Home sweet hanger
home;
/hōm/
noun
The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.
adjective
Relating to the place where one lives.
adverb
To or at the place where one lives.
I try to document big (and small) moments of my life through photos because for me, it's how I express myself best. In no way do I consider myself a writer but I would like to share publicly where some of my inspiration comes from when I feel it is special.
In this case, it has to do with my home (past and present). Like many typical children, I grew up in a house with my own bedroom, a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a basement and a yard. As an active and high energy girl, I took full advantage of being able to have room to spread out. I could run, set up puzzles and leave them out for days, practice my softball pitch, learn to ride a bike and play a serious game of hide and seek. To say the least, I was lucky and I was free.
Fast forward 23 years and I was moved out. However, instead of keeping the spacious bedroom I had always known, I segued into a 250 square foot trailer with all of my belongings. This proved to be both easy and hard. I loved that I had my own space to decorate and arrange how I wanted. I could paint it any color, do my dishes or leave them for the morning, blast the heat (we all know dads are strict with the thermostat) or leave the house at 11pm without having to explain to anyone where I was going. However, the massive amounts of clothing I had acquired over the years was tough to store and organize. But I did it! And I've gotta say, I'd do it again. Although I have no desire to ever live in a tiny house, I didn't mind living in my narrow little space.
If not for the winter (no matter how many down comforters or electric blankets you have, trailers are not great in 0 degree weather) I could have stayed there longer than the short 7 months. I was not a fan of cold socks in the morning or having the bitter wind whip through the cracks under the door. Just as I was brainstorming where to move next my boyfriend moved back from LA... with more video equipment than I knew what to do with. So in he came with his tripods, cameras, computers and drones. I already had limited space but even with rearranging and adding some shelves, it proved to be too tight. I should add, I am not good at sharing my closet space (remember I'm an only child who loves shopping and came from a home with 3 extra bedrooms). Between my clothing addiction and his gear obsession we were making every square inch count. Four months after his return we moved about 200 feet to the left into a 'massive' 550 square foot apartment.
Instead of a tiny trailer, we now lived in an apartment that was built inside a section of an airplane hanger. (I should add the background of his father being an active small plane pilot). On the first night, I laughed when I realized I could take 10 whole steps in a row in the same direction. We now have a washer, dryer, full-size stove, a closet and a sunroom! It felt like heaven. Now I could be a whole 20 feet away from Gary instead of always feeling like we were living on top of each other. To add to all of this exciting stuff we acquired, the day after we moved into the apartment we brought home a 6-week old puppy that we named Pixel, of course because of our professions. Over the past 8 months our dog has gained 37 pounds, we've both obtained more gear and my jacket addiction has slowed to a crawl.. but has not stopped. We do a pretty damn good job at keeping our things organized and using space wisely but with a growing businesses we both can feel the walls closing in again. I'm craving a desk that has more than 20" of space for my laptop and he is desperate for a movie theater/ gaming room/ man cave/ editing studio... basically a dark room. Thus far, I have to say I've loved living in odd places. I think this is largely because I'm so happy with who I get to be so close with all the time. I have extensive experiences living in large places with other people and I've got to say, I'd choose a tiny home with Gary over a 5 bedroom house with anyone else. *AWWWW* Sappy, but true. We have no immediate plans to pick up and move onto our next location but wherever it is, it won't be as strange as our last two homes.
Why I wrote this:
I wanted to document the places I've lived in thus far for two reasons.
1: They're pretty cool places that a lot of people ask me about and interested in.
2: I express and document my life in photos, the way some people do with journaling. Someday, I want to be able to show my kids the cool places I lived in my 20s and what better way than channeling my inner artist to shoot some fun and creative photos?! And a bonus, Gary and I have fun setting up while finding the light and angles. I'm lucky to have a visual artist so close with me to bounce ideas off of. And it's great practice!
3. I was inspired to do home shoots for clients and wanted to advertise that I do them with photos outside of my own homes... and bonus, I get to keep them for my own memories.
