Into the Future.

It's 11:30 p.m. & I'm just about done with the flowers for a 600 person wedding.  I sit here on our basement floor with my glass of wine beside me {that was poured at 8 p.m.}, look around & think...

I am a dreamer, a wisher and importantly, I suppose,...a do-er.  Some days I am more of a dreamer than others...I get caught up in my excitement & pure hope to succeed in doing something that I am completely passionate about.  For as long as I can remember, I have had this deep desire to have something of my own...working for someone for the rest of my life just isn't in me. 

For the past 7 years, since finishing at Iowa State, I have worked extremely hard at working for others...and I like to think that they have all appreciated the hard work & dedication that I put into my work.  I know that I am forever in debt to them for the invaluable amount of knowledge that they have provided me with...knowledge that helps me tremendously as I make bigger & bigger leaps into pursuing my dreams.

So...anyway...before I get too wordy...I'm here in the chilly basment {who needs a flower cooler?!} completely surrounded by quart sized mason jars filled with flowers  & the entire floor is littered {uh...very littered!} with leaves, greens, stems & a few broken flowers.  Looking at the beauty in this chaos makes me think about the future and where I'll be sitting at this time next year...5 years from now...10??  I have big, huge dreams...and I have enormous hope that we can make them all come true...

All I know is that at this moment I am extremely blessed...and for all that I have been blessed with, I am so thankful...so very, very thankful.

Loving Our Land.

Olive & I had a super productive Monday night!  The 3+ inches of rain over the weekend made planting a breeze!  I was able to get all of the lilies, a bunch of hosta, some limelight hydrangeas & a viburnum in the ground!  We even did some weeding...& butterfly chasing!  {Don't mind the weeds in these photos, though...there's still mulch to go down.}

Olive was a great supervisor!...as her reward for doing such a great job, we took TWO walks back to the field {where the new flower rows are getting started} and did a lot of ball throwing!  :)

...and now, getting ready for a big wedding on Saturday!  Fun! 

Wilted.

Highs near or at 100 degrees with heat indices near 120 degrees is enough to make anyone wilt!  Looking around the yard, plants that never wilt are wilting and sad...there are cracks in the ground that I'm sure could send my little dog, Olive, straight through to China!

We need rain.  A nice 2-3 day stretch of steady showers would work wonders for the sad shrubs and tan colored lawns.  In the midst of this dry spell, the perennials that we planted over the 4th of July weekend are thriving!  Yes...I have been watering them nearly every other day, but still...the heat alone knocks me out!...still, they stand tall.  Without meaning to, I happened to order quite a few drought tolerant, heat-loving plants -- baptisia, yarrow, helenium...they seem to be loving this insane weather! 

Right before our extreme heat hit, I had the opportunity to help with a beautiful wedding!  I love doing wedding flowers!  We have another BIG wedding coming up on the 30th that is going to be really pretty!  Also, a few more weddings this fall!  So fun!!