12/06/2025
This photo takes me back to one of the most defining projects in my journey — building this stone patio with my dad. 🪨
What started as an unused, overgrown patch of our front yard became a full transformation. But more than that, it became the foundation of my learning and my passion for home projects. 💡
This job was all about setting grade and building something solid from the ground up — literally and figuratively. As we uncovered what was beneath the surface, I learned how to pivot, problem-solve, and keep going when the project threw curveballs.
This wasn’t just laying stones.
It was hand digging.
Setting grade.
Installing a sprinkler system. 💦
Lifting 80-pound retaining blocks one by one. 💪🏽
Cutting stone, learning to work with cement, and discovering the satisfaction of doing things the right way. 💯
But the best part? The confidence I built along the way — in my skills, in my passion, and in the realization that I genuinely love this work.
That overgrown space turned into a beautiful stone patio with a reverse retaining wall… and it also turned into the foundation of everything that led me to start JT1. 🩵