Part Sun

After Schneider Tree Care came and spent the morning at our house on April 16, I can now buy plants that say "Part Sun to Shade." I was limited to hosta, ivy, monkey grass and impatiens. My hydrangeas wouldn't even bloom because of the lack of sunlight. We decided to use our tax return in a very grown up, and admittedly still somewhat exciting, fashion, and called upon the tree gods of Schnieder to rescue our yard.

In 4 hours they cut down 3 dead trees, raised the canopy of the trees all by 3 or 4 limbs, and cut dead wood out of most of the trees (we have about 2 dozen trees in the yard). It looks really different - to us at least - and was a very exciting morning. Definitely the most grown up thing we've done to the house since buying it and moving in over 5 years ago! 

Why in the world wold I blog about this? For one, it was pretty exciting to the Burns Family. Two, I thought you might want to know that I'm excited because it is a big step in the direction of the vision we have for our yard, and as most of you know, I love to be outside and dig and plant and weed. And most importantly, it reminds me of this book I've been reading, about how beauty invites us to know Jesus more. For me, being in the yard planting things and daydreaming about what it may look like in 2 or 5 or 10 years makes me think of how I am a work in progress in Jesus. As I work out my salvation, am I willing to invest in my relationship with Him today in order to see the mature fullness and fruit of it later? Sometimes the waiting is hard and I want results in my heart instantly, but just like a tiny gardenia my mom gave me 5 years ago that was a rooting from the main shrub, there is much satisfaction now in enjoying the beauty of its fragrance and blooms, especially knowing I took care to nurture it and gave it the best chance possible to succeed. My heart, like our plants and shrubs, may look small today with just a few blooms, but I have hope of a vision of future glory that keeps me going back to Jesus for more of Him. 

Today I'm off to the Piedmont Flower Festival with Mom to buy loads of part-sun loving plants and maybe even a few full sun ones, if I dare!

Nancy watching the big truck pulling up. She was glued to the windows almost the entire time. She had fun watching Carlos jump from tree to tree in the backyard cutting dead wood off the branches.

Before, front of the house. This was taken May of 2008.

After. They took out those two trees on the left, closest to the house. When they did the trimming, the leaves were not all the way in yet. Now they are and it's not quite this sunny, but our house does get much warmer at the end of the day than it used to. I wonder what our air conditioning bill will look like?

Before, side yard. 

After. The pine tree closest to the fence is gone, it was dead. This area gets a ton more afternoon sun! I am excited to add some azaleas for color.

We saved a few hundred dollars by cleaning up the small stuff ourselves. Since Ryan had to work and we had to get the truck back to his parents, I loaded the entire bed with brush all by myself! It was a blast. Really. I'm totally serious.