I Like to Call Myself an Expert Mower : )

Today I'm thankful for this fine machine.

I've pretty much become an expert mower. With the husband working full time and usually 13 hour days at that, I've become the primary yard-keeper! : ) This was a stretch for me. I'd only mowed one other time in my life before this summer and it did not go well. My dad made me try it and after five minutes banished me from ever mowing the yard again. lucky me! We literally lived 10 feet from the middle school I attended and the first time I ever tried mowing was the most embarrassing experience. To keep it short, I fell...with the mower. Not very cool in middle school. 

So when I realized I was going to have to take over all the yard work this summer, I was quite worried. In one short week, I learned how to adjust the height of the mower, fill it up with gas, and start it! : ) (That was a big step.) I also learned how to work our weed-eater and put aside my terror of hitting myself in the ankles with it. We also bought a leaf-blower when we moved in and I learned how to run that, too! Now I can make the sidewalks look all pretty when I'm finally finished with everything! So now I mow our yard with a push mower twice a week. it sucks. bad. especially when it's lava hot outside. 

Here's an idea of how much I have to mow at our house. The front, the west side, and then the east side of the house. Not too bad. (Please ignore how bleak everything looks. These pics were taken the weekend it was bought and that was back in April, when there were no flowers blooming and no special touches to the house.)

But I also mow the many acres out at my in-laws every week, and I'm so thankful they purchased a Grasshopper to mow it with! They have a lot of hills, small ditches, trees, and what not to mow around and this thing does it all! Here's my in-laws. What you see in this picture is only 1/16 of what I mow there. 

I would highly recommend this piece of equipment if you have a lot of land to mow. It goes fast...blazing fast, like 'it's gonna throw you out of the seat' kind of fast. It's a zero degree turn around trees without having to back track at all! Plus it's comfortable!! 

I love me a grasshopper! 

Plus I get a tan and a lot of alone time to think!! A pretty great summer job! : )