I hate talking about myself. It’s probably why so few people really know me – my true self. I best express myself through writing… which is a huge reason why I decided to finally get this blog going.
I had my first child in September 2020, after four years of unexplained infertility and renovating an entire home. Entering motherhood brought a whole new level of mental weight that I knew I’d need to start working through if I were going to get myself feel “normal” again. So here we are… helping myself vent and digest and get creative, while hopefully also doing the same for anyone else who is along for the ride. Thanks for being here and caring!
But I guess you really should know a few things about me…
I’ve lived a few different places before settling here in Nashville. I grew up in Austin, Texas – it’s where the majority of my immediate family still lives! I went to college in Utah – which is where Nate and I met (in the grocery store… but that’s a story for another day). I got my degree in Advertising (focused on the strategy/research side of things), with a minor in Sociology – I like learning about people, I guess. After getting married, we lived in College Station, Texas for grad school, then Las Vegas, Nevada for Nate’s first job after getting his MHA. After that, we finally were presented with the opportunity to move to Nashville, and while neither of us had ever been, it immediately felt like the perfect place for us.
We were still working on paying off student loans and saving for a down payment, so living in another apartment wasn’t a big deal when we first got here. But it wasn’t long before we knew we wanted to be in the area long-term, and investing in a home was something we really wanted to do. It took us well over 1.5 years to find the right one (bless our sweet realtor!!). We bought our first home in November of 2018 and did a full gut renovation on it! It was incredibly thrilling and a huge learning experience for us. I designed it from top to bottom and did my best to share our journey on Instagram for my friends and family to witness. Once we finished, I posted my first ‘before + after’ photo and my account kind of went wild. My following nearly doubled overnight and from there it just kept growing for a while. A handful of notable accounts shared my pictures every now and then, and I slowly just kind of collected this following of people that loved my home and the little tidbits of knowledge I’d share about our renovation experience.
I never intended to have this many people interested in me. I definitely never intended for my Instagram account to be solely focused on my home design. I’ve slowly stopped posting consistently about design and I’ve obviously lost some (ok, quite a bit of) followers, but I’ve also kept around a really great group of cheerleaders that seem to be interested in much more than just the pretty corners of our home.
I love talking about vulnerable, slightly taboo topics. You can see it in my posts about our journey to start our family, you can see it in my posts about renovating an entire home, you can see it in my posts about just everyday life. I’m a deep thinker… (sometimes too deep, if you ask my husband), and I love ruminating on harebrained ideas and dissecting them until I feel like I’ve discovered some new insight.
I also love beautiful, unique, simple, but functional things. You’ll see that echoed throughout my home and the purchases we make. My new baby is testing my ability to stay a true minimalist… but for the most part, we try to keep things sparse. It helps keep me sane. People can say all they want about how I try too hard making things look aesthetically pleasing throughout my home (and life), but it truly brings me so much peace and joy. So… yes, we have a white couch and a new baby, and it may not make much sense to you, but I want to love looking at the things I spend the most time with, so it works for us.
Lastly, I’m very religious. I have a deep faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and our Heavenly Parents who created us. You can read more about my beliefs here, but if you don’t care to go deeper – know that my faith drives my life and guides me in every decision I make. Humility, charity, gratitude, and love are what I strive for in all that I do, and I hope that you can see that. I want to help uplift others in all that I share, because I truly believe we are all here on this earth at this time for a reason. We were meant to find each other, and I sincerely hope my tiny little corner of the world can help make your day brighter somehow. Love you, my friends.
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I’m open to partnering with brands that fit my lifestyle, aesthetic, and real needs. Feel free to reach out if you think we’d be a good fit!