told us, I guess we just didn't listen.
But here’s the thing we didn’t expect either:
We ended up outside more than we ever were when we lived in our apartment.
Coffee in the morning on the patio turned into a habit. Evenings started to slow down a little. We’d meet outside after work and catch up on the day together. We eventually we looked at the yard like it was something we were building, not just maintaining.
Over time, the lawn stopped feeling like another chore.
It became part of our life.
It’s where we plan our life together, and where friends end up standing barefoot in the grass long after they said they were leaving, because...one more game!
Was it more work than we thought?
Oh, definitely.
Did it cost more than we expected?
For sure.
But now when we look at it, we don’t think about the work or the receipts.
We think about the life that’s happened on it.
And somehow, that makes all of it feel worth it.
- Katie (& Nick)
