Back "Home" : )

Our 2200+mile, 6-state, 3-week road trip came to an end late last night and this morning both both boys woke up asking to go back out on the road.

Two big things we learned on the trip were 1. We love Cincinnati--our apartment, our friends, our Cincy family, the city, our church..... and 2. "Home" seems to be where ever the 4 of us are together. (and 3. no one this side of the Mississippi makes an iced soy latte like Coffee Emporium)



We felt at home driving through the Tennessee mountains in our tiny, un-air-conditioned car. We felt at home at the beach house in Oak Island,



at my dad's house in North Carolina,









snuggled together in a tent in West Virginia,





and playing in the New River under the highest bridge in America.











And now that we're back we feel at home here. I'm excited about the next few weeks. We're entering a new season with Hudson starting school for the first time, Daniel starting his teaching gig at our Alma Mater, me turning my creative efforts away from freelance and back toward my own art, and Jude entering the wonderful world of potty training.



I feel like we've fully immersed ourselves in traveling and summer and have tried hard to experience all that this season has to offer. And now we're back and we have our eyes set on cooler temperatures, putting down roots, and new adventures at home.

Hope you're fully immersed in whatever season you happen to be in : )

Arian

ps-- there are more pics of our trip on my flickr page and a lot more will be posted once I have the time to sort through them all.. sooooo many!!

The Open Road

We're nearing the last leg of our epic Kentucky to West Virginia to Kentucky to Oak Island, North Carolina to Fayetteville, North Carolina to West Virginia to Kentucky vacation. And it's. been. awesome. We've seen lots and lots of open road.



I definitely see the appeal of life on the road and there's a big part of us that wants to make traveling more of the rule than the exception in our life. We'll see!



Til then we'll enjoy this last big fling before Hudson starts kindergarten in a couple weeks and Daniel starts teaching in the fall. But I wouldn't be surprised, come next summer, if you see us Armstrongs out on the road again, hopefully for longer than just three weeks.









Happy Travels!
Arian

Sweet, Sweet Eye Candy

All girls know you don't have to be planning an actual wedding to justify browsing through wedding magazines and websites. They're just so pretty!! And being on vacation makes it even easier to justify spending extra time just feasting on eye candy : ) Here are some of my favorite finds from Once Wed.

Geesh, just makes my head swim with ideas for decorating our home, some fun photo shoots, or our next party. Alrighty, now go make something pretty : )

Arian

When It Rains On Vacation...

... we do puzzles, crosswords, read on the covered porch, drink tea, just enjoy being together...it's still pretty awesome. There are 15 of us nestled snugly here in the beach house. The kids (and Pappy) are napping peacefully while the rest of us are enjoying the quiet break from the sun.



My lovely sister-in-law



A few more pics from the beach : )





My little bro-in-law.



Jude and Uncle Drew



Alright, back to lying around and doing nothing : )

Arian

On Vacation

We're immensely enjoying time away with family! We're settling quite nicely into our daily "eat, beach, rest, pool, repeat" rhythm.



Hudson has become quite the little surfer boy and is finally getting the hang of the whole swimming thing.











The view from the front porch---pretty sweet, right! I sat out there all afternoon with my sketchbook and ipod listening to the waves and drawing. Amazing.





Hope you're enjoying summer too (or winter for my friends in the southern hemisphere) ; )

Arian