Succulents

Everyone in my family has a green thumb....except for me.  As an example, I had some flowers in my dorm room last year.  Keeping a plant alive is a simple enough thing - water it every few days, leave it in the sun, and watch it grow.  While I may know how to keep a plant doing well, this is where "do as I say, not as I do" comes in.  I left it for 2 weeks without watering it once.  No water = sad, droopy, dead flower.

That is why I am so excited about the existence of succulents.  These little babies can go a very long time without much water, and they still look as pretty as when you first planted them.  You're actually supposed to water them as little as possible, maybe once every week or so.  They look cool (you can even find succulents with pretty flowers on them), you can plant them in about anything, and they last forever.

I am going to show you a little DIY today of how to make your own succulent gardens like the ones you see at the cute nursery down the street from you. All you need are 4 simple things:

 

Once you have obtained all of these items, the assembly is pretty easy. First, if there are no holes in the bottom of your container, pour a layer of gravel at the bottom.  This will help with the drainage when you water the succulents. If your pot has holes in the bottom, skip this step. 

Next, add the soil to the desired height, and simply plant your succulents. Arrange them how you would like.  If you want to be creative, try to balance the different colors and textures of the succulents you have when planting them. This part can get a little messy! 

If you want to add a little extra flair, cover the dirt with some more gravel, marbles, or even glitter. Once you are done planting, give them a touch of water, and you're done!

 

You can use these to add some life inside your house or out, and they even make great gifts! 

Home Depot or Lowe's will have the stuff you need, but I think it is so important to support the small businesses in your town.  Hope you guys can zip over to your local nursery soon and try out this fun project. I have tons of succulents around my house and they make me so happy! Even this little guy agrees :) 

North to Alaska

I just got back from a two week trip to Alaska, which was the second time I have been there. If you ever get the chance to travel to to this place, let me be the first to say that you NEED to go. There are mountains all around you, forests for days, and moose around every corner. It is one of the most beautiful places I have been to. You can fish, hike to a glacier, and go clamming all in one day.  I did so much while I was there, and even though it was rainy and there were tons of bugs, it was a blast!  Here are some pictures from my trip.

To Love

I am going to state this upfront – I am Christian, and I will occasionally write posts about my faith. If you enjoy reading them, awesome. If you have any questions about my faith or who my God is, please don't hesitate to ask me questions.  I would be happy to answers them!  So, with that said, here goes....

The single most important commandment that God has for us is to love.  To love the people you are closest to, your acquaintances, and the people you see walking down the street.  

Megan Fate, an incredibly inspirational woman and speaker, gave a message at a church I went to this past Sunday.  There were many aspects of her words that stuck with me, but the most memorable would be this: “Love people in a way they don’t deserve because you are loved in a way you don’t deserve.” 

I have to say that there are only a select few people in my life that I can love easily.  The people included in this bunch would probably be my mom, dad and brother...the rest of the people I have a bit of a harder time with.  I don’t know about you, but I sometimes have a hard time loving every single aspect of a person, good and bad.  Just that morning before Megan’s talk I was at work, and I was very frustrated with my boss.  Scratch that – EXTREMELY frustrated.  I won’t go into the details, but lets just say I was trying not to pull my hair out piece by piece.  I, of course, went home and vented to my family for what seemed like hours. I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do but it made me feel good for the time being.  

That night I went to my church with some friends and heard these words on loving people, and I knew God had  brought me their for a reason – I needed to hear that.  It is hard for anyone to love certain people. Who we are sometimes just does not mix with others around us, and this can lead to tons of problems.  Even when you get along with someone extremely well there are certain things that they do that can, well, piss you off.  

While this may be the case, I believe we need to love everyone simply for who they are.  God created every single one of us perfect in his eyes, and while we may not see this, he does, and he loves them.  These people, some whom you may like and some you may not, are God’s people, and to love them is to love Him.  Love the people around you, whether you like them or not, because God loved you first. You may not deserve this love, and neither may the people on the receiving end, but its what God created you to do.  Pass on the incredible love that God shows you everyday, so others may do the same.  Who knows? It may just change the world. 

Roommates

About a week ago some of my friends asked me to take pictures of them for their apartment next year.  I was a little hesitant to accept because I have never done a group session before, but I took the risk and did it.  I had it all planned out -- we would go to the beach first and get some pre-sunset pictures in, then head off to the beautiful sweet pea field we had found a while back to shoot some pictures during the sunset.  Everything was fine and dandy until we realized that a heavy fog was rolling in from the coast.  I was a little pissed that it wasn't turning out as planned (perfectionist me kicked in as per usual), but the girls reassured me that they were fine with clouds and we continued on.  So we went to the beach, then the sweet pea fields, and then ended up at a cool road on the way back.  Even though the golden sun wasn't there to light up the shots, I think they turned out pretty cool, and I had a blast!  I have never been super confident in my photography skills, but it was so fun to shoot photos of these girls and see their reactions when they were done.  They were insanely happy with the outcome and it made me feel a little better :).  We even hit up McDonalds afterwards for some late night fries, which I have to say ended the night on a particularly good note (even though the greasy goodness didn't sit too well later). 

 

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This Week

The past week has been so relaxing!  I finished finals last friday, packed up my dorm, and officially ended my first year in college. Friday night we drove back home to our beach town and got stuck in hours of traffic -- the family wasn't too happy about that, but we got home safe and sound.  That weekend we ate tons of delicious food in celebration of my homecoming, hung out at the local nursery, did some gardening, and more.  We celebrated Father's Day Sunday, my brothers birthday the next, and hung out at our cozy home by the beach the rest of the week.  It has been so amazing to be home and give my brain a break after being away at school all year.  Reading a book on our front porch, dogs by my feet and the salty breeze swirling around me -- that is my definition of summer, and I am so excited to feel this way for the next few months :)