So if you follow me or Studio Laguna on facebook, you may have already heard of Gatherhaus. If you haven’t, I can’t wait to introduce you to this new blog!

My good friend Dani Tietjen and I created Gatherhaus about a year ago and published the blog (which could not have been done without the awesome Jesse at Creature Works Labs in Waconia) a little over six months ago. We are both storytellers at heart, and often find ourselves in crazy situations where one minute we’re shopping at a garden store and the next minute getting a VIP tour of the inner workings of the place from the owner. People love to talk to us and we love to hear their stories, and over the years we have learned so much and all these stories have helped shape our own.

Dani and I are two very different people but also similar. Both creative, both energetic, both with “just get ‘er done!” attitudes…we approach life differently but with similar objectives and direction and share ideas and inspiration constantly. That became the foundation of Gatherhaus. We firmly believe in purposefully building community around shared passions and goals, and found there really was a void for what we were most interested in…and it seemed like it was a pretty big void that others were voicing a need for as well.

Gatherhaus is a place that celebrates the individual who has decided to break out of the mold and do things their own way. It isn’t about a specific lifestyle (though it does embrace crunchiness quite a bit) but more about living authentically and with purpose. Our aim with this blog is to tell the stories of people who decided to live their convictions…to whittle down what is most important to them, and live purposefully in that way.

So whether that is to live in a clean uncluttered environment, to embrace a laid back lifestyle for the kids, to eat organic, to plan more vacations, to make sure screen time is limited at home, to intentionally meet new people who will inspire, to home school, to homestead, to move to a tiny house, to find out how to fix their own house, to learn how to garden and can and sew, to learn how to brew the perfect cup of coffee, to find local artists, the list goes on and on.

Basically, one of my big worries is to look back 10 years from now and find myself in the same place I was then, and to realize I never did half the things I wanted to do. That is one of my main drives in life, to live true to how I want to live and to make choices that fit with my ideals and goals so I don’t get sidetracked and miss out on something big.

This sounds intense, but it isn’t. It is just reorganizing the brain a bit…it just takes giving yourself permission to live the way you want to live. And if your current life isn’t the way you want it to be (and really, whose truly is?) living purposefully means to make the most of what you have. To maybe change up one or two things so your current situation aligns more closely with the type of person you want to be and the type of life you want to have.

For me, it mainly deals with stress. Owning my own photography business is very stressful, and being creative on top of that is its own brand of stress, and shooting weddings, well, that is the top stress layer on the stress cake. But I love my job, and I love the life it provides for my family, and it lets me meet amazing people, see incredible things, and have experiences I wouldn’t have otherwise. So my journey has been about learning to put myself in an environment and mental capacity that helps me deal with stress much better than I used to. We have embraced simple aesthetics in our home, a simple lifestyle void of overscheduling and full of quality time, and a simple mindset to not sweat the small stuff. It has been a journey, and is nowhere near perfect, but life is good, and that is the goal!

Gatherhaus is full of stories of people who have made changes both big and small to be more authentic to themselves. It contains articles as varied as how to decorate for Christmas, to how to make your own laundry soap…some practical articles, some that are more fun and whimsical, and some that highlight the adventures our community has taken together. On facebook, Gatherhaus is a way to interact with other open minded people that are thirsty to learn and share. In person, Gatherhaus is a warm open community that accepts all and is dedicated to finding the common roots we all have.

So I would love for you to venture over to the Gatherhaus blog and check it out. Subscribe to always know when the next article is posted and to be one of the first to know when our events like the Culinary Series or home improvement classes may be. We are also on twitter and instagram (where you truly get the inside scoop!).

I would love for you to be a part of this journey! I have already connected with so many amazing people, had so many foodie adventures, and posted some really wonderful images, and we have some big news coming soon!