Ultimate Blog Party {2011}

Hey everybody!  Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Party 2011, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.  I had so much fun last year (and met so many wonderful mom bloggers) that I couldn’t resist joining again.  If you’re new here, welcome!  I’m so glad you stopped by!  If you’re a regular, well, maybe you’ll find something out about me that you didn’t know before. ;)

This is gonna sound cocky – and I swear it’s not! – but I really can’t come up with a better way to introduce myself than the post I wrote last year!  haha!  It pretty much sums my life up way better than what my brain is currently capable of at this late hour.  So if you’re new here and you want to learn about my past in detail, hop right over there first. :)  If you don’t have time for all of that, I’ll try to give you the fast version. ;) 

This is us on Christmas Eve. :)

My name is Jessica, my husband’s name is Chris, and we’ve been married for 5 years in August.  We’re in our mid-to-late twenties (when the heck did that happen, by the way?!) and we live in CT with our little boy, Luke, who will be 2 this July.  We both have degrees in music, and I was an elementary music teacher before I quit my job to become a SAHM.  I currently teach private lessons to my friend’s two little girls, and I’m so thankful for that “professional” outlet it gives me. 

Last year when I wrote my party post, we were living in PA near my husband’s family.  His job situation started to fall apart, he got a job here in CT near my family, we moved over the summer, our house sold in 3 months (thank God), and we’ve been living with my parents for the last 7+ months while we search for a house of our own.  We had THE worst time trying to buy a house but we finally (praise God!) signed a contract on a home and will be moving out of my parents’ house in May.  Whew!

Here’s a picture of our soon-to-be house:

{For more info on our house, click here.} 

It has been an incredibly emotionally-trying seven months of life, with tons of highs and lows.  But God has proven himself faithful to us and we praise Him for the fact that we will soon not be smooshed like sardines in my old bedroom. ;)  One of the biggest blessings in our life over the past months has been our new church and young couples’ small group.  We have made such wonderful friends here.  It is such a blessing to be a part of a church that you love and we do not take that for granted!

So, that’s my life in a total nut-shell! I cannot wait to be in my own home again and have my life back together.  Adoption is a big deal to us and when we finally get into our own home and settled, we will be starting the big, scary adoption process to bring our next child home!  (I’ve never mentioned that before here, so there you go, regular readers!  You learned something new about me today! lol)

So what’s this blog all about?

A lot of people keep a blog as a personal journal – mine doesn’t really fit that category.  For me, blogging is a place to share my hobbies, connect with other like-minded women, and learn more about the things I’m passionate about.  My big hobbies are thrifting, home design, and clean/whole eating, so most of the blogs I read reflect those interests.  (I have also started following a lot of adoption blogs recently, to gain insight on other families’ journeys.) I also love to read mom-diary blogs so that I can get a glimpse of how other moms do it and not feel so alone in the craziness! Know what I mean??! ;)

So if you stick around, you’re going to see that I love to post pictures of my thrifting finds, like my $20 Pier 1 chair or my $1.46 (yes, really!) Tommy Hilfiger wedges:

   

I have a total passion for clean and whole eating, and for finding recipes to replace our family’s favorite foods, like Sloppy Joes:

And granola bars:

I love love LOVE decorating my house and coming up with inexpensive ways to make my home more beautiful.  This aspect of my life has been stalled quite a bit since we’re living with my family, but I can’t wait to get back into the groove again when we move out in May!  I absolutely love being able to take something old or outdated and give it a breath of fresh air!

For example….I took a $1 yard-sale footstool and covered it with more yard-sale fabric to give it a Frenchy upgrade:

 

I also took an outdated Goodwill urn and turned it into my Ballard knock-off boxwood tree:

     

So that pretty much sums up me and my blog!  If you stopped by, would you please let me know?  I LOVE meeting other mom bloggers and if you introduced yourself it would make my day! 

Have a great day and thanks for visiting! :)