WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO
Easter 2018, our typical family photo!
From traveling with all five of my kiddos to planning some major home renovations, I've been pretty silent here on Modern Moni and it's been driving me crazy!
So here's what I've been up to the past month...
FAMILY LIFE
We just finished up Spring Break, which between my girls school schedule and step-sons' was basically ONE MONTH OF TIME OFF!. My girls' break was of course the week prior to my step sons who attend school in Hawaii, so it's always nuts trying to plan a family vacation. We took all seven of us to our home in Idaho and got everyone on skis; including me for the FIRST TIME!
As if traveling with 5 kids isn't enough, we battled a stomach bug that seemed to hit every single person in our family including me. Thank goodness it only lasted 24 hours...
Since coming back home, it's been getting back into the grind of school but also planning our trip back to Sun Valley, Idaho where we will be spending majority of summer.
HOME
For the past year my husband and I have been doing little projects around our house from adding a mudroom to renovating the backyard (that was actually a huge project). But now we are ready to tackle some MAJOR rooms in our house and are hoping to get it done this summer. This includes reflooring our kitchen, updating our laundry room, converting our butler's pantry into a homework/desk nook, re-doing our master bath and master closet (a complete gut-job). Oh, and possibly an elevator?!?! Yes, you read that right!
I'll keep you all posted on what we decide on, but we are hoping to use an interior designer who decorated our house when we initially moved in almost 5 years ago.
MARRIAGE
Since coming home, my husband and I have been spending a lot more time together with Tuesday date nights, and also started a new tradition of having him plan a "date night in," which entails cooking in and enjoying a dinner together after we get the kids to bed. I have to admit, it was a bit of a challenge because the both of us are senior citizens when it comes to dinner-time. WE LOVE an early dinner; like 5pm-early, so waiting until 7:30 when all three kids were sound asleep was hard on our stomachs, but man it was worth the wait!
My husband is an incredible cook and went full out with a spread of steamed artichokes, to linguine with clams and chocolate cake! Delish! We will see how long this tradition lasts, but I am a HUGE supporter of continuing it on a weekly basis.
CREATIVELY
I've been SLOWLY and PAINFULLY teaching myself Adobe Light Room for editing, and I'm sure you've noticed the different "look" in my Instagram photos. I've been loving playing with much warmer tones in my both my photography and editing. It's been countless hours of watching youtube tutorials and asking photographer friends about different Lightroom techniques, and I still don't understand half of it! I'm hoping to get more practice with my friends and their kids as my little models! Let me know if you want to play and get free photos!!!
I'm also on the hunt for an intern to help me creatively with Modern Moni. I've had a number of blogger friends tell me they CANNOT believe I don't have someone helping me especially with all the children I'm juggling, home life, and my needy husband, NO JOKE, love him for it though :) Ideally I would love someone who has a strong writing background, experience with marketing or reaching out to companies to expand my social media presence and some understanding in photography! Phew, that's a lot!
I just feel like I have SO many ideas on what I want to discuss but its hard to find the time to sit down and be thorough with all these things on a weekly basis. It's been over a month since my last post and it makes me feel like a total space cadet! If reading this makes you think of anyone who would be interested in helping me, please reach out! I love working with other creatives and need someone to give me a good kick in the butt to keep at it!
Ok, that is all for now but I will be posting more soon! Stay tuned!