i’m moments from posting a beautiful collection of photographs i shot together with my sister-in-law ingrid a few weeks back. as a photographer – we put so much emotion into what we photograph & whom we photograph. all the people & pictures coming are close to my heart, so to have ingrid by my side to help capture it all was such a treasure.
i just counted up that there are 20 photoshoots on my computer right now, for others that needed editing attention. so in the spirit of procrastination, inspiration, rejuvenation – whatever i call it… i’ve re-arranged my office, went for a run, cut off all my hair, and now have some coffee & treats. ready, set, go!
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and today, we made my head lighter, my load lighter… we let go of excess in favor of simplicity and less. hair that is. yes, today i donated two 12 plus inch braids of my hair to an organization to make wigs for kids with cancer. and how wonderfully the weight is lifted.
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not sure who or what makes the northwest more beautiful… the beauty of the land, or the beauty in the people we see there.
the last time we were here, kai was barely three months old – it was raining, snowing, & filled with golden leaves. (post here)
this time, we soaked in hot sun, blue waters, and golden sunsets. loving it all.
until next time…
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while so much of our summer has felt like we were away – we also embraced our home. and filled it with family. as the countdown to the end of summer approaches, i feel that without a doubt, we embraced summer, home, and life over the past 9-10 weeks.
and today, as gavin & i jumped in some waves – we both smiled and told each other how much we love our home.
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with no closet.
when i was staying at my sister’s old, 100+ year old, farm house – i went to dress baby lucia and realized you couldn’t even get to the dresser. important to note – in barely three short months – my sister and her husband moved their family of six across the world, fully painted and worked on making an old farm house not only livable but amazing dreamy. so, the fact that the girls room was a little… um… messy, was all because of so much fun, so much excitement, and so many other wonderful things happening. and, did i mention, there were THREE girls (ages 7, 5, and almost 2) sharing a room in which there is no closet. 
so one day we tackled it. with the goal of a $0 budget – to make it fully functional, appealing to the eye, clean, and best of all – fun for the girls.
i was excited to blog about it – for the bigger picture of what this room represents. that we can all live more simply, with less, more beautifully, on less money. 
so while kristina was downstairs doing a german lesson – i threw everything in the hallway, and had the girls help me throw all the clothes into five piles : 1.) annika, 2.) lili, 3.) lucia, 4.) donate, 5.) pajamas
then i took each girls’ pile and took out what could be hung, while kristina looked around in the side yard for a stick we could hang from the ceiling to get some clothes hanging. we also took out a full dresser, to allow more space in the room and less temptation to pile more and more clothes into the room. 
then we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. hung some shelves that were laying around, and created a simple vignettes & some wildflowers gavin had picked specifically for their room.
there were certain elements of the room we weren’t going to tackle, like the outdated purple carpet… but when the rest of the room became functional, simple, and organized – you don’t notice those elements as much.
now to tackle my boys’ shared room – which so quickly becomes unruly!
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such a wonderful monthly tradition, a photo an hour, over ten hours. (join here – ten on ten)
but today – it took me 12 hours. and obviously i didn’t take one of the shots. but never less, ten on ten – once again – great.
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daytrips, mountain views, birthday parties… here is all the end.
annika’s birthday!
liliana’s birthday!
there was so much that inspired me about our 5 weeks in europe. the slower pace of life. the consciousness of the swiss. the attention to appreciating & protecting the beautiful.
i was so inspired by a life filled with less, and how less truly allows for so much more.
i could write so much more, and go on and on. but we will appreciate & look deeper into the less.
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so i still have lots of posts i am excited to share but in the meantime… in real life… it looks more like this.
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