Archive | guest post

New Year // New Look!

January 23, 2015 at 7:21 am

On a hike with my family in Buellton, CA, on our friends’ ranch this past weekend. It was so beautiful!

I kept talking about giving this ol’ blog a facelift, and then finally last night it actually happened! I’ve been working on this site redesign since… June? That’s when I first found that purple flower image for the header. A lot of other things, though, came together yesterday (like the profile picture to your left which was snapped outside on Elliott’s lunch break, so maybe a better one will come along in… a couple years?!).

And now here it is. The new and improved Making Room blog! What do you think?

There’s more big news today: I wrote a guest post for one of my favorite blogs, Modern Mrs. Darcy. My post is called “How reading is saving this mom’s life (or at least her sanity).” So if you’ve ever wondered how or why I read so much, look no further! The answers are all here today, from my introverted need for quiet to my craving for a sense of accomplishment as a young mother. Can you relate to this?

One last thing: do you have a favorite planner? Like a day planner, or a notebook calendar, or a personal organizer, or whatever you call it? I heard a talk at MOPS the other day about “organizing you” and decided it’s finally time to invest in a planner I can take everywhere with me: one location for all my notes, lists, goals, appointments, and even meal plans. I’ve had my eye on this one (so classic!) and this one (with rave reviews). Any suggestions for me?

32 :: in guest post

Happy Updates, Simplicity Parenting, & Good Books

July 9, 2014 at 8:50 pm

“I’m making a gelato cake, Mama. BUT DON’T LET GIL TOUCH IT!!!”

Hi, friends! It’s a much happier Becca that comes to you today. Thank you so much for all your kindness on this emotional day; your comments and prayers meant so much. My whole family felt hugely loved this July 7.

It’s a quiet Wednesday night here, our last Wednesday in Sicily. This time next week we’ll be in Virginia with our family! I’m a mishmash of happy and sad and relieved and ready and torn and nostalgic and thankful. The usual emotional rooooollercoaster of moving.

After I blubbered about all our problems in the last post, God came along and took care of a lot of them for us. He helped us to sell our antique guest bedroom set that very night! And someone agreed to buy our car the next afternoon! The car isn’t sold yet, but I have their cash deposit in the bank, so I think it’s going to happen. Please pray that it does!

The movers came yesterday and took away the last of our belongings, leaving us with just the things that will fit into our suitcases. We still have military-issued loaner furniture and kitchenware, but otherwise the house is very echo-y and empty. Everything feels much more packed away, organized, simplified. Finally!

On the subject of simplicity, I wrote two guest posts for my friend Courtney’s wonderful motherhood blog. I discussed my favorite parenting book, Simplicity Parenting, and talked about how I keep my parenting simple, choose our toys, avoid screen time, and refresh myself as a mom. Step on over to read Part 1 and Part 2 here!

Last update: today we went to the beach with everyone from Elliott’s vet clinic, and it was SO much fun. (See photo above!) I love all his soldiers and their families, and they have been a great group to work with and know these past three years. After all, it’s not every job where everyone loves taking a whole day off to hang out at the beach together. And what a beach! Hashtag grateful.

Ok, just one more thing. Book nerd alert. I’ve just spent the last 15 minutes perusing this amazing book list and seeing which ones our library has. I know, I have six days left! But maybe time to read one more book. I laughed when I saw the first four books she recommended. Remind you of anything? ;)

That’s what’s going on in our little corner. Thanks for reading! What are you up to this week?

12 :: in Army, beach, guest post, life lately, military life

Living with Kids in Italy: My Guest Post on Design Mom!

May 21, 2014 at 3:12 pm

Super exciting news today: our home is featured on Design Mom!!! I worked on the photos and interview for this guest post for weeks, and it was thrilling to finally see it in print!

My friend Courtney suggested I be a part of Design Mom’s Living With Kids series several months ago. I was intimidated — we are not super artistic and our home is not “design-y” — but I knew I wanted to take good pictures of our home before we moved. I emailed Gabrielle to see if she would consider me, and she immediately emailed back and said, “Let’s do this!” I did a happy dance.

But then the real work started! I had to take amazing photos of our home… but I have two little children, basic photography skills (I still can barely use the manual settings on my camera…), and a never-super-clean house. But Elliott was as excited about this as I was, so one Saturday morning he gallantly entertained the kids for hours the while I photographed our kitchen from every. possible. angle.

And then we looked at the photos and I took more photos.

And then we looked again and I took still more!

Eventually I moved on to the rest of the house, cleaning rooms during nap times and photographing them, or cleaning rooms with antsy children around my knees and begging them to stay near me so they wouldn’t get in the shot for “just another minute, and then we can play.”

It’s all worth it in the end because I love these photos. (And the 800 other ones on my laptop that didn’t make it into the guest post!) They capture so much of our home, life, and memories right now. I’ll treasure these forever.

Gabrielle also asked me some really insightful questions about how we ended up living overseas, my favorite parts about life abroad, and what it’s like to live in Sicily with kids. If you want to know more about how we’re raising our kids overseas, I think the interview is a great summary. (I know you’ve gotten a lot of parenting and living overseas talk here and here recently, though!)

Anyway, if you’ve ever wanted to see a bit more of our little yellow house in Sicily, check it out here. I hope you enjoy it!

19 :: in guest post, home sweet home, Sicily, Uncategorized

guest post on “Happily Married… to the Cows!”

February 4, 2014 at 2:40 pm

So I know I’ve made several references to “the farm near our house” that we like to visit, and I’ve shared a couple of Instagram pictures here and here. However, I don’t think I’ve ever done a post about the crazy pigs, dogs, and cows down on the farm.

Today I did! I am posting over on my friend Alica’s blog. I’ve loved her blog for a long time now because it’s an amazing view into life on a small dairy farm. Alica is a busy mom and farmer, but she still manages to blog frequently with amazing photos and stories from the farm (like the time the milk truck got stuck in the snow) or their community (like an Amish school Christmas program!).

So head on over to Happily Married… to the Cows! to read a little bit about our trip to a Sicilian farm… and then find out more about life on a dairy farm!

2 :: in guest post

guest post on Communicating Across Boundaries!

January 28, 2014 at 3:32 pm

With two little kids who are changing every day, I spend most of my time on this blog writing about them, and I rarely dip into stories from my past. Those of you who don’t know me in person probably aren’t aware that I grew up overseas and was born in Egypt. And almost gave birth to Lena in Egypt, too! But that’s another story for another time.

Today I have the enormous privilege of sharing a little bit about my childhood and newlywed days on my friend Marilyn’s blog. Just like me, she has spent many years of her life overseas, and her blog reflects her love for other cultures and cross-cultural communication. I feel wiser and more thoughtful after reading her posts.

I enjoyed going deeper today to write about experiencing tear gas in Pakistan as a girl and the white-knuckle night Elliott finally got out of Egypt before the revolution in Tahrir Square. Head on over to Communicating Across Boundaries to read my reflections on being a TCK!