First Day of School Jitters...

It always starts the same, palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy… just kidding that’s an Eminem song. But in all seriousness. The start of a new school year brings out so much anxiety in me. And when I try to put my finger on why, all I’m met with is confusion and more anxiety. Maybe I should take the advice from the wise Donald Draper and “Think about it deeply, and then forget it… then an idea will jump up in your face.” In this case, not so much an idea, but maybe the whole reason as to why I’m so crazy when it comes to the first day jitters.

Yesterday was our 3rd first day of school for Jonathan. He attended a year of Preschool, followed by young fives, and now his first day of Kindergarten, and I have felt on the verge of vomiting all three times. This anxiety generally starts to subside a few weeks in, once I start to get into the groove and get a better handle on our new routine… but that’s just it. Routine. I thrive on it. I know what to expect. And as someone who actually enjoyed this summer of cancelled plans, forced time at home, and all this SOCIAL-distancing… re-entering the world of OTHER people is so hard. (FOR ME).

Sharing the funny, honest & embarrassing on social media just comes naturally, I’d say I’m a down-to-earth human being, but when you meet me in person I’M PAINFULLY AWKWARD. So much awkward silence, I’m terrible at making conversation, in truth, I’m just SUPER shy… So when I meet people in person, they think I’m just not nice because I’m not super chatty right off the bat. When in truth… I really want to be outgoing, but I never know what to say!

Wow, this is actually quite cathartic as I hash this out in my own head, because I’ve already revealed two truths to myself as to why I feel ALL THE ANXIETY about starting a new school year. 1. Fear of Change. 2. Fear of forced interaction with new people. And the last truth, I just realized. 3. My projected personal fears of going to a new school with new people, for Jonathan. Let me explain…

Jonathan is an incredibly kind and energetic little boy. He loves to laugh. Love dinosaurs. Thinks everyone in this world is good. Doesn’t understand personal space, and general social etiquette with people who aren’t in his own family. So I’m constantly worried that someone is going to be mean to him, or bully him and steal his sweet naive spirit away from him. When I look back on my years of school, I’m not met with all the warm fuzzies some people might have. It was hard. I never felt like I fit in anywhere. People made assumptions about me because I was quiet. And I think I inadvertently project all those feelings on to Jonathan, even though he is a completely different kid. And I need to stop doing that. All I can do is encourage him to be the kind of kid that makes EVERYONE feel welcome, and teach him that everyone is different, but they are EXACTLY how God intended them to be.

So to sum up all my ramblings: Here is what I’ve learned while writing down some crazy thoughts and feelings.

1. Don’t be afraid of change. It’s good. It promotes growth and new habits.

2. Stop being so afraid to meet new people. As your life changes, so do the people you come in contact with, and just like change, new friends are also good.

3. Don’t project your own bad experiences on your kids, and let them draw their own conclusions based off of what they personally experience.

Little Girl's Room Reveal- Geometric Design

I remember when we found out that we were going to have a daughter, and visions of a beautiful nursery flooded my head. Floral wallpaper. Floral wreaths. Wooden script names. Soft tones. I had it all pinned on Pinterest, and was planning this big grand reveal. Then the instagram world vs reality sets in, and I knew that what I wanted to do wouldn’t be financially possible with all that we had going on. We don’t tap from a bottomless well of money, and whatever work that needed to be done in that room, we were going to have to do ourselves, because paying a contractor or designer was not in the budget.

So we waited. And waited. And waited. And then I bought some curtains because that tone of yellow just made me happy and from there I decided to design this room. I found this adorable wallpaper from ColoRay Decor and it was off to the races. Triangles make me happy, and these colors fit perfectly in our colorful home aesthetic.

Slowly but surely, we made small purchases here and there until this sweet room was complete. Repurposed an old dresser & nightstand, gave them a fresh coat of white spray paint. Some custom artwork created by me to go on the main wall, and boom! I’ll give links to all the other artwork, and please feel free to comment if you have any questions about anything else!! Enjoy!

List of links:

Wallpaper -ColoRay Designs

Bedframe -Ikea

Twin Quilt -Target

Shag Rug -Rugs.com

Clothes Hamper- Crate & Kids

Curtains -Target

Floral prints -Lulu Ink Designs

Other Print -Handwritten Hope

My Go-To Margarita Mix

Ryan and I are not big drinkers, but we do enjoy an occasional adult beverage to end the evening after the kids go to bed. And a margarita is my drink of choice, as long as it has good tequila.

I have a very sensitive stomach, so all those store bought margarita mixes that contain preservatives, massive amounts of sugar and ingredients I can’t pronounce would make me feel so miserable. So instead of giving up on finding the perfect margarita, I decided to make my own. Tastes and preferences are all different, so the perfect margarita for me, may not be your ideal… but I’m always happy to share what I love!

Fresh Margarita Mix

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Author: Jordanne Marie

Prep time: 5 MCook time: Total time: 5 M

Ingredients:

Margarita Mix

• 12 Lemons
• 6-8 Limes
• Granulated Sugar
• Purified Water

Margarita

• Ice
• Triple Sec
• Good Tequila
• Salt (if desired)
• Club Soda (if desired)

Instructions:

Making The Mix

1. Roll To soften the Lemons & Limes before your slice.
2. Cut the fruit in half.
3. Using a Lemon press, squeeze the juice from all the fruit into a large measuring bowl. 
4. Measure how much juice you've yielded, and double that with purified water. 
5. Strain the juice to remove all the extra pulp and seeds.
6. Depending on how sweet you like your mix, (I prefer mine on that Tart side), add granulated sugar to and wisk it together until the sugar dissolves. 
7. Pour into a glass jar, cover it & put it in the fridge for later. (can last about a week in the fridge)

Assembling the Margarita

1. This can be controversial, depending on how you prefer  your margarita. This is just how I like to make them (easy and using as few tools as possible). 
2. In a glass, (salt the rim if you like... I don't) add ice.
3. Add about a shot of tequila.
4. Add a splash of triple sec.
5. Add the Margarita Mix. 
6. Maybe add a splash of club soda.
7. Stir. Sip. Enjoy. 
8. (You can also make this in a shaker, if you're making multiple servings. I just make one after the kids go to bed, and don't want the extra dishes to clean)
9. Drink responsibly. 

www.jordannemarie.com/blog/2020/8/28/my-go-to-margarita-mix

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The [Never-Ending] Kitchen Reno

Listing Photo of the Kitchen

We moved to this house in June of 2013, after walking through many “GUT-JOBS” we settled on this house, knowing that the kitchen was newly updated and only needed a little work to make it feel like home. Other than a new coat of paint, updating the countertops, and installing a backsplash, I was so happy with the size and layout of this kitchen. Two months into living here, we donned our n95 masks and went to work (ironically it was on our 1 year wedding anniversary).

A project that I thought would only take a week or two, ended up turning into a MAJOR project. Much like the story of “If you Give a mouse a cookie”. If you tell Ryan you want to paint the walls, he is going to tell you he needs to paint the ceiling first. If we paint the ceiling, we need to add new recessed lighting, and if we add new recessed lighting, we need to cut a MAJOR hole in the ceiling to run said wires. If you have the ceiling open, you may just need to fix the bath tub drain, and while you have that open in the living room, we should also add recessed lighting in the kitchen. My seemingly “simple cosmetic update” of painting over the ugly yellow wall color became a much more intense job.

This was our first home project together, and now after 8 years of being married, I’ve come to learn that nothing is ever just a “Simple update”. Please don’t mistake this as complaining, because I’m incredibly grateful for the skill and handiwork of my husband.

All that to say, we have lived in a constant state of ‘manageable’ renovation since we moved here. Life is busy, children are blessings. Four months into the lighting project update, I found out I was pregnant, which made life a little hectic, but also lit a fire for Ryan to get this house in a more “liveable” state.

In 2016, {3 years after we bought our house} we were in a good financial situation to afford new quartz countertops, and the tile backsplash I had been dreaming about. I felt like we were finally “making it” because the kitchen would be perfect! The color of the cabinets wasn’t my first choice, but the new backsplash and countertops made it feel so much more our style.

I started to nit-pick and asked Ryan if “one day, can we replace the ugly cork floors?” because they started to feel out of place with the fancy new countertops. But we knew that this was another project we would need to save for, and after just having Verona, we needed to take it easy in that department.

Flash forward to Memorial Day 2018: we had a terrible storm and we were without power for a while, and had to connect our refrigerator to the neighbors generator. When we pushed it back in, we were unaware that the hose for the ice maker was punctured and started leaking water. Three weeks later, we realized that the floor in front of the fridge was damp and started to bow. We pulled out the fridge and about died when we saw the extent of the damage.

Thank God for insurance. August 6, 2018. Contractors came to pull out the flooring, and we were met with some pretty devastating news. Mold & Asbestos. We were quarantined from our house, displaced until it was contained. They told us it was going to be a complete kitchen gut. I cried. Many times. All of the contents in the kitchen were packed up in boxes and hauled away. The lower cabinets were ripped out. The flooring was ripped out. It was all gone, so we started to dream about what our kitchen could look like. After a few back and forth calls, we realized that only a few cabinets would be replaced, but we couldn’t find the exact match to our existing cabinets, which resulted in new paint and door/drawer faces.

We had to create a new “makeshift" kitchen in our dining room, using a hot plate to cook dinners and we washed our dishes in the bathtub upstairs. It was not an ideal situation, but we made it work. In order to save some money, and make a few updates to our walls, flooring etc, Ryan agreed to do most of the work himself, which seemed like a good idea, until I found out I was pregnant with Vivienne. Can we just talk about the irony of how big renovations & pregnancy seem to go hand in hand in this house. As I was busy growing a human, I was a little useless when it came to all the other work that needed to be done in the kitchen.

When you’re in the middle of it, it felt like the renovation was never ending, and to be honest, our kitchen still has some work to be done. Trim. Broken tiles. Side paneling. Grout. But from the photos, you can barely tell, and looking back, I’m so grateful to have the kitchen I have today. It’s one of my favorite things about our house.

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Moral of the story: real life doesn’t look like a home renovation show. You can’t always wrap everything in a pretty bow, say here is where we started and in 3 short months, this is where we are with our perfect completed kitchen. Patience. Trust the journey. Sometimes the end result turns out better than you could have ever imagined.