Category: Stories
Cedar Ridge Trails Event
I recently went with my Auntie Sarah to the Cedar Ridge Trails for the ‘U-Pick Lavender & Wildflower’ event and I wanted to share with you about it.
It was such a beautiful farm and they also have an adorable gift shop. The farm is around 80 acres and has fields of flowers, woods, and meadows for live stock. The property is family run and owned. The family is intentional about using the property in a way that is sustainable and good for the environment. It was so interesting hearing about the history of the property. One of the neat things that was shared with us is this under ground spring that is built into the farm house. A pipe taps into the underground spring which is below the freeze line. The water runs into this water system continuously and even in the winter doesn’t freeze because it is low enough in the ground. It’s a continuous source of cold clean water which is fascinating.
For this event you buy tickets and then can cut a bouquets-worth of lavender or wildflowers. Of course I was all about the Lavender and didn’t get any wildflowers though they were beautiful!
We learned the right way to cut lavender! The owner share that Lavender is a woody plant and to never cut the flower where the stem is brown because the flower will then not regenerate for that stem. She also shared that it is helpful to the plan to trim above where the leaves are in order to make it easier for the flower to regenerate.
There were two types of Lavender one was short colonial lavender and the other was a long stemmed Lavender. They shared that the short colonial lavender is good for cooking. They said the oil is in the bud of the Lavender and adds great flavor to tea, lattes, meat, and desserts.
I hung my Lavender up to dry. The Lavender when dried maintains a great color and scent. To dry it she said to hang it upside down in a cool dark open space.
The experience of going to this farm was so fun and refreshing!! You can check out more of their events at this link!
https://www.cedarridgetrails.com/you-pick-lavender-events?fs=e&s=cl
Crafty Weekend
I took sometime this weekend to do some craft projects and wanted to share them with you!! I find that taking time to be extra creative can be very relaxing and helps me to clear my mind. Below are the projects I worked on! Some of them are complete projects and some are preparation for new projects.
Tree Wreath
I saw Barb Lewis, from the Shabby Tree, create this and decided to give it a try! I love trees and loved the idea of it and I already had the supplies.
I used a natural branch wreath that I got previously from Michael’s. I first started by hot gluing rocks to the bottom of the wreath where the bottom of the twine would be glued.
I twisted the the strands of large jute together and separated the strands to glue on the top and bottom to make the tree. The bottom strands I hot glued over the rocks and the top strands I glued to the back of the wreath.
I then hot glued reindeer moss on the top of the tree to make the leaves and more rocks on top of the bottom of the tree.
This is such a fun an beautiful project to do!!
Clay Craft
I wanted to make some molded clay for some projects that I am planning to do in the future. I bought theses silicone molds at variety of places. I used air hardening clay. I simply took small amounts of clay and put it in the molds.
The tops of the clay hardened well in the mold but for the bottom to harden I did have to take them carefully out of the molds.
Americana Sun Hat Wreath
I will be making a full blog post about how to make this wreath. I love how the Americana flowers and decor looks on it. I think the straw hat material is compatible with so many different color schemes!
Those were the highlights of my crafty weekend! Now I’m ready to get ready for the work week!! Hope you had a great weekend too!
Life In Bloom 05.30.22
Hello!!
Wanted to check in with you today to update you about my life and Blooming Resilient!!
So thankful for all the people who have supported me on the journey of starting this blog and who respond to or view the content I create. I am so thankful for you!! This has been the best month for views and likes in the last 6 months!!! 🤩🤩 thank you for all of your support!! Love being on this journey with you!
I will be starting to put more handmade items for sale on the Blooming Resilient Shop! So look out for that! I am also planning to start sending a regular email newsletter so head to the home page and subscribe!!
Evening Yoga
I have been doing an evening yoga series before bed. It has been so helpful to calm my mind and body. The book I’ve been using has short routines for different times of the day. I’ve been doing some of the ‘Restore’ section poses in the evening.
These are my favorite evening poses:
Easy Sitting Pose
Legs up the Wall
Reclining Butterfly
Extended Child’s Pose
Time of Decluttering
I recently went to a workshop by Lori Firsdon, who has a business inspiring people to take control of their clutter and life.
I love her way of decluttering and it has been so inspiring. I’ve been decluttering in my home and at work. The part of her philosophy that was so helpful to me was defining the purpose for each room. If there are things in the room that don’t fit the purpose then you can decide to get rid of it, donate it, sell it, or move it to the right room. She also recommends decluttering from top to bottom and left to right. She had so many helpful tips and information that has helped me declutter and try to use my space more effectively. Here is her website if you want more information:
Breathing In Hope Breathing out Anxiety
Lately, I have been really focusing on taking out things in my life that are causing extra stress, chaos, or anxiety in my life. Choosing things in my life that brings peace, fits my purpose, and is complimentary to the life I want to have. A few simple ways I am doing this is spending time with people who are like minded, journaling more, saying ‘no’, going to therapy, and doing things I enjoy no matter how small.
Will check in again soon! 💛
– Daejanna
The Life of Buzz the Bunny
Buzz is less than a year old and has been with me since October of last year. I love him!! It has been so much fun. Though it has been challenging too! Buzz definitely gets fiesty and is very particular, but his sassy nature makes it all the more fun!
He loves his pellets! I always think it is so funny that he has both paws in the pellet bowl when he eats.
He loves to sit on the robot vacuum when it is not on.
He gets very excited and runs around when the vacuum is running or stubbornly sits in front of it so that it has to go the other direction.
He loves to play when you get on the floor with him.
He loves hiding in boxes and eating the cardboard.
He also enjoys his rabbit toys!
Buzz is litter box trained and uses both of his litter boxes really well.
But above all Buzz loves to relax and nap!
Homemade Lip Balm
Finding the right moisturizer for your lips cane be so difficult! I have tried so many different brands of lip balms and was not satisfied. Sometimes it was because my lips were still feeling raw and other times was because they were too greasy. I found this recipe from Karla, on Ecoliving Mama and love it!! I have made this for several people, and they have enjoyed using it too! It is so simple to make!
Supplies Needed:
*These portions make 12 tubes of lip balm
- Double Boiler, I don’t have double boiler and so I use a large pot and a 1-quart glass measuring cup.
- Lip Balm Tubes and tube holder, I get mine from Hobby Lobby
- Potholder
- 3-4 tsp of beeswax, depending on how firm you want you lip balm to be
- 4 tsp shea butter, I use the NOW brand that I bought from Amazon
- 2 tsp cocoa butter
- 10 drops Vitamin E Oil
- 2 tsp jojoba oil
- 2 tsp castor oil
Instructions:
- Fill the large pot halfway with water. Sometimes I add or take out water depending on how it boils with the glass measuring cup in it. Turn the stove on medium to high heat for the water to boil
- Put the cocoa butter, beeswax and shea butter in the glass measuring cup. These will take longest to melt. Place the measuring cup inside the pot. The hot water will warm the glass cup for the ingredients to melt together.
- Once the beeswax, cocoa butter, and shea butter have melted you can add in the rest of the ingredients and stir the melted mixture together.
- Once all the ingredients are in liquid form and stirred together you can turn off the water and use a potholder to remove the glass measuring cup. Gently pour the mixture into the lip balm tubes. This can be messy so be careful! I typically also buy the tube holder from Hobby Lobby to secure the tubes and catch any overflow.
- Once it is solidified in the tube, enjoy your new lip balm! Like all lip balms it will melt if exposed to high heat.
Reference:
Karla (2020). How to Make Lip Balm at Home with Natural Ingredients (ecolivingmama.com)
Life in Bloom 05.15.22
Hello!
I hope you have had a great day! I wanted to start writing a more personal post on a regular basis where I can share with you about the business, and my personal life.
Yesterday was the Town and Country market day!
I was a bit nervous for it because I had never done this event and I had been feeling really tired all week and was not sure how my energy would hold up. But it ended up going really well! I sold quite a few things and got to tell people about this blog. There was not a lot of people at the shopping center that day, but there was one particular moment where there was a good amount of people in the breeze way and on both my left and right vendors and guests were talking and laughing and it was getting kind of loud. I sat there and just took in the sound and it filled my heart with so much joy. It was very cool and just almost gave me the same feeling as a big hug. I just loved it!
Being at craft fairs and shows like this can be so inspiring. Just seeing other creative people and their passion is so uplifting. I spent time journaling about the blog in my planner during the slow times. I don’t know what it is that inspires me so much at those events, but I was able to plan out my blog posts for the week and came up with two ideas for new types of posts including this one and a photo a day post that will be published monthly. I was so thankful for the opportunity to just reflect and reevaluate different types of posts I can do for this blog! It’s good to know what brings inspiration!!
It does take a lot of energy to do those kinds of events so I was so happy I had time to rest today and relax at home.
Below is a quick video from last night of my rabbit running around the living room. It made me laugh!! This is kind of our night time routine. I sit on the couch for a little bit and he runs all around the room.
Will check in again soon! Thank you for reading!!
– Daejanna
Yoga Practice
Yoga is one of the forms of exercise that I enjoy the most. It is strangely invigorating and calming all at the same time. It helps strengthen and stretch our muscles. It is also a great way to build inner physical and mental resilience!
My Yoga Journey
I first started looking into yoga after going to Pilates class at the Kroc, in Dayton. I have since then enjoyed doing various yoga workouts at home, at the gym, and with others. During the pandemic I researched a yoga workout that would work well for me and began doing it as a part of my home workout routine. After that I started going to yoga at the YMCA and learned even more poses and exercises that have been beneficial for my body. I am not an expert, but merely an enthusiast that has seen the many benefits of doing yoga practice. It has improved my flexibility, increased my strength, provides a sense of calm and relaxation and allows me to focus better. There are times when I am tired and can hardly focus at work, so I take a brief break to do a short yoga pose flow and it allows me to refocus my mind.
When I first started doing my routine at home I took it very slowly. I first focused on how to do each pose and having the correct alignment. Once I had the poses down I was then able to focus on the flow of transitioning from one pose to the next. I grew more in my comfortability and understanding of yoga while taking classes at the YMCA. I appreciated that the yoga instructors always encouraged participants to listen to their bodies and to do moves and poses in a way that fits their own body. I love that it does not have to look like the person next to you and can still have great benefits for your body. The slow and intentional pace of yoga allows your body to adapt and change.
Below is an illustration that I licensed from Adobe Stock that has one of my favorite yoga flows. I do grow tired of downward dog after a while, but I love the feeling of this flow of movement.
Thank you for reading about my yoga journey! I would love to know how yoga has impacted you! Comment below!
Blooming Resilient 