around here | december

on: December 10, 2015
By Gabi
theme: aromatherapy | essential oils, around here, family life, photography
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Getting into the Christmas mood over here. I love love this time of the year!

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Improvising during challenging times. This year the weather has been crazy and we are getting one storm after another followed by power outages. The longest power outage so far lasted over 15 hours. We were ready to prepare dough for our gingerbread cookies when the power went out so we put running head lamps on and did it anyway. One has to think outside the box sometimes.

cactus

Celebrating that our Christmas cactus has blooms! Last year we didn’t get any so it makes me double happy that it has decided to bloom this year.

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Switching to a greener way of living. I’m on a journey to transform our household to greener and more healthier one. Last week I said goodbye to dryer sheets and said hello to these wool balls. I put a few drops of an essential oil on them and add them to the laundry. Simple and effective. These balls should also shorten the drying cycle.

I also made homemade foam soaps and air sprays using essential oils. I’m loving the smell and also the fact that there are no chemicals in them and those are safe to use every single day. We are also diffusing the oils daily using this diffuser from Young Living. I grabbed it when it was on sale two weeks ago and loving it! I can’t wait to get the second one with my starter kit for Christmas. Kids are already fighting over who is going to have it in their room overnight. Once we get the second one, this problem will be over.

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Baking my grandma’s gingerbread cookies. We use the same recipe every single year and they always turn out so delicious!

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Opening our advent calendars every day. Kids can’t wait each morning to discover what’s hidden in their Lego calendars and I love tasting new teas every day.

Getting excited about my next professional step. Only four more sleeps until my new job starts. Can’t wait!

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Soaking up the little moments this beautiful season is bringing to us. Taking it slowly one day at the time. Enjoying the little stuff. Making new friends, reconnecting with the “old” ones.

Bring on the magic!

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for the love of photography | iPhone edition

on: November 27, 2015
By Gabi
theme: everyday life, life with vizsla, photography
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You guys, if you wanna explore nature, get a dog. I mean a “real” dog. Not a little “pillow” one, but an active breed kinda dog which needs to spend at least an hour a day of physical activity outside. Seriously. You won’t be disappointed.

Of course there are moments when it’s raining and it’s cold outside and all I want to do is to crawl under a blanket with a hot cup of tea but I know Ace has to go outside to get the energy out of his system every single day, so off we go. Honestly, who would say no to that little face?! He always comes to me, puts his chin on my knee or elbow and starts the staring contest. It’s his way of telling me it’s time to go outside. And so we go. We are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful corner of the world, surrounded by mountains, forests and lakes. And ocean, of course. There is always something new to discover.

The last couple of days have been absolutely amazing!! It’s cold and freezing but the sun is out! The sun! And the light!! Oh my, the amazing light! There is nothing like chasing the sun rays on days like these. Soon we will be back in gray rainy days but while these sunny days last, we need to get the best out of them.

So I grab the leash, put my phone into a pocket and off we go. To explore. To admire the beauty of nature.

To just be outside and notice it all. Because sometimes we are all too “busy” and might miss the beautiful sunset or stunning light coming through the trees.

Even if you don’t have a dog, go outside and capture all of it. It’s totally worth it.

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for the love of photography

on: September 11, 2015
By Gabi
theme: everyday life, photography, sport | triathlon
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There is no secret that our family is very active in sports. We love to be outside and enjoy the beautiful nature which surrounds us. We are so lucky that our kids share the same love for outdoors as us, parents.

Katrin is now old enough to be a part of the same cycling team as Patrik has been for the last two years. She has joined him for a cyclocross program this fall and loves it. The team is lead by the best coaches, professional athletes and even some Olympic champions so we know they are in the best hands. The kids give it everything during their practices and are having fun even through the sweat and pain. Cyclocross is quite challenging and one has to be in a pretty good shape to ride the bike on the hills and carrying it over obstacles.

I took few photos with my phone during their practice yesterday and I love how these turned out. The silhouettes on the hill in a sunset just make me happy.

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This is Katrin following her coach on the course.

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And Patrik’s first practice of the season.

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Sometimes in the rush of our daily lives we almost forget how important it is to nurture our own souls with things we love. For me it is photography. I love to look at life through the lens and freeze the special moments.

Whatever it is what makes you happy, I hope you will find at least a few minutes this weekend to focus on it.

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take it all in

on: July 01, 2015
By Gabi
theme: focus on everyday, photography, sport | triathlon
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I was watching my son (in the middle) getting ready for a swim during his triathlon race. It’s always a rush of various feelings for him before the race starts.

The excitement. The nerves. The competitiveness. The “will I be the fastest one?” sort of questions.

I was taking all of this above in – the excitement, the mama worries, the proud feeling of being his mom… Go, buddy, GO!

This post is a part of a weekly theme over at Focus on Everyday blog. Head over there to see Harmony’s take on this week’s prompt.

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ready

I’m ready for long evening walks during the golden hour. For chasing waterfalls from sprinklers in our neighborhood. For school routine to be out of the window for two months. For slowing down a little bit. For more time spent with my little ones.

Summer, I’m ready for you.

This post is a part of a weekly theme over at collaborative photo blog called Focus on Everyday.

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iphone photography

this week week2

Those photos above are few snapshots from this week. I love having my iPhone on hand and just capturing life on the go. It’s fast and convenient and I’m able to snap photos of things which I would normally miss because I don’t carry my big camera with me all the time.

“This week” wordart by Liz aka Paislee Press available at the-lilypad.

Happy weekend!

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