House of Dreams

  As I write this, I have a four-year-old in my lap. She is touching the keyboard and playing with my hands. She is pretending to slide down my lap playfully shouting "Help! I'm falling!" And then makes me drag her back up. 90% of the time I spend at the computer, I have someone on my lap, hanging on my arm, playing with my hair, or yelling at me from across the house. Who can relate?  Raising a child is not easy. Raising multiple is definitely not a walk in the park on a rainy day. Doing it while trying to run a business is in its own category of nearly impossible. Any parent who works from home knows that it is not a 9-5 job (Can I get an AMEN from parental victims of 2020?). You don't get to clock in and focus on your work while getting those helpful breaks that consist of quality adult conversations throughout the day. You don't get to clock out at 5 and head home where you can focus on family and home and shut off your work brain. I'm not saying all 9-5 j...

Some people never know what they "want" to be...Not me. I KNEW I wanted to be a teacher since I was a little kid. When I was in the 8th grade, I KNEW I wanted to be an 8th grade English teacher. Everything I did was in preparation for that goal. I KNEW I was going to work at Arnold Christian Academy, the school I had gone to from Pre K - 8th grade. I had no doubts whatsoever.  And then I met the love of my life when I was 17. We got married when I was 20. And when I turned 21 I found out I was pregnant with our first child. Now, I'm not blaming my pregnancy on my decisions. I was making these decisions long before I found out I was pregnant. The truth is, I was married and attending college 2 hours away from where I lived. I was working a lot of hours too. I also hated writing papers. Kind of an important detail when you are in school as an English major. I love books, I love to read, and I love to write. But I HATE writing papers. I was good at it, but I hated it with ev...

Most things just don't go according to plan. We plan and plan and plan and when it comes down to it, things go in a completely different direction. It's unavoidable and it happens to everyone. It is a huge cause of frustration and anxiety. The important thing is how we respond to it.  For example, I had been planning for several weeks that I would get a ton of work done yesterday as I had a babysitter and a list of chores to get done that is longer than this quarantine. But, my body decided I would be doing other things. I won't go into specific details about those other things, but I will say that I didn't dare go too far from the bathroom. Enough said? Yeah, I thought so.  As a result, my bathroom didn't get sanitized, my bedroom didn't get cleaned, my workspace didn't get organized, my social media didn't get planned, and my blog post (the one I am currently writing) didn't get written. It was extremely frustrating. I'll admit, it was wonderfu...

Who doesn't love Anne of Green Gables? As a child, "Anne girl" was one of my favorite characters. I loved everything about her, from her red hair and freckles to her non-stop imagination. It wasn't until I was an adult that I discovered that there were seven Anne books. I was so excited! I immediately read them all and fell in love with her all the more. I mean, what's not to love? She is intelligent, kind, loving, passionate, and loves God. L.M. Montgomery created one of the world's most lovable characters who became a lifelong kindred spirit.  Anne has had such a huge impact on my life that I decided to name my business after a place in the first book.  Willowmere Designs  is where I design, make, and sell jewelry and art to help support my family and bring a little more beauty into this world. I've also decided to name my blog after one of the books, House of Dreams. Why would I name my blog that? Well, I am living in my House of Dreams at this moment. ...