Our days are saturated with the thoughts and opinions of other sources telling us how we should dress, eat, exercise, raise our children, treat our spouses, and decorate our homes.  I get caught in that trap.  Scrolling through Instagram, staring at all the rooms with the perfect light and the clean floors and the beautiful couch/rug/light fixture/fiddle leaf fig/pillows, etc.  and my  knee jerk reaction is to think if that’s what pretty is, I need to do that.  So I look up from that tiny yet powerful rectangle held in my hand and see dust, toys, a granola bar wrapper, and my less than perfect everything.  It doesn’t look like what I just saw in those squares.  I’ll just have to make it look like that, I think.  But then I quickly realize I don’t have the time or resources to get there.  Thankfully.  Because there is not where I am.  There is there and here is here and I’m HERE.  And what I have is my own little space that isn’t defined by a square found on a rectangle.   It’s defined by me and mine.  When I realize that, I’m free to make it mine.  Which, for me, means thrift stores and garage sales and family heirlooms and things I make.  And it means it might be perfect today but next Tuesday I will probably want to move some things around and then it’ll be perfect again.  I’m constantly thinking about what spaces the kids gravitate towards and why and where we as a family spend our time and how to make those spaces work better for us.

Here’s what else being okay with being here and not there does for me and you.  It makes us more confident to invite people in.  To invite people here.  To throw some meat, cheese, and nuts on a platter, open a bottle of wine, turn some music on, and be with others.   But when we compare to those squares on that rectangle, when we try to define ourselves by a digital framework that came long after what truly defines us entered this world, we want to wait until everything looks like that.  When I finish this project, I’ll have people over.  When I get a bigger table, we can have people over for dinner.  When I paint this room, I can have guests here.  I love a pretty picture as much as the next person.  I love rooms with clean floors and perfect couches and new pillows.  But, that ain’t always real life, friends.  Real life is what I have to work with and I’m not going to wait for square on a rectangle perfect to live it.

One of the simplest and most fun places for me to decorate is my front door.  A cute door mat and a wreath go a long way.  Here is a cute little tutorial to make a wreath for your door.

I arranged my flowers several different ways until I decided.  Then I glued them on the wreath, then I attached greenery wherever worked.  I thought it looked best to add greenery to each end of the floral design and then a little throughout to finish it off.  Add a ribbon to attach to the hook and you’re done!  The whole thing takes less than thirty minutes!

I hope if you find time to do this, you are able to let your mind reflect on how you use your home and what you hope for it.

-racheal

I am beyond excited about spring and the fact that it is time to get some plants in the yard and on porches and back decks and all over the place.

I have a square foot garden that has officially been unsuccessful for 6 years now.  Mainly because of my lack of watering skills, or I should say “remembering to water” skills.  I just decided this year it is time for a change.  I am going to embrace my abilities and inabilities and I am going to fill my square foot gardens with wildflowers.  Flowers are more up my alley than vegetables anyways.

I plan to cut some weekly, maybe even daily, to line our kitchen table.  More than that I plan to give them away. Flowers are meant to be enjoyed and shared.  The beauty of wildflowers are they’re free to just be.  They exist in the full beauty of how they were created.

I don’t always feel free to be me or appreciate that I am made the way I am for a reason. For a purpose. A lot of times I just feel like a hot mess.

This week I was able to be honest about my downfalls as a mama, especially when it comes to routine.  We really struggle with getting out the door on time (well I do) and I finally reached my tipping point when I not only was late dropping off my oldest to school, but I had to walk him inside and sign him in because it was well past the bell.  I usually tend to try to fix it on my own, but I had reached my wits end. So, I decided to ask for help.  The response was amazing.  I had so many mamas who excel in this area reach out to me with tips and tricks.  More than that, I had so many mamas who encouraged me and cheered me on.  I could have let my weaknesses tap into my insecurities of not being a great mom, instead I let their help become an opportunity to grow.  It was very freeing. 

I only hope to get to do the same for others one day.  We aren’t all great at everything.  We are all made to be great at some things and to share those gifts. 

Instead of focusing on what we can’t do or where we fall short, what if we leaned into someone with that strength and they carried us?  And what if they did the same?  What if we were made with strengths and weakness so that we could not do it on our own.  What if we were meant to find freedom in holding each other up? 

As I try a new approach to my square foot gardens this summer, I hope that the flowers on my table and the flowers I share, only remind me of the beauty of choosing to just be who I was created to be.  Thank goodness, I go better with others.

-Erin

1. Choose your seeds.  I chose a standard mix.  I love bright colors so I made sure my mix included zinnias, which I know I have successfully grown before. 
2. Choose your location.  Check the back of your seed packet for information on if the plants will need mostly sun or part shade.  The square foot gardens at our house are shaded in the morning but have full afternoon sun so I got the full sun mix.
3. Ready the soil.  I use this soil which I have found in the past is great for seed starting.  Use a rake to break apart any clumps in the soil and smooth out the surface.
4. Spread the seeds. I sprinkle in one direction and try to scatter them smoothly from my hand.  Try to get them evenly dispersed throughout the flower bed.  Some will take and some will not.
5. Spread the soil around with your hand or walk over them to pat them down from the wind.  You won’t want to plant them too deep or they won’t grow, but you do want to make sure they are slightly covered by soil.
6. Water.  Occasionally–thats the best part to me.  The soil just needs to stay moist.  They may need more water in the hotter months of summer but don’t over water them.  Sprouting should occur in about 2 weeks.
7. Love them.  Place them in mason jars on your tables and window sills.  Put them in your hair, but most of all give them to your people, your neighbors or anyone needing a little more love in their life.