Peonies and a relationship I wasn't trying to reconcile
Plus a fun serum recipe that costs $1.20 to make!
The other day, we were sitting outside in our driveway with another neighbor just chatting it up as midwesterners do. Our driveway is not far from Loretta’s driveway, unlike the other homes in the neighborhood, ours has a small swath of grass conjoining our drives. So basically, we know each other’s business and that’s fine because we like that. A woman parked out front and began walking up Loretta’s drive, and my heart clinched inside of me. Because it was the previous owner of our home(she and Rhett have remained friends), but at the end of our home sale, something went awry and it got hairy with her in particular. It was a terribly unpleasant interaction and very tense to say the least. We have seen them in passing before but not really long enough to have any awkward conversation. This time though was
inevitable, we were too close to one another.
Nato, as he does with any breathing human, yells, “Hi Kathy(not her name)!” And I perk up and wave and smile as if to ask, “Do you still hate me?”. She was warm and said hello back and so I did the only thing I knew to do: point to the peonies and say, “Your peonies are my favorite. They are the absolute best!”
“Oh, you moved them! They’re so beautiful,” She said fondly.
“I did. We had to with all the construction back there. I was so afraid I would ruin them.”
Nato chimed in, “The way she had me moves these things, you’d think I was planting gold.”
“They sort of still haven’t recovered. They use to give several blooms over and over. And I think I traumatized them. But I wanted to say thank you for planting them because they bring me a lot of joy.”
Kathy said, “Those peonies were here before we moved in 30 years ago. They have to be 40+ years old. They will absolutely recover!”
I wanted to hug her, but I thought we made enough progress in this interaction. I thought about cutting blooms for her and bring them over. I talked myself out of it but I wish I hadn’t. The intention was there though. Sometimes a heart turned towards reconciliation is a big enough step towards healing relationships you never even wanted to heal anyway.
I can’t get over that perhaps when I was born, and maybe this is just my imagination—But God put an idea in someone’s head to plant 5 peonies bushes in my future back yard, one I wouldn’t get to until I was 32 years old. That I would squeal with delight when they bloomed and treasure them because of the anticipation and beauty that comes with them. They fade out quickly, but it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to be where they are, to marvel at them, rejoice over their fleeting lives. If I love these peonies like this, how much more does God love me? And you and our quick little lives. Yet there He is beaming, tenderly caring for, delighting in His creation.
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Ok from peonies to skin:
A friend of mine made a post about her favorite skin care products and that her Botox in a bottle was amazing, so I googled it and it’s $95 and sold out! It must really work.
So, because I love research, I looked at the main ingredient, hydroxytyrosol— a polyphenol. I googled it and its olive leaf. And I have that bc YL sells it!
One capsule is equivalent to the hydroxytyrosol in One LITRE of olive oil. Now Consuming hydroxytyrosol promotes the dilation of blood vessels, enhances blood flow, and reduces the risk of endothelial dysfunction, a key factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases. So it’s a great supplement to ingest, but I’m vain. Haha.
I wanted it to be water based, not oil based.
You could use aloe water or rose water if you have that on hand, I just used plain filtered water.
Split the capsule and drop in the water and give it a shake! You absolutely could add crushed up vitamin c if you have that on hand as well.
I put it on, and thought I was making things up. Soft and glowy, and kind of tightening. So I messaged my friend who used the $95 serum and asked what she noticed. She confirmed! I am obsessed with this bc I felt like my results were immediate. You’ll need to give it a shake each time you use it. If I had vegetable glycerine on hand, I would have used that as a base but water did just fine.
It costs $36 for 30 capsules, so my serum cost me $1.20 not $95. You’ll only need one capsule and it will last you a while. So ingest the rest for happy hearts!
You can shop here for that!
That’s it for now,
Jami
Reconciliations are my favorite!!!!!😍
*takes aggressive notes on the serum* how much water did you use? THANK YOU!!