while i was away

while i was away i took the opportunity to spend some much needed one on one quality time with tripp.

a weekend at the lake just the two of us, a couple of date night, time together at home…this has been a very big part of helping me to reconnect in my life.

same goes for my delightful daughter.

while i was away i had the opportunity to spend the weekend with my girl, just the two of us.  i had the best time…we went to all the restaurants tripp hates.  we crafted our hearts out making these adorable heidi swapp marque letters.

gold glitter for the win! but in the spirit of full disclosure, these we much more time consuming than either of us anticipated.

while i was away, i enjoyed spending time with my family and friends.  laughter truly is the best medicine.

while i was away i continued to obsess over white kitchens.

one of the factors going into this decision has always been whether we’re going to stay in this house long term.  painting the kitchen falls under the umbrella of decisions that we’ve told ourselves, “let’s wait until after kelsey graduates and gets settled…then we’ll decide…” and so now here we are and i think i’m about to pull the trigger…

>>>insert deep breath here<<<

while i was away, i took lots of golden hour walks.

late summer light = magic.

while i was away, we had a little visitor.

it’s been a long time since we’ve had hummingbirds in our backyard.  i think this little guy must have been passing through because i haven’t seen him in a week or so.  but for those four days watching him at the feeder was just so much fun.  during that time i was also  super productive.

>>insert sarcasm here<<

while i was away, i participated in ali edwards’ week in the life project.

i attempted to do it last fall but got i busy and lost steam.  my blog break was a perfect opportunity to reconnect with everyday life.  so for an entire week i followed tripp around like paparazzi.  which he loved <<not.  i’m just about finished with my album and hope to share a little more about it later this week.  but without a doubt, this project has helped me reconnect with our life in such a meaningful way…it was a piece of the puzzle i had been missing.

while i was away, i remembered what it means to pay attention.

my time away it reaffirmed by belief that beauty and joy live side by side with heartache and frustration.  but there is wonder and magic to be found in my very ordinary and very imperfect life. it just requires that i pay attention and be present.

while i was away, i thought long and hard about my blog.

wondering if i had anything really left to say and if so, was this the place to share it.  and after a half-dozen or so long-winded instagram posts…well it appears that i do still have the desire {the need} to express myself.  and i am reminded of how cathartic it is to do so.

as always, thank you from the very bottom of my heart for letting me share it with you.

love, kelly