Raw and beautiful ...

I made this wreath last weekend at a workshop at The Craft Parlour in Palm Beach. It's a lovely space. Light, airy and surrounded by beautiful makes and supplies. And I came away with something beautiful for our home and some new skills. I always love playing with greenery and these seed pods and eucalyptus are no exception. Being creative makes me happy. 

I feel light of heart and excited at this time of year. A brand new, fresh year ahead.  It's like the beginning of a road trip.What will I do with it? I have a list of things to do and places to go in the new year that I'd like to achieve. Things that feed my soul and make me happy. 

In the meantime, the summer holidays are here.  It's my reading season. The kids are chilled out. And we have low key family outings to the beach and to visit friends. Doing nothing but restful things is so valuable. As a parent, we're always on duty but we simplified and culled back our gatherings and our Christmas celebrations, intentionally keeping it simple so it was relatively stress free.

2016  has been both raw and beautiful for me personally and for us as a family. A lot of changes, learning and literally becoming undone. Finding simpler ways to live has helped bring more ease and peace into our lives. Life is never easy, there's always challenges. By keeping the important things like family, faith, peace, simplicity and happiness at the forefront, we've survived another year together. xo