From Our Home to Yours

With the New Year approaching just around the corner, I'd like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a Fantastic Hanukkah from our home to yours.

"Christmas...is not an external event at all, but a piece of one's home that carries in one's heart." -Freya Stark

Love, Emmie

Knee Deep in the Trees Somewhere

***A post from my husband on a father-daughter outing***

I spent my teenage years in Colorado, so hiking is a fairly normal activity for me. Little did I know, Hawaii takes hiking to a new level.

Em's Mom's Roommate (say that one 3 times fast!) Dan took Krysta and I for an early morning hike, and I was definitely surprised at the technicality of it. No beaten, graveled paths here. The only way you knew you were going the right way was the occasional pink ribbon tied on a tree limb. If that isn't enough, the trail was full of creek crossings, tree roots, lush foliage and of course: mud. Not your every day mud either, mind you. This was the sticky, gacky, mucky goop kind of mud.

The biggest surprise of the day, however was Krysta. My dainty, fragile, little princess was out there climbing, hopping, slipping, sliding and balancing her way through the trail with the best of them. Even when we scaled vertical rock faces with naught but a ragged old rope someone left behind, that girl kept her game face on for the whole 5.25 miles!

And man, was it worth it. All of our hard work, and my and Dan's aching bones was rewarded with some of the best scenery and most lush bits of rain forest I could have ever imagined. And then we made it to the waterfalls.

All in all, I consider this day one of the best from the whole trip, and I'll never forget it.

I don't have any photos from the hike, but here are a few that we took while snorkeling after our hike:

 

Meanwhile on land, Em, Mom, and Will lounged in the sun:

More to come.

Stay tuned.

Love, Emmie

DIY Sun-Bleached Headboard {Project Pretty}

I'm in the process of getting Will's room put together. As some of you know, we moved across base back in May to the SNCO Housing-- same style house, just a little bigger.

I juggle back and forth between an ocean/surf theme and a woodland/rustic theme. With that said, this headboard is perfect because it's versatile to fit many themes for your growing guy.
 

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

• one 10' stud board, cut in half- Lowes can cut this for you, if you don't have the tools
• three 1x4x8, cut in half- this will have you a total of six pieces
• Rust-Oleum Sun-Bleach Wood Stain
• white glaze
• Rust-Oleum Polyurethane Gloss Sealer
• paint color of your choice for "Explore". I used a navy blue craft paint.
• nails
• wood filler

*TIP: I searched for the most beat up looking boards. I think it adds interest.

Steps:

1. Cut all of your wood in half
2. Line the studs at the exact distance of your bed frame
3. Nail your six boards onto the studs. Use wood filler to hide the nail heads
4. Stain each piece with your Sun-Bleached stain
5. After it dries, apply a layer of white glaze
6. Paint on your script
7. Brush on your sealer
8. Wait 24 hours before screwing your headboard onto your bed frame

*TIP: write your word in chalk first. This way you can see what it'll look like and make changes if necessary before you permanently add paint.

To see the adult version, click here.


Here's what we have going on in Will's room thus far. There's still so much that I want to do to his room, like paint his dresser, change the curtains, and add Euro shams.

Fact: It'll change a million times before I'm satisfied with it's final look, but I'll fill you in as I go.

I made this tee-pee and campfire set for William last Christmas, so if you're interested, I'll compile a tutorial, along with the book ledge and the yarn initial.

Happy Building!

Love, Emmie

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