Opening up walls in old houses and studying the detail and craftsmanship that went into building homes a century ago is truly fascinating. After tearing out several plaster walls in the Mulberry House, I had boxes and boxes of lath I wanted to repurpose into art. In my opinion, the wood was far too beautiful to be thrown in the…
While working at our latest flip house, I kept wondering how I could stage the space under the barn lights (see picture below). And then, one day while I was cleaning out my garage, it hit me. I could make little clipboards like I had seen a friend make on Instagram. I have tons of scrap wood in our garage…
Last fall, I acquired this “hand-me-down” desk from my sweet sister-in-law. I honestly didn’t care for the style of the desk too much–all I could see when I looked at it were the legs. Because it was free, I took no issue with tearing the desk apart, stealing the legs, and using them to make something I now love. It’s…
I was in sixth grade when I first witnessed the crippling effects of a tragic loss. A girl in my school, not much older than I was at the time, had chosen to end her life. Our town was devastated and heartbroken–our school was silent and shocked. My teacher at the time, who overflowed with wisdom and compassion, realized that…
Have you seen them? They’re absolutely everywhere. You know, the ones who can’t stop staring. I see them in restaurants while dining with my family. They’re preparing to eat with their families too, except–they’re not really there. I imagine them as human versions of moths and mosquitoes, hunched over their metaphorical “bug zappers”, uncontrollably drawn in by the glow of…
Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as you ever can. -John Wesley This post contains affiliate links. Do you feel the freedom in the words, “Do all the…
Motherhood is the most rewarding, life-giving, inspiring, fantastic job on the planet. Except…when it’s not. It’s a little bit more frowned upon in certain women’s circles to admit how exhausting, depleting, depressing, and frustrating it can be. Not many people like to discuss the post-birth one-size-fits-all mesh underwear that give you the appearance of a bonafide sumo wrestler, or how…
My best friend Nicole is my real-life super hero. My real-life super hero endured sexual abuse from a close family member for most of her childhood. Nicole and I became friends as teenagers, not terribly long after her abuser had chosen to take his own life. She was only 14. Over the years I have watched Nicole bravely and tirelessly…
You can be in countless places in my home state and randomly and without notice shout out “O-H!” at the top of your lungs and people will not look at you strangely or think you’ve gone insane. In fact, they will more-often-than-not respond to you with a smile, and then proceed to excitedly and voluntarily throw their arms up over…
Be who He made you to be. Really, that’s pretty self-explanatory and all that truly needs to be said. But I fully realize that I, personally, need to stop and meditate on that first sentence for more than just a nanosecond, because lately it has been showing up in my life on a regular, noticeable, persistent basis. In fact, it…
