It’s back to summer weather here in SoCal and it has me missing our time in New Mexico. The crisp air, the cool morning and evenings, and the gorgeous views… oh, I want to go back to Taos Ski Valley so badly! This is the last of our 2013 summer vacation recap and we spent a lot of time out in the mountains, but we also spent a lot of time in our cabin too.

It was our first time renting an actual home (cabin) to stay in rather than a hotel. I was kind of nervous about it at first, but we had such a lovely time and the place was amazing. We had these large front windows that looked onto the mountains and the view was just breathtaking. We chose Snow Bear Inn to stay at and it was perfect for our group of 8. There were 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms, a full kitchen, dining and living room. It was nice to have a home away from home. We made all our meals (never ate out at all, but it took intense meal planning and packing!) and had a room of their own to go to bed at a proper time, and it gave us adult time to chat.

So many memories were made here. Mama, Ben’s mom, made wonderful breakfasts every morning; we were spoiled having waffles, pancakes, and french toast everyday. We had family dinners at the table and Ben’s sister, Suzy, would read from his mom’s old journal that she wrote when they would go on vacation when to New Mexico when Ben and Suzy were younger. That was an especially memorable night. The girls and Ben’s sister put on a show for us on the last night and the girls just loved that they had a new place to explore, everything was way cool to them! Another favorite memory were our family walks at night. They weren’t long, but they were just so peaceful and it was just wonderful to be surrounded by God’s creation under twilight. That blanket of stars above just left you in awe!

Snow Bear Inn was the perfect place to call home while we there and we were sad to leave. It made us dream of buying a cabin there one day. Donna, the manager, was especially helpful and always gave us the best suggestions of what to do and see. She went above and beyond and I was seriously calling her everyday for this or that and she was so great in answering my questions. I think Taos Ski Valley is quite popular in the winter since it’s known for skiing, so summer was a much more affordable time to go and stay there. Now that I think about it, it’s called Snow Bear Inn, but it isn’t really an inn, but more like a lot of cabin/condos put together. Most of them have individual owners that rent it out when they aren’t there and Donna manages it all. It would be fun to be one of those owners and have this little haven to go to every summer. A girl can dream, can’t she?!

If you could have another little place to call home anywhere in the world, where would you choose?

The weather forecast predicted no rain on this day, so I took my SLR with us on the hike. There’s an overload of pictures because every view and step of that hike was just ah-mazing! Ben and I didn’t to anything to celebrate our anniversary on the day-of, so we said we would reserve a special day for us while we were on vacation to sneak in a little date to celebrate. We had originally planned to explore Taos together and eat yummy food all day long, but once we learned about this hike, we were both game and wanted to accomplish something like this together.

We hiked to the top of Wheeler Peak, which is the highest point in New Mexico. It was 15 miles round trip and we were gone from 7:30am to 4pm, but oh it was so worth it! There were so many times when it felt like we were never going to make it to the top. It was long and steep, and we’re totally amateur hikers, but we kept going together. We kept going up, and up, and up, until we finally made it! We were in the clouds once we got to the top, but we did get a little bit of sun long enough to have our packed lunch together as we admired everything around us. Once it started getting chilly, we made our way back down.

Going down was less huffing and puffing, but definitely more strain on the legs. As we were going down, I kept finding pretty rocks (some pretty large) and I would have Ben hold them (and I held a couple) to take home as souvenirs. Ben had to keep telling me, “No more rocks!” By the time we got back down and into the car, we were both so exhausted!

It felt so good to do something like this together. The hike was a nice break from the noisy chaotic day-to-day lives we lead, so it gave us lots of thinking and praying time, and best of all, we were together. We enjoyed the silence and loved being surrounded by nature. I totally got bit with the hiking bug and want conquer more mountains together! Ben’s foot was hurting a bit from the hike, so he’s a little more apprehensive about it, but I’m thinking if we try out some trekking poles, that might help alleviate some of the pressure and strain we put on our legs and feet. I really just love the challenge of the hike and want to do more. I was so nervous and nauseous in the beginning because I didn’t know what to expect, but once we got our rhythm, it felt good. I know we need to get more practice and maybe the right gear, but I want to keep hiking mountains. I totally have Mt. Whitney on my list now, but I’m not sure how long it’s going to take until we’re ready for that one. I say we climb that for our 10 year anniversary!!!

Any of you legit hikers? That feeling you get once you reach the top is exhilarating and I want Ben and I to experience it again!

We did 3 family day hikes together, and one was about 5 miles long (roundtrip)! For that one we took the Williams Lake Trail, put Glow in the backpack and the three big girls walked it the whole time. They did such an amazing job and didn’t complain one bit! There were inclines, switchbacks, rocky and slippery parts and the girls did all of it. Ben and I were feeling so proud.

It was a gorgeous trail and there were a few change of sceneries, so it kept it interesting. We did take breaks to have some snacks (and catch our breath), but everyone was loving it. I don’t have many pictures because the forecast was predicting rain (we were brave to venture out despite the coming rain), so I didn’t bring my SLR. I did have my phone and snapped a couple photos as well as my polaroid, so both of those were enough to document our first official family hike.

We got to Williams Lake and the girls did their thing of throwing rocks. We knew there was a waterfall about a mile more, and though we were all spent, we thought, “What they hey! Might as well…” So off to the waterfall we went. We were all paired off most of the way. Ben had Glow, I was with True, Brave and Soul would alternate between Grandmama and their Auntia Suzi. On the way back though, Brave was lone ranger and insisted on leading the pack. I think she was so proud of how they managed this long hike (we came praising them for their job well done!) that she wanted to show us that she could lead. Her little legs kept her at least 40-50 feet ahead of us (she was always in sight). From start to finish the whole hike took us about 5 hours.

The weather was perfect and to be surrounded by so much beauty was just so other worldly. Makes me want to sell our house in the suburbs and live in the mountains, which we would gladly do if the opportunity ever presented itself. Just thinking about this special hike with my girls, Ben’s mom and sister brings back so many good memories and gives me a heart of gratitude. It was such a joy to accomplish something like this as a family. This was the start of all us getting bitten by the hiking bug.

I’m way behind in blogging this, but I think that’s been the theme of my life lately, but I have 4 kids, so that’s kind of an excuse, right?! I took tons of our photos on our vacation, so there is a lot to sift through. Plus, I journaled the whole time we were there, so I feel like I documented all the details I wanted to. It was just such a meaningful trip and now that I have finally had some time to go through the photos, I wanted to share it here too.

We went to New Mexico and stayed at Snow Bear Inn in Taos Ski Valley. This area is special because Ben and his family would vacation here year after year when he was a child, and they came one last time together the summer he moved out to California (right before we met!). We made the long drive from California and Ben’s mom and sister made the long drive from Texas for our first family vacation together. It was bittersweet because this was the first time they all went without his dad. Ben’s father passed away a year before we were married, so coming back to this place that holds a lot of memories for them brought a flood of joy and sadness. We didn’t stay at the exact cabins they used to stay at (they are no longer available for tourists), but we took the girls to see them. It was so special to see Ben’s mom be able to share this spot with her grandchildren!

Oh man, that Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is insanely scary. You don’t want to look down! I know the bridge is probably safe and all, but your imagination can really run wild and make you a big ‘fraidy cat. Despite the long drop, it was an amazing view (if you’re brave enough to look out!). That steel bridge is quite impressive too!

Actually, we went to see the bridge twice. The first time it was raining and lightening was nearby. We were on the bridge when suddenly you could hear a bit of electricity and then all of ours hairs stood straight up. It was a sight to see and we were laughing at each other until Ben’s sister’s boyfriend filled us in that it probably wasn’t too safe to be on a metal bridge with a lot of electricity in the air, which is the reason our hairs stood up. We quickly all made our way back to vehicles. Whew! That was a close one.

We also went to see the Earthship Community and the Rio Grande Gorge for a little picnic lunch and animal watching. We saw a beaver and a few birds, but we spent most of our time trying to skip rocks across the river. The girls were totally loving that! They call it “ploppers!”

New Mexico is just so breathtaking and I wouldn’t mind coming back summer after summer. I wish I could rewind summer a bit and relive our vacation. We had such a good time together. I’ve got more to share about it because it’s such a beautiful place and it’s hard to condense its beauty (and all the memories we made) into one post.

Anyone else want to rewind time to their summer vacation?

My mother-in-law (hi mama!) bought the girls the book Unplugged Play last summer when we were on our family vacation in New Mexico. We all love this book (as you can tell by the worn edges)! It has so many good activities for families to do and things that children can do on their own. My girls are often going through this book and finding project ideas, games to play, and prompts for pretend play. With summer in full swing, the girls have been using this book to guide their play. I think it’s a good resource book for parents to have and give to their kids, so I’m sharing it with you! I love the idea of unplugged play so much. I’m sure us adults can definitely use a book like this, unplugging is good for the soul and families.

These are some book outtakes. It’s been out for a couple months now and I’m still very thankful for the opportunity and the wonderful things people are saying about it. It really has been such a dream!

I worked with a dream of a publishing company, Potter Craft, which is the craft division of Random House. I first received an email from my would-be-editor, Caitlin, back in November 2011. Yup, 2011! She sent a very nice emailing telling me of her interest in me and I was just floored. I read it, and re-read it over again to make sure my eyes weren’t fooling me; I read it right and the gist was a book opportunity and Random House. For a few months, Caitlin and I went back and forth on a couple different book proposals. The original idea is a bit different from what we ended up going with, but it’s something we felt would have a stronger result, and with all the books coming out recently, I’m glad we went with sewing as the main objective.

Jump forward to June 2012, Potter Craft accepted my official proposal, somewhere after I got a book agent to help navigate the deal, she then sealed the deal, contracts were signed, and I got to writing and creating.

Writing and photographing the book was done from end of June 2012 – March 1, 2013. I had to turn in progress materials somewhere between that point, but that time was full of sketching, crafting, sewing, pattern making, photographing, writing, and repeat all of that over and over again.  I took most of the photos in the book and the ones where I’m in them, were done by my friend Kimberly Genevieve. My friend Ana was my extra eye on this project as she used to work in the fashion industry and was a technical designer, so she was that eye I needed to look over everything as I was doing them to make sure they were as clear and concise as possible.

Midway into book writing, I wasn’t getting as much writing and sewing time as I needed (I was juggling homeschooling, blog projects, and book writing, plus regular life stuff), so we needed to do something about that. Ben had an intern at work who was looking for a babysitting job while she was waiting to take the board state exams. She used to nanny full-time, and Ben said I would love her, so she started coming over a couple times a week to help out, and the girls loved her (so do I!), and we both got along so great. It was weird at first to have someone come in to help me. She would come over 2-3 times a week; I would do all the homeschooling in the morning, and she would come in the afternoon to help out with the girls, and leave at 5 just in time for me to cook dinner before Ben got home. This really made such a big difference in getting things done and allowed me to get a better work flow. Then the last two weeks of February, Ben’s mom came and helped hold down the fort so I could get work done in crunch time (our baby-sitter was busy doing her last leg of prep work for her state exams).

By February 2013, I was done with most of the book, but I was so saturated from working on it that I couldn’t think as clearly anymore; I’m thankful to have my friend Heather Rome step in and help style the final project shots. Kim also came in to take some additional book shots, so I could be in the pictures. Then, a day or so before its due date of March 1st, 2013, I turned everything in; I’m not typically a procrastinator and I like turning things in early. Edits and drafts took place that summer, and we were on our family vacation in New Mexico when I was sent the book cover. That moment made it real.

I still kept mum on the whole subject because my editor and I thought it best not to mention it until it was almost book release time. It was a really hard secret to keep, especially since it was a big part of our lives for so long, but obviously we managed. Plus, I’m a good secret keeper. We all had to sacrifice a little to make it happen, but it’s something we’re all proud of and everyone in the family contributed to the project in one way or another.

I finally mentioned it to you guys this past April and then it came out May 20th! I’m sure publishing companies may have different timelines depending the type of book, but it is really a long process to make a book happen. Not only that, so many different friends had a role in helping somehow from babysitting, to cutting, to checking my numbers, and the list goes on. I’m honored to be part of the Potter Craft family, and never in a million years would I have thought that Martha Stewart and I would share the same publisher! I think that’s pretty cool.

If you still haven’t picked up your copy of my book, you can do so here (or from the other links on the side of this blog), or your local bookstore might have it too. Thank you so much for all your support regarding it thus far. You really are part of what makes things like this possible. There’s a lot of bad and good on the internet, and you all are definitely part of the good.