A Little About Cindy

Cindy here. I was born and raised in the same area that our family lives now. Garrett and I have been married for six years and have four precious, young children. By day, I change diapers, chase our three big kids around begging them to pick up their toys, cook (dairy and egg free), and nurse our precious 5 month old. By day, between the hours the children are at preschool and late into the evening (and sometimes in the closet with my bedroom door locked mid day), I am a real estate agent. I love helping my clients understand their needs and goals and walking along side them until they reach them. I also love being able to help our oldest son learn to read, watch as our second born beams with excitement as he draws an upside down (and backwards) L, and twirl in countless circles with our two year-old daughter. I feel extremely busy but don’t have the desire to change a thing.

Parenting is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Well, maybe that and marriage amidst four children in less than five years ;) I am so thankful for grace and forgiveness in the middle of chaos. Apologies are a theme in our house right now. But also so are belly laughs, late nights, spilled drinks, water colors and markers, learning to read, imaginary bad guys and lots of hugs and kisses.

I come from a family of creators. My dad is a master craftsman with wood; my sisters paint, bake, photograph and make pottery. My brother shares my dad’s talent of woodworking and he has recently gotten into iron work. I have always been so impressed with their natural talent and how they have refined them over the years. I am definitely the odd one out. I like to paint and have lots of creative ideas, but have struggled to reproduce them in any tangible way. With the help of Garrett and encouragement from family, I am coming to terms with the idea that design is a form of creativity.

“Remember that He who created you to be creative gave you the things with which to make beauty and gave you the sensitivity to appreciate and respond to His creation. Creativity is His gift to you and the 'raw materials' to be put together in various ways are His gift to you as well.” - Edith Schaeffer

I remember the first time I felt accomplished with a design. My parents moved home after four years in Eastern Africa. I was able to use a mix of their items and thrifted items to create an entirely new space to welcome them back to their home. I decided then that I really liked to live out the old adage, “Waste not want not” when it came to decorating and design. As our family grew and moved and went through years of being in school and “hustling” financially, I was able to flex my design muscles and make do with what we could. My canvas became the rooms in which we lived.

Thus began years of rearranging furniture, small additions from thrift stores or FB resell groups, Annie Sloan tutorials, and many renderings of a kitchen redo. This creative outlet brought joy and a new purpose when it came to home-making and hospitality.

“If we have been created in the image of an Artist, then we should look for expressions of artistry, and be sensitive to beauty, responsive to what has been created for us” - Edith Schaeffer

Garrett has been the actual muscles to my ideas and I am so thankful that we can work together to create a home that works for us! He is supportive of finding joy in the process and a partner in expressing creativity through our home.

Thanks for following as we gear up for these projects at our home (and even at some of our reader’s!). Your excitement and support of this little endeavor of our’s to open our doors to you has filled us with so much (surprise and) thanksgiving. This month will hold a lot of personal transitions and projects for clients. We look forward to sharing some little DIY soon!

From our heart and home,

Cindy