A Name for Little Brother.

His name will be Daxton Spencer Hale.

Daxton - Warrior who conquers great obstacles.
Spencer - Dispenser of provisions.
Hale - Healthy and hearty, free of disease.

I thought I would go ahead and share his name with you, since we are upon the heels of meeting him (I hope?) and we have been calling him by his name for months now.

Stevie and I wanted to find something in the same genre of Everett's name, with a bit of an English background, since we both have English heritage. We went through lists of names, rifled through books, and of course did tons of Google searches. When we were in London this summer we even looked at all the street names, and kept speaking them aloud, seeking to hear just the right fit for our little boy. We came across the name Daxton in an online search, and continuously said it out loud to ourselves. It sounded so different, so uncommon, but was it too different? We tossed the name around for about a month before deciding on the perfect combination. And Everett has everything to do with us finally settling on it because he refused every other name we tried out - he literally yelled "No! No! No!" to every name option, and when we asked him what his baby brother's name should be, he responded every single time with "DAXTON!!!!" It was one of our road trips games on the way home from our month in New York - how many times we could get him to plead with us what his brother's name should be.

Daxton Spencer Hale. He sounds like quite a Brit, eh? Spencer is my maiden name and I've always known I wanted to weave it into a family name somehow. I'm excited that Daxton will be the keeper of that bit of heritage.

We also like to choose a bible verse to declare over our boys, to hang in their room and remind them of who we see them as - like a seal upon their lives. It took me a while to find the perfect verse for Daxton, but when I did, Stevie and I read it over and over again like, yes.

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best, and may be pure until the day of Christ; filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God."
- Philippians 1:9-11

We are so excited and so ready to meet our baby boy. I am a few days shy of 39 weeks, so lets get on with it, mister Daxton! I can't wait to meet you!

P.S. - When we decided Everett's name.
P.P.S. - Custom name print by Jenny Highsmith - isn't she crazy talented? She's my go-to for hand-lettered prints.

Wrestling with Dreams & Failure.

I've tried to write this post before. Many times before. I can never quite wrap this subject up with a pretty bow, so I usually step away from the topic. I don't want to write something that is lacking a resolution. Anyone else feel like that? Like there are ongoing elements in your life that need a resolution? And you know they need a resolution, yet you can't seem to muster it? I've been living without answers to some of these questions for years. This subject of dreams and failure, this is a tough one for me.

I am such a dreamer. I identify so well with dreaming big and loud. I haven't always been this way to quite this degree, but my husband has unearthed it and drawn it out of me more and more. We love dreaming about the future. We love dreaming without any restraints. We often pour ourselves a glass of something (coffee! wine! sparkling water!) and think of all the things we could do to change our world. We talk about business ideas, we discuss how to improve our lifestyle, ways to make mundane things more efficient, all sorts of endeavors that we would like to try out and explore. We dream about everything, from the minuscule to the major.

Not all of our dreams come true. We don't have endless time, money, talent or resources to make all our dreams come true, but we still allow ourselves to dream it. Because the thing is, if you can't dream it, then you certainly won't ever see that dream come true. But sometimes if you let yourself dream something big, you will see the evolution of that dream over time as it turns into something really impacting.

I'm still obviously mid-dream on so many things, but I want to shed a bit of revelation that I've come to about one of my own personal dreams.

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Since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be an actress. It's the first dream I ever remember having. My parents were ridiculously supportive, so I had no limit to my pursuit. When I was 11 I was selected for a theatrical apprenticeship program that you had to be 16 and older to even be considered. The director told my parents she just believed in me. So my desire for the craft was fed and cultivated by a great many people who rallied their support around me. I participated in school and community theaters, and as my love for acting grew I even switched schools my junior year of high school so I could focus more on performing arts. I did not get every part I auditioned for. There was a time when I auditioned for the lead role of Snow White, and was given an ample amount of reassurance from the director that I would be selected, only to have my hopes dashed when I was notified that I would instead be playing the walking, talking Magic Mirror. Oh, the horror. I was eating humble pie. I had to work through some bitterness toward the gal who actually won the part of Snow White. It's really hard when someone gets something you really wanted, and then they end up being really really good at what they do. I learned that you can't win 'em all, especially in the acting realm. But to be honest, I got most parts I auditioned for. By the time I was in high school, my amazing drama teacher Miss Karrie coached me an incessant amount and gave me the opportunity to play extremely mature and challenging roles. I was a lucky one. And I had some promise.

In college I did not pursue theater as a major, because, well, nothing against theater majors, but I just didn't want to be so niche-focused and rule out other potential job possibilities for the future. I settled nicely into a communication program and instead took acting classes at the Professional Actors Studio Atlanta where I worked on material alongside professional actors and participated in showcases for casting directors and producers. It was an incredible growth opportunity, and with that growth I gained more confidence to put myself out there. I began auditioning for professional roles and getting some traction. I worked on music videos, corporate industrials (training videos for airlines and brands) and short films. Flash forward to a continuation of this journey, where I continued pursuing acting when my husband as I moved to Boston and finally, the pinnacle of all dreams, to New York City. I kept auditioning and kept getting great parts in short films and industrials. In New York, I landed two talent agents and a manager and I was getting sent out weekly on auditions. I was participating in showcases and meeting tons of people and even got into a training program where I was working with industry professionals weekly. I was busy. And I was having the time of my life. I was incredibly uncomfortable and challenged every single day, but it was the good kind of discomfort. The kind where I really felt like I was living, because I was making myself vulnerable in audition rooms every day. A few months into my stint in NYC, I found out I was pregnant. To say I was shocked it was understatement. I was in such a good rhythm, so I kept auditioning, but it definitely made things more challenging. I remember going in for a birth control audition, and the commercial was going to be shot a few months later, which called for me to be in a bikini, and I remember praying I wouldn't get the job. Obviously there was no way I was going to be 6 months pregnant in a bathing suit advertising the pill! Oh gosh. The memories are really flooding back now. By the time I was pregnant enough for it to show, I was tired all the time and wishing I was back home, near my family. My husband and I packed our bags and did just that, relocating back to Atlanta 8 weeks before my son Everett was born. We literally closed that chapter of our life.

I have had a lot of time to wonder about that chapter. What was it all for? Did I fail because I didn't "make it big" during the time when I had the opportunity to try? Should I have stayed up there and tried harder? Should I still be trying now? Do I want to be auditioning now? Do I still want to be an actress?

Did I fail??

I've wrestled for a few years with these questions. And honestly, nothing has really given me peace except for the measure of time I've had to let questions fade in their intensity. Only since the emotional charge has lessened, have I been able to have softened conversations with myself that aren't so harsh. Isn't it silly that we can be harsh with ourselves? It's really no way to live. Time has been the gift of this whole scenario. It's allowed me to talk myself through everything, to tell myself and believe myself that it wasn't all for nothing. Of course I wasn't a failure. Of course my journey had great purpose.

Friends, the only thing that helped me, really helped me, is time.

Time has given me more perspective, more energy, and more kindness. It's helped me recognize that my training as an actress - the vulnerability and the thick skin I developed via lots of rejection and the tenacity of going after it - those characteristics haven't left the building. They have made me who I am, shaped the way I approach challenges, and given me the confidence to try again. Failure doesn't have to be scary, because you don't really fail if you never stop trying. Listen, I'm not saying that I don't have disappointment. But I'm saying that disappointment is no longer the only feeling I have associated with this particular dream. I finally have a sense of pride, of ownership and gratitude for that season of my life. I don't have all the answers, but time has let me finish asking myself questions before jumping to conclusions about failure and hopelessness. I'm not scared of failure, but I also don't think I failed. I didn't always believe that, so time has really been my friend in showing me that truth.

I know that I could go back to that life if I wanted to. There is a growing amount of film opportunities here, with a huge new movie studio down the street (yes, Marvel is basically camped out in my hometown right now), but you know? I feel such a sense of peace with what I'm doing. I love being home with my son. I love writing. I love blogging. This venture has opened up so many unexpected, fun opportunities, and I am happily exploring and learning. I'm grateful to you, my friend, for reading, for recognizing my voice and letting me share with you. This has actually been a surprise dream (that I didn't know I had!) come true.

My friend Blake once said that dreams are like seeds. He explained that we are given lots and lots of seeds, and we should sow all the ones we want to to see grow. But he also postulated that perhaps, its not meant for all the seeds to grow. Some will grow partially and some will grow all the way. I really identify with that he said, because my dream has been a long-time-coming seed that I've sown carefully. For a long time. Perhaps it will keep growing. Perhaps it's done. I'm grateful that time has passed since I was in NYC, and with that time the pressure has passed, too. Time has been the most gracious kind of host, who has encouraged me to let go of the self-induced pressure. So that dream - it's still there. But it's not hard on me anymore. It's sort of shelved for now, not because I'm sad about it or desperate to go back to it. Its there because its still a part of me, and one day it might be an active part of me again.

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Do you have something in your life, a previous pursuit or dream, whose memory haunts you? Even a little tiny bit? It can be hard to relive the experiences. It can be hard to have a level-headed kind of perspective. But I encourage you to give that experience a second glance. Can you pull out the gold from that memory, and pinpoint something sweet that is still serving a positive purpose in your life today? I bet if you give yourself lots of grace to overlook your so called "disappointments" with how that dream turned out, you could find a silver lining. I dare you to do it. Your little heart needs some positive closure just like everyone else. Just like me.

I want you to know that your dreams matter, they have a voice in your life, and they are part of you. Sometimes its okay to let a dream go. Maybe it will keep growing. Maybe not. Maybe it will lend all its lessons learned to a new dream.

Friends, this one dream has made me who I am. And it a lot of ways, it's still happening in me. Permission is granted for it to be what it is in my journey. :)
 

6 Easy Tips for Styling Your Built Ins.

A few weeks ago I shared a peek at our living room and the concept that went into the design. In my opinion, the things that really "make" this room are the high ceilings, the built-in shelves and the natural lighting. None of that really has to do with the decor. But those elements certainly enhance the decor and showcase its best qualities! I am a bargain shopper and don't really have a lofty budget to spend on home decorating. So I've combined a lot of items that were given to me or that I picked up inexpensively (some of them, literally, for free on the street!) Today I want to share my 6 tips for how to style built-in shelves easily and inexpensively.

1. Only Use a Few Items.
You know what you will love the very most about your shelves? How clean they look. It's really important to use less items than you think you need on those shelves. Trust me - this is what will keep them looking fresh and chic. Only use a few items! Between 1-3 for each shelf.

2. Keep the color palette complimentary - and neutral.
Pick a few shades that are represented in the room and stick to those tones. Your eyes will thank me. Because you will have so many different objects to look at, it's best to keep things in the family of neutral, with a hint of a color pop here and there. Use the colors already found in your room. In my case, I used a recurring theme of gold and silver elements, with lots of white space. Then I added a few pops of color, which coordinated with other colors in the room. The black frames coordinated with the black fireplace, the blue pictures coordinated with the main art piece and the rug, and the random pops of color came in the form of my green peacock-inspired plate and the wooden elephant.

3. Use different textures.
Using an array of textures on your built-ins is what makes the uniform palette come to life. Though the colors may play it safe, the types of objects and the different textures create enough intention to keep your eye interested for a while. For this reason, I mixed the elements and included glass, wood, live plants, framed fabric, books, etc. to create dimension on the shelves.

4. Include things you want to look at.
This might seem silly, but its not. So often, we can look at others' homes or flip through books (or watch HGTV) and think that the way someone else does something is the right way. But if we try to replicate that same look, it might not feel natural. It's important to use others' experiences as a launching point for inspiration, but make sure that everything you personally use in your home, especially on your built-in, that you completely love. Because at the end of the day, it's not a designer looking at your shelves everyday, it's you and your family. Make sure you love each of those items and want to look at them.

5. Consider the Scale.
In this case, the scale really matters. If your book shelves are enormous, you are going to want to use larger items to fill that space. Using tiny items in a big space can make the shelves look cluttered, which is the opposite effect you want to have. Make sure to choose varying sizes and shapes of items that fit to the scale of the shelves.

6. Never finish.
The most important (and often most frustrating) part of home decor is the journey: it's always a work in progress. But instead of letting this get you down, treat it like an exciting journey. There is always something inspiring on the horizon! Keep an eye out for items that you want to trade in and out on your built-ins. It will keep the scene fresh and hopefully keep your inspiration hat on. I am often walking books down stair and pictures upstairs, swapping their position in the house and finding where something feels "final". That almost never happens, but I like to put items somewhere on display for three months or so, then move it again, until it finally feels done. Let yourself enjoy the journey!

Thanks for reading! For more information about the items in this room, you can check the Living Room Home Tour post.

Home Tour: Living Room.

I'm so excited to share this space with you today! Since we bought our first home and moved in this past summer, we have been buying, returning and rearranging the furniture in our place to make the space our own. Sometimes it takes a minute. Over Christmas I rearranged everything again and it finally feels like we are using this space for the reasons we like. And it feels so good :) You know, like home.

Goals for this room:
We wanted this space to feel clean, open and uncluttered. I love the built-in shelves and the painted fireplace. We purposely didn't put our TV in this room for a few reasons. First, it's open to the kitchen and I knew I would have it on all the time while I was cooking if I had that option. I love to cook alongside Giada. Second, I really wanted this room to feel like a family space, where we hang out by the fire (when Everett is asleep), where we read, work on our laptops, take naps, and stare at our yard through the french doors. I wanted to enjoy the natural light and the high ceilings. I wanted this space to be kind of dreamy and peaceful. And it really, truly feels that way now.

We all love this room for it's non-TV purposes. Everett has a big bin of toys alongside the love seat (tucked away so it's not an eyesore), so he is constantly dragging them out all over the floor and playing on the big cozy rug (which we got on crazy sale via Rugs USA, you have to check them out!) He also loves to stare out the window at all the birds in the yard. Have I told you about all the birds in my yard? I love birds. I need a bird passport.

Stevie loves to steal a corner of the couch early in the morning to read his bible. Along with a steaming mug of any kind of tea. This is his favorite way to get the work day started, with some peace and quiet and Proverbs.

I love to read in here, too, though I wish I were doing more of it. When I let myself, this is where I will stretch out for a 20-minute snooze.

What you see:
Couches: Bought with the house, and I really can't find a tag to indicate the brand, sorry!
Rug: Rugs USA
Art Print (above the fireplace): Target
Chairs: Home Goods
Pillows: Ross and Target
Blanket: Target
Mirror: IKEA
Lamp: Gifted

On the Built In Shelves:
On the left:
Art Print: Jenny Highsmith
Plant: Winter Cactus
Framed Fabric: Minted
Framed Ship Print: Jay Zinn Art
Carved Elephant from Kenya
Lantern: Home Goods

On the right:
Sailboat Photo: Stevie took in San Francisco
Gold Frame (without picture): Found on the sidewalk in New York. Such a good day to find someone else's trash :)
Peacock Plate: T.J. Maxx
Candlesticks: Gifted
Custom Name Print: One Magnolia Lane
Top Photo: Stevie took in Venice :)

This room makes me so happy. In fact, it's my favorite room in the house (which is why I wanted to share it first). We still have much, much more to do in our home, but who doesn't? It's such a process. Once we actually finish making everything the way we love it, it will probably be time to move again. Happy Monday, friends!

His Name!

Dear Everett,

We've spent a long, long time thinking about you. In fact, since we learned about your little life beating furiously inside of mine, we haven't thought of much else. Your dad and I agree that you are going to be so strong, perhaps even to the point of stubborn (nothing like us, obviously), and brimming with joy for life. How could we possibly know this much about you already? Well, actually, I've gotten to know you pretty well in these past six months. You have made your presence very well known. The acrobatics you keep trying out in my tummy aren't lost on me. Neither is the kicking. Or the punching. Or the late night hunger pangs for peanut butter and jelly. Or the early morning wake-up calls for cereal with blueberries. Why do you like to wake me up so early? Even God is still sleeping at 5am, my dear.

But you know what? All that strength; I secretly really love that about you. And that strength, my little man, is what your name means.

Everett Lee Hale.

Everett

- Strong as a boar (!!!), Brave, Mighty One

Lee

(your daddy and granddaddy's middle name) - From the pasture meadow, Contented One

After spending some time thinking about you, I found a few verses that I am declaring for your birth and life:

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power from his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted & established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.- Ephesians 3:16-19

These are such sweet promises that your dad and I believe for your future. The you may know Christ as your Lord and savior. That you may be unwavering in your faith all the days of your life. That you would pursue every dream in your heart. The you would surround yourself with loving people who encourage your faith. That you would have the best education possible and incredible, jaw-dropping opportunities. That you would see this Earth as the gift that it is and explore it to the utmost. That your identity would be rooted in nothing but Christ's love for you. And that you would be an overwhelming vessel of joy, fun and encouragement to all who know you.

As much as we can't wait to meet you, we can wait. Grow Everett grow.

*Many thanks to Jenny Highsmith for the beautiful custom-made name artwork. You can check out her shop here.