happy fourth!

seven years ago,  for the first time ever i was away from home on the fourth of july. and by away i mean FAR away. i was in pucallpa, peru on a mission trip with my church. 

it was probably the most meaningful fourth of july i've ever experienced.

you see, we weren't supposed to be there. we were supposed to leave several days before. we were stuck. the small town that we were staying in had gone on strike. i had no idea what it meant for an entire town to go on strike before then. when the word "strike" comes to mind i see the american version: i imagine a few picketers, a few people off work for a couple days, and a big news story. 

in this small town in peru, a strike meant the whole town was shut down. no stores were open, no restaurants were open, schools were closed and most importantly for us, no airports were open. no planes in, no planes out. no timeline, no guesses for when this would end, just waiting.

our little group celebrated the fourth of july there. which was ironic, bittersweet, and actually pretty fun even though it sounds like it shouldn't have been.

i always think of that trip on the fourth because it has made this holiday more meaningful that i'd ever imagined.

we forget how good it is here. we're sometimes so caught up in who's president, how good/bad/expensive healthcare is, women's rights vs. religious rights, etc that we forget how it is in other countries around the world. 

small american towns don't have to completely shut down all their businesses and risk the well being and health of local families to get the government's attention. you never see mother's walking along a dirt road picking up single grains of rice that had been dropped days ago just to feed her children. women, men and children with disabilities are not cast-offs of society, left to the streets without a second thought. these are things we saw first hand on that trip. 

you guys, we have it good.

so today, we're going to be frivolous. we're going to grill out, listen to loud music, wear red, white & blue head-to-toe, and watch some fireworks because we can! thanks to democracy, thanks to protestors and civil rights activist and most importantly thanks to men and women that have fought (and still fight) for our freedom! 

happy fourth, everyone! 

our home: the yellow room.

when we first moved into this house, the "yellow room" was one of my favorite rooms. second in line only to our kitchen (but come on, kitchens are awesome and quite hard to compete with). unfortunately, the yellow room has always been the hardest room for me to figure out. like, what is it's purpose? we have an office and a guest bedroom already. the shelves that i love in the yellow room are really hard to fill because they're so shallow and the desk area is too tall for any normal chair. as much as i loved this room, it became so frustrating to me. we had to get really creative in determining a purpose for this room.

 

and really, the purpose has evolved over the past year and a half. it's sort of become a catch all room for office supplies, a few quick craft supplies, and some books. we now have a daybed in this room (with a trundle!) so it's also an extra make-shift guest room, when we need it. it's also my favorite napping room because the sun comes in just right through the door window in the evenings that you can't sleep too long but you get just the right amount of rest.

{{ this is a watercolor painting of the street where ben proposed, we bought it on our one year anniversary }}

i've arranged the shelves a million and one times with things i love to look at. i just grab things from around the house and swap things around. its one of the easiest ways to spruce up a room without spending any money or making a commitment.

did i mention how much olive loves this room? she thinks she owns the place.

thanks for visiting!

play date.

so, i'm finally back at work this week! kind of crazy having almost TWO whole weeks off (thanks to some snow days and our so conveniently scheduled winter break). i can't say i was super productive every day that i was off, but i can say i had some fun, i relaxed, did some things around the house, and just really enjoyed myself. its good to do that, you know?

one of my favorite days this week was "aunt jordy play date" -- our sweet niece, addy grace, came over for some fun with aunt jordy and uncle ben. 

 there are so many great, fun things to do when you're only two and a half. one of which, is to chase "ki-ki" (kitty kitty) around and giggle when she tries to play with you. and if you're a really sneaky little girl, you'll pick up "ki-ki" and carry across the house to your aunt jordy. "ki-ki" loves that. 

(side note: no kitties or nieces were harmed during our play date -- not even a scratch.)

 also, its really super fun to jump on the bed and get in tickle fights.

 don't forget about chasing the cat!

and we can't have a fun day without coloring!

needless to say, we were all exhausted at the end of this day. this little chick was snoring in her car seat when we drove her home.

sawyer & eli -- six month photoshoot!

 cute, happy babies just don't need a lot of words with their pictures.

 

have a great week!

hanging out with the turner twins.

tomorrow, i'm taking six month pictures of my all time favorite twin boys. 

here's a little sneak peak at the kind of cuteness i'm going to be posting after their session. 

it's so fun hanging out with these happy babies. 

hope your weekend is just as happy!

keeping secrets + special announcments.

secrets are so hard to keep, you guys, especially happy, exciting secrets! 

being able to post these pictures is like a big sigh of relief. 

i'm so excited that our friends spence & anna are expecting a baby! they are going to be such great parents. i cannot wait to meet this little guy or gal!

welcome to the world, emma grace!

emma grace is the sweet, very little sister of landon (seen above) and the daughter of our good friends chris and donna.  it feels like i just shot newborn pictures of landon, so it was little bit surreal to be doing the same thing again but with a little toddler running around this time. and when i say running around, i literally mean running around. he barely even paused for the picture above. that's your typical one-and-a-half year old! it sure made for a fun afternoon of picture taking!