Contact me: Laura@oliveandlove.com
As the mom of three children ages 3, 6, and 8, my days are filled with making food, and then cleaning it up. In between I schedule time to do laundry, water my plants, grocery shop, and volunteer at my kids' school. I love creative projects that satisfy my need for visual productivity, because you can only spend so many hours cleaning the kitchen counter and making it messy again. I constantly find myself with a mile long to do list and a sudden need to rearrange furniture. My hobbies (when and IF I ever find time) include furniture redesign, thrift and garage sale hunting, photography, fine art and the constant habit of re organizing closets. I'm always striving to find a euphoric system of organization that can run with minimal upkeep. Or in other words, OCD. I love coming up with creative ideas for my own home as well as helping others re invent theirs. I'm excited to put my ideas down on pen and paper, or uh, key and screen. I look forward to blogging being added to my list of daily activities in which to feel guilty about skipping.My blog and my projects are not the sole product of my work alone. My husband's clever handyman skills and the cooperation of my children are what make it possible.
We got married five years later at the ripe old ages of 23 and 22 and 11 months (yes.....I was a cradle robber).
Fast forward to 2010 and meet The Durrers, family of five.
Yep. Three kids. One hospital birth, two home births. We practice attachment parenting, extended breastfeeding and a bit of co-sleeping (until it's not co-sleeping but co-laying in bed trying to sleep with a baby snoring and kicking you in the back).
I love birth. But I think I could live with out being pregnant as I'm not a big fan of being sick for five months and then in pain for four. But maybe that's why I love birth so much....because after, you're not pregnant. Other people being pregnant? ....Love it.
Boy, girl, boy. All two and half years apart, which is pretty good planning even though number three was a surprise.
Our time? Like besides working on the yard or my crazy time consuming home improvement ideas? We love spending time outdoors, being active and going on adventures. It's a bit challenging with a little one, especially with three little ones but we do what works.
Dan and I have lived in six homes together. Top three favorites? Our guest house in Escondido, our first purchased home in Las Vegas, and our current pad here in Reno. Our track record is tract homes. Although you'll see me drool at the old beach bungalows or country cottages in the magazines with their quaint little niches and framed out windows, it is what it is. Don't get me wrong, I love our new home. It was awesome to pick out our lot with a gorgeous mountain view and go to a design center to choose cabinets, counters, and flooring. Kind of a catch twenty-two, it was nice to be able to move in and have things how we like, but it would have been fun to be a bit more specific about certain choices that you can make when you remodel an older home. It all boils down to my 'want it now' attitude, a minor character flaw in my personality ;-) When we moved to this home, it was with the notion that this will be our home to raise our children. It is way too big for us now, but as a family of five, we needed some room to grow. My design focus is to take the 'same as your neighbor' vibe out of my house and put some original personality into our home. I hope you enjoy reading my rants about home projects, thrift store treasures, art projects and the pure chaos of having three kids!
