For as long as I can remember I've always needed a creative outlet in my life. 

When I was a little girl I used to make "outfits" out of construction paper and whatever other craft supplies I could find around the house.  In middle school I was obsessed with beads, and spent most afternoons in my room designing jewelry (and wearing it all proudly- oh the joys of handmade pink choker necklaces!).  In high school I developed a love for thrifting and antiques, and while my friends were saving up for ugg boots and abercrombie jeans, I was spending my hard-earned babysitting money on glass doorknobs from the 1920's and vintage LIFE magazines that I would rip up and frame in my room.

My senior year of college, my husband and I got married at the ripe old ages of 20 and 21.  I graduated with a plan to become a teacher, but realized pretty quickly that I wasn't cut out for settling down and teaching just yet.  Taylor (my hubby!) and I wanted an adventure!  We were young and in love and wanted to jet off somewhere new and start our life together.  We found one-way plane tickets to Southern California, bought 'em, sold all of our stuff, packed two bags each, and moved west the weekend after my college graduation.

We landed in Laguna Beach with no place to live, an entry level job for my husband, and a couple thousand dollars in our bank account. We managed to find an apartment that we could afford and signed a lease within 72 hours of landing out west.  I didn't know what I wanted to do for a job, but knew I needed something with a creative bent.  I ended up landing a dream job (for me anyways), working for the cutest little design studio and retail shoppe in Laguna Beach.  I learned so much working there, both in interior design and retail merchandising. My boss allowed me to create and experiment with different window displays and store layouts, and I began to realize that I really had a talent in design.  What started out as a part-time sales associate job, turned into a full-time position as a visual merchandiser for the boutique.  I loved every second!

Fast-forward 2.5 years and we found out we were pregnant!  We both loved California, but wanted to be closer to home and somewhere more affordable to raise a family.  Our little farmhouse on 10 acres came on the market, and I immediately recognized it as the 'sunflower house' where I used to pick flowers as a little girl.  The widow who lived here was the sweetest lady and lived just one mile from where I grew up.  Every summer she planted a huge field of sunflowers, and was kind enough to let me pick them whenever I asked.  I'd never been inside the house, but at this point our little family had a reputation for choosing the unconventional path, so we bought the place- sight unseen- while we were still living in Cali. 

We drove cross-country and moved back home, only to find that our little sunflower house needed some work— lots of it, actually.  For the past 4 years I've been able to put my design experience into practice by fixing up and renovating our 890 sq foot farmhouse.  From teaching ourselves to lay tile, to watching countless DIY youtube videos, to goodwill shopping for furniture that I can paint and re-purpose, it's been one project after the next. We've transformed our runned down little house into a place I'm proud to call home.

Now we have two boys— Hank and Tommy—and are raising our kids in this little fixer upper. We’ve spent the last couple years learning how to be parents while also learning about growing a garden, raising goats & chickens, and continuing to turn our house into our tiny dream home.