dream house: front porch edition

i have always lusted after big front porches, lush with pots of geraniums and pansies. hanging swings and rocking chairs. idealized the thought of my lover and i enjoying countless sunsets with tall glasses of cold lemonade.

those idealizations have become real life.

turns out i also have a huge passion for growing things. i'm still an amateur, but i really enjoy planting and caring for flowers. yes, i'm that crazy woman who talks and sings to her flowers while she waters them. no, they don't have names.

there is just something faith promoting about planting things in dirt and watching them bloom. i draw a lot of parallels between nature and God's love for us. it's also really nice to have an excuse to get outside and get your hands dirty.

and once in a while, i have a crafty streak.

buy a straw wreath-y thing, string yarn around and around and around forever, then use hot glue to make it stick permanently. then cut strips of felt and wrap them artistically to create flowers. add lace, buttons, and sew details into the leaves. easy peasy.

lovin' the house. travis and i both agree we never want to move again.

hope your weekends were full of sunshine and family.

xo

trying to write a post about how beautiful life is, but instead you end up talking about adult sex toys.

i have a new best friend. remember how i like to think of inanimate objects as alive? like how our old house hated us and wanted us out and the new house has embraced us with loving, daybreak arms? my new best friend isn't technically alive, but that small detail hasn't stopped us from creating a wonderful, intimate bond. (the kind of bond you only seem to make with things that are all up in your crotch. and now i realize how much this sounds like i'm advertising adult sex toys. bike seats, you pervs! i'm not erasing this.)

behold, my new bff.

travis and i have been trying to cut back on our gas bill, reduce our carbon footprint and all that, so we have been riding our bikes a lot more. we are lucky to live in a place that is close to a train, so travis just rides to the train and then to work. i've been using this beautiful bike to get to friends' houses and to meet up to do shoots. it's been great to notice all the small details of life you miss when you drive, like the geese by the lake, the neighbor's gorgeous peony plant, and secret parks with swing sets. plus, my calves and hamstrings are getting pretty strong.

traveling on a bicycle seems to slow life down. and in a life as beautiful as ours, what's the rush?
and sorry about the distasteful dildo jokes.
but not really. 

xo

makin' it super easy for you to creep on my life.

some pictures of the new house, but only of the rooms that are semi unpacked and decorated, because who wants to look at a room full of boxes right?

sometime i'm going to do a video tour so you can see the layout, but for now:

slightly blurry living room. giant windows, tons of light. 

just love the tall windows.

kitchen. it's hard to get everything in the frame, so enjoy these chopped up shots.

big island in the middle. love the granite and white two toned cabinets! 

we finally have a room big enough to fit a full sized couch! 

kitchen. door leading to garage. 

dining room. i love that the dining room is separate from the kitchen.

also, going to paint those red chairs to match the white cabinets. 

bedroom, love the reading nook.

taking a bath is one of my all time favorites. so this is AMAZING. 

and yes i used the flash. shame.

white cabinets in the two upstairs baths. 

the downstairs bath has a pedestal sink. (!)

i believe God has a sense of humor. 

and after a year of praying to Him, 

asking that our house would sell, 

and that we could find a great home in daybreak, 

we found the house of our dreams. 

and this is what we see from the front door.

"daybreak"

ha, ha God, good one. 

still need to hang pictures, wallpaper bathrooms,

unpack, paint things different colors, etc.

but you get the general idea.

darling right?? 

xo

living in daybreak

so daybreak is a really cool place, and not just because of the pool, the lake, the kayaking, the fact that they shovel our driveway for us, the adorable old fashioned homes, the view of the salt lake valley, the miles and miles of paved trails, the red tulips planted everywhere, the fact that the building codes include a park within five minutes of every home, the free outdoor concerts every weekend in the summer, the formal dances for grown ups, the energy efficient homes, and the gorgeous lds temple down the street.
daybreak is cool because it's meant to be a community.
let me show you what i mean.

 our house, obvi. 

and this is the park five minutes, (two really) from our house.

here are the red tulips that are planted all over. 

this is the lake: 

cute guy.

teaching travis to use the dslr. slightly blurry, but he's getting better and better. 

there's something about living in a beautiful place. 

and this is what a typical street in daybreak looks like: 

so there you have it. 

and yes, it reminds me so much of desperate housewives or pleasant-ville or something. 

now, to find a group of girlfriends to fullfill my desperate housewives fantasy. 

except we won't cheat on our husbands with the lawn boy or hide dead bodies in the woods.

you know. 

xo