Saturday Scoop | Bold & Beautiful

We have these gorgeous bougainvillea plants growing up the columns of our front porch. We had them planted at the suggestion of a landscaper when we first moved into our house 12 years ago. They are the backdrop for so many of the photos we take as a family and of the kids. I even take photos of other families and their kids there.

Most people would never guess that for the first few years after they were planted, the bougainvilleas didn’t grow very much. They didn’t flower like all the other bougainvillea plants I saw all over the neighborhood. In all honesty, a couple years in and I was ready to chop them down and put something else in their place.

Three years after we moved in, we started a huge construction project on our house. We added on a master suite, blew out the existing kitchen, and added a new kitchen. But before we could do any of that, we had to move, of all things, a septic tank. Yep. So we went about the business of having that done first, and we moved the tank to our front yard, under our driveway. The drain field ended up being the grassy area of our front yard.

 

As the construction progressed, the yard began to take shape. Within a year of moving the septic tank, the bougainvilleas shot to triple their size and flowered like crazy. We didn’t realize how much they had grown at first. However, the spring after Caleb was born, they bloomed like never before. We came to the conclusion that it was the poop from the septic tank and drain field that finally gave them what they needed to grow and bloom.

And isn’t life often like that? We can be so quick to want something to grow, often times forgetting that we have to go through some serious stuff to become the best versions of ourselves.  The next time you find yourself wading through the muck, remember that it’s helping you to become better. So hang on, and maybe hold your breath, because as s***ty as it may seem sometimes, you’re growing. 

xoxo,

Jenise