I've been thinking about changing my blog name for years.  In 2011 I was ready to take the plunge when we decided to move away from Pawleys Island.  But I was afraid.  In 2012 I thought about it again, very seriously, but again got held up in fear.  Fear of change.  Fear of your reaction.  Last March, Matthew bought me my domain name, www.juliaryan.com for our anniversary.  He felt like it was pretty good marriage insurance.  I worked diligently to create a new logo that reflected my modern traditional aesthetic.  I spent weeks tweaking it.  And then I moved on.  I left it hanging out of fear once again that it was too late.  Or too soon.  When is the right time?  Why am I over thinking this?  It's not like I'm freaking Martha Stewart trying to re-brand here.

I like my name.  I like creating things.  

I know these two things may be the only elements of my identity that will not change with time.

I wanted this blog to reflect that.

I started this blog in 2009.  I was a newly-wed.  Blogging was new and something I'd stumbled into.  I was just starting to navigate decorating our first house.  I was excited about starting a new chapter of my life in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  I loved all things new and lots of color.  Not so much anymore.  I crave things held in tradition and full of stories.  I like to rest my eyes in calm.  There has been enough color and chaos in my life for awhile.

It's almost 2014 friends.  

I'm still married, but that's about the only thing that hasn't changed.  I have two small children who turned me into a mother.  This has changed me in ways only imaginable to other women who have bore this right.  We're working on our third house and feel pretty permanently settled in Virginia.  Unless we move back to South Carolina.  I've learned a home is not made through new sofa's or hanging pictures on the wall.  It's made by laughter and tears and accumulating memories that bear into your soul and move with you.  It's about feeling settled and comfortable and hopeful no matter where you sleep.

  This blog of mine has been evolving with me and it's time the name reflected that.

So bear with me as I clean things up and continue to improve the layout and function of this blog!