Our contractor finished his portion of this bathroom renovation nearly a year ago—with it being one of the first major projects in our home renovation. Our portion—which included texturing the walls, painting, and adding decorative details—didn’t happen until a few weeks ago. Let’s just say that having another baby is motivating us to tackle our list of not-quite-but-almost-done projects!
Author Archives: Lauren Miller
Upstairs Bathroom Renovation
I’m not even sure how many months it has been since I’ve published a post! For a while, it felt so natural writing and I couldn’t keep up with all that I wanted to say; however, the last few months have been quite different.
Carson and I found out that we will be having a baby girl in August! We longed and prayed for her for almost two years, and we are praising God for her life.
I’m honestly not sure how consistent I will be with my blog over the next month as we prepare for our daughter’s arrival; however, I have a lot of exciting updates that I have been wanting to share with you all! Our house is far from done, but several of our major renovation projects are nearly complete—including our upstairs bedroom to bathroom conversion.
Upcycling, Small Business Ownership, and Teaching Children to Care for our Environment: An Interview with Faith Delozier of Faithfully Yours Atelier
I asked Faith if she would be willing to be a guest on my blog due to the nature of her business. Faith’s sews, crochets, and creates upcycled products from thrifted and donated goods. Her makes range from sustainable scrunchies to shirt-sleeve pants to crochet crowns to satchel bags. She also offers alterations and repairs in her home studio.Faith is a genius when it comes to making something both practical and beautiful out of something that would otherwise be thrown away. Her passions for educating and caring for our planet are apparent in her work, and I learned so much about upcycling and reducing waste from my conversation with her.
Choosing to Sit in the Unknowns, Enjoy the Mundane, and Cultivate Rest
A few weeks ago, Carson and I sat down to talk about our goals for the next few years. We have some big dreams of investing in a rental property of some kind to use as passive income to save for Lincoln’s future—whether trade school or college or something else that the Lord calls him to. I remember sitting in our swivel rockers one evening after Lincoln went to bed, and I told Carson that I needed a new, very specific goal to save for—given I already have about eight that I’m trying to juggle. We are nearing the end of our major renovations on this house—there is still a lot to be done, but I often have a desire to move on to the next big thing.
A Beginner’s Guide to Montessori at Home with Kerith O’Sail
Instagram has its downsides, but it is also a place where I have had the opportunity to make connections and form friendships with people I would otherwise probably never meet. Kerith O’Sail and I found each other through my shop, Elsie James Clothing. I’m not really sure if I found her or she found me, but regardless-I am so grateful for the connection! Kerith’s account focuses on how to implement Montessori principles at home from pregnancy through childhood. She is passionate about respectful parenting, sustainable living, and childhood development. She is an incredibly innovative and creative person who has a lot of ideas for how to get started with Montessori with natural resources or items you may already have it home. If you are interested in learning more about Montessori but are intimidated or unsure where to start, this post is for you!
A Letter for Lincoln: Year 2
When I was a kid, my great-grandpa would write poems for us on our birthday. He was incredibly witty and thoughtful and put a lot of time into writing them. I’m not much of a poet, but I do share his love for putting pen to paper–or fingers to keyboard in this case–to turn thoughts into the written word. My baby boy is two today! So although this is slightly different from my other blog posts I have decided to share my Letter for Lincoln: Year 2, on this space
What It Looks Like Living in a Home During Major Renovations
This month, we have been in major-renovation-mode with converting our upstairs bedroom into a second bathroom. This project has affected the majority of our home because we had to have the dining room ceiling dropped in order to make room for the bathroom pipes. We are also enclosing our loft for safety reasons and to qualify as a third bedroom since we are losing a bedroom with the addition of the bathroom. We’ve gotten used to moving our furniture about every other week, and Carson and I have been working in different places in the house.
Routines, Rhythms, & Making Space
I am someone who craves routine and stability but struggles with staying committed to a timeline. I am easily distracted and am currently balancing a lot of different plates, and so it is easy for me to jump from one task to the next without fully completing either of them. This often leaves me feeling frustrated and unaccomplished at the end of the day. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but sometimes I watch routine videos on Youtube to help me get ideas, but they usually leave me feeling even more discouraged about my own lack of structure.
How to Build Creative Winter Outfits as a Busy Mom
I’m a busy mom with a toddler and limited time to spend on getting ready in the morning, so I tend to choose outfits that are comfortable and easy to put together. I have found that planning my outfits the night or even a few days in advance and doing my hair the night before helps me get ready in less than 15 minutes the following morning. Although many of the items below were bought secondhand, I hope that these outfits get you thinking about creative ways you can use clothing you already have as well as ideas for items that might fill some gaps within your wardrobe.
How to Plan Outfits for Your Family Photos this Fall
It’s that time of year when photographers are booked–shooting three, four, sometimes five shoots in one day. If you live in a state with seasons, the green leaves are most likely fading into shades of crimson, persimmon, and gold and the air has a bit of bite to it. You may have scheduled family pictures, but now it is the week of and you have absolutely no idea what to wear. You try on outfit after outfit and all of a sudden decide that you don’t like any of your clothes, your hair needs cut, and the thought of putting together a cohesive group of outfits feels more daunting than Everest. Yeah, I’ve been there, too.
The Miller Acres 