An introduction...

While reading my friend Christine's brand spanking new blog, I realized that I never really introduced myself!  Also, several of my friends on facebook were asking about how and when I started sewing so I will write about that as well.  Finally, I will post my not-yet fabulous photo of the day (Take THAT mommy brain, I still remember how to write an introductory paragraph that lays out the outline of my writing even after birthing three children!)

Sooooo, for my introduction, I am Julie, a 30 year old mom of three girls aged 7, 3 (almost 4), and 14 months.  My long-suffering husband is Adam who very patiently deals with his lot in life; that is living with 4 females (and two female cats!) under one roof.  Aside from being a mommy, I would say the single biggest thing that defines who I am (unfortunately) is that I suffer from emetophobia, anxiety and depression.  That is probably an unknown fact to many who know me and might read this, but there it is.  None of those three things would exist in my life without the others; they are undeniably interconnected.

Emetophobia is the fear of vomit; I fear it in every form... myself vomiting, my kids vomiting, or even just hearing about someone's sickness, or seeing it on TV.  When I tell people about my emetophobia, they will invariably say, "well, no one LIKES vomiting, everyone is afraid of it."  But my fear is not a normal fear.  It is irrational, uncontrollable, and when I am in the grips of dealing with my fear, I often feel like I would prefer death than ever having to deal with it again.  I have suffered from it for as long as I can remember, although it is only in the last few years that I realized that "it" has a name and that other people suffer from it.  Coming to this realization has been my saving grace as I now have a wonderful support system of people who actually understand me (you know who you are!!).  The anxiety comes and goes and is always linked to my fear.  I suffer from panic attacks although have learned to live with them quite well.  The depression is the least frequent visitor for me, but does rear it's ugly head from time to time again, always relating to my fear and what it does to my family and those I care about.

Whew, that was heavy! Now for some lighter stuff....

I started sewing about 3 years ago when Mylie was still a baby.  I had never sewn before and I didn't own a sewing machine, but a friend showed me how to make baby legwarmers (like these I posted in my how-to) and I just HAD to try making them!  At the time, Baby Legs were selling for $14- $16 in boutiques and I wanted some at a fraction of the cost.  So I found a free sewing machine on craigslist ( a beautiful Singer of 1967 vintage!) and started sewing my baby legwarmers.  I graduated to sewing ribbon skirts and other easy projects before deciding to take a beginners sewing class at A Great Notion.  It was just 4 classes, but it was a big help for me and my self-taught sewing.  It taught me how to read a pattern among other things!  In the last couple of years, I have also graduated to a new machine and most recently, to a serger.  I find it to be a very satisfying hobby, and one you should definitely try if you have been thinking about it!

And finally for my photo of the day, I took a picture of my sewing/ craft space.  I am lucky enough to have a small room that I can keep all of my crafty stuff out and easily accessible.  The room is so small however, that I had to stand on the ledge of the bathtub in the adjoining bathroom in order to take a picture of my desk!

So here it is, in all it's messy glory: