It was about a year and a half ago when I first started filling every vessel I could find with a plant. Like an addict, I didn’t just shop at one nursery here in town. One day I’d shop at one, and just so the employee’s wouldn’t start giving me funny looks, the next day I’d shop somewhere else. It wasn’t that I was good at it or anything, it’s just that once I get my mind on something, I can be a bit, um, focused (that’s a polite word for obsessive!). I spent a lot of time online researching how not to kill plants. I would also save the little tags that came with each plant and use them as flashcards so I could learn all the names and how to take care of each one. Yeah, a bit obsessed!
Last summer, once I had every square inch of our back deck covered in something green, I photographed it and blogged about it. It was totally innocent; I swear I had no ulterior motives! Around the same time I blogged about a pallet planter that I had concocted from old shipping pallets. One thing led to another and somehow my back yard was pitched as an idea for a feature in Good Housekeeping Magazine. I think they liked the DIY aspect of what I had done. When I heard they were considering us, honestly, I didn’t think much of it because I KNEW there was no way a magazine like this would travel to a small town like ours and photograph a backyard like mine.
Esther was 2 weeks old when I heard back from them with the news that they had chosen our home for the feature! I was shocked, excited, scared to death, nervous, did I mention I was scared to death!? Not only had I just had a baby (I’m not one of those women who have a baby bump and are back into their jeans in a month, no ma’am, when I’m pregnant I mean it and I pay for it a year later!) anyway, not only had I just had a baby, but it was March and my backyard was a HOT MESS! The pretty yard that I had blogged a year earlier was straight up nasty, and what was left was dead plants (from winter), kids toys, barbecue pit paraphernalia and faded outdoor pillows. I had a LOT of work to do! I went into focus mode, and as soon as I was able to be away from Esther for more than an hour, I went into full force mission backyard.
By the time Rosemary Ellis, Good Housekeeping’s Editor and Chief, arrived the day of the shoot, you would have never known it had been a mess just a month or so before. I was so afraid I was going to be star struck when she arrived, but she immediately made us feel at ease. She even brought my girls gifts! Come on now, that’s impressive! After talking, we realized we both graduated from Louisiana Tech University. Small world! The shoot went well, now all I had to do was wait until the August issue of GH was published!
I saw the spread about a week ago, and I was absolutely floored! They gave us 5 pages in the middle of the magazine. Rosemary even mentioned us in her letter from the editor. This is seriously a once in a lifetime thing, and I’m so honored we were given this opportunity. So cool 
Hope you like it!
(You can click on the images below to see them larger)
