huntington lake

huntington lake 7.26.2014

summers are unbearably hot with terrible air quality here in the valley! bleh.

with no pool at this home, fires in the near distant mountains & add 

coming from 75° summers just a year ago on top of it all, 

we have been mainly suffering thru these scorching months indoors with the ac blasting. 

we needed a get away & took a little family daytrip to local huntington lake in search of cool enough temps to be outside, nature & cool clean water to play in. 

it was bittersweet seeing how low the lake water levels were due to our current california drought conditions, but it was still the precious nature we long for...& in its essence the beauty & refreshment we were craving.

ps. crazy summer & trying to catch up on some summer memories!

enduring, sacrificing & so many blessings

one of the biggest parts of our move was my husband's new job. he  adjusted to his new work place, quickly got into the groove & moved things right along. the thing we were most excited about was FINALLY no more crazy traveling...BUUUUT of course that didn't last long! an opportunity fell into place that has & continues to bring immense benefits for him work wise & to us as a family. it really was too good to pass up. 

the biggest bummer is that he lives out of town on the job site four days during the week & comes back home towards the weeks end. oh my gosh being a single married mama is tough! especially me being new to all this crazy public school biz & both our teen & tween's pace of life has changed. even though its (supposedly) only for 6-8 months which seems like a small time frame in the long run, our brownsugars are doing ALOT of growing up & each doing their own things. there's a lot of life going on to miss but he's been doing a fab job of trying to make their events & spending a lot of quality time with them when he's home. (FACETIME IS A LIFESAVER!!!)

all our little fams current enduring & sacrificing is opening the door for so many blessings. thats what we keep reminding ourselves of. its reaffirming to be able to experience current benefits & to see future ones come into fruition. 

shortly it will all come together & it will all pay off & will be worth it...even though shortly sometimes seems like forever away!

downtown + progress

a couple of weekends ago i threw on some patchouli & my panama hat & headed downtown to do some small & local biz sipporting. one of the local vintage shops was hosting a sidewalk sale with other shops on the block. it was a beautiful day for a fun event. our downtown is going thru a big revitalization & so many exciting new development are underway. i explored cute new shops, beautiful downtown on foot & met some new friends. 

i was super pleased to find these cute wooden crates to help with my kitchen desk area organization. its not done yet, i'm going to add more of those metal ikea boxes & the warm wood softens up all the metal. the crates are hiding unfinished projects im crossing off my to-do list, clutter that i still have to sort thru as i slowly unpack boxes & they are keeping items i need to store out of sight (my fave is the bottom crate that houses our lastest wine shipment from one of our fave wineries).

i've been having good luck with an online resale group with selling & moving unwanted items from my home. seeing the stuff actually leave my house while making a little fun money is a great motivator. 

this purging & organizing is an on going process but having the progress concealed & looking somewhat nice & orderly during sure makes it seem a lot less tedious & overwhelming.

life. an adventure.

adventure is the perfect word to describe what's been going on over here lately! too many details to try & catch up on but its been one thing after another without pause to adjust. as much as we would love a little more consistency & time to catch our breath...we are accepting that this is just the way our little fams life is currently.

when we 1st moved back here to our hometown in july (which we never ever in life planned too but my daddy's incident changed that!)

we couldn't figure out WHY?!?!?!!! why Lord do you want me back here...waaaah! 

but after 8 months the bigger picture is unfolding. we are starting to see the WHY & the exciting things that are in the works for us. we are embracing the pathway our new journey is leading us on.

after all this very well may be our little fams BEST ADVENTURE EVERRR!!!

we were so wrong.

shaver lake 10. 2013

we were so wrong.

we thought with this move that we were ready for a "little more city in our country". 

dont get me wrong, it has been kinda nice in some ways especially the conveniences: sidewalks. starbucks & Target like 5 minutes away in each direction. tons of shopping centers + a real mall like 5 minutes away. a grocery store across the street & a Trader Joes like 10 minutes. no predators or tarantulas. etc...yaaay!!!

just maybe not THIS much city! 

so far almost every weekend after soccer games on saturdays. we get ready as quickly as we possibly can & head for the nearest mountains in the nearby Sequioa National Park. as soon as we start seeing the nature we love & so desperately miss & as we hit the gorgeous mountains & pines at a certain elevation, we immediately start getting our happy back. after our busy weekly schedules in the city, the brownsugars are usually begging for a hike thru the forest, my husband has the truck ready & running & im running towards the door yelling "hurry up! lets get in the car & GOOOOOO!!!" 

living back in the city has also made me realize something i never have about myself: 

i am an actually an I N T R O V E R T! what?!?!??!!! 

i mean, i already knew my little fam was but moi?!?!!! 

i kinda suspected it a little more & more esp as i get older, but had no clue how much! YIKES!

so thank goodness for little weekends get-a-ways in the mountains for our little fam! otherwise i'm pretty sure this "little more city" business...would be absolutely insufferable for us!

they wanted to try it

so much has been going on over here i can barely even keep up with it all myself! anniversary trip, camp trip, soccer practice & games, not to mention still unpacking etc...& to top it all off: 

this year my brownsugars all decided they wanted to try public school. 

(the pix are of their 1st days)

my oldest wants to be a space engineer & got accepted into the engineering program of her dreams. (THANK GOD!!!) she is NEVER EVER coming back to homeschooling! the program is A M A Z I N G!!! she comes home beyond super stoked every single day of her amazing new life! in turn i am beyond super stoked for her & her straight A's making self(our years of homeschooling the way we did paid off!)

the younger girls wanted to try it for a month. 

my middle girl missed being homeschooled in the very beginning, but after time & esp after 6th grade camp...she decided she has found her niche (aka new friends!!!) & is staying in school. its amazing how much she has blossomed in so many ways. she is loving having her own thing going & is also making straight A's while she's at it! 

her teacher (whom i LOVE LOVE LOVE)calls her "a model student!"

my baby girl on the other...public school just didn't work for her. i'm not going into all the negative details but she (we) really tried to stick with it (& the teacher *ahem*) for about 3 weeks but it was all way too much. things got so bad hubby even pulled her out while i was away chaperoning camp. but now she's happily back home, loving "being like an only child finally" as she put it & her little world is back to good. with mama her favorite teacher, her favorite classmates (ollie & mahalo) & in her favorite classroom

...H O M E :) 

a glimpse into my [simple] summer kitchen

GF pasta with olive oil, butter, garlic & sea salt sauce topped with melty cheese. turkey meatballs & slices of ripe tomatoes from my daddy's garden.

chunks of melon & fresh juicy fruit of all kinds.

my daddy's tomatoes & veggies of all kinds. cool refrigerated hummus to dip them in.

i thawed out some brown rice & lentils i previously cooked & froze. topped it with cauliflower lightly sautéed in olive oil, curry powder & turmeric (quickly as to not over heat). 

lots of big salads topped together with anything cold & raw.

 

it is sooooo stinkin' hot here!

we are trying to re-acclimate ourselves to the heat we've been away from for the last 7 years. with no ocean breeze to blow away this awful heat...no one feels like cooking much around here. so we have been eating simple meals.

thankfully though we have moved back to the perfect climate for growing amazingly delish local fruits & veggies. 

 

bonus: i've located the kitchen boxes with my dishes & other kitchen necessities. once i figure out where everything fits (or does not fit), i will be back to good.