Who am I? As a designer and as a person.

Hi out there! I'm not going to lie, this is my first time posting a blog (unless my high school Xenga counts), so please bear with me. I always enjoyed writing and I feel like getting to know me as a person will help you get to know me as a designer, so this is an excellent chance to do both.

So, this is me... As of right now, I'm 29 years old. I grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Pickerington, Ohio; I feel like this upbringing taught me hard work and discipline, things I pride myself on now. In high school I met a small group of people who were "Urban Explorers", a whole subculture who gain access into abandoned buildings, mainly for the sake of taking pictures and exploring what had been left behind. I was welcomed by these people and I learned of the respect and admiration they had for these buildings, they treated them almost like a member of a family; Their philosophy was to "take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, break nothing but silence," and I felt their passion. I fell in love with each house, school, and even hospital that I walked into; the architecture, the history, the story that the building told. I found such beauty in the way that nature inevitably reclaims what is rightfully theirs. In this I found my spark!

One house in particular really captured my attention, Mudhouse Mansion. This Second Empire style house was nestled in the rolling hills of South East Ohio. Built in the 1870's, this massive brick home, adorned with a widows walk and several smaller out buildings. The last residents had moved out in the 1930's, the house had been allowed to fall into disrepair, facing several acts of vandalism and arson. Never the less, she was beautiful. I would cruise down the back roads with my windows down and the music up until she appeared over the hills, like a brick beacon in the center of a corn field. Their wasn't much left to the inside, most the first floor had been burned out and the walls were covered in decades worth of graffiti, but she still made my heart flutter.

It was the beginning of my Senior year of high school and I had no clue what I really wanted to do with my life. I always knew I wanted to go to college, but I didn't know where or what for. I took an Interior Design course for an easy grade and it was in that class that I got the call that my sister had passed away; from that point forward, I threw myself into my class project. Through a teacher of mine, the idea of studying design at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh was implanted in my brain. A few months later I was accepted then after graduation I packed up everything I owned and moved to Pennsylvania.

The program was so much more intense than I could have ever realized but I loved every minute of it. I loved learning everything I could about the history of design and project specifications, I loved living in the city and getting to know new people and a new landscape. But every time I would come home for the holidays I would make an excuse to slip away, cruise the back roads, and visit my Mudhouse Mansion, just to see how she was holding up.

After a few years in Pittsburgh, while still in school, I had someone unexpectedly come into my life; the second I met Will, I knew I was going to marry him. He helped me see the city in a new way and it was at that time that I realized that I could combine my two passions, Interior Design and abandoned or historic buildings, into a career: Historic Building Preservation. I threw myself into learning everything I could about Preservation, I took a mentor who had a Master's degree in the subject, and even revolved my entire thesis around it. Being in Pittsburgh, I was in the mecca of old and abandoned buildings, a historic and sometimes struggling city, but I still attributed everything I had to one house; a beautiful house nestled in the hills of Ohio.

I graduated from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 2012 with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Interior Design. I immediately took a job with a family owned furniture reupholstery company in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, becoming the flagship designer of their design center. This seemed like a nice fit, I was able to broaden my horizons while now getting to know everything there is to know about furniture. It was so much more than that though. 75% of that job was fabric. Fabric, fabric, and more fabric. Upholstery fabric. Drapery Fabrics. Even custom window treatments, area rugs, and custom-made furniture. I feel like I learned so much at this job and cannot even begin to figure out how I will repay them.

After almost 9 years in Pittsburgh, Will and I decided it was time to leave. We moved from Pennsylvania to his hometown near Canton Ohio. It gave us the opportunity to spend time with his family, and I got my first true taste of retail when I took a position at a small furniture store. Unfortunately, after a few short months, that store closed down but I was able to turn right around and help open up a brand new store. It was while we were living here that I was woken up to the news: Mudhouse Mansion was being demolished that day. I was devastated. By the end of the day, Will had taken my phone from me so I couldn't watch the Facebook Live posts of the demolition and cry. She was gone. For Christmas later that year, Will surprised me with a piece of Mudhouse; it hangs in my living room to this day.

In late 2015, we packed up yet again and moved to Columbus, giving me the chance to spend time with my family. I have taken sales positions at two different furniture stores in the area, but my heart just isn't into it. I cannot be a salesperson who does some designing, I have to be a designer who sells their skill; any thing less would be a waste of my education and all the hard work that went into it.

So, this is where I am right now. I'm almost 30, I have my college degree in something that I love to do so I have decided to just do it. I have to put myself out there, I have worked with so many wonderful people, they give me the faith I need in myself to know that I can be successful. I love design. I love everything about it, and I'm glad it's what I'm making my career out of.