10 Things To Consider Before Buying A Mountain Home

Well we've been living in a desert mountain environment for more than two years now and have been in our home for about 18 months. I've learned a few things that I thought I would share about buying a mountain home with a "wild" yard versus living in a designed, manicured neighborhood. There are a few things I've had to learn to adjust to, some things might have turned me away from choosing a mountain home and some benefits are priceless. But they are things I never thought about until I experienced them.

I'll start with the cons just to get them out of the way and so that I can end of a positive note:

1) Pest control: Oh the nature creatures sure are cute. The wild bunnies, flocks of quail, wild birds, and deer are so charming until you realize the furry creatures especially also bring fleas and other bugs along with them. We also have packrats, tons of mice, bobcats, snakes (poisonous and not), tarantulas, lots of spiders, very noisy, rather aggressive birds, coyotes that eat small pets and creatures, ants (of all varieties, sizes and biting abilities), and a lot more flying insects than I see at friends homes even just a little lower on the hill. Those include tarantula hawks which are giant relatives of hornets, hornets, wasps and bees. Pest control could be a full time job if we let it be. Don't imagine we are constantly under barrage of animals attacking us, but living with nature is living with nature. You have to be thoughtful and careful.

Last weekend we had a rattlesnake across our driveway and The Man could not get by, so he had to wait. Two weeks ago we had bear in our yard, very close to the house several times. That was a little scary, especially when one night I came across one and the next night The Man walked out of the house in the dark to a large bear on our front living room patio.

2) Protection for pets and children: All these critters also mean you have to be a lot more careful with children and household pets that go outside. Cats aren't safe around coyotes, and even a large dog can be taken down by a pack of coyotes or other predators. They can also pick up diseases from the wild creatures. Dogs can be rattlesnake trained but you can never guarantee what might happened if your pet comes across a poisonous creature in the wild. Child safety is also a big concern from all these same kinds of animals. I almost forgot to also mention dangerous plants! Cactus everywhere. I once had to pull a cactus needle out of Kiddo's shin that was embedded about 1/2" into her skin. Super gross feeling to keep pulling and pulling until it came out. She fell at the far back side of our property and had a lot way to drag herself back to the house to get help.

We have a rule that Kiddo can't go outside without telling us, so that we know to check on her every few minutes. Both kids and animals have to be trained to be watchful and they also need to be fairly closely supervised. It's also important to have first aid preparedness and plans for all these scenarios. Some extra caution is needed.

3) Mountain weather pattern dangers: The weather gets a little wilder in the foothills. This may mean more powerful winds, heavier rains, more powerful sudden storms of all kinds: electrical, thunder, snow, rain, etc. This can make driving more challenging too even when things are fine in the city. Temperatures can also be considerably colder in winter. You may be just a couple of miles away from the heart of town but a higher elevation, canyons and mountains that storm clouds will bang into make things a little more challenging and unpredictable. I was "twinkled" by some lightening two summers ago - it didn't strike loudly it just buzzed up the air around me and I was holding my cell phone and received a burn on my palm from where the phone contacted my hand. Not fun. I try not to go outside at all if we are having an electrical storm now.

4) Outdated utilities: The farther you live from "civilization" the less maintained utilities will be and the less interested companies are in investing in your neighborhood. Our neighborhood is about 30+ years old now. The lots are big and spread apart and the population is mostly over 70 years old. So you can imagine we are not the hotbed for the tech companies interested in investing in installing their latest technologies. Things you don't think about...high speed internet is everywhere now isn't it?!

The fact that home lots are big, spread far apart and that the soil is very rocky also adds to the plausible costs for utilities to consider upgrading to new systems and laying new wires that have to be buried underground. So our neighborhood has adequate but not great internet access and our options are limited. The phone lines are old, all the wiring is old. We've already had to have the internet company come and replace the main connector for our house at the junction box down the road and were without internet service for a week. It seems like every few weeks we have to restart our modem to reconnect to the system.

5) Public and emergency services availability: Once you are out of the city limits you will likely not be getting city water, garbage, sewer, or emergency services. You may be on the county system for fire and law enforcement and it's important to know how far away these facilities are located if you have an emergency at your home. We have a neighborhood association for garbage and water which we pay for and it's probably more that regular city services would be. We also have a septic tank instead of a sewer system. I have mixed emotions about that as well. Wouldn't probably be my first choice because we are fully, financially responsible for its proper function. When things go badly with a septic system it can mean replacing the entire tank and tearing up a major section of your yard to do it. $$$$$. Ouch.

6) Yardwork, soil and gardening challenges: In our neighborhood, most yards are left completely natural, in fact I think it's somewhat required. But if a homeowner wants to have a manicured space within a walled or fenced in area that is allowed in back of the house. We have a small grass area with a large patio, deck and pool deck area. We still haven't figured out how to deal with our grassy area as far are cutting it nicely because there are "architectural" rocks in the midst of it and around it. We need to work on that. My feeling is that a push mower would be the best bet. It's hardly worth buying a real lawnmower for such a tiny piece of grass plus it sounds incredibly dangerous potentially have rocks or bits of rock being shot out of the bottom of a power mower.

Trying to grow anything in this mountainy soil really is impossible unless it's something that is already growing on this mountainside. For any kind of gardening a lot of soil conditioning or container planting is necessary. However in the hot, desert climate, thing son planters have a hard time surviving. Large container or raised bed gardening seems like the best option. I have only planted a few small containers at this point. Maybe someday when we've finished up more house projects we can think about starting larger scale gardening projects.

Fantastic Pros:

7) The amazing views! Being higher up makes for amazing sunsets, city views and storm watching as they come across the valley. In our valley we enjoy an 80+ mile view in three directions. It's quite beautiful and the sunsets are stunning night after night after night. The mountains on the other side of our home are beautiful too. It's so much to take in and something we don't take for granted.

8) The privacy! We didn't really realize until we moved in that we actually have three houses that are within a few hundred feet of our house because the trees block the other houses nicely. But because the lots are bigger here we have plenty of privacy. All the bedrooms face out to big open, tree-lined spaces so we do feel there is a lot of privacy here.

9) Respectful neighbors. I think people who tend to live in neighborhoods like this are people who appreciate their privacy too so everything is very respectful for the most part. We did have some problems with a neighbor's dogs when they first moved in and were roaming into our yard without leashes and barking a lot but after neighbors complained that seemed to get significantly better. Our neighbors all wave as they drive through the neighborhood and we know we know them well enough to feel comfortable visiting but not intruded upon.

10) Distance from the city hustle and bustle. After living in one of the busiest areas of Los Angeles and surrounded by constant noise 24-hours a day, living a bit outside the noise of the city and traffic is lovely. It is so quiet up here. You can sit in bed at night at stare out the windows at the trees and stars and enjoy the silence. Some nights it is so quiet you can hear traffic from almost a mile away on the closest main road outside our neighborhood. That is such a huge change for us.

One thing that is very interesting is how voices carry across the mountains. Sometimes you can very clearly hear voices through the trees and there are no people there but the voices are coming from several homes away or a completely different direction. It is very strange and sometimes a little unsettling. The wind and the trees do interesting things to the things we hear.

There are so many things we do love about living here and I think there are, in any home one purchases, big pros and cons. Some you recognize before you move in and some you don't find out about until you've lived there for a time. I could do without the dangerous creatures, but I love our home, the yard and the views, our local church congregation and the friends we've made in the neighborhood. Our next door neighbors are the absolute best and that is something we had no idea about when we purchased the house because they were traveling from the time we first looked at the house until long after we'd closed on the house.

I choose to love the good and not worry too much about the challenges. Make the best of it all. Living in this mountain environment is a lot of fun and brings us a lot of things we needed at this point in our lives. I hope these tips will help you know if mountain living is right for you!

Seeing Our Positive Accomplishments: Home Decor

I have been feeling discouraged with the progress (or lack of progress) on making our home look lovely. I am highly motivated to have a home that is comfortable and welcoming and we have been struggling. That means I really struggle because having this feels so vital to my soul. While ruminating about this over the past couple of days, it came to me that things are getting prettier around here, I just haven't let myself see that.

Last week I finally FINALLY got a plant and pot that I bought last summer out on the front porch of our house. You may remember I had planned to make a wood plant stand to put the pot it. Well just didn't have time for that. So here we are 10 months later and I found this wonderful stick table I bought 18 months ago and put the pot and plant on top of that and suddenly I have a front porch look that I like. It goes well with the basket I bought last winter for the door that I can update for holidays and seasons with a cute little sign on the front and rotating flowers or plants inside.

I happened to pick up these patriotic fan decorations at Target last week and they were sitting on my desk and I thought, hey I know what I can put in that basket for the summer. Since the front door is well protected and shaded they should be fine there for the entire summer. If not I have another set I can replace them with. The doormat I bought last fall some time and I love it and it all works and speaks my style. Needed that! Okay, progress is happening!

Even if the house hasn't been painted a color I actually like and I'm a little unthrilled with the turquoise front door (some days I like it, but I would love to get rid of that middle section with all the scrolly stuff!) I can still be happy with things done the best they can for now. Wanting everything done right this second isn't really very realistic and why make myself miserable. It may not be magazine worthy but it's the best it's ever been and I can be happy with that for now.

Before I updated the front door basket I took a small whisk broom and swept down the entire door. Then I used a really great squirt bottle that has a good strong sprayer on it and squirted down the front door really well with just plain water, getting into all those nooks and crannies. It was like a mini-power wash for the door. I dried it off and wow did it look a million times better without all the silt and dirt deposits on every edge!

That entire front door update was not that hard and in fact took just a little over 30 minutes. The Man had stacked some small boxes of wood near that door which was making it look a little messy and they had been there for a while. Making those go away was just three simple trips to move those boxes where they needed to be.  None of this was as overwhelming as it feels sometimes.

Next I realized that I'd made some valuable improvements on our "curb appeal" by hanging the silk lanterns together in a tree, adding the new chairs and a little "As-is" IKEA table I picked up just before we left California that has been waiting for a home. Now when people come up to our home they don't see dry ground, scraggly juniper trees and sagebrush. Hopefully they see a welcoming patio! Plans are to add an outdoor table here shortly with some chairs for outside meals, newspaper or magazine reading, journal writing and early morning tea. Can't wait.

On the back patio we still have work to do, but just adding my pretty white and terra cotta pots of vegetable and herbs has cheered up that space quite a bit! Progress!

It sure helped to turn my attitude and perspective around when I started really seeing the good things that are happening around here instead of feeling discouraged and overwhelmed by the mass entirety of the project. Life really is constantly about baby steps and when we get overwhelmed and discouraged it's usually because we're looking beyond the mark a bit and forgetting those baby steps that are what really get us to our goals, hopes and dreams. So today I am going to again take baby steps towards my home and life goals. Recognizing my small successes has been a major source of encouragement to keep taking small steps forward!

Creating Cozy Outdoor Spaces For Our Home

I have mentioned a few times here that I have been working on creating some welcoming and relaxing spaces for our yard. When you start doing the math on decorating four outdoor spaces the costs can balloon pretty quickly, especially if you hope to add a comfortable, quality sectional seating area. Even if you DIY things it can still get very expensive. I can buy a nice table for what I could make one for by the time I buy lumber and treat it so that can safely be outside in the sun and rain.

image via

So I made my dream list, whittled it down and then whittled it down some more. I came to a realization that making the areas serviceable for our goals could be done well with a little creativity and some cost savings. Rather than having a long table with chairs for the dining area, I am considering two picnic tables set end to end. That way I get a table and seating for a huge savings over buying a table or building a table and then needing to buy 10-12 chairs. It can still be plenty cozy with a nice table arrangement and our beautiful string lights overhead. Lovely.

I also got very practical about chaise lounges for the pool area. The hotel style plastic ones will work just fine and I can get seating and side tables for a nice price with a discount. Done deal.

I also started watching sales and looking at Craigslist. Craigslist, comically was extremely overpriced for the used furniture people were selling. I could buy new for a better price. I'd been watching a few patio chairs at Target anticipating there would be a sale toward the end of May and found them on sale this past weekend. I was looking at a different chair but when I went into the store to give them one last try I ended up picking up the Southwest Wicker Club Chair which I liked a lot better and was just five dollars more.

So I grabbed the gray with gray cushions and found a way to pack them into the back of my Volkswagen Golf. IT has a pretty amazing cargo area when you put the back seats down. I also had three huge bags of soil that I had to move to the floor of the front seat because I needed the height to get the chairs in. But it all worked and I actually still had quite a bit of space in the back.

I also picked up two of these pillows which are great. I like the funky pineapple image and on the back it's a fun, bold black and white pattern so you can choose a side, use one of each or whatever you like.

image via

For right now these chairs are going on the front patio, until we get a table out front. I'm almost thinking about picking up three picnic tables and putting two in the back and one on that front patio. Because it's an East facing patio, it's a great place to sit in the mornings or to get away from the sun in the afternoons and early evenings. It's also next to the driveway so there's room for other activities like bike riding, giant bubble wanding or throwing ball with the dog as well.

Once I got the chairs in place and all the wrapping off them and tags cut off the pillows, I pulled out the super cute solar silk outdoor lanterns I picked up at IKEA in February. You can see them at the link, scroll down a bit. I had planned to put them in the backyard, but I going to use them in the front for a while. I also have three strands of white and black small round lanterns that I can use in the front or back. I might put those in the front yard and then bring the larger silk lanterns to the back yard where I think they will hang better from the larger trees.

So far my initial planning budget has plummeted by a thousand or more dollars, which is good. We can always upgrade later and we we may find that picnic tables fit our mountain home just perfectly. We can get all three tables for less than the price of one dining set with chairs. I like that idea right now. There are still so many things we could invest in for this house and that need attention, so it makes sense to be budget conscious but also get the house in a place where we can enjoy it more and entertain, etc.

Working outside the house has been fun and it's encouraging us to spend more time outside which I think is hugely healthy for the mind and soul. It seems like if you start the habit of spending time outside at the beginning of the summer you spend more time outside over the course of the summer.  I'd like to do that this year. I always think those summers where you realize mournfully in mid-August that you didn't make the most of it are rather sad.

So it's headlong into summer now, fingers crossed. Now we just need some summer weather two days in a row. The weather certainly has been fickle this Spring! I may regret my complaints come early August after it's been 100+ for a month straight. Ha.

Big Like #5: All These Uses For The Simple Binder Clip

More office supply love this week and a little secret we came up with that has saved us big money and some serious frustration. We buy Binder Clips in a office size box from the office supply store and use them not only in the office but on every item in the kitchen that we might use a Chip Clip on.
And guess what, they last forever unlike their cheap plastic kitchen cousins.

We keep a box of them in the kitchen next to the fridge where we can easily grab one to close up on bag of cereal, chips, chocolate chips, nuts, freezer waffles...you name it, if it could use a chip clip we are sticking a simple black binder clip on it. Then when we're done with them we just toss them back in that box in the kitchen drawer and they get used indefinitely.

For the cost and extended life we're saving a ton not buying plastic kitchen clips. You can find them in all sorts of fun colors and sizes tailored just to your needs and preferences and buy them in varying lot sizes so you get just what you need or a few years supply for not much more than that. I also use them sometimes to hold together small art projects I am working on. They work great as clamps while gluing things together or to hold things together while you make adjustments so that everything is evenly spaced. You can also loop one over a magnet hook to organize papers on a fridge or magnet board. You can even use them to clip and display art. They can be great for holding open coloring book pages that might frustrate children to keep flat. I've used one for a bookmark before too.

We keep a few in the car too and we seem to find uses for them all the time. You can use them to clip a blanket up over a window if the sun is blazing down on sleeping kiddos (keeping in mind driver visibility issues of course!) You could clip needed items to the visors or use them to clip a blanket around a kiddo to keep them covered and warm in the car. (Use your creativity here there are a few ways I can see this working.)

They would probably be a great addition to a 72-hour kit in a variety of sizes. You could use them to create a shelter if you had some rope and a tarp or to create a water catcher by clipping up the edges of a jacket or tarp or plastic bag. You could use them to create a temporary outdoor shower with some fabric or tarp. So along with the clips, you should definitely get a tarp it sounds like! Ha. You could also use them to construct a survival oven if you had some foil or something metal. You can also use them to hold a spoon on the side of a pot by clipping one to the edge and sliding the spoon handle through the clip prongs. They could also be useful in a myriad of ways in the garden.

So very versatile, so inexpensive and so great to have on hand when you need one. From the tiniest size to the largest size there is a good use for every one and having a pretty collection of them on hand can make life a little simpler and happier.

Lilacs And Garden Planting Season

Last year when I was in that dumb cast I missed out on enjoying all the lilacs we have in our yard. To get to them I would've either had to hop down a crazy, loose dirt path or climbed down some steep and unven natural boulder stairs to get to them and that just was not possible. So today was my day to walk happily on two working feet down to the lilac bushes to cut a big box full of blooms to bring into the house.

I was reminded that lilacs are pretty messy but I thought to myself some of the greatest joys in life bring messes with them. You can't have the sweet scent of fresh flowers without a bit of a mess when they crumble. I'll clean it up when it's time. Meanwhile I have a vase of blooms on the kitchen windowsill, on my desk, on our dining table, the foyer table and in our powder room.

There are still tons of blooms to come so I hope I'll make time to go out and retrieve more as these die and new blooms come on the bushes. We had some good rain this week but our backyard is not looking so hot. Needs some attention. Of course I'm thinking there are snakes just waiting to jump out at me from behind every rock. Agh. I think I need some study leather cowboy/work boots to protect my ankles.

It's an adjustment to me to think of lilacs the last week of March and first week of April. Growing up they were Memorial Day blooms and my grandmother would gather jars of them to take to the cemetery to decorate graves that weekend.

We have had a very odd year with our forsythia bush in the back yard. It should bloom tons of bright yellow flowers in February or early March and then leaf out for the summer. Our front bush did bloom but our back bush only didn't. It got about five blooms on it just about the time it started to leaf. Last year is was full, vibrant and flowered early in the Spring. Not sure what's going on with the back yard, but it needs some love.

I also need to brush up on taking care of some of these plants I'm not that familiar with. I'd also like to get rid of a few weedy-looking things that are meant to be there but just look ugly. We also have a far back patch of dirt that could/should be grass of something. This house was empty for a while and before that lived in by older people who just let the yard go pretty much. Yards are a lot of work. I did well to keep up with a little garden patio in our last house.

I am itching to get some planters going with sweet peas, herbs and tomatoes. Having a fresh herb garden is just the best. My family has been so spoiled to have fresh tomatoes the past few years that they can't stand grocery store tomatoes - and they both love tomatoes. Hopefully this year I'll buy some better plants and we'll get a little bit bigger harvest. I should grow some peppers and chiles if I can too. We need to plant a bunch of mint in pots around the yard to ward off bugs, especially ants and mosquitos - although we don't get too many mosquitos here.

I also read that there are herbs to help ward off fleas. Last year we had a couple of weeks of pure misery with fleas. They didn't bother the dog at all because he was medically protected but we humans took the brunt of it. I've never dealt with fleas before but it was awful and we don't want to experience that again this year!

Gardening is so much fun. We certainly have the space but the upkeep is a lot of work, although the rewards are delicious. We still have about two weeks until recommended planting season - after the last frost traditionally. After being able to garden year round in California this waiting to plant business makes me antsy. I'm going to start preparing my gardening beds and pots now and then in a couple of weeks I can just start popping in seeds and plant starts. I think I'll start planting some seedlings this weekend and that'll give me a couple of weeks head start on planting outside. Fun stuff! Are you planting anything this year? If so, what are you most excited about growing.

Update and Revisit: Creating Your Dream Life

The new year is always a time that gets me excited for what can be and this year I am revisiting one of the great activities I've done over the past 8 years that has really helped me focus on what I want to do in my life.

I take a sheet of paper and usually draw an circle in the middle of it and write MY LIFE inside it. Then I start out drawing a line from the circle and at the end of the line I write one thing I feel I must have in my life or that I really want. For instance, it might be a garden, more peace, exercise, a different car, etc. And I keep going until I run out of ideas. I've learned a few things over the years about this activity and now I usually make it a two step process. One day I write down everything I can possibly think of that I would like for my life. Then a few days later I review it and cut out anything that really isn't a must for my happiness or that isn't something I feel I can accomplish realistically right now. I try to hone it down to things I really do want most and that are true necessities or very strong desires.

This helps me to focus a bit more, not overwhelm myself and to be a little more serious about what's truly vital to my life, my happiness and my needs. Then I recreate a new MY LIFE chart. I hang this up in my office and then when I am considering opportunities and how I spend my time I am able to reference this chart to see if said opportunities fit any of the categories. If they don't it's probably something I don't need to do or is not going to take me where I want to go in my life. A simple example, say for instance I wrote down that snow skiing was a must have in my life. It would make no sense to move to a tropical island.

So far this year I have created my The Sky's The Limit version of MY LIFE and now I'm in process to hone it down, eliminate excess and complete the project. It was helpful for me to review how I've done this in the past, so I wanted to share those posts with you. Here's the post from the first time I did this project.

My First Dream Life Chart
Dream Life Chart Update: This was written shortly after I experienced a life-threatening infection and lost my hearing for a few months. Challenging time!

Below I am also adding a post I wrote several years ago that was originally published in 2011 on the blog: reFind Joy. The website, that was more lifestyle at the time, is now a business site, so my post is no longer available there. I wanted to have a copy of it available and added it here.

Actualizing My Dream Life and Finding My Joy

By Kalani Cropper

I am so happy to be here talking about joy today. I love joy. In 2009 I was working long hours in a stressful industry and had given up many things I love to focus on my career.  I was tired and too busy. I sat down one day, with a pretty piece of yellow cardstock and wrote My Dream Life in the center of it. I drew an oval around that then drew one line out from it and wrote down one thing I wanted for my dream life.

In a few minutes I had drawn 33 lines out from that oval. Things that ranged from the vehicle I wanted to drive, the family I wanted to have, the way I wanted to look and the work and play I wanted to do – all the things I felt I needed to have an abundance of real joy in my life. This life existed for me in another space and time and how desperately I wanted to arrive there.

I carried that yellow cardstock with me every day. I would look at it longing, from time to time, looking forward to the day. Then one day a couple months later, I decided to look at it with fresh eyes and note everything that had begun to happen. I was able to check off nine things that had either come into my life, changed in my life or were in the process of changing. I wanted a garden. Without thinking about it I planted a few vegetable and herb plants on my patio and was harvesting beautiful tomatoes and fresh thyme and basil. I wanted a life where I could ride my bike most places. I started riding my bike more places. I had begun to more conscientiously live my dream life.

I looked a few weeks later and realized that even more things had begun to change in my life. This time I marked 21 items. A few weeks later 29. At that moment I was amazed that the life of my dreams didn’t require a move to a new state, a large yard, charming little free-standing house, a quiet small town, a different body or new closet full of clothes. It did not require an all-out evacuation of my current life. It only required a more conscious living in the space where I was. It came to me that I already had all the elements of my dream life right there with a little more awareness, a few small changes and more enjoyable actions.

With this new appreciation I continued to make more changes in my life. Some were easy, some were harder. Some looked like they would be painful and weren’t.  Life continued to change and I continued to enjoy more and more the life of my dreams.

On a Sunday afternoon in January of this year, I found myself being ordered by an urgent care physician to get to a hospital immediately for a CAT scan. I had expected to get a prescription for antibiotics and head back home to the couch. Twelve hours later when I left the ER to be admitted to the hospital I expected to be hospitalized overnight. The next morning when I asked the specialist who checked me out if I was going home that day he said oh no, you’re not going anywhere.  Two months later, I’m feeling much better but still have lingering effects and more treatment to come. After being unable to do anything but lie down or sit and rest for four weeks, my priorities had begun to change yet again. Sitting still is not something I am good at.

But I knew this experience had happened for a reason. As I considered all I could’ve lost, all my recuperation required and the lingering health issues that might never fully repair, my perspective on all I needed in my life had quietly but intently changed. Weeks later, I decided to create a new dream life chart for 2011 and as a new start.

I started out the same…the oval…the lines shooting out from it. But this time I only came up with nine things -- nine things that really and truly mattered to my life and made me happy.  I would be okay without my dream wardrobe, I would be okay without my dream work, I would be okay without my dream house, vehicle or travel. What now mattered most to me was my life, my health, my loved ones, peace, calm, laughter and basic living needs. I felt a huge burden lifted from me. I felt lighter, more agile, more settled down and more certain of what mattered to me. At that time it was impossible for me to get caught up in wants that were unnecessary. I also felt less tolerant of spending one minute doing anything I despise or to be disingenuous in anyway.

At the same time I felt more motivated than ever to have the life I dream of and make good use of my time, energy and resources. No more playing small, more Just Do It.  It was a sweet time, that moment between painful illness and entering fully and completely back into regular, busy, stressful life – where I could watch my life for a moment with a clear, peaceful head.

I will never be able to think of that time without being reminded to keep life sweet and simple – and to remember that all the elements of my dream life, my joy, are here right now, today all around me.

Here's another update from 2013 that talks a little more about my process and the things I've learned along with a link to an inspiring article from Drew Barrymore.

2013 My Dream Life

If you feel inspired to try to create  map of your dream life I'd love to hear about your process and inspiration. Leave a comment below if you like!

Apple Picking Time

When we first bought our home there was a lone fruit tree in the backyard, an apple tree and near it the stump of a dead fruit tree of some sort. We closed in the fall and on the tree were maybe five pitiful, tiny apples. We weren't sure if it was just a bad apple tree or if the tree suffered from a lack of water since the house had been unoccupied for a long time.

So our expectations weren't too high for future of the tree but we were curious to see what it would produce this year. I still don't think it got the consistent water it needed to really produce and that leads me to wonder if the apples would be significantly larger if it was heavily and consistently watered. Can't say. But we did get a pretty good little harvest of apples this year even though we lost quite a few to the critters and our dog who enjoys picking the low hanging fruit, playing with it and eating it we still harvested three or four grocery bags of apples on the small tree over a couple weeks time.

Based on the taste and shape I have figured out that these are cooking apples, but haven't figured out the variety. Again it would be easier if the fruit was a little larger and more distinct looking. So far I've made pie filling twice, enough for two pies and I think that's what I'll do with these apples. Maybe I'll just freeze the pie filling and save it for Thanksgiving. That sounds good to me right now. We'll give thanks for our own apples and own beautiful, home baked apple pie.

Earlier this week we cleared the tree of all the remaining apples and threw any that had worms or bites taken out of them from critters over the wall (about 10 feet away) to the deer path where the deer come down the mountain each night about sundown foraging for food. We were happy to share with them. We also have a family of about 10 quail who live under the trees right there and we often see them out eating in the mornings and afternoons. At one point there were about 15 baby quail in the group. Now there is a pack of full-grown birds.

Our neighbors have told us all year that the apple tree is dangerous because it will attract bears. It seemed too sad to cut it down just in case a bear came around but I can tell you that I've been watching closely for any sign of bears and carrying a metal pole and very high powered flashlight outside with me when I have to go out after dark. (Humor me and pretend that is going to protect me, I know it's a stretch. The flashlight is probably a better weapon than the pole since it's completely blinding.)

Part of the tree hangs over the wall of our landscaped backyard, so I have remained surprised all fall that there did not seem to be any apples picked or nibbled on from that side of the tree. This would be the prime access point for bears and deer who could easily reach these branches. All the nibbling has been taking place near the trunk in the walled yard. Still not sure what's been eating those apples but it definitely looks more like bites than bird pecks. We don't have a lot of squirrels here, but have tons of bunnies, who I can't imagine climbing trees through I could be wrong. Maybe it's bobcats? Who knows.

I took the photo above in our kitchen sink. When I walked in after Kiddo had washed and cleaned all the apples I found them in my favorite colander sitting in the stainless steel sink and the lighting was just amazing and the water droplets made it even more beautiful. I'm always surprised at those moments when it takes absolutely no effort to grab an amazing photo. The ceramic colander, by the way, I bought at the riverside flea market in Portland, in 2000 I think it was. It was fun to go back there last summer and I'm itching to go again. Would love to take the family. I keep thinking I need to sneak in a surprise trip there this fall since we have airline vouchers we need to use.

I am watching the weather a little more carefully than normal since I have a potted tomato plant outside. If I play my cards right I think I can get it inside near one of our many windows and maybe even keep it producing over the winter. We'll see. But I know it's going to be a goner if it catches the first winter frost, which could be coming any day. One thing I have greatly enjoyed is NOT battles all the little California coastal gnats and white flies this summer. In fact I did not have to do any pesticide control at all on my herbs and tomatoes. Such a delight! It was a constant and nasty battle in Los Angeles and one that I don't miss.

Have you been gardening? Dealing with critters or enjoying a lovely harvest this fall? Do you still have cutting flowers? I didn't plant any of those this year but would definitely like to next year. Sending you best and warmest wishes. Thanks for coming by!

Here's a link to my favorite apple pie filling recipe. It's easy and delicious which is the best combination of all, right? Betty Crocker's Scrumptious Apple Pie.

Hot Summer Weekend Projects

Lavender and weathered wood made good company together. The New Mexico sunshine has a way of baking and weathering wood in such a gorgeous way. These are old railroad ties that are used as stairs in our backyard. The natural beauty here in New Mexico really is like nowhere else.

image by kalanicut

One of the things that I have not dealt with for a decade or so is working outside on hot summer days.

Saturday I was out in the yard and my eyes were just filled with sweat continually and that was pretty unpleasant! I need to learn to take a towel out with me and just keep it around my neck.

When we lived in LA, weekends were for getting out and doing something. There was nothing interesting about staying cooped up in a small apartment all weekend. It's interesting that now there is nothing we'd rather do than stay home all day on Saturday and enjoy our home. I still feel some pressure that we should be going out and doing things but week after week there is nowhere we'd rather be - and happily we've been able to both relax and get some major projects done around the house.

We were up early Saturday morning and had lounged around for a good while and then made pancakes, bacon and eggs and had done the dishes by 9:30. A kitchen deep clean started after that. Then I watered all the new herb and vegetable plants. So far we have cucumbers, tomatoes, thyme, basil and rosemary growing on pots on the back patio.

Next Kiddo and I harvested a big pile of beautiful lavender from the beds in our backyard. It was very easy but very sticky. I had no idea lavender was so sticky when you cut it. We are now drying the lavender and hope to enjoy some nice sachets of lavender in the next few months.

We also deadheaded a large rose bush which was not quite so enjoyable since it was in full sun and it got hot pretty early. We got all the dead flowers off, then raked them up and put everything in a trash bag to dump in the compost bin. Then we swept up the patio around the rose bush. There may have been some kid grousing and a parent who got a little upset during this chore, but it ended well with thank yous and a little self-exploration on both sides. It was great to get it over with and when we were done we grabbed giant glasses of ice water and then played with the hula hoop and blew gigantic soap bubbles.

After our yard time was over, I started working on a new project. I have some fun opportunities coming together but need online resources for them. I spend a couple of hours studying which URLs to buy and the accompanying accessories I would need. By the time I ran my purchase, my head was spinning from too much decision-making. I took a break, made the gang a late lunch and then felt like I really needed to regroup.

I spent a few minutes outside then came in and made a few notes. I know I still have a lot of research to do on setting up a website. I have a lengthy to do list in the next few weeks. I ran out to take care of a couple of errands and brought a sack of tacos and burritos home to the family for dinner. I just didn't have it in my to make another meal that day.

Spending a few minutes working on a jewelry project was a frustration after dinner. It looks so easy when you watch other people do it on YouTube! I got one of about five attempts to at least not be a total throwaway. Still have some things to learn and so little patience for it. Haha. I gave up once I got the one "non-throwaway". Will try again another day. I have a few creative projects that I feel spread a little thin doing, but I'm excited about all of them.

I am happy to see our yard starting to look good. We've been getting a lot of monsoon rains in the evenings and early mornings. This has has been making things grow without the aid of sprinklers (hooray for water savings!) but also making a mess on the pool cover. Saturday The Man cleaned the pool cover and I think we'll be up and running on the pool in the next few days. As hot as it's been, that sounds pretty fantastic to even just sit down and soak the feet. The grass has been cut, the weeds have been whacked. Looking forward to getting our big table set up again and having some friends over for dinner and enjoying the very pleasant nights.

We've been very industrious the past few weeks. Looking forward to having some time in coming weeks to relax a bit, see family and enjoy being at home and spending time with the many wonderful friends we've made in our new hometown.

Planting An Herb Garden

Over the past couple of weeks I have finally been able to get out in the yard and do some work. I have been weeding the flower beds a lot, trimming back crazy growing vines and have filled a couple of large yard-size garbage bags with the results of my work. While The Man is constantly working on big yard projects, I have been trying to teach Kiddo the world of weeding and gardening. Not easy, but at times she does enjoy it and feel a great sense of accomplishment. Other times, it's like pulling teeth and not very pleasant. Sounds like every other gardening family on the planet, right?!  I have been itching to plant an herb garden here in New Mexico but last summer while I was traveling a lot and here alone, it seemed ridiculously unwise to add one more thing to keep up with.

Then once we were settled here it still didn't make sense with a cast on my leg. So last Thursday when I had the day off I stopped in at Home Depot to grab a few things and decided to finally get some herb plants. I went with our three staples that we had so much success with in Los Angeles: Rosemary, Basil and Thyme. I also grabbed a tomato plant because my people like home grown tomatoes so much better than store bought tomatoes.

From the previous owners and what we brought with us, we seemed to have a lot of empty pots around the yard, so I started my herb garden project by looking for pots. I found these three terra cotta pots and thought they would look nice all together against the terra cotta colored wall of our patio. The wall looks like a the backdrop of an Italian terrace with small tendrils of ivy growing up it. This is the wall that gives us fits when we think about repainting the house because when we do we'll have to tear all the ivy down to paint. Such a bummer. But for now we'll enjoy it.

Once I had gathered the three pots I started questioning myself and thinking, I didn't like the two basic pots very much and began making plans to go buy new ones. Two were bigger than the third and I wanted symmetry, and more bell shaped pots to match the Rosemary pot. It just wasn't going to look "magazine worthy". Then my "live simply" self stopped my "wants" self. I didn't need new pots, these were perfectly fine and when the plants are healthy and growing no one is going to be looking at the pots anyway. The idea of the terra cotta was that it would blend in so well in that spot.

I felt a little disappointed in my "wants" self - wanting to spend money on things that really aren't very important. The pots I have work perfectly fine, look nice, are in fine condition and we already own them and they were not being used. I reminded myself that when I have a pretty table set out there it will all look magazine worthy enough, and that is such a silly standard -- but not an unreal anxiety in the world of picture perfect, photo shoot blogs and Instagram. There's a lot of pressure out there for everything to look too perfect.

So my humbled self lugged a big bag of potting soil to the patio and started planting. Being able to carry a big bag of soil across the yard and several five gallon buckets full of water to the patio was not something I took for granted. I could not do that at all the past six months. Even last week I probably couldn't have done that. It's great to be more stable and have two feet to depend on.

It's silly, but they rosemary pot was already full of dirt and I think it was the same soil we grew out Rosemary in when we lived in California. I was a little sentimental about that and kept it to plant our new Rosemary in. I filled the other two pots with soil, planted my plants and watered them well.

I still need a little more soil to finish planting the tomato plant, but it's in a big white pot and has a pretty, bright green tomato cage to grow in. Don't you love that they make such pretty tomato cages now!? It makes me so happy that I have a choice between bright yellow, orange, green or red. Lovely.

Planting our herb garden was one of those little projects that only took an hour that makes me feel more organized, settled and happy. It was also a good reminder in living frugally and using what you already have and that every effort we make to create a prettier environment pays off. Plus we will reap the benefits of fresh, organically grown herbs all summer and probably into the fall and winter months too. Love to be able to have what I need for favorite recipes right out the kitchen door. Here's to getting settled and making a life together - and enjoying some wonderful meals on our patio made with our home grown herbs.

Blooming With Joy and Creativity

It's been a very interesting 2016 with the broken foot and several other adventures all unfolding at the same time. Now that I've been out of my cast for a month, even though my foot is still incredibly painful and swollen every day, I am feeling a new burst of energy and excitement about life.

I have met some amazing people since we've moved and had the opportunity to work with some very inspiring folks around town. It feels like all those things are coming together this summer and I am really excited to see what can become of some of my ideas. It feels like the season of perfect storms and opportunities to do some really amazing things.

I have been scribbling and scrawling in notebooks like crazy, envisioning new creative projects from sewing to painting to photography. I have about 100 things on my Pinterest boards that I'd like to whip up in "my spare time." It felt like we were stuck in unending winter and early spring for a while and suddenly last week summer just decided to arrive overnight. Now we are having hot, windy days and I am looking forward to a dip in the pool,  weekend floats and sunning. Sounds heavenly.

I have been very inspired by my friends lately and have come to the realization that I have a lot of very incredible people in my life, amazingly good people -- friends from childhood, schools and many different jobs, church congregations and so many other activities. I am happily meeting the same caliber of people in my life here in New Mexico. These friends just blow me away and I find myself motivated to try to live up to their amazing examples and be a friend of equal caliber. It's a good yardstick and constant reminder of who I want to be. So grateful for that!

My friend in the photo up there is our first peony here in our backyard. I have to give Mother Nature totally credit for this photo -- late afternoon light, on the stem in the backyard. Crazy amazing! Our yard on three sides is landscaped in the "high desert style." That means some pines, sagebrush, natural grasses, rocks and cactus (even after The Man removed a few hundred pounds of it for the safety of dog and kiddo.)

In our walled back yard we have a little haven with the pool, mature trees, flower beds, grapevines, lots of lavender and lilacs, roses, lots of vines and a small round stucco gazebo, with large rock steps leading up and down to four different levels across the yard. There is nice space around the pool for lounge chairs and a small spot a few feet away for a small table with benches and sun umbrella. 

Above all that we have the lovely courtyard patio area where we put the big table for dinners under the cafe lights.The peonies are in a corner of the patio. Peonies always remind me of my grandmother who grew the most beautiful deep pink peonies. It is so nice to have a little garden setting in the desert. We are looking forward to putting the backyard to full use once this weekend hits. It's pool time and time to start eating dinners outside, inviting friends over and really enjoying every moment of summer.

Now that the warmer weather is finally hitting us here in the US, what are you excited for this summer? Looking forward to sharing it with you!

Heights House 12: Enjoying A Walk In Our Yard

One of the things I've most enjoyed since being able to start walking is to be outside a little more and to talk walks around our yard and neighborhood. So good  for the soul after a long winter!

One of the big adjustments of moving from coastal California to the high desert is definitely climate. Say goodbye to the green grass, hibiscus, plumeria, citrus trees and bougainvillea everywhere. But there is so much beauty to enjoy here that I am learning to appreciate as well.

Taking my first walk around the yard since late last fall, it was fun to take photos that tell stories about what has been happening in the yard over the winter. I came across all these stools who seemed to be having some sort of gathering against the front wall of the house. Ha. Had to snap that colorful shot!

Much of the cactus is gone after many backbreaking hours of work by The Man. He has removed hundreds of pounds of cactus using a wide variety of tools especially the shovels. I think he's broken a few on that chore. While cactus can be pretty, it is also a nightmare when you have a kid and a dog adventuring around the yard. I can't tell you how many hours have been sent removing cactus spines from family members and the dog -- especially the dog...with a headlamp, magnifying glass and tweezers. Not to mention a vet visit to remove infected ones. So we will enjoy cactus in our neighbors' yards from a distance. 

The extent of my involvement in the development of the yard has been minimal, but The Man has put in probably hundreds of hours at this point. The property was definitely suffering from a lack of TLC over the past few years. With a new wall of trees on the north and east sides of the property we now have even more privacy and the yard feels more our own.

I wandered down to the very back corners of the property for the first time on the very narrow deer trail that winds down both sides of the house to the bottom of lot. It is pretty narrow and was not the easiest jaunt for my first day on my feet without my cast but I did it with only one yucca stabbing to my ankles. It seems like that stuff will jump out and stab you no matter how hard you try to avoid it. Thankfully it didn't sting for a long time like it usually does...like for hours.

The brick pile on the side of the yard reminded me of our adventures filling in the planters and removing the brick flooring from the laundry room last fall. Boy was that a massive job. The brick pile also reminds me that we still have a long, long way to go. Early one morning this week I pulled out a few decor items from my wall of stored lamps, boxes, trays, candles and more and tried to decorate a few small areas in the living room including the small bookshelves and for lack of a better term, the mantle -- which is actually the top of an open wall above our fireplace. Still works in progress for sure, but at least it's a little progress.

I keep reminding The Man that there is no deadline and no "finished" when it comes to a house. We have time and we have certainly faced some interesting challenges to getting settled. There is no due date we have to meet, so we can take it as it comes. Life lesson in a million ways!

Last Sunday I spent a good hour or more in the backyard watering plants with the spray hose. It was therapeutic and the flowers definitely needed it. I realized that some of the tulips, daffodils and irises did not bloom for lack of water. I also noticed that grass is overtaking several of the flowerbeds and there is a creeping vine of some sort that is overtaking some other flower beds. So as soon as I can I need to get out there on my knees with a hand trowel and start fighting back the overgrowing invaders. On Monday the sprinkler guys came and checked out all the drip irrigation around the yard and I've seen the water running in the mornings and evenings so hopefully the yard is getting watered a little better now.

The trees are mostly filled in with leaves now and even the late leafing vines are starting to come in. Things we thought might be dead have come back to life so that is encouraging. We have quite an interesting assortment of plants in the yard and we are learning how they develop and grow throughout the seasons. I was so thrilled to have a small hydrangea bush growing on edge of the patio and then over the winter it was dead right down to the soil. I thought that was a little weird and that perhaps it was too small to survive the cold season. But a few weeks ago I saw a few sprigs poking up out of the ground and now the bush is about two feet tall and noticeably taller every week. Looking forward to hydrangeas later this summer.

We are still having our windy season here in New Mexico...strong winds at least several days a week during the spring. Looking forward to that ending. Without the wind the weather is fantastic. It comes and goes in waves. I think living in the hills we get an extra dose of the wind perhaps. Everyone seems to be at their wits end about the springtime winds now, here's hoping that season ends soon.

Hope you friends are doing well and enjoying the most of the seasons wherever you are. Next post I'm working on is all about shoes for summer.

Heights House 2: Buy Used Tools And Borrow From Friends

We learned within a day or two of closing on our house that we would likely be stopping at Lowe's or Home Depot nearly daily or at least multiple times a week if we were going to quickly pull this house together. And boy howdy, those trips can get expensive when you start buying things like tools and ladders, painting and yard equipment.

So I decided to start watching Craigslist tools and free stuff sections for good quality used tools and equipment. It's amazing what you can find when you look around for it. Sometimes I would find truckloads or tool benches full of tools for sale. Other times old ladders and things. Here is a little list of great things I've seen available for sale in the tool section:

• Camping/Hauling Trailer with a dropdown tailgate & locking storage boxes -- just $400.
• Band and Circular Saws with Table
• Drill Sets
• Vices
• Rolling Tool Carts
• Generator
• Scaffolding & much more.

We also got smart that we have family and friends nearby who own ladders and other tools that they rarely use and are glad to let us borrow for a brief time. I am a real stickler on not putting people out and not being an irresponsible borrower. So I try to only borrow tools for a set time and try never to get lazy or forgetful about returning things as quickly as possible. Tools also get returned with a nice little thank you treat and card whenever possible.

There are a lot of expenses involved in fixing up a house and some tool and equipment purchases are necessary but if you can save money on your purchases or borrow the things you only need for a very short period of time, that savings can really stack up quickly.

Right now we'd much rather give that money to contractors we hire to do the few but major fixes we don't think are too smart to do or are too time consuming to do ourselves. First priority is getting the concrete and brick planter boxes out of the kitchen/dining room and filling in the space with matching brick flooring.

Thankfully we have found a way to solve the needed brick problem that I think is going to work out great. We're making final arrangements on that with the contractor and it looks like we can have the work done by the end of this week. That is some very exciting news and the number one major fix we want to make to the house right now. Can't wait to see it finished. More to come on the house fix ups and I have a post I need to write up about a great work/life/sanity balance lesson I have learned in recent weeks to give you a break from all the house talk.

Hope you are doing well. It's so lovely to hear from you on comments here, on Instagram and FB. It makes me feel not so far away from this world when I am at work for so many hours each week. I do love my job but I very much miss my daily interactions with blog friends and followers. Thanks for staying close. It helps me be brave to do the things I have to do and happy to feel connected to the things that make me very happy and feed my soul.

Happy Father's Day Gift

I have really gained a passion over the past few years to give gifts that will truly be cherished and used by the receiver. I had the idea of money being wasted or receivers holding on to things they don't really want. Plus isn't it wonderful to truly see delight in a recipient's eyes when you give them a gift they love. So for Father's Day this year I wanted to come up with something that was just right.

I wasn't at all sure what to get The Man. Especially since we're in two different places geographically. I didn't really want to take a gift to him that he would have to pack and ship right back here in a few weeks. He doesn't really need anything where he is out right now but some good home cooked meals which I try to whip up when I'm there.

Suddenly last weekend it struck me that I should get him a jasmine plant. He loves the scent of jasmine and this would be a gift he would be able to enjoy for years to come. So I headed to Lowe's and found a great bush variety jasmine plant. Then I started looking for a planter to put it in. I feel like finding planters I like is always challenging. They're either too expensive or too weirdly colorful or just not the right size or shape.

So when I saw this planter I decided it exactly hit the mark and better yet it was only $15. In case you like it too, it comes in lots of different colors and a couple of different sides. It goes great with a couple of other planters I bought last week that I will share with you soon. Out the door I went with my jasmine plant and planter and the perfect gift. I stopped next door at Target and picked up a couple of great cards for both my dad and husband.

It was fun to take some time after work Tuesday night to re-pot the new jasmine and get it all ready to go. Then the plant and I had a little photo shoot. Happily with my new phone, photos on the move are a snap and are of fantastic quality. The Man will get a nice photo of his gift in his card and he'll be able to enjoy it for years to come as soon as he gets here. Hope those of you celebrating Father's Day this weekend have a wonderful time with your loved ones.

Now Is My Time #42: Fruits of Our Labors

I wanted to share with you one of our patio garden plants today and share a little inspiration that it has taught me. Last Easter, the Bunny brought The Bug some small garden kits to plant seeds for daisies, poppies, strawberries and basil.

We planted the seeds with great hopes and rested them in the nicely sunny, but not too hot kitchen window. Within a few days tiny shoots began to break through the miniature soil beds. They were so fragile with stems less than a millimeter in diameter.

We carefully watered them and each day they would look a little bigger. But they were very slow in growing. For many weeks we tended them and it seemed that they would never be strong enough to be planted outside. One day the strawberry plant was knocked off the window ledge and spilled soil everywhere. Despite our best repotting efforts we could not save it.

A few days later the tender shoots of the poppy plant began to wither and soon died. In a pot only 1 1/2 inches wide by 1 1/2 inches tall with such tiny shoots there was little we could do to care for these plants other than water them and watch how much or how little sun they were getting.

At the end of June we had to go out of town for a week. By that time I was not sure any of these plants were going to amount to much. Knowing we would be gone for a week, I didn't have much faith that either of the two left would survive. The tender shoots were still much smaller than I would've expected and I could not imagine that they would survive a transplant or move outdoors.

I cut a small slits in the bottom of both tiny pots and placed them in the sink with a small amount of water hoping this would keep them alive until our return. After what turned out to be 10 days away, we returned to the basil plant as our soul survivor.

Weeks later the basil plant had not grown. It was still four very petite, long skinny seedlings. It was if it had produced all it would. Finally out of desperation and tired of looking at these stagnant stems over four months in the window sill above the sink, I decided that we had nothing to lose to try to plant them outside. If they were going to die they were going to die. But at least if we tried to put them outside we could know for sure if anything was going to come of these four, tiny, spindly shoots.

I planted them in a large pot. I watered them a bit, and put the planter in a partially sunny spot on the patio. Having a very hot summer, I was sure that in full sun they would be baked in a day. I checked on them later and they looked more sickly and hopeless. But at least I felt I'd done all I could do for them. What they became now was entirely up to them as long as I continued to give them TLC.

I continued my death watch. At one point I was sure we were just a day away from completely wilt and collapse. To my great surprise, after a couple of days in their new luxurious quarters with the ocean breeze blowing on them, they began to grow. Every time I looked out the window the plant were visibly taller. We watched in awe as the little basil shoots grew inches every day, stronger, thicker and heartier.

That was about eight weeks ago and now this large basil bush on our patio has to be trimmed back every couple of days. It is easily two feet high and two feet wide. My contribution to this massive growth has been only watering and a little fertilizer offered a couple of times - and regular trimming back to keep it full, healthy and free of flowering.

Our little window gardening experience and our now large basil plant have reminded me of a few great life lessons that are always worth revisiting. First, weak things can become strong things. Continued effort can make things that seem impossible very possible and in fact our strongest abilities. Second, sometimes all that is needed for growth is a new, seemingly too large and challenging environment. This can be scary in life, but it's amazing how we grow to fill our capacity when we have the opportunity or are pushed as may at times be the case.

Third, change can be good, even when it seems like it will be too much for us to survive. I've found too much truth at times in the quote from Nietzsche that says, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." But I think we all learn in life that what we think might kill us rarely does. Rather we learn that things we need do we are able to do if we know we must.

Fourth, it may be that at times we have to take steps that do not seem like they will matter much in order to see small things flourish and become all they can be. In some situations what seems like the end is really only the beginning of great things to come.

Fifth, we often have no idea what it is that will take off in our lives and become something big and glorious. We may have handfuls of sprout-worthy opportunities but it may surprise us which become the great and sturdy successes and which just fall away.

It astounds me every time I look out the window at this basil plant that something we planted and tended and later had no hope for has become something so large and bountiful. I am continually reminded that we never know what will come of the little seeds we plant throughout our lives.

When I see our basil plant each day, I am reminded that the fruits of my labors may not be evident immediately and at times I may lose hope but it's impossible to know what great things there are to come from our small and continued daily efforts towards our goals, dreams and what challenges life may bring us.

So now is my time to continue making daily efforts towards my goals with faith that good things are coming, that my determination and hard work will pay off and that there are always happy surprises in life. As I look over the past 11 months of Now Is My Time, I am excited to imagine that my diligence and determination will continue over time to pay great rewards.

Now Is My Time #33: A New Vision Board

A little peek at my new Vision Board. I've been working on it a few minutes at a time over the past few weeks. Being able to make creative use of small increments of time may perhaps be one of the greatest things I have improved on since I started this year.

I think when you make a vision board it does take some time, often weeks, to pull it all together. I start by making a list, then looking for images, then sizing them for the board, then arranging them and finally gluing them down.

2014 was meant to be the year I really started putting a very clear focus my well-being and happiness as the first priority in my life. I call it Now Is My Time. It has been a fantastic experience, but I can't say I've mastered it all yet. But life never seems to get mastered, does it?

You master something and then as soon as you get good and sure of yourself the entire game changes and suddenly you're left figuring out the new rules, floundering and missing what was. What a journey this life is!

I have learned that things go much better when I put my wellness and joy first. If I'm feeling crummy and joyless what do I have of value to give to anyone else? I have also learned it doesn't take a ton of time to take good care of myself.

I just have to learn to be more focused and make that time for myself from all the lost and undervalued bits of time during the day. Such a great lesson. There IS enough time in the day. And if there are things getting in the way, they can be discussed.

Last week The Man and I were having a great conversation about something I wanted to accomplish. I mentioned that when things from his "plate" get moved to my "plate" it makes it harder for me to accomplish those goals.

He smiled and exclaimed dramatically, "Well you're just going to have to tell me to stop that and that it's totally unacceptable." I laughed and loved that answer -- and you can be darn sure I can't wait to use his suggested response. This was a productive conversation for us both. Onward and upward.

I have been making Vision Boards for several years now and it has been a tremendous experience. My life has definitely changed for the better because I am creating and then acting on that vision I have for my life. I'll post links to other vision board posts below so you can check those out if Vision Boards interest you.

I am really excited about my new Vision Board and seeing my direction forward in full view every day. It encourages me, motivates me and makes me feel happy and good about my life today and where it is headed. Somehow, having a clear vision of where you are going is very comforting and makes the way you act on things every day easier to decipher.

I would love to hear how you are using Vision Boards in your life or if you're interested in making one. Or is there something that holds you back from making one? That is a very interesting conversation too.

Vision Board 2013: This post has a link to several other Vision Board posts.
Make A Family Vision Board: This is another great adaptation of a vision board and a great family activity. Here's how we made one as a family that still hangs on the back of our door.