Archive for the ‘adventures’ Category

hello merry {link up}

December 26th | adventures, family, hello monday

 We’ve had such a relaxing time with family in Omaha. We’ve done a good amount of lying around, watching movies, playing video games and eating delicious food. We also made it out to the Omaha zoo–which was fabulous!

hello trees ready to bud {you’re going to have to wait a few months}

hello brothers checking out the turtles

hello family and cousins that are getting so old {the oldest even babysits!}

hello sunny skies and no snow in the forecast. but we did find a snowy patch of ground and had fun!

hello shadows holding hands

hello lazy leopard. we’ve been lazy just like you.

hello christmas morning with lots of gifts and a wrapping paper explosion

hello monday! i’ve completely lost track of time since we are away–but i’m pretty sure it’s the beginning of a new week! and almost the beginning of a new year.

what are you saying hello to today? link up in the comments section and let us know!

halloween {2011}

November 1st | adventures, family

there was much discussion about what matthias was going to be for halloween. first it was humungasaur {a ben 10 alien}, then it was army captain america, and finally he landed on a knight.

we have lots of costumes around because we tend to dress up on a daily basis. so matthias put his own costume together–and he looked great!

david was ben 10 {for those of you who don’t have young boys, he’s a teenage kid who can turn into all kinds of aliens}. yeah, david pretty much rocked the ben 10 costume. that’s a omnitrix on wrist–and if he hits it right he can turn into any kind of alien.

we went door to door around the neighborhood with a bunch of friends and collected all kinds of loot. the kids had a blast.

did you do anything fun for halloween? tell us about it!

{whale} watching

October 6th | adventures, family

a couple weekends ago we went whale watching off long beach harbor. it was mostly a watching trip–since there were very few whales involved. we saw a few spouts from their blowholes–but that was about it. besides the disappointment of not seeing much in the way of whales, we had a great time!

we left the harbor with big big hopes–our friends had gone the weekend before us and saw 18 blue whales! sadly, this was not the case with our boat trip.

the kids had hot dogs, soda, and matthias had some kind of blue ring pop–so they were very happy. i had a hot chocolate that made me very content. actually, i had two hot chocolates. yum.

we saw lots of sea lions, dolphins and birds. the dolphins were definitely the highlight–jumping in and out of our waves.

next time maybe we’ll just call it a boat ride and not get our hopes set on seeing any whales.

i hope to see a whale leap out of the water before i die. although if i saw a whale breach this close to our boat i think i might have a heart attack. is there anything you really want to see or do before you die?

more on machine gun preacher

October 4th | adventures, inspiration, jewelry

i have photos to share! {courtesy of relativity media} as you know, steve and i attended the LA premiere of machine gun preacher a couple weeks ago.

we walked the red carpet, mingled with the cast a bit and saw the movie before it was released in theaters. we partnered with the makers of the movie to create a keepsake for the LA premiere. everyone who attended received a necklace!

the movie was intense and moving. if you plan to see the movie, please be warned that there is lots of violence {and some cursing and sex}. the violence is hard to watch since the movie is based on a true story. and the LRA continues to attack villages and tear apart families.

gerard butler was incredibly warm and kind. He spent a few minutes chatting with steve and i and he loved the necklace.

um, yes, that is gerard butler’s arm around me. insane!!

here’s gerard with the necklace we created. the shape of the sudan is hand-stamped along with the message ‘for the children’. it’s cast in fine pewter and it’s gorgeous! we are offering them to our community for a limited time–so if you want one, hurry!

a portion of the sale from each necklace will go to the angels of east africa.

want one for yourself? you can find the machine gun preacher necklace here!

antiquing in los alamos, CA

September 29th | adventures, decorating, inspiration

a couple days ago {on the way back from blog sugar} my mom and i stopped in los alamos for some quick antiquing and lunch. it’s about halfway between santa barbara and san luis obispo.

i’ve driven through before–and it’s tiny, but stopping to check out some shops made me look at the details. it’s such a cute town!

that coat above is about the right size for a seven year old–so sweet. i wish it was my size!

we each found a little treasure and we had a delicious burger at charlies.

my burger had pickles, grilled onions, tomatoes and thousand island dressing on it. i’ve come to realize that i love thousand island dressing. and while it might be somewhat off topic, i can’t stop thinking about that delicious burger i had in los alamos! what do you like on your burger?

machine gun preacher, beverly hills premiere

September 22nd | adventures, events

last night was an incredible experience. it was my first time attending any kind of hollywood event like this and i wasn’t sure what to expect–it was a lot of people, a lot of cameras, a lot of waiting, a few celebrities and an intense movie left me with a lot to think about.  i’ll have more to tell you about the movie but i need to process a little. you can watch the trailer here. {that’s gerard butler in the middle pic above}

lisa leonard designs partnered with machine gun preacher to create this necklace to raise awareness for the children in east africa. everyone who attended the premiere was given a necklace. it’s the shape of the sudan with the message behind the movie.

i have more to tell you and lots of pictures to share from the evening–soon. enjoy your thursday friends!

moonlight and late night chats

September 20th | adventures, blog friends

one evening at hilton head, we stayed out on the beach until very late. just talking and eating dessert and enjoying the warm night and moonlight.

my first instinct was to get up and go inside, but i told myself, no just relax. enjoy these moments. there is nothing to rush off to do. i need to sit here in this moment and just be. and i’m so glad i did.

i had the loveliest chat with emily {have you seen her new book? you can read the first chapter here} it was the kind of conversation that goes deep to the hard places that i sometimes don’t want to think about, let alone say out loud.

and while we were chatting i set my camera on the sand and turned the autofocus off. i let the shutter take forever to capture the image–of the soft moonlight, the waves rolling in and sarah and the gypsy mama running and spinning circles on the sand.

such an amazing, magical night. i feel like i can still hold those moments in my hand.

have you taken time lately to just sit and be and not rush off? have you taken time to linger and really be present in the moment?

hilton head island {incourage}

September 8th | adventures, blog friends

I’m in hilton head, south carolina with the writers and staff from {in}courage.

dayspring cards, {in}courage and the hilton head chamber and resort rentals have created a time for us to be together, relax, dream and vision together. it’s been incredible.

the women are incredible. i am honored to be included. {that’s bonnie above wearing the autumn’s song necklace}

highlights so far include incredible baby smiles. banana pudding and bike rides on the beach.

i have one more day and then head home to see my sweet boys. today i’m going to do more relaxing, make time for a bike ride and hopefully catch on some email!

what are you weekend plans?

celebrating our birthdays

August 29th | adventures, family, thoughts

chrissie and i are twins, and two of our younger sisters are twins. our birthdays all fall in late august–so every year the four of us get together to celebrate. it’s seriously one of the highlights of my summer!

we met in santa barbara on saturday to shop, eat and spend some time sitting and talking.

we shopped the little flea market in carpinteria and then got lunch. of course we planned some time for anthropologie.

there may have been hot fudge sundaes invloved.

i love to visit the colorful, outdoor indian market on state street. i picked up a fun skirt.

we finished off a perfect day with some delicious mexican food and lots of time to talk over coffee. it was one of those perfect days.

my sisters are a source of genuine, heart-felt support and love. i’m blessed to have a few friends that are like sisters as well. do you have a sister or friend who understands your heart and loves you no-matter-what?

oxford, england

August 23rd | adventures, family

one of the top places we wanted to visit was oxford. steve is interested in the university and there is a lot of history there. oh, and there is a lot of shopping too!

there were so many beautiful buildings and sculptures i could hardly choose what pictures to take!

i used a fisheye lens for the pic on the left.

for the kids, every adventure involved running around and playing. and every adventure usually involved a visit to a sweetie shop.

we ate lunch at the eagle and the child where cs lewis and his friends {some other amazing writers} would gather to chat about their books and drink beer.

hmmm, pouring over the menu and deciding what the best choice was. i ended up with a plate of bangers and mash–and it was delicious!

the pub was really well done. and it was so funny, because the people at the table next to us were from santa barbara–which is about 1.5 hours from our home. crazy!

we loved oxford–now steve is dreaming of working on a PhD at oxford. who knows–maybe we’ll end up in england for a couple years some day?!