Characters

I’m Jessica, the writer and photographer behind Days of You and Me.  I am mom to two beautiful kids, my daughter Annabelle, age 3, and my baby boy Levi, who is just about 6 months old.  Once upon a time, I dreamed that I would get to stay home with my children.  To be honest though, it was a dream mixed in with many others: get a doctorate, teach, write, see the world, meet the man of my dreams.  Sometimes I wonder whether it’s okay to have many dreams, to dream some more as the days pass, and to live out each dream in our own way, our own time.  So far in my life, I have taught (english, adult education, and writing), I have written (for small publications here and there), I have traveled a bit, and I met the man of my dreams.  We’ve been married for 5 years now; gosh, it’s gone by fast.  It makes me glad for words and photos.  So I can remember these days.

Currently I am studying photography: my mentor is Melody Yazdani, who also happens to be one of my dearest friends; I take photos with a Nikon d90 and prefer my 50 mm lens.  I am taking an at-home Aperture 2 course and work with a MacBook Pro.  My goal in the coming year is to build a portfolio (that I can be proud of) and submit it for a community art show.  I need to put myself out there.

Many of my hours are spent mothering.  I am a “stay-at-home” mom, though I often wonder, how often am I at home?  We’re constantly on the move.  My children inspire me, make me stop and see, show me the world again and again (even when I think I’ve seen or done something a thousand times before), and lead my husband and me on the greatest of adventures.  Because I believe that having an open heart and being kind to our children can channel so much good into the world, I practice attachment parenting and volunteer as a support group leader for attachment parenting international.

Our family is “green.”  My first blog, which you’ll notice in the URL, was entitled “Green Mamma.”  I still am a green mamma, but my passions pushed me to write about a wider variety of topics (than the environment), so I renamed my blog and redirected its focus.  Now and again, I’ll share environmental work and projects that our family takes on, at home and in our community.  We love to pick up garbage.   I am an avid, thirsty, and ignorant gardener.  We live in a townhouse and care for 2 small gardens, with many potted plants here and there.  We support local farmers in the Shenandoah Valley, in Maryland, and in Pennsylvania.  We buy local, do our best to live local.

Mohandis Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”   I envision a community where people respect each other, share, talk kindly to and about one another, and where children are loved.  I envision peace, and so, I try to practice having a calm mind, being in the moment, and giving my love and attention to those in my life.

I watch Jon Stewart, Modern Family, and I love to listen to my husband laugh.  He has such a dry sense of humor.  My daughter Annabelle cracks me up with her dance moves, her creative spirit, and her ability to negotiate, quite well actually, at the age of 3.  Oh, and I have to laugh at myself too.  Sometimes I am so serious.

In my past, I regret my anger. I wish I’d been more accepting of myself; I wish that I had not forced any idea or external expectation upon myself.  Hopefully, moving forward, I will be kinder to myself.  I will walk and breathe through my angry moments.  I will instead choose love.

My life has been full of happiness, many hard moments, peaks and falls.  After my second child was born, I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and received treatment for anxiety and depression.  Likely, I will continue treatment for a while longer; I notice that I feel more balanced and more enthusiastic for life.  I feel so lucky.  I could have continued on a long and sad path.  What seemed like tragedy is in many ways an unexpected blessing.

I admire compassionate people.  I admire people who can laugh at themselves.  I admire people who care about the world and work on behalf of others.  I admire my husband; he is smart, ambitious, resilient, and generous.  I couldn’t ask for a better mate.  I admire my mother; she is strong, down to earth, creative, and has a great laugh.

Thank you for visiting me.  I enjoy e-mails, comments, and following the discussions on your blogs.

With love,

Jessica

Who am I? My loves make me who I am:

my husband (and voice of logic), the Matt, and our sweet Annabelle.

my baby Levi and me,

and our cat Toby.