I like pretty things.  Not diamonds, not fancy cars, but pretty things like gold polka dots and shimmering paintings.  I like white furniture and white dogs.  I love pale walls and delicious scents.  I love a cozy bed and coffee on the front porch every morning.

I'm going to be 40 next year, and I've finally realized something.  Life is 100% about the tiniest moments. The moment a pretty tree makes you stop and look, or the moment you smell cookies from your neighbor's window and they transport you back to your moms kitchen.  That moment when you tuck your daughter in bed at night and silently pray to God for her to be healthy. And happy.  These are the moments that make up our lives. These are the moments that count.

It's been a long journey for me to reach this place where I can be happy with my collection of tiny moments.  Getting here, I realized that if you really stop to think about every single thing you do, see, purchase, say or want - you'll find yourself surrounded by things that truly make you happy, people who feed off your energy and your mind will be clear of negativity and brimming with possibility.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want this blog to be. I love design. I love decorating people's homes. I love taking a part of me and a part of them and creating a room that is beautiful and fulfilling and exactly who they are. On Instagram, I follow a lot of designers. I see a ton of images.   They all look the same - feed after feed after feed - they all look the same. The same furniture, the same colors, the same feel... there are thousands of blogs out there about home decor and interior design and it's making me sad that there isn't a unique style to many of them - if I removed the banner from my view, I couldn't tell you which blog was which.  And isn't that a shame? 

I'm not going to sit here and say that my own decorating style isn't without some of those same neutral rustic tones.  It is - to an extent.  However, when I was a new photographer, I went to a workshop with an amazing artist named Cheryl Jacobs.  She was one of those people that you met and instantly you knew you wanted to be friends with her - the spirit and energy around her was intoxicating.  She was authentic and true and kind and a person you just knew would be a happy addition to your circle.

Cheryl taught me many things that weekend about photography, but she taught me one very important thing that I carry with me everywhere I go:  Be different.  Whatever you create, make sure it's YOURS and it looks and feels like you.  What?  How can a photograph always look and feel like you?  It can.  And mine did.  My work went from being copycat to totally original. I went from being the copier to being the copied.  People would say to me, "I saw your photograph on display and I knew it was yours before I read the name."  THAT is my goal with this blog.  I want you and other people to come to this blog and say "ah.  This is Jessica. I can feel it before I read a word."

I believe every person has a gift.  I believe that some people live their whole lives never knowing what their gift is.  I believe that I'm not one of those people.  My gift is what I'm excited to share with you here.  You might think it's design and decorating and color scheming... If you knew me before this journey, you might still be clinging to the hope that my gift is in photography, but I'm hoping you'll be reading this blog one day and realize that my gift is in my energy. It's in my passion.  It's in my spirit and optimistic point of view.  It goes so much deeper than sofas and colors and design.

I believe every person can be happy.  I believe every home can be beautiful.  I'm going to make it my personal mission to not only improve your spirit with my own, but I'm going to show you that life is in those tiny moments - and you don't need an expensive home to have them.