Since our recent move to a new state I think my family is really working harder to enjoy more of our life outside. One of the things we've really enjoyed adjusting to in our new home is not just the added square footage we have inside the home, but also the significantly larger area available in our yard surrounding our house. Our property is significantly larger than our previous home as you can see in the images below and we've already spent more time outside as a family here in a year than we really did previously almost the entire time in the previous house.
I'm probably somewhat weird as well in that I actually enjoy the action needed to take care of the yard. I actually enjoy mowing. My wife will say to a fault because she'd like for me to hand off that task to my son for him to be responsible for, but I don't really want to give it up. When we lived in Indiana I had contracted with TruGreen to come and take care of the yard, (TruGreen Schools Me on the Science of Lawn Care) it was very cheap given the size, but I could really tell a difference after using their service for awhile. The yard did really start to green up and get thicker and more lush growth as we continued.
TruGreen has been running a promotion for more families to #LiveLifeOutside and they even did a large survey to find out how many American's felt about how much time they're spending inside or outside. The results were interesting. Here's just one of the stats that were discovered:
The Great Outdoors is Calling: More than half of Americans surveyed said they want to spend more time outside, and about twothirds of all respondents, or 68%, say they are spending less time outside compared to five years ago, reflecting the tendency that perhaps we aren’t stepping outside into the fresh air as often as we’d like toor perhaps even as often as we shouldfor a healthy balanced lifestyle.
As we experienced as a family already, if you've got a nice yard you're going to be interested in spending more time outside and enjoying it. The other great thing about getting outside in your own yard is you're far more likely to actually see and meet your neighbors. Being new residents of our neighborhood, this has definitely helped us. My wife and daughter have made it a habit now to spend time walking the neighborhood with families. The other thing I've noticed is that being in a neighborhood where other homeowners care about their yards is an inspiration to others to invest and care for their own. Don't live in a neighborhood like that? Perhaps you can be the influence your neighbors have needed.
If we weren't just renting our current home, I'd more than likely be checking into having TruGreen come out and start some applications and maintenance on our yard here in Tennessee. I was especially curious last year during the early fall because I had some significant silvery growth on large areas of my yard. I believe it was some kind of fungus due to all the rain we'd had on a regular basis. I'm sure TruGreen could have taken care of that issue for me well.
As I was saying before though, we're really enjoying our new house and yard. We've even gone outside in the backyard together as family and with friends and played ultimate frisbee. In addition to recreational activities, my daughter and I have also started our first raised bed garden so that's bringing us outside more as well. With the addition of our small, back deck, I've found myself sitting out there every now and then and just enjoying the great weather, the sounds of the neighborhood and some spectacular sunsets. Now I just need to work on replacing our BBQ grill we decided not to move with us to the south (regret that now but at the time it was a good reason and motivation to buy myself a new one).
Here's an interesting infographic from TruGreen with a variety of stats and information about what it means to really live outside and spend more time together outside as a family.
I can say that one of the other things we enjoy doing as a family is camping and hiking. We just got back from a short camping weekend with friends in southern Indiana. It was another reminder to me of just how much I enjoy being outside. It was very tough for me to leave though and know that I was unplugging for the weekend away. I had lots (still do) of work to do that I wasn't sure how I was going to try to stay on top of everything. What I realized afterwards though was that once I returned from the break and from being outdoors and really resting, I was re-energized and rejuvenated and more productive upon returning than I had been prior to leaving for the weekend.
TruGreen has some pretty funny videos now promoting more of their #LiveLifeOutside campaign with a family called the Yardley's who literally live outdoors like we live indoors. Check-out one of the videos below:
They're also running a Facebook promotional event as well.
For more information about TruGreen and their #LiveLifeOutside campaign, you can visit their social channels by clicking on the icons below:
TruGreen on 
 
 
 or their website at www.trugreen.com
