In December 2024, I surprised my then-fiancé, Justin, with a swing bench for Christmas! I had never worked with wood or built any kind of furniture before, so this was definitely an ambitious first project. We were recently engaged so I titled it “Project 1: A Swing Bench for my Future Husband”.

My brother-in-law kindly lent me his power tools and gave me a crash course on how to use them. My older brother helped me pick out 2x4s at Home Depot, which was a lifesaver because I completely underestimated how heavy they can get! My dad helped me figure out how to drill the holes for the eye bolts. And, in a fun twist, I tricked Justin into lending me his angle grinder (my brother-in-law didn’t have one so he asked Justin if “he” could borrow it, haha). I couldn’t have done this without their help and support, and I’m so grateful for them. Beyond that, I handled all the planning, research, cutting, gluing, assembling, etc. myself, but I left it unpainted so Justin could choose the color.

Last December of 2025, we finally got around to painting our swing bench, and Justin even bought a cushion for it! And some months later, here I am posting about it. In that strange way, it feels like we can finally call it complete. Now all we need is some cooler weather.

And maybe a coffee or two.