Pink Peonies & Leavin on a Jet Plane

I made my ever-patient husband drive me the other night, past our bedtime, to our neighborhood flower shop just so I could stake out their delivery man. All to snatch the peonies..  success!

My love is officially on vacation and we'll be leaving at the end of the weekend on our anniversary // babymoon getaway to the Yaeyama Islands for five days! I'll post when we return. Until then, I hope you have a beautiful and blessed week.

Love,
the girl totally addicted to flowers

{ps: huge thanks to the ladies who have asked -- if you are interested in buying a print, I can make a listing for you on etsy (: }

Farm to Table: Simple and Delicious Tomato Walnut Salad

The vineyard that Cam and I constantly dream about having one day will also be {we hope!} a small, self-sustaining farm. We really hope to grow and produce as much of our food as we can, in addition to all the wine. (; We grow some tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, lettuce and green peppers out on our patio, but the majority of our daily produce comes from our amazingly generous and loveable farmer neighbors. It is a total joy and rare gift nowadays when you can know exactly where your food comes from!

When we found out we were moving to Okinawa, I never imagined that we would get to live next to such lovely organic farmers who have become dear friends, be gifted with treasures of all kinds of produce on a regular basis, and be told with giddiness each morning that me and baby are getting big. Ha. Truly though, they are such a blessing to us! The tomatoes in these photos came from them, and I didn't up the vibrancy or saturation in any of these. They are the most gorgeous color all on their own!

Simple, fresh ingredients. The best kind. 

This salad is absolutely delicious and takes all of about two minutes to toss together. Cam and I like to make it on the weekends accompanied with cheeses, and crusty bread to dip in the remaining olive oil. It's a beautiful and easy appetizer, side dish or snack. I've had tomatoes just about every day of my pregnancy, and this is my favorite way to eat them lately.

Simple and Delicious Tomato Walnut Salad
{serves about 2}

large and cherry tomatoes, about 8-10 total
1 C kalamata olives
1/2 C raw walnuts
1 handful of fresh basil leaves
EVOO for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for taste
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Roughly cut the tomatoes and place on a serving dish. They don't need to be cut uniformly or perfectly -- it's better with different sizes! Add the olives, garlic and raw walnuts, and roughly break apart the fresh basil, leaving some leaves whole. Sprinkle on the sea salt, and feel free to add more if it needs it once you've finished tossing the salad and tasted it. It's meant to bring out the natural flavor of the ingredients. Drizzle on a generous amount of EVOO {again, no need to measure!} and toss together. Enjoy with bread and a glass of vino.

6 Months at Home

Thanks to Cam for capturing the cat naps that our little guy and I have every now and then. One day I'm going to be very grateful for the photos we have of him in my belly. How has he been in there for 6 months already?! The first trimester felt like it would never end when I was sick every day, but the second is flying by as I absolutely love having him with me constantly, feeling him grow and move... which he does a lot of, especially when he hears Cam's voice or his hand is on my belly. We are so, so excited to meet him. Thank you so much to everyone who is praying for our little man and who prayed for our marriage while Cam was deployed. The Lord is good! We love you.

{nesting: the antique floor mirror I had fun refurbishing}

Peonies + 5 Things

I just learned a verrry important word in Japanese: sha-cu-ya-ku.  Also maybe the most fun word to say. We keep pronouncing it with attitude. Shaa-CU-yaa-KU!  It's meaning? Peony!! {My favorite flower in the entire universe. Following are pomponellas, gardenias, garden roses and lavender. Yours??} Cam snuck out over the weekend to secretly buy me peonies. Ugh, I love that man!

Thank you so much for the congratulations and sweet words about having a boy!! We are beyond excited, and it's so much fun getting to share this time with you all.

5 Pregnancy Things:

1. Gender: Cam called it in our very first ultrasound. I was fixated through blurry-mascara eyes, while he let out an astonished yelp of joy that he saw little boy parts. His face was priceless! The doc said it was too early to tell us the gender, but we've both felt these past months that he is a he and are so glad to know now.

2. Name: We're thinking long and hard on the names we picked out ages ago... soo, not yet.

3. Cravings: Chocolate. What else is new?? I also look forward to my kale-green-smoothies everyday {really!} and have never loved red meat as much as I do right now.

4. Babymoon: I just booked our trip today !! We're spending our anniversary at the end of the month in the Yaeyama Islands about an hour flight South of here!

5. Nursery: One of my goals while Cam was gone was to clean out his "man room" that would become the nursery. That in and of itself is kind of hilarious. I organized all of his tools, sold a bunch of stuff we didn't need anymore, and cleaned it all out... to have him come home from deployment and fill it with all his Marine Corps gear he had with him. Ha! I don't even care. I'm just soo happy to have him home. We do have a crib, Cam hung the curtains this weekend, and I found a beautiful antique world map that will cover almost an entire wall that we're building a frame for. And some very special framed prints that I'll also share once the room looks like a room again (;

One Week Shy of 6 Months // IT'S A....

BOY !!

What a surreal evening Cam and I had the first night he got back. When he left, I wasn't showing... 

a few months later, we're reunited, I'm definitely showing, and we got to open the envelope together to discover we're having a SON. I wish you all could have seen the huuge smile/grin/beam on my husband's face! He is beside himself with joy, and I am too. We couldn't be happier. Back together and having a little boy !! Good thing I didn't end up buying those ruffle curtains I had my eye on... (; 

We have so much we hope to teach him... and the thought to me of a little Cam running around makes me so happy I can feel the tears in my eyes right now. This world needs more men like Cameron Marshall! We're praying hard this little man will love and serve Christ, will be so strong and stand firm, be a leader, gentle, sweet, compassionate; treat and uphold women and his future wife the way she tenderly ought to be, joyful, and the list of hopes goes on and on. 

We are so thankful for this little guy. And so incredibly excited.