The Great 38

I officially made it to 38 on July 16th. Even though there wasn't this huge party or a lot of fanfare, I enjoyed the day to the fullest. However, there's been something brewing in me for a few months and I couldn't really figure out what it was or why it was happening. My blog has been a dream of mine and the truth is my creativity to was stifled to the point that I just quit writing. My brainstorming sessions I used to have on a weekly basis were nonexistent and truthfully I wasn't sure if being consistent was something I could really do. One day it all hit me...I was putting pressure on myself regarding what I thought my blog was supposed to be instead of allowing it to organically become what it could be. This past weekend as apart of my birthday gift my husband and I went to a local nursery to get flowers so that we could beautify our front garden. I researched the best flowers/shrubs to plant now as well as what was required of them to make them flourish. With my notes in hand, we took on the nursery and ended up with a healthy amount of beautiful flowers and plant. My past consists of not being a green thumb bandit so I set out to prove myself wrong. We ended up staying up late (garden didn't get fully planted until almost midnight) just to have everything completed. It's amazing the lessons I learned from this experience. The truth is we already had flowers in our garden bed prior to this weekend, but several were dead or dying. The Texas sun was too much for them and they basically wilted away. No matter how much they were watered and cared for, they weren't thriving. The front of the garden took the hardest hit, but those a little further back up to the house were growing and producing beautiful flowers. My research proved what I suspected: they can survive the Texas sun, but required some shade. The flowers up front received less shade because the tree the landscapers planted isn't providing much covering. While it has leaves, it's patchy at best (and I promise we are taking care of it the best we can). 

Grow where you are planted is such a common theme. I actually have a desk sign with this written on it. This sentiment was exactly why I was struggling with my blog and my creative side as a whole. My gardening experience revealed to me that you can be planted in the right environment, but the wrong place. Every single flower in our garden can live and thrive in zone 9, but the right conditions didn't exist every place in the garden for each plant and the result was finicky blooms and wilted leaves. It's just like having an appointment at a new office and being in the building. Being in the building won't allow you to complete your appointment unless you get to the exact place you're supposed to be. My perspective has now shifted to a place of being okay with not forcing myself to be one dimensional and allowing every facet of the epitome of being me to be displayed. In order to get the old plants growing, we uprooted them and positioned them in places that were more conducive to their overall health and wellbeing. Several of them were so far gone, we put them in individual planters with new soil in attempts to start regrowth. We recognize it's definitely going to be a journey, but we are hoping to be able to save all if not most of them. Lesson 2 is that if you aren't willing to move, you could die there. It doesn't have to be literal, but by me not adapting my blog felt lifeless and I'm 100% certain that I'm supposed to be doing this and sharing my journey with others. I can also look back at my life and see areas that if I would have only applied this knowledge I wouldn't have all these different things I started and never completed.

I love growing and learning. Some of it is challenging and fun and other times it absolutely sucks. This lesson sucked. Anytime the hubby and I walk to the get the mail we are able to look at the gardens of some of our neighbors and it hurts my feelings that our plants just suck (well not anymore...LOL). This is what led to us deciding to try our hand at gardening. I'm sure there are plenty of other lessons that need to learned about gardening and I'm definitely a willing participant. I want to be proud of results I get and I recognize that work coincides with that. What's a lesson you've recently learned that's going to help you complete this year strong?

*Pictures below show what our flowers looked like placed in the wrong place, after being taken up and placed in good soil and the right conditions provided, and what the flowers are supposed to look like.