Hello! The last time I checked in feels like 3 years ago!! In reality it’s been what!?? less than 6 months. It’s crazy to me how much the world around me and my world has changed in this time.

It absolutely amazed me how fast flowers flew out of the greenhouse this year. I really believe people just needed something to make them feel good. It was an equally exhausting & exhilarating season.

My husband, Luke, and I bought Benoit Greenhouses at the beginning of this year, when I last posted garden centers had been deemed non-essential and we were at a huge risk of bankruptcy. I jumped in and created our curbside pickup, thank the Lord for Easter Break, because it was a massive undertaking, but it worked. Then the rules changed, we were able to open, and we had a bang up season. Such a short paragraph for such an emotional roller coaster. I couldn’t be more grateful for those of you who came and shopped!

Leo is 3-1/2!!! He’s definitely my sunshine on a cloudy day!!

This summer has been a whirlwind. I have simply refused to let COVID-19 make me live in fear. Battling anxiety for years has pushed me there so many times, this time around I simply refused. I am more than willing to wear a mask, especially my favorite camo one, but I will also not stop living. .

We closed our Garden Center for Spring in late June. I took a masked flight to Florida with my sister-in-law to lay on the beach and read great books.

I headed to Michigan to have a fabulous weekend with my sisters-in-law and our kids while our husbands did their annual camp trip.

We took a family trip with my parents to French Lick, Indiana. It was a really cool place. Masks & daily temperature checks were the price for this, but it was definitely worth it.

I honestly couldn’t believe a place this historic & beautiful would exist in the middle of southern Indiana.

And of course I knew this would be part of it, but when you take a big step back and look at this.. It’s equally unbelievable. Daily Temperature checks. Becoming a way of life, but seriously if you would have looked at this picture last year, you’d … — And of course I knew this would be part of it, but when you take a big step back and look at this.. It’s equally unbelievable. Daily Temperature checks. Becoming a way of life, but seriously if you would have looked at this picture last year, you’d say what in the world is going on??

In June we added 3 mini cows to our family!! Tony, Valentine, & Basil. As soon as we closed the garden center for Spring, we almost immediately switched to preparation for our first fall season at the garden center.

One of my roles in Benoit Greenhouses is as visionary. So I got to dust off my AutoCad skills and started drawing up what’s next. Right now, the shed we used for retail is being transformed into my new store and workspace! It’s looking Incredible and will be ready before Thursday, September 10, My 2nd attempt at GIVE 2020. I feel that with all the uncertainty in the world, raising awareness of mental illness couldn’t be anymore important.

I’m not going to lie, this summer has really thrown me. All the changes in the world. The way people treat each other. Are schools opening or closing? Taking on new responsibilities without having any idea of how much my old ones mattered to my well-being. Are we moving are we staying? I am someone who craves stability, because my moody creative self needs a sturdy foundation to build on. So I dove back into a very uncertain anxious pool, and I am now just digging myself back out. I have done so much journaling, and routine creating to help me feel grounded in this uncertain world, and to find strength within myself when I can’t count on the stability of the world around me. I’m so excited to share with you what I’ve learned.

More than ever. I need you to remember that You Matter.

I’m sooo excited about what’s next and to invite you the space that sets my soul on fire. I feel like this virus has made people more isolated than ever, masks feel like another barrier to communication, we can’t even smile at each other with them on, and are we allowed to hug each other? Is that ok? There are a lot of barriers to our emotional wellbeing right now, right now more than ever our mental well-being is challenged. It’s so important to my mental health to talk about this kind of thing, to openly share that I’m struggling, and to let you know that you are not alone in your struggle.

My Give events are about raising awareness of mental illness, making this a topic that we don’t have to hide from. Life is hard, especially right now. My Give 2020, Take 2, event will be in my new studio, with definitely more space to social distance than my house has, on September 10. 20% of sales will go towards the Samuel Myers foundation whose main goal is erasing the stigma of mental illness.
I’ll be posting more about the September event very soon!

Have a wonderful day!

Mandy

GIVE 2020, TAKE 2