Dear Lauren,

**Note: This post is for a friend of mine that has asked for an explanation of the retaining walls... However, if you're not Lauren, and you still want to read it, you're most welcome to do so.**

Okay, L...This is the back yard. See the retaining wall in the middle of the yard? That was in the original plans and will be referred to as The Wall. Now, follow the fence back towards us....

...and you'll come to this corner behind the pool. This side of the fence is ground level with the back corner of the house.  

Retaining wall before:

Now:

Continue to follow the fence towards us and it goes around the side of the house. (You can see the back corner of the house at ground level.)

This outdoor shower area will have more privacy...eventually...but that's not on the agenda until things warm up a bit! :)

Now, back to this shot...go out the gate at the end and turn to your right...

...and you'll be on the other side of the fence looking down the property line at the retaining wall that was not in the plans that we'll refer to as Surprise Wall.

On the other side of this back corner is the pool. 

Surprise Wall is 5 feet tall and had to be filled with dirt on the inside...just to later have the pool guys come and dig the pool. The "pool dirt" was later moved to the top of The Wall in the back yard and to the front yard to level things out in preparation for sod...so it was not a waste :)

The main purpose of Surprise Wall was to keep all the water that will come off our roof on a rainy day from flooding our backyard neighbor's basement. ...and we really like them and would hate to make them angry by flooding their home. :) Oh, and it was an ugly gray block color, but we painted it to match the brick of our house. Much better...I mean, for a Surprise Retaining Wall...

Hope this helps!

Signed,
The Girl Who Got a Retaining Wall for Christmas