Blogging. We're going to do it more.

Hello friends!

This is Jonathan writing. Around the house, Anna and I are often finishing projects and doing things and we'll say, "We should blog about that." So here goes!

We've blogged about moving and some changes happening with J&A Designs, but I have not taken the time to update about what I'm doing. Earlier this semester, we made the decision that we did not want to continue to live in the dorm at MC (where I was serving as a Resident Director), so after several months of trying to figure it all out and decide what I would be doing, I finally decided I would work for Anna's dad at his law firm in Clinton. I finished my job at MC earlier this month and a week later started working at the law firm. I think that leaving MC has been a good thing for me. It's almost as if I've graduated from MC a second time! But after a year of living in Chrestman Hall with the freshman guys, it was time.

So... the law firm. Anna works there too, so it's a family affair! It has been interesting getting in the car in the morning and going to work together, but since our ultimate goal is to someday own a full time business together anyway, it's good practice for the future. But, we are doing different things at the office and our offices are at opposite ends of the building.

On the home front, we're settling in to our new place by working on DIY projects around the house (some of which we will share later) and of course, spending a good portion of our evenings making frames :)

One of my favorite rooms in our new place is the office. Although we're now living in a 3 bedroom house, 2 of those bedrooms (plus the garage!) are largely devoted to J&A Designs- one of which being the room where Anna does all the painting and where we keep all the craft supplies and the other one being the office where I package frames ready to be shipped, keep up with our finances, work on our website, etc. etc. [J&A Designs often spills in to every other room in the house too :)*]

There are many things I love about this office... so I'm just going to give you the tour.

One great thing about this room- it's right off the living/dining room and it has a window/opening so it almost feels like part of the room. This means I can work in the office without feeling like I'm far away. The rest of what I love about the office is the furniture we've put in it. Anna and I have developed an interest in used and antique furniture. We've furnished a lot of our house with pieces that are having a 2nd (or maybe 3rd or 4th) life in our first [real] home. Personally, I never really thought Anna would get in to hunting for stuff like this, but we both love it! As we show you other rooms in the house, you'll see there's items like this in every room! So anyways, back to the office...

Used piece #1: my desk! This is one of my favorite things in the house. I love it because it's retro and because it's BIG- meaning it has lots of workspace on top. We purchased this desk off Craigslist and the owner said it had come out of her husband's father's old office (or something like that)! Above the desk are some great prints which I will blog about later! My desk chair (used piece #2) was purchased at Forget Me Nots in Brandon. Anna blogged about this store before (read that post here) and we've gotten a few more things even since that post!

And to hold the printers and supplies next to the desk? Used piece #3, an old metal cart from one of our favorite antique stores, When Pigs Fly, in Old Towne Clinton. It's the perfect size for that giant printer on top which I bought from my printer collecting friend, Robert Gatewood.

And opposite the desk on the other side of the room is a bookshelf we bought on our special, out-of-the-way trip to Ikea in Atlanta! We had some cheap bookshelves in our first and second apartments, but decided to ditch those and get this bookshelf which is also great for storage. Although we had to downsize on our books (I know- it doesn't look like we did, but we really did!) it holds everything pretty well! We bought some other cool stuff at Ikea too- but more on that later!

So... there's my office, my favorite room in our house! I spend a lot of time there, so I'm glad I like it that much. Anna has let me make it my own not caring too much how I arranged and decorated it. Speaking of, see the clock above the bookshelf? I will give someone a dollar if they recognize it and know where it came from (comment below)!

Next time, we'll try and give you a look in to some of our DIY projects, or maybe even another room in the house!

*Anna posted here about our gallery wall, and it's almost finished! We'll be blogging about it very soon!