So it Begins...

Being a mom is hard, Yo.

You moms know what I’m talking about. There are endless articles, meme’s, gifs and mommy bloggers out there who all preach the same story. Being a Mom is HARRRD! And they are right.

If you are a mom then you are probably shaking your head and waving your arms in the air like some woman in a church congregation listening to a preacher talk about Jesus.

“AMEN! Honey! AMEN!”

If you aren’t a mom, well then, just wait. And If you never want to be a mom and have no plans on renting your womb out to a little alien creature in this life or the next, just know that there are plenty of moments during the day when I wonder what sort of crazy pills I was on to want kids. Just the other day in face, after begging and pleading with my toddler to GO POOP IN THE POTTY ALREADY! And after her yelling back at me “NO! The poop is still bouncing around in my tummy momma!!!” she got up, went and hid on the stairs and pooped her pants. The day before that, she literally went and stood next to her potty IN THE BATHROOM and pooped her underwear AGAIN. So I feel ya. Sometimes no kids, sounds like just what the doctor ordered.

But I digress, either way, mom, wannabemom, or dontwannabemom, all are valid life options.

While being a mom has a lot to do with the starting of this blog, it is not another mom blog. And while I’m sure our children will feature here and there, this is not another mom blog, and while we might get on here just to rant and rage about the unfairness of being a mom/cow (cuz breastfeeding)/maid/cook/personal shopper/anything else that has to do with being a mom, this IS NOT ANOTHER MOM BLOG. Or maybe it is…I don’t know, we shall see. You can be the judge, deal?

Anywho, Tabitha and I (Kayla) also known as Stella and Rose, became friends about 7 months ago, but it kinda seems like we have known each other for much longer. I know what you are thinking, and you are right, it WAS a friend at first sight situation. Look at you, ya mind reader. I shall call you Zelda. We quickly realized that we decorated the same, thought the same, and liked a lot of the same things. If one of us was a man, and we met at some singles club somewhere, we probably would have been engaged after like, two dates and fled to Las Vegas to have some sort of shot gun wedding. Tacky white dress, powder blue suit smelling of alcohol and sweat from being worn a thousand times, and a horrible Elvis impersonator included.

But we'll settle with just being friends. It’s better this way.

I love a good project, especially painting furniture. Its right up there with Chocolate Chip Cookies (its capitalized because it's THAT important) HGTV, and the Bath and Body Works "Leaves" Holiday Candle.

Before I go further though, I'm going to rewind a tad, back to 2012. My husband and I just had our one year anniversary, and our apartment complex (in the greater Seattle area) sent us a letter notifying us that when our lease was up for renewal we could expect a $120 increase on our rent. Now $120, it doesn’t seem like much. But, you guys, it was a tiny 600sqft one bedroom, apartment that literally had one window. Mold grew in the toilet, all the time. It flooded on us because our water heater burst while we were on vacation. We lived next door to a gal who wore booty shorts and chaps to ride her crotch rocket that would only start if she passed the breathalyzer test on said motorcycle. You might think I'm joking, but I'm not. This story needs no embellishing. She threw parties ALL.THE.TIME. which without fail, ended with her and her boyfriend having drunk screaming matches in the parking lot at crazy hours of the night. There was a guy across the way who at precisely 5:45 every morning revved the engine of his (I’m assuming) beater of a vehicle for literally 15 minutes so that it would stay running (I’m assuming again because no one is that big of a brat, right?). Our new neighbors who moved in upstairs, worked night shift and would complain about us being too loud at 7:30 in the morning while doing normal things to get ready to work normal hours because he was trying to sleep. And I’m not even going to begin with the jerk who drove the monster pickup truck who would park over the line dividing two parking spots so that no one would scratch his precious wittle pick up twuck. HOLD ME BACK FRIENDS! HOLD ME BACK! Momma's getting all worked up!

All this was included for the small monthly payment of $1060. $120 EXTRA DOLLARS? Ha! I don’t think so Karen. So we hired a realtor and quickly found a home. Which then took 6 months to close on because it was a short sale. Unfortunately, because of our small budget, we ended up buying a fixer upper. Which ended up being a great financial investment, but resulted in 4 years of reno projects EVERY SATURDAY. We spent our money and lives doing project after project after project. And then (remember those crazy pills?) we threw a child in the mix. She is adorable and I love her but seriously you guys. Our lives were insane.

Last fall my husband accepted a job here in sunny Orlando Florida. We sold our house, bought a new build, with no projects. Cuz this sister was done burned out! We downsized our .33 acre lot for a tiny lot with a tiny yard. We pay HOA’s that include landscaping because, and I repeat, this sister was done burned out!

Like if I never spend another moment of my life thinking about paint colors, projects, or tile choices, if I never pull another weed, or plant another flower, or dig another hole it will be all too soon. Also, we took the crazy pills again kids, we knocked ourselves up. So my time was going to become even less MY time.

BUT let me doth proclaim from the mountain tops! It was GLORIOUS. We rode bikes, we went swimming, we bought Disney passes, we went to the beach, we started a savings account, we went and explored. My heart was full and my to do list was empty (except for all the mom things). But then a funny thing happened. I began to miss having a project. Doing the mundane mom things, mixed with toddlers who have opinions and babies who think they don’t need to sleep became boring and frustrating, my soul cup wasn’t being filled, in fact all the to do’s were quickly sucking up any bit of soul droplets I had left.

Our church teaches us that creation is an innate part of our DNA. We are Creators, modeled after our Heavenly Father. I believe this, and it’s okay if you don’t. Live and let live Zelda, all are welcomed at my table. But, it’s no wonder that my soul began missing all the creative things I had previously been feeding it. I looked at this little part of me and I decided that there were two paths before me, either I find a project or pop out a few more kids. Popping out a few more kids, made my spine tingle and my head dizzy and so a project it was! I started with a cute little cabinet, I painted some art and then I got a wild idea. What if I refinished furniture and sold it? That way I could create and create and create without becoming a hoarder! Win win!

So I dragged Tabitha down with me and a month and a half later, here we are. We find beautiful well loved pieces that people don’t want anymore because, they is UGLY... And we make them beautiful again. We love it. Or, atleast I do, maybe Tabitha secretly curses my name for dragging her into this mess. ..

*shrugs shoulders

So here we are, Stella and Rose (named after our sweet girls), creating beautiful pieces for others.

We hope you will stick around and follow us. I hope this blog can be a creative place for you as well. Check out our online store, read the stories of our pieces, and if one of them whispers sweet nothings in your ear and you just have to take her home, well that’s fine with us.

Happy creating, friends.