about us

about us together finalWe were born and raised in the Midwest, where the closest ocean is at least two states away.  And we aren’t talking Rhode Island sized states here people, we are talking monster states and hours of driving.map of the midwestThankfully, we were blessed with amazing parents who had the travel bug through and through. They exposed us to the blessing we call the Sea, and you could say it was love at first sight.getting to know you

christinaI am Christina Renee, I fell in love with that hunk down below and it is my life ambition to make him my baby daddy.  After I complete my “leap list” of course.

I am currently in the uber-exciting field of Accounting, but don’t make too much fun because get this…I actually like it.  This blog gives me an opportunity to be creative, which after staring at black and white numeros all the live long day is an absolute necessity.

I have a lot of hobbies, of course blogging and salt water tanks…but also scrap-booking, Cardinals baseball, endless DIY projects, attempting to take amazing pictures, swooning my puppies, dance offs, sarcasm, and Mexican food…wait are those even hobbies?!?

In case you haven’t noticed, I have a “thing” for ellipses (those three little dots that I use in place of commas) and it tends to get on everyone’s nerves.  I am really just being nice though, I  want you to read it exactly how I am writing it in my head, like I am there….reading it to you….awkwardly.  So sorry in advance grammar Nazi.

In short, I am your dork-next-door typical Midwestern gal.  I live life on a whim and on a budget.  I have a weakness for Timbo’s smile and puppy kisses…oh and Mexican food of course.  So if you guessed that my idea of a perfect date is curling up in bed with my pups, boytoy, and a taquito…well you can bet your bloomers on that one.  And now I have to hit the treadmill, awesome.

timHey everyone, I am Timothy.  I promise not to write as much as my beautiful, wonderful, ahem a little rambly girlfriend up there.

I am the guy that buys all of the tanks, and fish, and corals, and lights, and okay my wallet is now depressed.  To fund this addiction I work in real estate, mostly in foreclosures.  It is very difficult to be a part of taking peoples dreams away from them, but I have learned a lot about myself and society in general.

Speaking of learning a lot about myself, I will let you in on a secret.  I struggle, daily, with an anxiety disorder.  I think it is a very important piece of knowing me and I have dealt with it my whole life.  It’s nothing more than a hyper active gag disorder, sounds exciting right, but it has taken a long time to overcome the anxiety that it produces.  So if you see me out and about and I happen to be gagging, just pretend it was bad Chinese or something.  We can laugh about it later.

tajThis is our oldie but goodie.

A 12 year old pit bull who, if you can’t tell from the photo, is a big ball of sweet molasses fluff.  We dream of letting him run, okay hobble, on a huge farm for the rest of his days.

Don’t let the picture of this smooshy faced lazy bones fool you, he’s as spry as a pup.  Frolicking all the live long day.

The name is Taj, James Taj.  Okay or it’s just Taj (like the Taj Mahal) or Tajjie if you love him.

astiAnd here we have a real life brat.

It should be obvious that she is a blanket hog, but she also eats the crotch outta jeans, steals your pizza, thinks its gosh darn hilarious to trip you by running full speed under your feet, and squeaks (LOUDLY).

We never thought we’d be “small dog” people, let alone “fluffy ball of emotion” people, but somehow she wiggled her way into our hearts…and our wallets (those outfits get expensive).

39 thoughts on “about us

  1. Dana Raquel Bryant

    Hello, very professional high level blog! thank you for sharing. Because of good writing, and I learned a lot, and I am glad to see such a beautiful thing. Sorry for my bad English. ?

    Reply
      1. Whitney Hodgkins

        Awesome! Soon to be gay married, trying to ignore the hell out of that damn class reunion page, you know, the usual.

        Reply
    1. Christina Post author

      Thanks Mary 🙂 they aren’t as sweet as they look!!! Thanks for stopping by….can’t wait to get off work and check out your blog more. It looks awesome! Do you sell your art?

      Reply
  2. Sarah York

    You guys are so cute! What a fun life and blog you have. Oh, and you are not alone with over-using ellipses…I feel like every sentence could end with them. Practically… 🙂

    Reply
    1. Christina Post author

      Seriously….I use them wayyyyy too much! When I write a post I have to go back and edit back how many I have used. My English teacher would be so ashamed 🙂

      Reply
  3. Christina @ Floridays Mom

    Hi there Christina, I saw your post on Young House Love and had to come by.
    1. I wanted to check out your bookcase redo
    2. I have made love for the ocean..couldn’t resist homemadeocean.com
    3 My name is also Christina
    I couldn’t NOT check you out! Great blog, I’ll put you on my list to follow. Glad I found ya!

    Reply
    1. Christina Post author

      Well hi Christina (what a beautiful name you have!)

      So your comment just made my day 🙂 Thanks so much for swinging on over, talk to ya soon!!!

      Reply
  4. Kari Schinkal

    Just discovered your blog via Young House Love.
    Timothy – you are awesome thank you so much for sharing about your anxiety disorder. Two of us in our household share with you as well this same disorder. I appreciate you sharing because “it is what it is”!
    Kari

    Reply
    1. Christina Post author

      Hi Kari, this really touches my heart because Tim and I have had soooo many discussions about how anxiety is kept a secret by so many people. I am so incredibly PROUD of Tim for sharing and being open about it because he could just as easily have kept that information private. It is a daily struggle that I think so many people can relate to.

      Most people had no idea how difficult it was for Tim to go to the YHL signing with me (thank you thank you thank you honey). Tim has finally convinced himself that his experience of trying to overcome anxiety is something that millions of people cope with and has his own blog in the works called Wish I Were Normal. I know he is still working on it but I think it is going to be such a fantastic project and I really hope you all will visit and share pieces of yourself. It is such a personal issue and I believe talking openly about it is a huge step!!!

      Thank you so much for visiting, and thanks even more for your comment. Would love to hear from you more 🙂

      And love you Tim (sorry for gushing)

      Reply
  5. Margaret

    Hi Just discovered your blog via YHL. I have to say you guys totally rock!! I LOVE pit bull people, they make my heart mushy 🙂 Your guy is adorable in his golden years and I just want to snuggle him up. I am still totally in denial that my lovely lady (Sydney) is 9! They are such a wonderful breed. I love your blog as well, super cute but as soon as I saw the dogs…you had me at woof 🙂 Looking forward to seeing many more of your adventures!

    Reply
    1. Christina Post author

      Awwww Maragret you would totally love him too because even though he is up there in age he still has sooo much spunk and spice. Sweetest thing ever!!!! He goes of running and prancing and it just melts my little heart.

      And I gotta tell you, there is no great bond than the bond you have with pets.

      So glad you came by 🙂 Hope to see more of ya!!!!

      Reply
  6. lc | rebuild (health & home)

    Hello there, fellow midwesterners! I’m a Chicago girl and was at West Elm, too! I found your blog on the YHL post today (I’m the one in the picture a few below, with Ramsey’s ghost).

    I popped over to read about your West Elm experience, and I’m really happy I clicked on the “about us” page and read that Tim struggles with anxiety. I saw a few comments up that he’s working on his own blog about it– would love to read that! I’m a teacher, but I’m currently on medical leave because my anxiety was getting so bad that I was having several attacks a day. I think it’s so incredibly important for people to get out there and share their stories to help de-stigmatize (not a real word) anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. I’m writing about my anxiety (and my apartment decorating!) here: http://www.rebuildhealthandhome.com

    Oh, and Tim– I had a hard time going to the signing, too! (per the comment Christina wrote to Kari above). About two hours in, I started getting really anxious because of how many people were there and the fact that my boyfriend had to leave and couldn’t wait with me anymore. I thought I might have had to go home! Thankfully I stuck it out, because as we all know, John & Sherry are awesome 🙂

    Reply
    1. Tim

      Hi Lauren! Glad you found us! I am also glad that we were both about to stick it out and meet John and Sherry.

      As Christina has mentioned, I am in the process of developing a new blog that focuses on mental illness, all forms of anxiety mostly. I have lived with anxiety my whole life and was often ashamed to speak out to anyone about it, including friends and family. Just recently, I decided to seek some help and haven’t looked back since. Just speaking with someone about it has helped tremendously. I know I will always live with anxiety but now know it is manageable. I have also started a community facebook page where people can go to share stories and seek help from peers. Now that I feel like my anxiety is somewhat under control it is my duty to reach out and help others.

      I got a chance to check out your blog and your answer to “Why?” is great…”I can find lots of blogs about design and decor by girls my age. I like reading those.

      I can’t find many blogs by girls of my age that feature frank discussions about mental health alongside the pretty pictures.

      So I’m writing one.” I love that outlook, not enough people get out and talk about these things.

      I will let you know once the new project is up and running. Check out the facebook page in the mean time, it’s still in it’s infancy (no members yet haha) but I hope to change that.

      https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-wish-I-were-normal/425135947535245?ref=hl

      Reply
      1. lc | rebuild (health & home)

        Hi Tim– I think you’re on to something here.

        I deactivated my fbook, but I looked at the page on my boyfriend’s account and it looks like a great start!

        Maybe we can collaborate on something at some point. I also think it would be interesting to look at anxiety from the perspective of people who are married to/dating someone who suffers from it. I’m sure Christina and my boyfriend have some things in common when it comes to loving someone who deals with this. Not sure if you’re familiar with Jon & Heather Armstrong of dooce.com, but a few years back Jon wrote about what it is like to be married to someone who suffers from depression. Unfortunately, they’ve since separated, but it’s still an interesting read: http://blurbomat.com/2007/12/20/how-i-do/

        Reply
        1. Tim

          I think that is an awesome idea. I know it is just as much of a struggle for them to understand what we go through on a daily basis. I think its really important for people to know how to handle every aspect of mental illness. The people who love and support us are more important than anyone will ever know.

          Let me know if you plan to get back on facebook at any time as I could use another moderator and need some help getting people to start sharing. We have one thing working against us here, people with anxiety are very reluctant to share and open up.

          Reply
        2. Christina Post author

          Hey Lauren! I just want to tell you I think you are great….love your blog and it makes me so happy that you are helping bring awareness to mental health!

          You bring up such a great point, when I met Tim and he told me about his anxiety I started doing research and it was SO difficult 1. to find anything that wasn’t trying to sell you something and 2. to find anything for people trying to help someone with anxiety. I can’t wait to read that article. Thanks so much for sharing.

          Happy Sunday 🙂

          Reply
  7. Kristen Field

    Christina I am loving your blog!!! You have some awesome stuff on here…It’s been way too long since we’ve talked, hope everything is well with you!!!

    Reply
    1. Christina Post author

      Awwwww thanks boo! It has been waaaayyyyy to long, although I admit I have been stalking your life with all of these important events going on haha 🙂 CONGRATS

      Reply
  8. Jesse @ Scout & Nimble

    Ok…you guys are seriously too cute…and as you can see I have the same problem with the trio of periods…glad you suffer from it, too. 😉 So happy to have “met” you guys and I’m signing up to follow your lovely posts! 😉 Jesse @ Scout & Nimble

    Reply
  9. Tracy Ames-Dennison

    You guys are so… sweet! I can here from Slapdash Mom’s blog, and I think I am going to love you as much as I love her!

    Reply
  10. Beth

    Hi!! I found your blog on Midwest Bloggers…seems that we have a lot in common!! I live in the STL area and work in accounting…and I, too, love it (most days!). 🙂 Just wanted to drop in and say hello! Can’t wait to get to know you a little better!

    Reply
    1. Christina Post author

      Ohhhhh yay!!! Most people think I am crazy for liking numbers 🙂 So glad to find someone with so much in common!

      Whereabouts are ya?

      Reply
        1. Christina Post author

          Ohhhh hey! We are like neighbors 🙂

          We just have to change the stereotype of accountants to “super fun and very awesome people” haha!

          Reply
  11. Pat Glaser

    Christina,
    I am Linda’s Mom’s only remaining sister and i loved Timothy so much when he was a baby but I haven’t seen him in so many years and I
    would so much like to renew our aacquantance again and also meet you. Please see if that’s a possibility.
    Love you,
    Aunt Pat

    Reply

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