we’ve been living outside soaking up the long days of summer.
i wanted to share with you a little tour of our garden…

the side view of our humble little plot

beautiful heirloom tomatoes ripening on the vine

a sweet little butternut squash in a bed of mulch

the cosmos have finally bloomed!

my favorite… false queen ann’s lace

cheery sunflowers buzzing with bees

cucumbers growing on our handmade trellis of dried bamboo & string

basil plants ready to be harvested & made into pesto

bright & colorful zinnias

chamomile ready to be harvested, dried & made into tea

a bouquet of summer’s beauty

hi, friends!
oh, how i’ve missed this place; it has been well over a month! i can hardly believe it.
but honestly, it has been really nice to get away from the “internet world.”

may & june were really busy months for luke + me:
+we celebrated the birth of a new baby girl, evelyn, into the home of {this} amazing family. she’s so tiny & so beautiful & has the sweetest tint of red in her skin. her momma refers to her as her little salad topper. just like a cherry tomato. so sweet!
& before evie was here, we had a small shower in the park. i wanted to share photos with you because they remind me of how wonderful friends & the summertime can be.

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we also…
+painted & cleaned out & reorganized our home! finally!! it has felt so nice to be back in our place… everything has a place. there are no unwanted stacks of stuff just sitting around. we have a nice little reading nook & our kitchen walls are a soothing river rock gray. i painted a few pieces of furniture & hung some new artwork on the walls.

+you already know this, but just a reminder… we went to brazil! it changed us in every way. really, it was the most difficult & the most eye-opening experience. i honestly never knew that people lived with so little. next sunday, luke + i plan to start sharing little bits of our trip with you on {our blog}. we think it is time to dig out our rolls of film & show you what this beautiful place means to us.

+luke started his internship with phil’s farm & i started my full-time job at the montessori school. his experience on the farm is showing him how much of a passion he has for digging his hands into the earth & growing food. my job is so enriching; i am learning so much about myself & about the children where i work. it is amazing to watch kids grow & experience life.

+we also made a huge decision. we decided to get rid of the internet at our house. yes, we no longer have internet connection in our home. it has been a huge challenge & also equally enjoyable. it was getting in the way of our lives. instead of spending time with luke at home, i would update my flickr or check email. he would come home from the farm & feel overwhelmed by the amount of unread emails waiting for him. it was becoming a source of stress & procrastination rather than an outlet for creativity & inspiration. i didn’t like it. he was unhappy with how i wanted to spend my time, and i was frustrated with the stressed-out luke. we weren’t living the way we wanted. so once our neighbor said that she was moving & disconnecting the internet that we shared with her, we felt like we need to take up the opportunity & live without the distraction in our home.of course, it isn’t always easy; it never is. we’ve had to adjust to going to coffee shops to check email & do work.
still, it is so nice to have the quiet to come home to. summer is here & i finally feel like i am able to enjoy it. i’ve taken up a few creative projects & i am working on some new surprises for our etsy shop. we’ve spent time in the garden & are taking walks together to enjoy the summer evenings. we’ve been asking for a more manageable pace in our lives & it is finally happening.
we truly are happier & it feels so good.

if you have read all of this, thank you. if you haven’t, i don’t blame you. just know that i am excited to get back into the groove of things around here. i am excited to pick my camera back up & share our lives with you. it will be a little less often, but that makes for more living, right?

we are back from brazil.
i am still adjusting to home & missing that sweet place.
it is also difficult to spend time online.
i think that might be a good thing right now.
so, i think i am going to be away from this space for a few more days…
until i get back into the swing of things.

i hope you’re all doing well!