Squeezing Juice

It has been awhile since I’ve taken the time to pour my heart out, add my favorite photos, and click “publish”… it has been a long time to just blog. I miss that. I miss clicking that “publish” button- knowing that I’ve written our story and documented and captured our family happenings.

We’ve been going through big life changes. There has been many times where the scale wasn’t always balanced, where my frustrations outweighed my patience, and the cons stacked up well above the pros. There has been times were I’ve retreated, times where I’ve backpedaled, and many times where I’ve questioned the decisions I’ve made. I do a lot of questioning-- I question myself, I question my abilities.

Ultimately, I’m pressing forward. I have a huge fear of giving up and failing. I want to succeed, but by succeeding means sacrifice. I’m going against the norm and following my gut.

As some of you know, I’ve made the leap into homeschooling. Yes, homeschooling. I never thought in a million years that I would be a homeschool mom, but here I sit, anchored to the desk teaching math, science, composition, history, and so on. I know homeschooling is temporary solution- there will be a day when military orders come down and we’ll move states and Krysta goes back to public school, but with all the issues we had with Tinker Elementary, I feel like this was our best option for the time being.

As much as I’m sacrificing, it has been worth it. Krysta feels safe and secure, the information that I’m teaching her is sticking, and she’s rebuilding her confidence.

The juice is worth the squeeze.

(and here is a pretty picture --a friendly reminder-- that I still have a bucket of photos to share with you from our vacay in Hawaii)

Love,
Emmie

A New New Year

I first dreamt about you when I was a little girl. It manifested for years, turning that dream into thoughts and hopes that one day my childhood fantasies would come true. I thought about you religiously throughout my teenage years—doodling your name in my Trapper Keeper, sketching what you would look like face to face, how you smelt, how you would taste. And now, here you are right in front of me, exceeding my every expectation. You’re fresh and invigorating and delicious. You’re a healer of my wary soul and a patch that covers my bruises. Stitch by stitch, you’ve flawlessly repositioned my world back to working order with fresh ideas and artist endeavors and fireworks of inspiration.  You’re a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific, holding an overabundance of beauty, peace, and guidance.

These past two summers on the island have ignited my fire, my passion, my positive outlook. I’ve grown closer to family and faith- surrounding myself around turquoise water and crisp foliage and untouched nature is where I feel closest to God. I’ve spent so many days listening to the ocean rolling back and forth, deep in thought, envisioning our future with projects, art, field trips, new goals, coffee gatherings, dinners on the BBQ, and walks through the trails.

I’m excited for the future and all of the possibilities and adventures that this year holds. It's like having a clean slate that every New Year's Day offers, only better. This is a New, New Year.   

A few random photos from last week:

Aloha,

Emmie

Secret World

The sun wedged herself between layers of heavy rain-filled clouds, creating perfect silhouetted figures across the beach. Like vibrantly colored swimsuits against bright turquoise water where our skin is painted in gold, blackened figures contrasting in muted filtered light is as equally beautiful.

I love days were the afternoons linger, practically coming to a complete halt, giving us an extra dose of memory making. We’ve been on our own clock, in our own time zone, and loving every moment of this summer goodness.

I read this passage this other day, and I believe it is spot on.

 Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them you’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.
-Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 5: A game of you

Here we are, in our own world, with vibrant swimsuits and black silhouettes.

And it’s unimaginable. Magnificent. Wonderful. Stupid. And amazing.

Create your unimaginable world.

Love, Emmie

DIY Headboard {Project Pretty}

I'm finally getting around to posting our DIY headboard. We actually made this ages ago, but I wanted to wait until our bedroom was completely decorated to post the big reveal photos. However, over the months we've moved and once again, our bedroom has taken the back-burner, and it's still not complete.


For now, our headboard is finished, so I'd like to share with you on how we made it.

What you'll need: 
 (I purchased all items from Lowes)

• two 8' stud boards (if you don't have high ceilings, you'll need to cut these down to fit your room)
• six 1x12x8 boards (for a Queen sized bed)
• 28 lag bolts and washers
• Rust-Oleum Kona Wood Stain
• Rust-Oleum Oil-Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint (for an antiqued look)
• Drill

Steps:

1. cut the stud boards to the height of your liking
2. stain all of the wood
3. lay your headboard flat on the ground
4. drill two holes on each side of each piece of wood-- you should have a total of 4 holes/board, 24 holes total
5. spray paint the screws and washers with the oil-rubbed spray paint
6. carefully screw in the bolts (make sure your washer is behind the bolt) into your drilled holes. if any of your bolts are scratched, you can touch them up by using a q-tip
7. once you move your headboard inside, take your remaining four bolts and washers, and use it to attach the headboard to your bed frame

Please note that I still need to change our lamps, and add artwork and mirrors. I'm also playing around with the idea of sewing new curtains and a duvet cover. Stick around for more bits and pieces of our bedroom makeover. 

I hope you all have a productive week, and stick around for more interior updates!

Happy Monday.

Love, Emmie

Summer Happiness

I packed my agenda in my carry-on bag with the intent to plug in activities, to-dos, and a plan for our Hawaiian trip-- that agenda has yet to be put to use. Instead, we wake up slowly without plans or schedules and we wing it, rolling with the punches, keeping it light.

Our days have been filled with salty air, sandy toes, and golden sunshine. It’s the perfect combination for summer happiness.

Here are bits of our happiness:

Impromptu picnics in the park (bird bombing included)

…followed by vibrant beach days.

A boy and his bucket.

A boy and his duckie. This photo is the definition of pure contentment.

Sun drenched baby faces.

Saving the apple. We’ve lost many apples to the sea and sand…probably more than we’ve actually eaten. I told him, this is his last apple, if he loses it, that’s it. He made sure to raise that apple as high as it could go and protect it with all his might against the waves…that apple is floating somewhere in the Pacific.

This. This hits me right to my core because I know exactly what’s going in her mind. She’s creating and writing stories in her head. After several moments of daydreaming and starring off into the horizon, she’ll run over to tell me her stories, her make-believe adventures with mermaids and fairies, and her future plans of opening a boutique or a restaurant or becoming an artist. She’s shining bright.

Shaved ice on the beach. Because it’s awesome. Enough said.

Still loving these birds.

And Will loves the birds too…in the same sense of Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians.

and my favorite, being together. As much as they push each others buttons and test their limits and push the boundaries, a moment like this pushes the scale back to the balancing position.

I’m ending with this quote, which is perfect for summer happiness:

“and these are the days we dream about when the sunlight paints us gold”

Love, Emmie