New Curtains For the Living Room!

Yay for progress (no matter how slow)!

We’ve been in the process of giving our living room a little makeover refresh for 6 months now (where has this year gone), but everything sort of halted when we turned our full attention to working on the farm and Holiday House. We painted the walls white for a completely different look and feel, we got a bigger couch that takes up the entire window wall and has enough room for the whole family, bought a new TV console table, and moved an old rug from another room in there.

The photo above was taken back in January and it looks the exact same today. The plan was always to get blue velvet curtains to add a little drama and to cozy things up a bit, but like I said, we haven’t really done anything design-wise in here in a while. But now, that’s about to change!

I ordered a few pairs of velvet curtains in the perfect shade of navy blue and I am obsessed with them. They came in the other day and I was so happy when they arrived until…PJ pointed out I got a size too big. Womp womp. I ordered the 9’ when I should have gotten the 8’ panels. Face palm to the face and a million “Uggghhsss” are in order. So I am returning them today and ordering the size that will actually fit the room and get these things up once and for all.

I can’t wait to see what they look like in here. The room definitely feels a little…stark, and it has for months, so we think the curtains will be just what it needs to feel like the cozy family room we’re going for. It gets great light pretty much all day, which we love, but we’re excited to have curtains on the French door wall, too, because they’re blackout curtains, so we’ll (finally) be able to completely block out the evening sun if we want.

Hoping to have them up by next week!

Some Pretty Flowers Around the House

Remember how I said I was feeling sick and hoped it would pass soon? Well, it hasn’t. In fact, I’m progressively feeling worse. I’m currently blowing my nose 10 times a minute with a horrible headache most likely due to all the drainage (that word) that is also making my throat feel like it’s on fire.

Getting sick sucks, especially with kids and especially when you have a million things to do before Friday. It’s always the worst when I first wake up in the morning and late at night right before bed. During the day I feel a lot better. Not good, but definitely better. Why is that?

ANYWAYS. All that to say, how about some pretty flowers to brighten things up a bit?

One of my favorite things ever is when PJ makes a small change in our house, like rearranging furniture, hanging new art, or even bringing in fresh flowers from the backyard. The last one was the case the other day when I looked up and suddenly noticed hydrangea arrangements placed in various rooms around our house. PJ had whipped up several seriously gorgeous arrangements in like 5 minutes and I had no choice but to literally stop and smell the flowers. It’s little things like this that I appreciate about him so much.

And aren’t they pretty? Flowers brighten up a room and instantly make a space feel happier. The fun part was discovering all of the places he put the flowers (it almost felt like a scavenger hunt).

PJ McKay, what would we do without you to make our life more beautiful? Please never change (though I don’t think I have to worry about that ;).

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Playing Catch Up

Happy Monday, friends!. Didn’t mean to go this long without posting. 

Last week was one of those weeks where we didn’t feel like doing anything but had a million things to do. Our middle kiddo was sick last weekend, and then a few days ago little sis had a fever and then I did, too. What’s strange about all of us getting sick is that we only had fevers for a few hours; none of it lasted for over a day, which thank goodness, of course. But still, I think we’ve both learned over the last few years that it’s absolutely awful to see your child in any kind of pain or discomfort, and there’s a feeling of helplessness when they’re sick sometimes because you can only do so much to make them feel better. Now that we’re slowly easing our way back into society, I have a feeling we’re going to all be sick more often (we got spoiled last year with not going anywhere or seeing anything because none of us were sick for pretty much the entire year).

But, it’s a new week! And the kids are feeling better now. Still, as I write this, my head is in the clouds from congestion and my throat is killing me. Should be gone in a few days, though (I hope).

PJ has been working on the pavilion every day to get it ready for our cousin’s baby shower next month (and for a fun collaboration with a company that’s been a dream of ours to work with for years!! We can’t wait to show you!! Can you guess who?) and y’all, it looks so dang good. Every day we both get more and more excited to see it come together because now it feels real, like all the dreams and visions we’ve had over the last few years are finally coming to life and it’s so neat to see them fully realized. PJ can do anything with just his hands and a whole lotta determination, and I’ve said it before: it’s incredible to watch him work. I always feel so proud to call him mine.

Also! We officially signed little sis up for school, so come August, all three kids will be in some sort of schooling, giving them the tools they need to learn and be creative and play, and giving us some time and space to work more efficiently. We have loved having the last two years with them at home catching up on the years when they weren’t with us, but we’ve realized they’re missing out on things we just can’t give them right now, like space to run and play when we’re not at the farm and an actual education. PJ has done wonders catching them up to where they should be, and I did what I could for our oldest with virtual kindergarten last year, but they crave crafts and friends (oh my gosh friends!) and we’re excited for them to have a change of pace after the last few years. I think it’ll be good for all!

What else? One of our ewes, Diana, had a baby! Ocoee Farm grew by one lamb and she’s absolutely adorable. I’ve never seen a baby sheep in person before and I don’t really know what I expected? But she is the cutest thing ever. She hops around, tripping over her skinny, lanky little legs and has the sweetest baaaaaa. Diana is extremely protective of her and is already such a good mom. Way to go, Diana!!!

That’s about it for now!! To catch up on some things in video form, you can check out our newest vlog here.

Chicken Soup For the Soul & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends.

Our middle kiddo got sick last night and threw up all over the couch (what a way to start out this post 😂) so today was for making homemade chicken noodle soup and cleaning the slip covers on the cushions.

It seems like we’ve been busier than ever lately, with little time to catch our breaths. I keep thinking things will slow down with work, or that things will somehow get easier in the next few months or when the kids are in school, but who knows? Maybe this is just life right now for a while ❤️.

I’m keeping today’s happy Friday post short and sweet and wishing you a lovely weekend, friends! xo

Our Favorite Leather Bags (With A Good Cause)

We did a fun interview the other day with Parker Clay, who produce our favorite leather bags ever, for their Community Voices series. In it, we discuss our favorite parts about being parents, our definition of community, and our one hope for the future (deep stuff!).

If you’re not familiar, Parker Clay makes the most beautiful and functional bags, totes, accessories, backpacks, and more, and they do it while also helping women in Ethiopia. They “hire at-risk women, pay living wages and benefits, and provide skills training, career advancement, and financial literacy opportunities to all of our employees.” You can learn more about the amazing work they’ve done here.

We’ve been using their bags for over a year now and we always get so many compliments on them, and they were kind enough to gift us with some bags from their new collection! You can see PJ wearing one of his favorites: the Desta Belt Bag. Isn’t it so cute??

Other favorites of ours are the Atlas Backpack, the Rincon Backpack, the Omo Overnight Bag, and the Entoto Zip Tote (pictured above).

The best part of all of this is that Parker Clay made a donation to an organization of our choice, with The Trevor Project releasing the below statement:

“We are proud to share, to honor our Community Voices feature, Parker Clay has made a donation to The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people."

Thank you for not only making beautiful products, but for doing so much good in this world, Parker Clay! So beyond proud to be part of your community.

xoxo

So We Did a Thing Today

After talking about it and searching for years, we finally settled on a newer family car that we’re both happy with, and one that we plan on keeping for the next 20 years.

We loved our old 99’ Land Cruiser (and still do!), but after driving around with the kiddos back and forth to the farm, and even on our first road trip to Florida a few weeks back, we realized we wanted a newer, more up-to-date car that would get us through the next decade or so. We purchased the new one based on how good of an investment it would be for our family because we like to keep cars for as long as possible.

I’m happy to say we basically found our dream car and got an amazing deal on it (PJ always does, doesn’t he?). Now that the kids are starting school in the fall, it’ll be perfect for driving them back and forth, and now that we’re traveling again, it’ll also be great for road trips!

It’s one of the biggest investments we’ve ever made, but we feel confident about it and what it means for our family!

Our 30A Beach Vacation Vlog

Good morning, friends!

We’re getting a rainy start to the week, so why don’t we rewind a little to our first vacation in over a year with our friends and family to Florida a few weeks back? We just posted the full vlog of our time in 30A and you can watch it here, if you want.

Happy Monday, y’all!!!

Happy to Be Home & Happy Friday!

Happy Pride, and happy Friday, y’all!

So we’re home from the beach and as much as I miss Florida and the sand and the water and the care-free vibe we had there (or tried our best to have), it does actually feel good to be back home. We’re staying at our house in town for the foreseeable future while we work on fixing up Holiday House. Our friend Dixie is staying at the farm taking care of the animals, so we’ll be making day trips out there from here on out. Yay for progress and a concrete plan!!

This morning was spent at the doctor for little sis’ 3 year old check up and I’m happy to report everything looks great! She was so excited to go and get a pink sucker. They only had orange, but she was happy all the same.

We’re heading into the weekend with a full plate of what seems like a never ending to-do list. When you work for yourself and run your own business, I’ve found it’s almost harder to stop working than when I had a typical 9-5 job. I was working at 11p last night as we sat down to watch Supernova which has become a regular occurrence lately as business has steadily picked up since the end of last year. We enjoy what we do so much, though, which after years and years of working jobs I didn’t necessarily love, feels really good to say.

So it’s work, yes, and we’re feeling overwhelmed with the amount of it we are currently taking on, but that’s life right now and I think we’re both doing our best to take it day by day and savor each moment (the good and the bad).

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, friends!!! xo

Mail Call

I just got back from the PO Box ad we received the sweetest package ever!!

Seth sent us a box filled with so many thoughtful gifts, like a beautiful drawing he did himself (!) of model Yoni Baker, a sweet children’s book for the kids called “Sir Simon” by a local author in Canada, and a few mugs (because he remembered I mentioned I want to start collecting pottery-type coffee mugs!!) that were handmade by a friend of his who runs her own business (Tiny Cat Pottery). How sweet is that?? There were two mugs (mine had a T on it), but one of them didn’t make it to us alive, and arrived in about a hundred pieces :(.

And in the accompanying letter, Seth shared with us a bit about himself:

“Towards the end of 2019, I confided in my church that I was gay and told them I was dating a man. I don’t know that I was expecting a warm response, but their reaction certainly felt cold. They told me I could either break up with my boyfriend or I would no longer be welcome there. And so I made my decision and they kicked me out. That was a hard time to walk through.

There’s never been any doubt for me that being gay is beautiful, natural, and something to be proud of. The boy my church told me to stop dating is now my fiancé, and I can’t wait to one day soon call him my husband.”

Oh Seth. Thank you so much for sharing a part of your story with us, and of course for the wonderful care package. I know we say it often, but I believe it can’t be overstated enough: we are so grateful for this beautiful, strong community of caring individuals. You don’t know what it means to the both of us (and the kids!) to have you here with us. Thank you for sending our family so much love and support over the years.

And again, thank YOU, Seth!!! xoxoxo

A Quick, Sweet & Healthy (ish) Breakfast

I came across this recipe a few months ago and have been making it almost every morning since.

I was reading Cup of Jo one day and saw this post where food writer Jenny Rosenstrach (of Dinner a Love Story) shared three “throw-together” breakfast ideas, which all looked delicious, but one in particular caught my eye.

She calls it “blueberry pancake toast” and it’s so quick and easy to make, with bursts of flavor thanks to the blueberries and Dave’s Killer “Good Seed” Bread, which she specifically says to use. And I’m serious about the easy part, as the only ingredients are

• bread

• blueberries

• almond butter

• maple syrup

Just pile it all on top like the picture above and enjoy. Thanks for the yummy breakfast idea, Jenny!!