Home & Family Update {Fun News!}

Gosh. I had such high hopes for 2021 as far as the blog goes. I was going to blog 2-3 times a week instead of just one. I was going to get my site speed up, work on SEO, post more on social media, and a get a new fancy site design done.  But so far none of that has happened. Good thing it is only March ;) I still can get there....eventually.

I thought I would share some of the things that have been taking up my time instead of blog maintenance.

In the winter, I tend to buy more houseplants than at any other time. As most of you know, I struggle in the winter with S.A.D. and going to my cute, local nursery helps lift my mood. Smelling the dirt, feeling the warmth and humidity, and being surrounded by plants is THE BEST. I go at least once a week. My neighbor's own the garden shop and when I go there, sometimes the owner will say "When are you going to come work for me?" and I smile and shrug. One day this winter, when I was paying for my 5 new houseplants, she asked again and said how serious she was about it. You guys, I said YES! It just felt right. And I knew it would be good for me.

I started earlier this year and as of now, I am working every day for 4 hours while I learn everything. Eventually I will go down to just a couple of days a week so I can keep the blog up.  They have 20 something greenhouses where they grow pretty much everything. They have a floral shop and home decor items. It is literally everything I love all in one sunny spot. I wrote about it in my book, Natural Accents, and called it my Happy Place.

My favorite things I get to do are take care of the houseplants, clean flowers when they arrive & make floral arrangements, and plant the planters with pretty annuals.

It is called Olson's Garden Shoppe and if you live in Utah, you should stop in and say HI :)

 

 

Last year, Shane and I cancelled our sunny beach plans we had for our 20th wedding anniversary and stayed home due to covid. We celebrated on our patio with inflatable palm trees. While most of the world is still shut down and questionable as far as travel goes, we wanted to still do something to commemorate that milestone. We decided to go to Florida!

We have never taken a (non-business) trip together without the kids aside from a weekend in SLC (which is an hour away).

We spent  2 days in Universal Studios and 4 days in Disney. We also made sure to get some beach time in.

I loved Universal! I went last year with my son as a chaperone for his choir tour but Shane has never been. My Harry Potter loving husband was in heaven drinking Butterbeer and pumpkin juice while strolling down Diagon Alley. There were not many people there so we got some great shots without others in the way (like in Gringotts Bank!). We got to ride all the rides we wanted to multiple times thanks to the reduced crowds.

 

My husband's favorite part was the train ride back and forth between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. I LOVE Hagrid's Motorbike ride! It is hands down my favorite rollercoaster ever

 

 

All of Disney is awesome and fun but I was so stinkin' excited for Shane to experience the Star Wars rides and experiences. He grew up on Star Wars. I wish he didn't have to wear a mask the whole time because it made it so I couldn't really see his full reaction. But he loved it. Again, we got some cool shots without many people in them.

 

 

My son gets to call once a week for a bit to let us know how he's doing on his mission. It is so good to see his cute face! He is so happy and loves all the different service projects he is doing. It is pretty limited right now but things are slowly opening up for him to teach in person and have more opportunities to do service for others.

Isn't technology awesome! We were all able to chat even while we were away!

 

 

We have started some big outdoor projects now that things have warmed up. Operation "Stop the deer from eating all the things" and Operation "Privacy" are underway. We still need to finish the down bath as well. While it will be a challenge to get projects done, plus blog maintenance, and working, I have high hopes.

What fun things do you have planned now that it is warming up?