Rob and I were lucky enough to spend this last week in Santa Barbara at a photography conference called UNITED. The conference was incredible and we have truly made life long friends whom we adore so much…but more on that later.

When booking our trip, we decided to fly out early and enjoy a little vacation. We have always dreamt of staying in a trailer (specifically an airstream trailer) on the beach, but God had a different plan for us. While trying to book our stay, we ended up finding a friend of a friend who offered their home for us to stay in. It sounded fun and we were running out of options, so we went for it!

After winding roads and a few wrong turns, we found ourselves at the ranch we were staying at. We were greeted by the wife and her precious one year old daughter. We got the tour of the home, met the fam and their awesome roommate and were showed to the wine cellar where we unpacked our bags. This is all we expected, but then we were invited to have some tea with the family and sit under the porch lights. We started to see how this family lived life together and we were blown away. They understand quality time. They get it & they live it. We never once saw the family on their phones or computers. They spend their time laughing and enjoying each other and choosing to be present in the moment. They didn’t care that there were dishes left in the sink, they choose time together over perfection.

When we watched the Father and his four year old son interact, it was so obvious that years of intentional love has already paid off. The son looks at his Dad like he is his best friend, and they have a blast together. This kid jokes like an adult, but carries the freedom of a four year old boy running around in his undies. The Mom hikes every day with her 3 kids, and plays hard with energy! They dream of living off the land and hosting people.

We feel so refreshed and re-awakened. So, we are making changes. We are getting rid of things we don’t use (hello goodwill!), putting away our tv for a while, and hiding our phones at night. We are craving simplicity and breathing in each moment as it comes, instead of planning the next. We crave to be present with our community, instead of trying to catch up with the world on social media. We want to love how our life feels, not just how it looks.

Thanks for listening.

XOXO

~KJ

Oh…and we didn’t take many pics since we were trying to be present 😉 Here is just a few!