Expectations

I am not a high-maintenance, demanding kind of girl.  Ask my hubby, and he may disagree with you on any given day -- but for the most part, I think he knows he's spoiled.

Years ago, while still working full-time in an office setting, I witnessed a co-worker putting in a call to her spouse to ask where her birthday flowers were.  I was young, and unmarried at the time, but still... my thought was, if he's doing it because she TOLD him to, then... what's the point?  Shouldn't it come from his heart... his intentions?  I vowed right then not to be "that" wife when my time came.

Fast forward to now.  On Saturday, my hubby and I spent the day pulling weeds in our garden.  Sitting back to appreciate our work, we decided that rather than spend money on gifts for Mother's Day, Father's Day, and our June birthdays, we would put the cash towards... are you ready?

MULCH.

You heard me.

I am fully aware that sometimes I can be so practical (and okay, CHEAP), that I suck the fun right out of things.  We're not big on FUSS around here.

But MULCH?  Well, we're hoping that it will be the gift that keeps on giving.  Meaning:  we won't have to weed again soon -- or at least, as often.  (Stay with me here.)  This will give us more time to sit back and enjoy our yard.

And actually, there is much to enjoy.  Our garden is filled with beautiful flowers.  I've been posting pictures on Instagram of the flowers we enjoy.  But, what you can't see on Instagram is the weeds.  Because... you know... I am crafty in how I take my pictures.  *wink*  Because of my craftiness, an Instagram-following friend thought I had a wonderful garden.  It kind of made me sad to tell her that was really not the case... anymore -- that we'd gotten a little lazy in our weeding.

I became inspired.  Time to whip the garden back into shape (the way my friend may envision it) so that it really DOES look wonderful... for the big picture!  *wink*  MULCH, my friends, is a part of that plan.

Sometimes changing your expectations about something (in my case, gift-giving & receiving) can open up all new possibilities.

Have you adjusted any of your summer-time expectations recently?  It might make all of the difference in how you enjoy your summer-time experience.

Last year, I adjusted my expectations about what it meant to eat outdoors most summer evenings -- and about what things needed to "look like" in order to pull that off.   You can read about it HERE.

Summer will be here officially in a matter of days.  In the meantime, I'm pretending!