From blue mountains to bigger blue mountains!

I have really exciting news to start 2013 off with a bang!  

I'll cut to the chase — WE'RE MOVING PHILOSOPHY FLOWERS HEADQUARTERS TO THE BOONIES!!!  (a.k.a. Boone, NC)

No worries Lynchburg fans, we are keeping our workspace in Virginia!  And now we'll be able to source even more unique flowers for events in the 'burg.  The road from Boone to Lynchburg passes by the largest floral distribution center I have ever seen!  Not to mention all the farms and roadsides, where I will undoubtedly spend the majority of my time.  

I'm excited about the new friends and farmers I will meet in North Carolina.  I've already got this place called "Big Bloomers" on my punch list.  :)  Jesse and I will be living in the country next to a rooster and a man that has an awesome vegetable garden.  I have every intention of picking his plant-growing brain.  And his chicken-growing brain.  

Our yard is flat and there are all kinds of interesting plants living in it!  Chiefly, rhododendrons and azaleas!

I read all about them last night.  

I'm most excited about moving into an actual studio, a room full of windows dedicated solely to styling the most beautiful flowers we can find!  (Kitchen rejoices).  My dad spent Monday painting it the perfect shade of white.  The studio is attached to a massive storage area with shelves, shelves and more shelves.  I no longer lack for space.  I also don't lack woods for foraging or a lawn for planting!

Oh, and remember Millie and the mountain?  Well, now we will be neighbors and I will get to visit her and her huge blue, rhododendron-covered mountain all the time!

Now, I've gotta pack and do some planning.  Our first wedding of the year is in Pennsylvania and it's coming up soon!

I'm not sure how much more she can take...

Poor kitchen.  She takes a lot of abuse from me.  I thought about sizing this picture down, but really, it should be big for effect.  

I'm not sure how much longer Jesse & I can take it either.  Donations are now being accepted for my new studio!  You think I'm kidding...but I'm not.

Jesse got me a new "saw" this week — takes down small trees like a pro.  Small trees don't really fit through the doorway of the "studio" though.

My kitchen might not be pretty, but the poinsettias, peonies, protea, privet, pine and pink roses were.  Yes, that's right, today's letter of the day is "P."  I miss Sesame Street...and I need a big room to make messes in.

Me, Millie and the Mountain

I've been praying to see a bear for months.  Months.  I thought maybe I'd see one here...

...but I didn't.  Leona did though.  Basically crawled right into her kitchen.  Leona is Dad's cabin neighbor.  And this is Dad's cabin.  

This is the kitchen.  You'll notice there are two "appliances" — a refrigerator and a table saw/table.  Don't be alarmed, we unplug it and blow it off with the air compressor before we have the mountain dew and peanut butter cup breaks.

Dad and I made some Philosophy Flowers delivery boxes with the table-saw/table.  Good thing we did.  The day after I got back to Virginia I got a call for a slew of centerpieces.  They got toted around in these...

Remember the bear prayer?  Well, it finally happened — the day after the centerpieces.  Meet Millie.

Millie lives at the top of Grandfather Mountain — a place that is every bit as magical as it sounds.  It is covered in rhododendrons.  And by covered, I mean, come May it will be a jungle!  Like, you might go in and never come out — jungle.  That would be alright with me though.  I love rhododendrons.  

Grandfather Mountain is also home to the extremely rare pink-shell azalea.  That's right, I learned that listening to the audio tour because that's how I roll.  Like my dad says, you only live once.

You do only live once.  

As I sat on the top of Grandfather Mountain with Millie I just had this renewed realization that today, today as in this present moment, right now, is special — really special.  The Lord had granted the quirky little desire of my heart once again and it was time to enjoy it.  I watched Millie sit on her rock.  I watched her rinse her feet off in the pond and lick them clean...several times (she's a very clean bear!).  I'm pretty sure she even shot me a smile.

I spent a lot of my pre-flower life living in the future or the past, but rarely in the moment.  I was carrying a lot of hurt and questions in my heart.  For the longest time I had this idea God "allowed" bad things to happen to me.  That it was to make me "stronger."  And some people believe that and hold that philosophy, but I don't.  It pushed me away from God.  

Truth is, God loves me.  He also walks with me, bearing my burdens.  It's a privilege to love Him through whatever comes.  I didn't feel like that at the time, but I sang my anthem over and over again, and God healed my heart.  

He is present — always present, enjoying me, Millie and the mountain.