family room, child

Joslyn's family room full of color

 

We're back with another fun-filled week of Nesting & Nurturing guest posts—for your reading and viewing pleasure!

Today we welcome Joslyn, the mama of two behind the blog Simple Lovely (she's the one who did the Spending Hiatus).

 

coffee table

Loads of texture and color all around

kitchen

Joslyn's pretty kitchen

 

Joslyn, what does home mean to you?

Growing up, we moved 17 times… My father is a musician, and where he worked, we lived. Sometimes we lived in houses with lots of rooms and views of mountains; sometimes we lived in small apartments where our family of five shared two bedrooms.  Once our house burned to the ground the very night we moved in, reducing all of our possessions to a crumble of ashes. And a few years ago, my parents were forced from their home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, losing almost everything they owned, again.

So my idea of home isn’t represented by a particular structure filled with “stuff” or a particular town. Rather it’s (and always has been) about certain smells and people and rituals…all amazingly consistent no matter the place. My childhood “home” is the music my parents played while we were hanging out on a Saturday (usually Earth, Wind & Fire). It’s steak, baked potatoes, and salad every single Sunday. It’s Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap. It’s chaos and unconditional love and encouragement and the ability to make a place (any place) feel like you’ve lived there forever in just 48 hours.

As an adult, I experience a constant battle between wanting to live in our current house for the remainder of my life and wanting to sell everything, pack up my family and see where the wind takes us (the nostalgia of my childhood fighting with the desire to give my own children something different, I suppose). But no matter which side wins, for me, my husband, and two girls, home is each other… Always. Oh, and steak on Sundays.

 

About Joslyn:

woman

Joslyn













 

Joslyn (who believes she was a gypsy in another life) writes the blog Simple Lovely, a place where she can chronicle all the things she loves most, which usually start with tales of her stellar husband Bryan (who also happens to be the smartest person she knows and makes the world’s best quesadillas) and her two funny, bright, dramatic, impossible, lovely daughters Audrey (5) and Millie (2).

Wonderful, Joslyn. I love your gypsy-esque perspective about what makes a home. It's a beauty.

Come back tomorrow for more Nesting & Nurturing...



Previous Nesting & Nurturing guest posts: