The Grass Might Be Greener....

 I feel like everybody has heard the saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side." I think there is a fence insinuated in that saying. At least, that's what I always envisioned whenever hearing that quote! And, I'm pretty sure that most people know that the saying is referring to the envy of anything that seems better than what you have yourself. Be it stuff, place, circumstance, job, etc., there's generally always something in someone else's life that seems better than your own. Thus, "the grass is always greener on the other side." Right?

Maybe.

I think I have known for several years (at least all of my adult life - I hope!) that there is a catch to that saying. But, it wasn't until two and half years ago that I think the "catch" became one hundred percent real to me. We had moved to Kansas in pursuit of "improving our life," if you will and, for myself, it turned out to be anything but an improvement in my life for quite a while. In addition, during the first year there other things were happening within my side of the family that were hard to understand the "why" behind it, and the saying "The grass is always greener..." kept coming to mind.

Ironically, the house neighboring our new place, that was also for sale, had really green grass while our own lawn was lacking in such beauty. Our yard had been well used by at least two dogs, and it did not appear that they had been picked up after for several months. If at all. And I do not like picking up dog poop. Even though I have cleaned up after my own dog for six years now, I find it utterly disgusting. Give me cow poop any day, but dog poop - Gross!! But that is a bit off topic.....

Even though we cleaned up our yard, watered, and tried to get greener grass, both Jason and I would comment on how the neighbors grass was so much greener. And, one day, after hearing more about what was going on with my family issues, and looking at the neighbors green grass and wondering why ours couldn't be as green, I told somebody, "The grass might be greener, but there's dog poop in it, too."

Isn't that a more accurate statement? I know it for sure applied to our neighbors yard; I personally saw the dog that lived there, and I never saw anyone pick up the poop. And it sure seemed to apply to the family stuff that was going on! Just because the grass IS greener doesn't mean that it is free of problems!

Ever since then, I have kept that saying pretty close to heart. I think it helps to put things into a bit of perspective to keep in mind that just because something is, or appears to be, better doesn't mean it is without it's issues. They just might not be the same issues as the ones with which you are familiar. Thus, that is my new mantra: The grass might be greener, but it has dog poop in it, too.

Fast-forward two and half years and we have recently moved back to Wyoming. And, even more recently, bought and moved into a new-to-us house. And while the "grass is greener" (to us) in Wyoming, it is not without it's "dog poop." Even this new house that we picked out for ourselves is not without it's pitfalls. While there are many aspects of moving into this house that we are quite enjoying (you can read about those here), there are also some less than enjoyable things. Like weeds. Weeds, weeds, weeds. One of the things I was excited about with this house was the garden beds in the backyard. I've never actually gotten a garden put into any of our other yards, so having some already existing was exciting. And there were already some things planted and growing in them! Yay! But along with having garden beds comes....

....weeds. I'm not sure how long the weeds had been let go, but to me they were out of control. This picture doesn't quite show it, though.

I had already weeded over half of this garden bed that has onions growing in it. If there was something else in there, I never identified it!

There are also several flower bed areas, some with really nice flowers growing. But, there are also weeds. Button-weeds appear to grow prolifically in this yard and the garden areas. There is another long garden bed with cabbage and rhubarb that is also overgrown with weeds, but you get the pictorial idea, I'm sure, from the previous pictures.

Another pitfall, or "pile of dog poop in the green grass," is mosquitoes. We were really looking forwards to being able to enjoy a nice back porch and yard. And I, specifically, was super excited for Little Pumpkin to be able to freely play outside for once. I think it was the first weekend in this new house that she got quite bitten up by mosquitoes. I didn't even think about it, and I wasn't outside with her all the time, so I didn't realize they were an issue at that time. So while having a backyard and porch is wonderful, it also presents it's own set of problems.

There are other downsides to moving, such as figuring out how furniture is going to fit (or not fit....), finding out that the house does not stay as cool during the summer as I was anticipating, helping a toddler get used to sleeping in yet another house and bedroom, and the process of unpacking, sorting, and figuring out the best organizational set-up for all our stuff. In the past, some of these current issues have not been a big deal, but this time I have been working extra hard to not feel overwhelmed. And to not just sit down and say, "Who cares if we are still living out of a suitcase next year." So remembering that just because the "grass is greener" here, and that we chose to move to the "greener grass," doesn't mean that it's going to be perfect. There's still going to be "dog poop" here just like there was "dog poop" in Kansas. And at our house before that. And the house before that.

So my ever-so-wise words for you today that I have learned from personal experience is: The grass might be greener, but there is dog poop in it, too. Guaranteed.