12/09/2024
Hi–I’m Jennie!
Have you ever made a decision that you knew was so dramatically different from the way you have been living your life? Filling you with so many emotions all at once? So many different emotions to the point that they are more like one emotion all composting together, making a deep, rich emotion of its own?
I have made that kind of decision. Today, I purchased Leaf + Quiet; the eclectic little plant shop on the Northside in Missoula.
For the last 20 years I have been a tax accountant. Recently, I have started stepping away from the only profession I have known and decided to buy a boutique plant shop. After over 20 years of accounting? That is the scary part. The exciting part is the plants I will learn about and the people I will get to know; bringing them both together to bring joy into each other’s lives.
Plants have been a constant companion throughout my life––the ups and downs, the frustrations and fulfilments. Decades of outdoor gardening and landscaping as well as quietly observing our western Montana native flora; watching the growth and blooms and the dormancy or apparent death only to be reborn the next year, connecting me to the cycle of life in a very intimate way.
Exploring the mystery of indoor plants whose natural habitat is in faraway lands has always been a tantalizing idea so during the winters when I craved the green, I started studying them through research, botanical illustration, and very close observation; getting to know their personalities which are so very different from my outdoor friends; a foreign delicateness yet resilient, temperamental but always enjoyable.
This is my first post to chronicle the sprouting of a new path. I am curious to see where I will be a year from now, three years from now, even ten years from now and I am excited that you will be on this journey with me.
With followers and friends, I know the path won’t be lonely, so thank you for the valuable role you will play. As I don’t have much experience with social media, it means a lot to me that you all are with me on my very first post.
Looking forward to seeing where we all go from here – the future is unwritten!