It's a....

and we couldn't be more thrilled!

I'm already working on her baby quilt - made from those gorg Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannels!  More on that later.  Hope you have a great weekend!

xoxo

jessica

Our Halloween

This post is really for my hubby - who's away at training - but of course, I assume everyone will enjoy looking at our beautiful daughter ;)

I'd love to tell you that I made at least part of her costume...but it's just not true.

I don't think she minded.

It's good to be three.  and we are very three.

We ate our traditional chili.  

Every Halloween for as long as I can remember :)

Dora made an appearance on the pumpkin.

We hope yours was full of treats!

 

xoxo

jessica and charlotte

Defining Your Decorating Style

I love to decorate.  

I love fabrics and accessories and colors.  But I have always felt that my home lacks continuity.  It's missing a cohesiveness that is inherent to really great decorating.  I'll see something that I like and buy it(or make it), but once I step back and really look at it I realize 

"um...that doesn't really go in my house".  

I'm not really talking about things that match - I'm not a matchy Pottery Barn style decorator (although I do love Pottery Barn...).  I'm talking about the overall feel of my house.  It has just seemed that so far in my life, everything doesn't go together.  I may get one room just the way I want it, but it doesn't really echo the feelings of the other rooms.  

So right now, I have no house to decorate(or clean)...which means I have lots of time to think about decorating; to really evaluate the situation while I'm not in it (see? I'm trying to make the best of this situation ;).  I was talking to my sister about this whole problem, saying "I can't even find pictures of exactly what I want."  There's no one store or style or picture that I could find to capture what I have in my head.  So she had a great suggestion - 

"How about creating a phrase to describe your style?

  Everything you buy/make must fit into that phrase."  For me, it was the perfect solution.  Not as limiting as a photograph, but a way to still keep me focused(a challenge to be sure..).  

So here's what I came up with:

Textured.  Vibrant.  Bohemian.

That's the phrase for my home.  

It has helped me soooooo much!  I'll pick up a fabric that I really like, but realize it's very subdued or too modern looking.  I still like those things, but that doesn't mean I should put them in my home.  Does that make sense?  Here's an example:  I have had to purchase several rugs because the base housing has no carpet.  The store shelves are filled with all styles of really pretty rugs - and I bought one, but when I brought it home I realized it did not fit my style.  It looks a little too traditional.  So I went back out - this time repeating my phrase to myself - and purchased a rug that I really love and that will look really nice with the rest of my things.

Now every time I am shopping, I ask myself 

"Does it have texture?  Is it vibrant?  Does it have a bohemian feel?"

(anyone else talk to themselves while they are shopping...??) 

Not every item has to meet all three qualifications, but I know those qualifications harmonize with one another - therefore the items will as well.

So how about you?  Do you feel like your house is cohesive?  

Does anyone else struggle with this?

  If you do, I'd love to know what works for you.

xoxo

jessica

Announcement #2:

Thanks SO much for all of your encouraging and sweet comments yesterday! 
I really appreciate them. 
So, you may or may not have noticed that my posts have not been as frequent lately...but I'm not going to apologize too much because I have a sweet little peanut of a reason...we're pregnant again!!!!

pic from here

So, between morning all day sickness and exhaustion and making huge life-changing-decisions-about-moving-to-foreign-countries..... I have had no energy to make anything (including dinner-ha) 

I'm about 10 1/2 weeks now, and it seems the sickness is easing off - the past couple of days have been pretty good so I should be up and making more things soon :)  Still, I may not get a post  up everyday, but I know ya'll are understanding people so I'm not going to worry too much about it.  I probably will be posting more about baby stuff and maternity things than I have been...but I'll try to throw in some other stuff too :) 

So I think that's it for big news in my life -
pregnant and moving to Japan...sounds like a good name for a blog, haha.
Hope everyone is doing well and have a great Wednesday!
xoxo
jessica  

Anchors Aweigh...

So here's the first announcement of the week:

My husband has been accepted as an Officer into the United States Navy Medical Services Corps!

It's been a very long process (taking almost 7 months, and a lot of patience...), but I am so proud of him and this great service we are going to do together.  Plus he'll look great in that uniform ;)

So here's a hint about where we will be stationed:

pic from here

can you guess??

pic from here

We're moving to Japan!!

We will be stationed for 3 years at the naval base in Yokosuka, Japan - just south of Tokyo.

This has not been a decision we've made lightly.

Which is one of the reasons I've been distracted

- a lot of emotions have been running through my little head and heart. 

Lots of people say they would love the adventure of living overseas - but it's a whole different thing to actually pack up your things and fly 18 hrs to live in another country for 3 years. 

We are very close to our family and will be very sad that we won't be able to see them as much as we have been.  But we know that in the span of a lifetime, 3 years is just a blink of an eye. 

So Ryan starts medical officer training in the middle of October.  That will last 5 weeks and Charlotte and I will be staying with family during that time.  Then we will head on over to Japan! 

We decided to join the Navy for several reasons, but here are a few:

*they offer excellent loan repayment for medical professions (9 years of college hasn't been cheap)

*the work is diverse - Ryan will work with families on the base as well as train sailors and marines in hearing conservation.

*lots of benefits - free medical services, shopping at the exchange...etc.

So we feel that this is definitely the best financial move for our family,

as well as a great cultural experience, and a chance to serve our country!

I will definitely be continuing this blog - so you can follow right along with all of our adventures. 

I guess I'm going to have to learn amigurumi :) 

and I've already scouted out the fabric stores in Tokyo - there are lots! 

So I'll have access to fun Japanese fabrics, paper, and washi tape ;)

If you have any info for me about JapanI'd love to hear it

(although please only share encouraging stories - I know there will be difficult times, but I'd like to focus on the positive).

hope you're having a great day!

xoxo

jessica