But I used to not always be this way. Don't get me wrong, I've always wondered at the beauty at the world and have always loved being out in nature. I love camping and being in the woods, but I also gained a great appreciation for flowers and other residential/landscape plants, as my mother kept a very beautiful yard at our home. But it never occurred to me that I could have a career working with things like this. I didn't really care about 'going green' (partially because my father was pretty strongly against it, partially because I was ignorant, and partially because I just didn't care). But when I came to college, I was taking my General Education classes and signed up for a class called Environmental Science. If I didn't know anything about being 'environmentally friendly' when I arrived at college, I certainly knew a big amount of something after my first term. I learned right then and there that I think very differently than my parents do when it comes to things like this, and I felt strongly about it! I wanted to change my life for the environment. After I took that class, I even thought about going into to law school of environmental law. But then I realized I would probably make a horrible lawyer...
I kept taking my GEs and the following semester I took two similar classes - The Cultural History of Medicinal Plant, and Living with Plants. Both awesome classes. When I finished medicinal plants, I decided I wanted to work with my professor on doing research on plants' medicinal qualities in China and Tonga. It was also in this class where I discovered my favorite tree - the Ginkgo biloba tree. Seriously, it's probably the coolest tree you will ever know about - but don't even get me started on that because I could really go on forever about it. Anyway, I soon realized that I actually didn't really want to do all the sciencey research stuff...and then I finished Living with Plants. This class was the ultimate push into my major - confirming to me what I wanted to do. My professor for this class was truly inspired, in every sense of the word, and he just has a passion for what he does. He's passionate about the earth, the trees and plants, and he's passionate about taking care of it. Apparently passion rubs off because it was because of him that I got really into this stuff too. But I still knew I wasn't good at sciencey stuff so I looked into the major and saw that if I did Landscape Management instead of Environmental Science, then I could emphasize in landscape design.
Hey, that sounds cool! I can draw, and I love plants, so that sounds like a match made in heaven to me!
And boy was it! I love this major. I love my classes and I love how everyone in this major is here because they share the same passions. We're just like one big nature lovin', tree huggin', soil smellin' family!
I actually don't know about the soil smelling but hey, I don't doubt it!
So that's how I got started in landscape design. From there, it kind of just transitioned over to a love of floral design. I love flowers I mean come on, who doesn't? and this snowball really got rollin' when I did my own flowers for my wedding. I used silk flowers because I wanted to be able to keep my bouquet. I was going to use real ones for the centerpieces but it just got so expensive that we just stuck to silk flowers all the way through. So this is what I did for my flowers for our wonderfully perfect July wedding. Oh, and did I mention that my husband is an incredible graphic designer? We're just full of design!
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| like the addition of the cake there? I don't mind sharing it because it was literally exactly what I wanted |
Now my plan is to do an internship with a flower company to get experience, but ultimately, I want to have my own consulting/design business (independently) and do flower arrangements for other people! When I have the chance to settle in a home I will be in for a while, I'm going to have my own studio/design room with all my supplies and even a greenhouse or two. The future looks bright. :)
Oh, I guess it also says I do interior design - I'm actually in an introduction course right now, but it's been pretty easy for me. I'm not as professionally educated as I am in the other two subjects, but hey, maybe it just comes naturally with the design mind. Again, I would never call myself a professional on the subject, but I think I have a good enough eye and know the basics enough to at least provide some advice on a room or two.
So there you have it! Now you probably more about me and where I'm coming from than you ever wanted to! Unless you already know me, then you just got lucky enough to hear the story again :) To end with the words of one of my favorite bumper stickers from Bartlett Tree Company:
Trees are the Answer
