…and please, make my life a little bit more challenging! Obviously that’s not how the saying goes but these days I wish it wasn’t just a (really corny) joke and that some trees really would just leave. Yup, on their own, just get up and go far far away!

First, it was my car while vacationing with my family in Hilton Head:

Yes, a very big branch from a pine fell and nailed my car door.

Then remember those intense storms that hit the east coast just over a week ago? Those same storms that left many many many people without power for days on end were also kind enough to crack a massive branch on one of the pin oak trees in our front yard AND split the other one right down the trunk!

Both our house and one of our neighbor’s were in immediate danger so we called an arborist to get things fixed up pronto. The one tree that had a large cracked branch just needed the branch to be removed along with some pruning. It was the other tree, the one with a split down the middle of the trunk, that Pavlo and I were worried about. We were almost certain we were going to have to shell out several grand to remove a tree that we actually really liked so it came as a very pleasant surprise when the arborist told us that the tree just needed to be topped off above the split.

Despite being very happy with the news that we weren’t going to lose the tree, we were concerned about what a topped off tree in our front yard would do for curb appeal. I kept envisioning this in my yard:

However, the arborist did a wonderful job and the tree looks far fuller then the above tree (phew)! Here’s how it looks now:

I definitely have an appreciation for nature but I’ve never exactly been “one with it.” I wish I could say our relationship was improving but these last few events involving trees have only made me a little less outdoorsy…and a little poorer!

To end on a happier and more positive note, we’ve made a lot of progress with the kitchen and are expecting our cabinets to arrive on Monday! Woohoo!