my porch swing

i've always wanted a porch swing. always.

one of the many reasons we bought our house is because i loved the large porch.

only problem is that i couldn't find a porch swing that i liked. most of them were cheaply made or way out of my price range. so i put husband up to a challenge. and boy did he rise to it!

back in may, while i was in NYC with my sisters for a week, i left david with a pile of scrap wood from pallets that i had collected off the side of the road.

you will not believe what he came up with. i was imagining a rustic, simple swing.

feast your eyes on my favorite part of my home:

not only did he sand and shape each piece of wood so carefully, 

but he carved this beautiful rose design  using a dremel. i'm in love. isn't it gorgeous?

 the dremel work took a really long time. his artistic talent really amazes me.

david didn't follow any plans, and just came up with this. can you tell how impressed i am?

i chose the color. it's catalina mist by kryon spray paint. we use this swing ALL the time. every morning and afternoon, we all pile on it to wait for the bus for k.

and just for fun, here's a before and after of my front yard. my garden is a work in progress,

 but look how much it's changed since we moved in.

july instagrams

coming home

i walked down the stairs of the small airplane onto santa barbara ground. it felt like home.

back to my california roots. back to highschool. back to the same small airport where my brother came home from his mission from argentina.

 i flew in on thursday for a long weekend for kelly's wedding. and long it was. it was busy and joyous and fun and beautiful and full of old friends, but also full of severe jet lag, nausea, and headaches for me.

the independence from my children and household duties wasn't  a glorified as i thought it would be.

the wedding was perfect. simply perfect. more on the spectacular day later.

after all the fun was had, i got right back on the small airplane and traveled 14 hours overnight back to georgia. this time, when i got off the plane, it WAS home.

and it wasn't the wind, or the memories, or the beautiful ocean that made it home.

it was these three little faces waiting for me.

three little faces taken care of so well by my humble & loving husband.

a father who isn't afraid to take on my motherly duties and nourish these little lives while i'm away.

thank you habibi. 

playing catch up- the mr's graduation

and he's done!

goodbye dlpt test

goodbye late night last minute studying

goodbye monterey!

my mr has passed the first part of his navy training and i couldn't be more proud.

this wasn't an easy task and i for sure, could not have done it!

he hasn't missed a day of class in the last 15 months, oh wait, when we had carter he

missed a couple, but that doesn't count, right?

 his class

                             a teacher                                                                  a classmate buddy

now on to bigger and better things!

my husband---the ultimate geek

dissecting my old broken iphone:

he's the hottest geek ever.

a boy and his cape

this is kavi and his daddy.

with both of their childhood capes.

can you tell which is older?

they are superheroes.

they are my heroes.

these two have the same love for movies, the same imagination, the same quirkiness, etc...

they are spitting images of eachother.

 i love it.