Some people fondly reminisce about firsts like their first concert or first car, but for me, the memories of my first houseplants are loaded with much more nostalgia than my first set of wheels. I was a 21-year-old newlywed, mourning the loss of my beloved grandmother, who had left behind a slew of wonderfully cared for houseplants. My freshly widowed grandpa said I may as well take any houseplants that I liked, because they would surely die in his care. So my cousin and I split up the plants, and while she researched the care for her plants at the library, I took on my new responsibility with the typical flare of an overwhelmed full-time student, nanny, and aspiring housewife would. Who needs to take the time to research, when surely a daily watering would suffice? I never could quite remember to water those plants daily— thank God— because they somehow managed to survive a whole year in my first basement apartment!

Of course, now I know that daily waterings are exactly not what any houseplants want, but when my grandmother’s plants eventually died of neglect when I forgot to bring them off my patio during a cold snap, I felt like a massive failure. First, my grandmother died. I couldn’t stop that. But then I killed her houseplants! It took a while for me to sort out those emotional feelings of failure— the feelings that told me these plants were somehow a part of my grandmother’s legacy, and I hadn’t deserved them. (Thankfully she had a much more impactful legacy than philodendrons and dracenas!) But now that I’ve handled my grief and separated that from my grandmother’s dead plants, I still credit that experience ten years ago to why I decided to really overcome my lackadaisical plant-mothering efforts and create a home full of thriving plant life, just like Grams.

Houseplants can add the perfect finishing touch to any room, quite literally bringing life into a space! I’m so glad I didn’t give up on the idea of filling my home with plants. I don’t have quite as many crammed into our current home as I did our former home, mostly because I just have more space here to spread them out, but I have a few that have been with me for many years now, happily growing, taking on pruning, and growing thicker and longer each year. Many of you have asked about my houseplants, so I thought it would be helpful to you for me to share which plants I’ve had success with, and how I take care of them in my home.

1. Pothos aka “Devil’s Ivy”

Whenever people say they can’t keep a plant alive in their home, I always suggest trying devil’s ivy. It’s not picky about soil, nutrients, watering, or light. You can keep it pruned to prevent it from trailing, but if you want a trailing plant, this is your guy. It will get long pretty quickly, especially if you fertilize it and give it plenty of filtered light.

I maintain my devil’s ivy by watering it a bit once a week or less frequently and giving it medium amounts of filtered light— meaning they are not right next to a window and they do not receive direct light.  It’s better to underwater Pothos/Devil’s Ivy than to overwater them. How to tell if it’s happy with its water amount? Well, if one of them begins to look wilty, give it water and it will perk up in about a day.  If you overwater, the leaves will turn yellow and fall off. But that’s also what can happen if it doesn’t get enough light, so it may be confusing until you learn the plant. If it doesn’t get adequate light, the plant will thin out, but it will not die— unless, of course, it gets absolutely no light. They will live happily in dimly lit spaces, as long as there is some natural light. Just don’t expect them to remain full and thick in that kind of lighting condition.

If you have long tendrils hanging from your Pothos plant, and it has dropped much of its leaves, trim it back in the Spring and it will bounce back, giving you length again relatively quickly— and even more fullness, if you give it enough light. But the sparse tendrils don’t bother me, personally. I love to see their length, and love that you can guide the tendrils up walls and around furniture and cabinets. Just use little nails or something for it to rest on and it will keep climbing!

2. Dracena

The plant seen in a pot next to a Pothos above is called a Dracena. There are a few varieties of Dracenas, but this kind is my favorite because of the pom-pom effect created by the skinny stem/trunk and the burst of stringy leaves at the top.

The care for Dracenas is pretty simply. They definitely don’t like soggy soil, so when I water them, I do it moderately, taking care not to completely drench the soil, but making sure the water is evenly spread across the soil. Choose a soil that will drain more easily than standard potting soil, but don’t just go right to the quickly-draining cactus blend that stores like Home Depot or Lowes sell. I recommend buying soil from a local nursery to get a blend that’s right for Dracenas, or you could try making your own mix after some quick research online.

This plant can do well in bright lighting environments, as long as that light is not direct for very long, or it will burn the leaves. The nice thing about Dracenas is that they also don’t mind somewhat lower light levels, though I wouldn’t put one in a super dark corner like I might try with a Pothos plant. They won’t grow as quickly in dimmer light, but they’ll live! Just don’t be surprised when you see some of the leaves drying out and falling off. That’s just the plant either thinning out to stay alive in lower light, or else it’s growing upward and dropping it lower leaves in the process.

3. Ficus Alii

Ficus trees come in many varieties, including fig trees and rubber trees, and can be notoriously difficult to take care of. I have killed a beautiful variegated rubber tree, and never attempted to care for a Ficus Benjamina or a Fiddle Leaf fig. But I did see this beautiful almost weepy looking ficus tree on Craigslist a couple of years ago and decided $30 was a steal— why not give it a try?

When I got this tree, it was very uneven, had a damaged trunk, and was dropping leaves like crazy. Ficus trees can go into shock when you move them to a new, less pleasing environment, and this ficus’s previous owner had it outside on his front porch to try to get some leaves back on it. He said it wasn’t getting much light in his home. Moving it from outside to inside my not-super-bright living room at our old house really freaked it out. So I tried everything I could to resuscitate my new ficus. I removed it from its old pot (it had never been repotted for several years with its previous owner) because it seemed pretty root bound, and chose a pot slightly larger than the old one. I had asked a local nursery about what kind of soil blend to use, and bought what they said they use for their ficus trees. So I repotted the plant with new soil, rinsing out the roots first, and carefully dispersing the soil around the long stringy roots of the tree.

After repotting, it was still dropping leaves, and I worried I had damaged it beyond repair. But it was also Fall, and these trees tend to thin out as daylight begins to wane. When Spring came around again, it began to grow lots of new leaves, and then when we moved to a new home with brighter light, it was even happier!

Now that I know it’s a happy tree, I decided to give it a pretty severe pruning this Spring to help it’s uneven shape fill in more evenly. I did research how to prune a tree to make the branches to grow in the desired direction, so I wasn’t blindly hacking away at the poor guy— don’t worry! The photo above is how it looks now. The photo at the beginning of this post is how it looks before I pruned it. Can’t wait to see how it looks in a year!

In conclusion, I think Ficus Alii’s are pretty simply to care for, as long as you meet these requirements: Use proper well-draining soil that also has lots of nutrients (not cactus potting soil), lots of bright indirect light, water only when the soil has completely dried out in the drop three inches or so, fertilize every other watering during growing season (Spring + Summer), and completely soak the plant when watering— but make sure the pot can drain completely. Don’t let the plant sit in drainage water. I use a grower’s pot elevated inside a larger pot, so the water drains out and sits in the larger pot without touching the grower’s pot. In our old home, I put the ficus in a pot with drainage holes, and elevated it on a wrought-iron stand, so when I watered, I could fit a shallow bowl under the wrought iron stand to collect the water that drained out.

4. Aloe Plant

A friend recently gifted me this aloe plant when I mentioned it would be handy to have one to treat “boo boos” and whatnot. (I’m always dealing with scrapes, cuts, and gashes on me as I’m renovating this house— not to mention the kids!) This plant has been pretty easy to take care of! I keep it in a moderately lit room, but in one of the lesser lit regions. Before watering, I let the soil dry out in the top two inches of the soil, and then give it a really thorough soak. I keep it in a grower’s pot that I set inside this larger pot, so when I water it, all of the excess water can drain out, then I dump out the excess water.

Aloe plants prefer to be watered less frequently than most houseplants, similarly to succulents. I know people go on and on about how succulents are easy to care for, but that has not been my experience! I think it’s because I just didn’t get good sunlight in our old home, partially due to Ohio’s cloudy weather, but also because of my general lack of windows and heavily wooded yard. So far the aloe plant has been happy here in our house, though, and I’ve already used it to treat wounds. Love a plant that loves me back!

5. Wandering Jew

I killed a Wandering Jew the last time I had one— and I hate how alarming and violent that seems when I type that out… But these are beautiful trailing plants that are easily split and shared with friends or other rooms in your house. The leaves are smaller than devil’s ivy, and have a beautiful rich purple color on their backsides, though you can’t really see that in this photo. I decided to try this plant again in our new home, and I’m so glad I did!

So far, I’ve learned that these plants aren’t as happy to be left dry as Devil’s Ivy is. It will begin to drop leaves fast! So I keep the soil more moist than most of my other plants, though still allowing the water to drain. I don’t want to soak the soil and cause it to drown. I have also read not to pour all of the water onto the stem of the plant or it could rot.

You can prune back a Wandering Jew plant to keep it from trailing about, but the trailing is just so beautiful! I think it would look lovely hanging in a pot, but for now I have it resting in this footed pot on my table.

6. Monstera Deliciosa aka “Split-Leaf Philodendron”

These plants used to be difficult to find in Ohio, but now I’m finding them more places, like IKEA and even at flea markets. I’m so glad I finally got my hands on some, because they are such beautiful, sculptural plants. They seem pretty easy to care for, too!

I have had these plants for three years now, and they’ve never gotten too mad at me. I have noticed them cuing me about watering, similarly to how my Pothos/Devil’s Ivy does. They will begin to get droopy, but when I water them, they perk back up. I have heard they do not do well with overwatering, so I tend to be more hands-off with these guys. I also read somewhere that they don’t do as well with regular fertilization than most houseplants, so I usually only fertilize them every third watering during growing season.

They will develop weird little aerial roots, that basically look like brown nubs growing out from the green stems, which is the plant’s way to reach out to stabilize itself on something. They will grow up and up if you stake the plant properly, but I currently have mine in front of a window that they are beginning to climb. I try to rotate mine semi-regularly to keep them from growing out to one side too much. They’ll reach for the sun, which is pretty inspiring, if you ask me. Heh!

Those are all of the plants I currently have in my home right now, and I feel like it’s just the right amount. I check their water levels about once a week and water the buddies that need it, while making mental notes of ones I should check back on in a couple of days.

Lucy even spent her savings on a succulent last weekend and is learning how to become a good plant mama too! It’s been fun to transition from worrying about your kids destroying your plants to watching them learn to care for them. If you have some kids in your home— don’t give up on plants! They’ll learn, and there’ll be messes along the way, but having a home willed with life is worth it.

I’m so excited to finally be able to introduce you to our dogs, Alfie and Theo! If you’ve been following me on Instagram stories, you’ll know that we decided last December to get a dog, and began looking into options around Christmastime. Four months later, and here we are, perfectly matched with our forever furry friends. I wanted to share our dog adoption journey with you, and hopefully encourage those of you who are also looking for a dog to bring into your family.

I’ve had dog fever for the past ten years which had been briefly satiated during the two years I lived with my brother. We dog sat for a couple of months for a friend whose family was dealing with an extreme health emergency, when we were given the opportunity to just keep him. Archie, a Yorksire Terrier, hadn’t been our first choice of dog breed, but he quickly worked his way into our hearts as we acclimated to one another, becoming quite attached in no time. I was on cloud nine being Archie’s mama, until I moved out two years later and my brother kept the dog. That was eight years ago, and I had begun looking for another small breed my landlord would allow us to have, but the trick was talking Phil into it. At some point along the way we decided to try to get pregnant and put our dog plans on hold, uncertain we’d be able to handle both dog and newborn at the same time. 

Here we are, two kids in, discussing whether or not we’ll have another child, when I asked Phil if he was finally ready to get a dog. And he said yes! (Cue the rejoicing!) We liked the spunk and sass of the terrier breed, but we didn’t think we wanted a Yorkie again, because no Yorkie would be as awesome as Archie had been, but also because we wanted a dog a bit larger than a Yorkie. I was 90% sure I wanted a West Highland Terrier, because I had spent the past ten years longing for one and admiring friends’ and neighbors’ Westies. But the more we looked, the more we learned of the difficulties in adopting a Westie. I spent hours filling out application forms for a few Westie-specific rescue organizations in Ohio, along with very long and detailed applications for general dog rescue shelters in northeast and central Ohio. I followed organizations on Facebook and browsed Petfinder every day. I even considered flying a rescue dog all the way here from California, but that seemed excessive, and how would we know for sure if the dog would be a good fit for us and our girls?

We did find some Westies and Westie mixes in shelters, but either someone else got to them before we did, or they were not recommended for homes with children under the age of five. So I began to widen my search to other breeds. I looked at all kinds of breeds around the 10-20 pound range, but again, most of the dogs we found in shelters were not recommended for young children, or someone else got to the dogs first. It made me think that maybe we should consider puppies, because they would have no past trauma, and they could be raised around our respectful kids and know no other kind of life. We considered finding an ethical breeder and getting a puppy like a Cockapoo, or going the more affordable route of taking in a couple of my brothers’ dogs’ puppies (he has a Yorkie and a Morkie and plans to breed them once before spading and neutering them), though the small breed wasn’t our first choice. Lucy caught wind of this discussion and was dead set on having Morkie puppies just like Uncle Matt, so we kept that option in our back pocket as I continued the search.

In March a friend told me about a bunch of dogs that had been rescued from a dog hoarding situation in Mineral Ridge, Ohio. There were dozens of smaller dogs, and some pregnant ones too! Thanks to some connections she gave me, I was able to find out where the pregnant mothers were being taken care of, and applied to adopt them. I finally felt like our search would have a happy ending. We were so excited about taking in two rescued puppies, but also a bit terrified of all of the work and destruction that raising puppies entailed.

While I was waiting on the puppies, admittedly with cold feet, I began thinking about my childhood dog, JJ, who had been a cocker spaniel. I thought about how she had been such a good dog and how a dog like that would be perfect for our family. On a whim I began searching for spaniel breeds on Petfinder. One page in, I was immediately drawn to a photo of a beautiful, sad looking Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in Lisbon, Ohio— only an hour from me! I immediately clicked on the image of the dog named “Ren.” My eyes searched the description, ready to see that he was not fit for small children, but the disclaimer wasn’t there! I read on to see that this dog is only three years old, has a sweet, calm demeanor and would be a good fit for homes with children. I was intrigued, and beginning to get excited.

As I continued reading about Ren, I learned that he had been picked up as a stray along with a dog friend he had become quite bonded with— a six-year-old spaniel mix the dog pound named Stimpy. Yep— Ren and Stimpy. (I didn’t let the names deter me.) Hmmm… two dogs. When we had talked about getting two dogs before, they were only about 10lb guys. Two medium-size dogs? I didn’t know… could I handle that? And Stimpy— he was quite obese. 48lbs on a frame fit for 25lbs. What if he had diabetes? What if they had some kind of trauma from the time they were strays? What if… Ah, what if we just head to the pound and see what they’re like in person?

So the next morning, I loaded the kids into the car and did just what. Oh, did I mention Phil was away at a phone-free retreat that entire weekend? That’s right— no way to contact him until Sunday afternoon. It was Saturday morning, and the pound was full of visitors. I started feeling anxious, thinking about all of the other dogs that we missed out on. What if that happened again? My brother advised that I not get too swept up in my emotions, and to really consider if getting both of these dogs would be the right move for our family. “There are other dogs out there,” he assured me. So I walked into the pound without expectations or fears, with the intent only to see what these dogs were like.

Stimpy (above) ran right up to me, so excited, happy, and bursting with energy. I noted that if we took him home, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to get him down to a healthy weight, because he didn’t stop moving the entire hour of our visit! Ren, on the other hand, was very calm and snuggly. He was shy at first, but then cuddled right up to me— so meek and mild. You could tell immediately that the two were quite attached to one another, and it would have been devastating to Ren to separate the two. Stimpy was obviously dominant and led Red, who happily would give up his food and his space to please Stimpy. Their antics were amusing, and I liked them right away. Surprisingly, so did both of my girls! Lucy is dog obsessed and not deterred by very large dogs or dogs who bark. It would’ve been hard for her to say she didn’t like any dog. Juniper, on the other hand, is very timid around dogs and oftentimes cries if they get near her. But she warmed to Ren and Stimpy immediately, and the entire way home the girls campaigned for their cause of taking both of the dogs home.

“We’ll have to talk to your dad,” I said. “I don’t know how he’ll feel about taking two dogs home. And I don’t know if they’ll still be there when we go back! Don’t get your hope up.” That was a joke, because of course their hopes were up, as were mine! Just thinking about someone else adopting them made me feel panicky again. All someone would have to do is walk into the pound, say they want the dogs, and walk out with them. If they weren’t there when we went back, I would be crushed. So what should I do? Should I go back the next morning and offer to foster them? So then if Phil comes home and freaks out, I can say, “They’re only foster dogs, we can take them back!” But let’s be real, I would be putting him in a bad position, making him crush all of our hearts by saying no. I just couldn’t do that to him, and I wouldn’t appreciate him doing the same to me if I had been gone on a phone-free retreat. So… what to do, what to do?

I took the girls around town and gathered all of the supplies we’d need to take two dogs home, reminding them the entire time that we might have to take everything back to the store. We picked out kennels, leashes, dog food, treats, toys, beds, tie-outs, and even hair brushes. The plan was to go back to the pound the next day and hope that Phil would answer his phone in the half hour between when he was supposed to get his phone back and before the pound closed. During the hour drive out, I called him every ten minutes with both knots and butterflies in my stomach as I worried that the dogs wouldn’t be there, and envisioned what our life would be like if we were able to take them home.

Finally, with ten minutes to spare, he answered his phone, and the words I’d been waiting to say came tumbling out of my mouth. “We’re on our way to the pound to potentially get two dogs— they’re bonded, they’re so sweet, and I know that you’ll love them! What do you think?” “Seriously?! The dogs you sent me a picture of?” “Yeah! Those. What do you think?” “You guys met them yesterday and like them?” (So he’d seen my texts.) “Yes! They’re so great!” “Welll… okay! Let’s do it!” Lucy began shouting with excitement from the back of the van, and I realized I had forgotten to get cash from the bank, which the pound required as payment. After an unbearably long detour to an ATM (we were out in the country), I was at the pound fifteen minutes before it closed, cash in hand, ready to take the dogs home.

We decided to rename the dogs Alfie (who had been Ren) and Theo (who had been Stimpy), and it killed us that we had to ride for an hour with them in the car, facing the opposite direction, unable to pet and play with them. When we got home, we took them on a short walk, and then they ran about the house, excitedly exploring their new territory. We got the dogs bathed, brushed, fed, and the boys didn’t leave my side the entire day. I walked two feet away, they walked two feet away. We tried crating them that first night, but they were devastated every time they had to leave my side. So we settled on having them sleep in their beds beside my side of the bed, and they sat there staring at me for quite a bit until deciding it was safe to go to sleep. Honestly, it freaked me out a bit, as I really didn’t know them yet, and my face was right at their level. But after my nerves settled, I realized that I was their hero, and they already loved me to the ends of the world.

It feels pretty good to be these dogs’ hero. We’ll see how their personalities develop as time goes on, but so far it’s been a week and a half and they’re such obedient, happy dogs who still think I’m the greatest thing to walk the earth. We’re pleased as punch and so grateful for our happy ending!

Today I’m excited to share a little post from Phil about Daddy/Daughter dates! Everyone who meets Phil loves him, so you can imagine how much our two girls adore this man. He has a lot of kindness and wisdom to share with the world around him, so we thought it would be a great match for him to talk about taking care of his girls in a post sponsored by Cybex, the creator of the Sirona M, an inventive convertible carseat with advanced SensorSafe 2.0 technology. I’ll share more about it at the end of this post! But first, let’s hear from Phil!

Daddy-Daughter Dates

“Being a father is one of the greatest joys and blessings in my life. I am convinced that I have an awesome opportunity to raise up my daughters, teaching them right from wrong, and giving practical advice along the way. That’s one of the reasons why I decided to incorporate ‘Daddy-Daughter Dates’ with my girls. I will regularly take either one or both girls out for a short period of time and will focus solely on them. Most of the time, this includes a trip to Chick-fil-A and often, we will end up at a local park. The girls get so excited when they hear that there will be a date with Daddy soon. These dates have become one of the most joyful and meaningful times in my relationship with my girls.

“During our Daddy-Daughter Dates, our conversations can range from ‘What are we doing tomorrow?’ to ‘What if there was a dinosaur that was bigger than our house?’ to ‘Why do people die?’ Yes, being the father of two young daughters is quite an experience.

One of the most important topics of conversation is centered around how to be adventurous and have fun, while still being safe. It’s always nerve-wracking when your child is climbing up the playground equipment for the first time and they say, “I CAN DO IT MYSELF!” So I stand there, ready to catch her, as she climbs up. And I will tell you, there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing the joy on my daughter’s face when she exclaims, “I did it all by myself!” I won’t always be there to catch them, though, so part of my goal for our dates is to prepare them to make wise decisions for themselves.

“I know that right now, my time with Lucy and Juniper is mostly fun— filled with chicken nuggets, fries, swings, and slides. But I also know that later in life, my girls will have more on their minds than playing tag with Daddy. They will have questions about what to do after high school, what they believe about life and faith, and how to decide if the guy they like is “the one.” By establishing a framework early on in their lives, my hope is that my daughters will feel like it is natural to share and ask questions about these and many other topics in life. Ultimately, my goal is not to tell them how to live their lives, but to be there for them, as someone they know will listen. This time is all about them. By asking leading questions and letting my girls come to their own conclusions, they will be able to make thoughtful decisions when I’m not there to talk things through with them.

“Through this process, I know that I probably won’t carry this out imperfectly and I know that there will be bumps and rough patches along the way. However, this one thing I know for certain: I will never give up on my daughters and will always be there for them, no matter what the future holds. Besides my wife, my daughters are my greatest treasures, and I will forever cherish these times.”

I’m so thankful that my girls have a wonderful and involved man of God as their father. Not every family has that, but the premise of Daddy-Daughter dates can work well for moms, grandparents, and mentors too! Recently I realized that I need to be just as proactive as Phil in building the foundation for a strong relationship with my girls, outside of the day-to-day conversations over breakfast and frustrations with getting them dressed and asking them to clean up their messes. So sometimes Phil and I will split up the girls and go on individual dates with them at the same time, making that time all about them and what they want to do and talk about. We try to do this once a month, and Phil will often go out with the girls when it’s nice out and I have some work I’d like to catch up on. These dates with our girls have been such an enriching part of parenting!

The Cybex Sirona M with SensorSafe 2.0 Technology

Sometimes parenting can be nerve-wracking, so I’m glad to be equipped with tools to keep our kids extra safe, like our new Cybex Sirona M carseat. Besides the comfortable design and standard safety features like an adjustable linear side impact protection system and the 12-position heigh adjustable headrest, the Sirona M also has SensorSafe 2.0 technology that monitors the well-being of kiddos in the seat.

The SensorSafe 2.0 technology is a sensor inside the chest clip of the carseat that, when activated, alerts you when there are unsafe conditions for the child in the seat. There is a small vehicle receiver that is installed in the vehicle OBD2 port which sounds the alert through your vehicle’s stereo system or through your cell phone, which can be a good option in the event that you are a passenger, or a preoccupied caregiver may forget about a sleeping child in the vehicle. The alerts range from letting you know if the child has been in the seat for too long, to if the temperature is too warm or too cold, or even if a child unbuckles themselves while the vehicle is in motion. The SensorSafe app has helpful how-to videos for utilizing the safety technology, and it also  provides guidance on installation, FAQ’s, and more.

Thank you to Cybex for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest & completely my own.