Field Trip! Part 3

Last month our family took a little trip with Gary's class. You can get caught up to speed by reading Part 1 and Part 2. 

This post is photo-intensive and short on words. Hope you enjoy!

After spending two days at the coast, we headed back inland. The first part of the trek was a beautiful, windy road through a redwood forest. At least on the way back it was beautiful--on the way there Josiah got sick but we didn't know why he was so fussy until Jonathan alerted us to some, um, barf.

Anyway, this time was pretty! And I got to stop and take a few pictures. Yay!

We drove through the hills before coming to a valley full of wineries. 

We stopped at the Navarro Winery for a couple bottles of grape juice. 

 

We popped over to St. Helena to see my aunt and uncle and cousin, the latter of whom we got a family picture with. 

I hadn't seen this guy since our wedding and in my head he's still a little kid! Jonathan was pretty enamored, mostly because he thought Ian was so funny!

Jared liked Ian too--you gotta like someone who will push you on the swing!

Meanwhile, Josiah got to play on the equipment with Daddy! (This is him saying "weeeee!" and his hair sticking up from static electricity. Gary was holding his hands so he wouldn't fall back and hit his head.)

Meanwhile, I sat with my uncle, a photographer, and picked his brain for beginner photography tips. He took this picture of me (straight out of the camera). 

We bid our farewells and headed up the hill to Angwin.

Why would we want to go there? That's where my college is!

I'm a proud alumnus of Pacific Union College. Class of 1999. Best four years of my life! I also got my master's degree there through summer school classes, so this place is full of fantastic memories. I didn't take many pictures but enjoyed telling Gary about things as we took a part-driving-part-walking tour of campus.

This is the Ed Department where I spent many an hour. Good times!

Our tour over, we headed back down to St. Helena for a nice birthday supper for yours truly where we ate delicious Italian food on the patio with views like these.

We had to hurry back home to Weimar because it was getting late. I hope you enjoyed our trip!

Moodboard Monday: My Color Pallet

This is it, guys, me baring my soul. Design soul. Or lack thereof.

I've been searching Pinterest and blogs and pre-made paint sample pallets and I cannot find the colors I want to combine. Anywhere! Some come pretty close, like these:

Source: design-seeds.com via Ellie {Beauty4Ashes} on Pinterest

Source: design-seeds.com via Ellie {Beauty4Ashes} on Pinterest

Source: design-seeds.com via Ellie {Beauty4Ashes} on Pinterest

I like 'em all, but they're just not ME! So here is me:

Note: I made up the color names. Except 'Bedford Gray'. That's a Martha Stewart color. The 'Silver Blue' is actually 'Silver Sage' from Restoration Hardware, but it's discontinued anyway. I haven't done any homework to find real paints that look like the collection above--they look different depending on your home's light and what other colors you have going on anyway! The "perfect gray" might not look perfect next to your hardwood floor, and this sagey green might look weird in your super bright kitchen. You know? I just find myself being drawn to these colors over and over, so I made up my own color palette card, mkay?

Here's something funny (or dumb) about gray and me. When I first starting blogging (2 1/5 years ago) I hated--HATED--all the gray rooms we were starting to see. Hate! They looked so cold and drab to me. But now... Yeah, I get it. I see gray as a great neutral and some shades can be very warm and calming.

So because I can, I want to explain a few things for the record. The large gray square represents the living room, if you couldn't tell by the couch and coffee table. I currently have a whole set of pine furniture like the armoire and you know what? I like it! I like it natural and I don't want to paint it, even though everyone else seems to have painted their pine sets years ago. I like the natural wood and the shades of brown and gray. I might paint part of some of the pieces, like the black base on the coffee table above. We have a brown couch right now--well, in storage--but I'd like a new one and think charcoal gray might be a good choice for my family. I might be on the gray paint band wagon, but I can't get on the paint-all-your-furniture one or the white-slipcovered-couch one. More laundry? Never!

Anyway, I went through a phase where I tried to take out all the red in my living room. I liked some of it, but that deep red shade just kept creeping back! I must just love it too much. I do want to incorporate more of the silvery blue. It looks so pretty with charcoal, and plays nicely with scarlet too. I think it can be a great neutral, and besides, I've always been in love with blue. Just ask my Grandma--well, if you could go back in time, you could ask my Grandma what color dress she was making for me. It would be blue, and my cousin would get a matching pink one. I've always had a blue bedroom too. Love it!

Ok, the sage green. I really do like that color, and it seems if it's more gray and less yellow that it pairs nicely with gray and silver-blue and scarlet. I need to be careful about the shade of green because I would like to use the browner gray as a kitchen cabinet color, if I ever need to paint my own cupboards again. But my Grandma who sewed me blue dresses earmarked her special collection of desert rose dishes to me. They have a sage green in them (along with pink and cream and brown), and I'd love to work them in as a display in my kitchen. And use them too!

I chose the milk white as another accent color for things like ceilings and trim. I like that it's almost gray but still looks very clean and light. I wouldn't want to accidentally get a yellow-white.

Alrighty then, looks like we've come full circle! What do you think of my color pallet? Are you stubborn enough to find a way for all of your favorite colors to play nicely together?





 PS: I have no idea when I'll get to put this color pallet into action. Our housing situation is very much up in the air after the first week in December. I know God has something awesome planned for us and am very excited to find out what it is! You know I'll share, as soon as I can! Meanwhile, your prayers are appreciated! ~E