change can be beautiful.

If there's one thing true about gardening, it's that it's always changing. Having a garden has been an exercise in embracing change without even realizing it; my favorite morning activities include (but are not limited to): checking my email, drinking tea, eating toast, and going outside (usually in my pj's, bathrobe, and gardening boots, to the probable dismay of my neighbors) to check on the plants.

Remember when we toiled away this summer, digging up our yard? Here's what's happened since then:

the tall ones: peas and favas.  next to the a/c: baby radishes. to the left of the path: garlic, onions, baby beets. to the left of the peas + favas: lettuce, arugula, chard. All those things in pots: kale, collards, broccoli

my personal fave: the greens plot. oh homegrown salad is the BEST!

a broccoli plant. I've been checking for signs of broccoli for days...

do you see the baby broccoli inside?

oodles and oodles of strawberries: 50 plants in all.

the community garden plot. remember last year? almost exactly one year later + lots of homemade compost = a healthy garden: left & clockwise: peas, garlic, carrots, leeks, onions, kale, parsnips, radishes, chard, and in the middle beautiful purple borage flowers, bringing in the bees. 

the bees have found our fava beans, too. :)

Starting Fresh

2012 is here, and I've got to admit, I'm feeling a bit lost. Last year was a huge milestone year for us, celebrating Jonathan's graduation from dental school and then getting married one month later. Preparing and planning for those two events gave us drive - and now that they are over, and the first six (oh this is so new and exciting) months of marriage have passed, we're feeling a bit directionless. Not that we are unhappy in the least - we continue to enjoy the life that we are living together and the home that we are making. It's just...weird...to not have some big event to focus our energy on!


I find myself seeing this situation in two different ways. Sometimes I truly feel lost and directionless, and sometimes I feel open to possibility - as in, for once I don't have some big plan clouding up my vision and I can just live! Those who know me well will nod in agreement when I say that I love plans. Hello - I planned our wedding and honeymoon for two years...and I keep a meal plan, and a housekeeping plan, and I planned out our garden to the nth degree...I think we can say without hesitation that I am a planner. So to not have any major plans is kind of a big deal. This year, the only big plans we have are to go to Alabama for my cousin's wedding. 

There's not even anything off in the distant future to think about. Pick a college: Check. Pick a major: Check. Graduate, get a job, get married: Check, check, check! And though this sounds terribly ungrateful, it leaves one expecting something to happen next...and I have a sneaking suspicion that something is not so tangible, you know?

2012 is here, and though I'm feeling directionless, I'm also feeling very open and hopeful. It really seems like anything could happen. There will be a lot of room for spontaneity this year, something I could definitely use some practice in. I won't be afraid what seems like a big, empty future, I will embrace each moment as it comes. And isn't that what I started this blog to do? To celebrate the journey that is life? 

"This blog will be about my experience in seeking a holistic lifestyle. My struggle to balance, to grow, to never stop adventuring."

The adventure begins anew in 2012, and I can not wait to share what unfolds.