Home is with you by Always with Yoo

Hello The Cat You & Us readers! My name is Jane from Always With Yoo. Damaris, Dani and Juno are one of our favorite families in the blogging community and I’m beyond stoked to be here to celebrate their first blog anniversary by sharing what “Home Is With You” means to me, my husband, Yangkyu and our cocker spaniel, Piri.

I grew up with lots of music, painting and singing in the home. My mother was a painter and loved old Hollywood musicals — we grew up watching all her favorite ones and singing along to our favorite songs. There was always music playing somehow, somewhere – we would play the piano, flute and trumpet, and songs from Paul Anka, Connie Francis, Patti Page and Neil Diamond. My parents were huge fans. They also were avid antique collectors. I don’t think I appreciated this surrounding when I was young, but I am realizing that it had a profound impact in my life, and now, as a adult, I’m bringing lot these memories into the home that I am making with Yangkyu and Piri.

Before the three of us became a family {and after} we lived all over the US; 10 cities/7 states to be exact {even Piri joined us from another city!}. For a while it was hard to call anywhere “home” because we were constantly moving, but I’ve come to realize that home is anywhere with the two most important loves of my life, and that “home” really is what we make of the gracious space that we are so fortunate to live in.

With this in mind, we made sure that every nook and cranny, wall and corner of our home told a certain kind of story; an antique find, a picture, my mother’s old weave baskets, my grandmother’s wooden spools — they all have something wonderful to say. One of my favorites though is an old box filled with Yangkyu’s late parents’ treasures, including a love letter from his dad to his mom dated December 22, 1999, his family’s immigration papers, Yangkyu’s elementary school awards and his father’s old notebook from his mandatory army service days in Korea (circa 1969).

While I try to bring both of our childhoods into this space, we are also making new memories and traditions together, which I hope will have a profound impact on the lives of the children we are hopefully blessed to have one day.

We have pictures on several walls in our rental, but this by far is our favorite. It has all our special memories and it grows by the season.

Several of our antique and thrift findings are here. And I started collecting bottles a couple of years ago. I love finding and keeping them in all different shapes and sizes.

We started a gallery wall of our favorite prints and pictures. It’s still an ongoing project. I’ve learned to be patient with decorating the home now. Before I needed everything right away, but now I take my time because I want to be able to tell beautiful story.

Sometimes when Piri sleeps, I think he looks like a lion. Or maybe one of the robot lions that make up Voltron.

Those wooden spools were once my grandmother’s. I never met her since she passed before I was born, but my mother used to always tell me that she would’ve loved seeing me gobble up cold buckwheat noodles. They were my grandmother’s favorite too.

Our home has a lot of DIY projects. These two hang over our bed. Piri is an important member of our family so his initial made it up there as well because our bed becomes his when we’re not using it.

Last summer, Yangkyu and I highjacked our Malm Ikea dresser and give it a new coat of paint with knobs. We’re looking forward to doing more home projects together. I like the thought of having things that both of us put time and effort into.

One of our favorite children’s books is “One” by Kathryn Otoshi. It was gifted to me and is about speaking up, taking a stand against bullies and learning how to all get along. It has a wonderful message that we both find so important to live by.

We weren’t kidding about having loads pictures at home. These are Stickygrams {they’re Sticky9 now}. I started Instagram in 2010 and have been collecting these since 2011. Seeing these snippets brings a smile to my face. It’s the most wonderful feeling.

Photo & text credits for this post: Always With Yoo

Thanks Jane! We are so happy to be able to host your beautiful loving home in our blog. The family memories you are treasuring and the new ones you are building with Yangkyu and Piri are precious, thanks for sharing, we are privileged to witness them.

Jane is a cute third of the Always with Yoo family; we are completely hooked to their daily stories, the sweetness in Jane’s words, their gorgeous heartfelt photography where each snapshot oozes love, and of course having the cutest dog ever doesn’t hurt either ;)

Keep in mind that you still can win two mugs filled with Japanese candy in our blogiversary giveaway! And keep tuned for Wednesday’s guest post.

**This post is part of the “Home is with you” guest post series to celebrate our first blogiversary**