I started this blog in October of 2010.  Blogging was VERY different back then. Popular, even.  Many have predicted the death of blogs due to Instagram and podcasts, but there are still a TON out there that I love reading. And I still have this personal itch to document certain aspects of my own home’s journey. I started this blog as a creative outlet to escape my mundane corporate life and because honestly, even though I’m not very good at openly admitting it, I am pretty proud of some of things we pull off in our home.  As it often happens, our lives changed dramatically over the next seven+ eight+ years. We started out in an apartment in Brooklyn, gots some cats, got married, had a baby, bought a house in NJ, had another baby, etc., etc.,…(sold our house in NJ, bought a house in upstate NY, etc., etc.,…)

We went through what felt like a horrific incident in our home in the summer of 2016.  In hindsight (as hindsight often has that way) it was totally, 100% tolerable. Not something you wish on people, but hey, we made it through and it’s a distant memory. Not long after that – and as I was finally sleeping again and feeling ready to share that story, something else happened in our family. Something that put our housing issues into major perspective. It didn’t feel right to talk about our house story in a public way anymore (for you seven readers out there that are probably personal friends anyway). How can I initially complain and then share our journey back on home renovations while someone else is going through ‘that’. While we are all going through ‘that’. While we are all still learning how to live in the aftermath of ‘that’.

The truth is that there is never really a ‘good time’ for anything. As I am often reminded, life marches on regardless. I want to begin to share certain aspects of our life because it brings me personal joy. And if I can give myself these small happinesses, I’d like to think I am a better mother, wife, and friend. Hitting publish on something I feel proud of is not unlike making it to a yoga class on Saturday for me. It invigorates me internally and I feel I am better person outwardly as well. Heck, this was all a way to escape my paying job, but I actually think I become a better employee when I allow myself to do this stuff, too. And to me, that is the point of life, right? At least I feel it is the point of my life. Trying to be the best version of myself that I can imagine? Basically thriving on all levels? (<-sarcasm font)

So I’m going to start small. I’m going to re-edit all those all old draft posts to catch you up to speed on the NJ house. And CLEARLY we’ve gotta catch up on the upstate NY house! And why not be really aggressive and attempt to be a guest participant in the Fall 2018 One Room Challenge? (Considering my last consecutive stint of blogging was Spring 2016 ORC, this makes sense to me). Be warned, my photography and photo-editing skills still suck. But most of all, thank you for reading and welcome back.