Nature and Nurture

Nature has a way of healing me. No matter what is going on in my life, or in the world, nature holds a foundational space for me to go and breathe and feel and connect with my soul. I received a blessings years ago that mentioned to go into nature to connect with God. I take that seriously. If I am struggling, out the door I go. And yes, sometimes I do really struggle, and sometimes I NEED to reconnect with myself through the beauty of the Earth. I am so grateful God has provided such a glorious way to rejuvenate the mind and soul. 

Lately, we have had all sorts of crazy going on. Covid has crept into our home and family, and it has been hard. We are all vaccinated who can be, but it still came right through the front door, with some of our construction workers. Everyone got sick, the project had to be shut down for awhile. The kids had to stay home from school. Henry hasn't even started school at all yet this school year, due to being young, exposed to Covid, and unvaccinated. He should go back on Monday, and it will be his first day of school experience. They are preparing a buddy for him to show him the ropes. I am excited for him to go be with humans his own age again! 

It has all been pretty frustrating, this is certainly a strange time in the world. I have found that things are quite bonkers out there, and it just makes me want to fortify our home that much more, and make it a beautiful space to have as a sanctuary and a haven from the crazy. 

We are finally healing, and the project is up and running again. Thank goodness, because winter is coming, and we need to wrap up our remodel. It has been going on for 6 solid months under construction, most of those months we have been living in the construction zone. We have also been preparing for this remodel the entire year that we have lived here, it was not planned, but rather "forced" upon us as the giant tree smashed into our home. But we are trying to turn the beast of a burden into a beauty of a blessing. 

We live in the basement of our home, which is lovely, but still... it is cramped living in the tight space with the 5 of us so close together. Our bedroom is also our living room. We are using paper plates and plastic utensils. We have one bathroom to shower in. We have a little induction cooker so we can make food. The baby has a very small space in our room to crawl around in and play. 

I feel like I am whining, when I should be grateful, truly, I should. 

And I am grateful. 

But I am ready to move upstairs. 

The basement has small windows, and we have also had to quarantine for awhile as we heal. I am ready to be in the light of the upstairs rooms. I am ready to have some breathing room... and breathing freedom without weird smells from the different projects going on above us. We have a plastic partition into the downstairs, but it only blocks out so much.  

Moving into our new home a year ago, this wasn't the plan. We have never been able to fully move in and be home. We have been operating and functioning without a sense of real order, peace, or a put together home. 

There is constant construction going on all day, at least 5 days a week, but often 6. I am growing very weary of all the pounding and sawing, and extra humans walking around making noise in our home. Sometimes there is swearing and weird music played by the workers, and other things going on that really makes my head spin. I have no personal space during the day. The workers can come into our basement "home" unexpectedly during working hours, as needed. The other morning I woke to the sound of a few guys, with one of them singing, "Girls just wanna have fun," right outside my window. Even though the guy singing had a decent voice, I wanted to put my head under my pillow and scream. 

I am just ready to have a "normal" home life again. 

I want to wake to the sound of birds chirping and see the sunlight through the windows. 

David and I have never lived together without having some big project going on. I am sure we will continue to do projects, but perhaps on smaller scales than our ENTIRE house. It has been a good learning process though. We have learned and grown a lot together. We both grew up in environments where our parents were changing things and remodeling home. So, it is just natural that together we create a strong team to get things done. Even though sometimes we both lose our minds in the process, I think we do pretty darn good dealing with the tremendous stress we have had to wade through. 

This girl doesn't just wanna have fun... I just wanna be done! Once the remodeling part is over with the construction workers, that is when the GOOD stuff begins. That is when I can work my magic, and create an atmosphere of beauty and warmth. 

I can't wait! 

I will share our renovations updates very soon... for now... here is some of the nature that nurtures me right outside my front door!