sweet sweet summertime

Summer is in full swing here in the Midwest. We have been taking full advantage of the longer days and the warmer nights. I am a strict bedtime person- we go to sleep by 9:30 folks...strict I say. But, this summer it seems like I've lost my sense of time. We stay up until midnight or 1 o'clock just chatting. There is something magical about sitting around our little fire pit watching the lightning bugs light up and listening to the wood crackle and the cicadas chirp. It's our own little slice of paradise and we've got the mosquito bites to prove it.

We're trying to milk this summer for all it's worth, especially after the long hard winter we just endured. We've been eating ice cream almost daily, going on walks long after the sun has set, riding our bikes to work, walking up to the farmers market on Saturday mornings, grilling everything we can get our hands on, cheering for the Cardinals and spending as much time outside as humanly possible. The best and worst thing about living in the middle of the country is that we get all four seasons and we get them to each extreme. It's hard to say that I have a favorite season because there are things about each season I love, but I will say that summer is in my top 4 favorites.

Happy summer friends!

Our adventure at Pere Marquette State Park with the Mighty Mississippi in the background. Moose was a trooper all day and walked about 6 or 7 miles. We carried him for a little bit, our clue that he was tired: he laid down in the middle of the trail. 

happy Wednesday

Wednesday has arrived! We have had a lovely laid back week (in regards to our extracurricular's). We've had no where to be at 7 o'clock which is a relaxing feeling. Work on the other hand has been a mad house, a good mad house, but a mad house nonetheless. We've been counting our blessings and praising God for all of the great things He has been doing in our lives. Enjoy your Wednesday and before you know it, it'll be the weekend!

guilty pleasures

We all have a guilty pleasure. For some of you it may be a trashy harlequin and for others it may be ice cream or eating a bag of chips in one sitting. But, for me it's the Kardashians. I know it's terrible but I'm sucked in every.single.time. I don't know what it is, maybe it's their ridiculous drama or their krazy antics. I thought that when we got rid of cable I'd be cured. Nope, I've found ways around that and I'm still keeping up with them. I asked Alex what his guilty pleasure is and he bashfully said, "Grey's Anatomy" and Moose would say digging holes if he could talk.

I wonder why we're so guilty to admit what brings us enjoyment? Maybe we're too concerned about what others will think of us or maybe we're too embarrassed to admit them. Either way I judge myself for tuning in to see the drama of Kourtney, Kim and Klohe and now you're judging me too...

time flies when you're having fun....on the river

Did anyone else look at the date yesterday and have a small panic attack?! It's JULY! Where has time gone? It does not feel like life is going at normal speed right now. We have been here, there and everywhere lately. We started June in Seattle/Port Angeles, Washington and ended in Steelville, Missouri. We made a lighting fast trip to Ikea, got a fire pit and made lots of s'mores, killed my lavender plant, revived some flowers, installed a new door, hired our first employee, spent time with friends & family and we managed to work a lot too! It has been 7 months since I started working with Alex at AW Insurance....SEVEN! It has been very good and challenging (in a good way). It took a while to get in the swing of things but I really do enjoy it and it's a bonus to get to work right alongside Alex.

Somewhere up in that paragraph I mentioned that we went to Steelville. Alex and I, along with my parents, Jared, Becky, Ethan and Nora headed down to the Mermac River in Missouri for a weekend away. We stayed at Cobblestone Lodge which was like stepping back in time, in a good way. We each had a little cabin (ie: bedroom and bathroom) ours was like a mini duplex, so we shared a porch with my parents. It was all inclusive and the food was fantastic (Alex said it was one of his favorite parts). After breakfast and lunch they would take a us down to the river where we could either take a raft, canoe or tube down the river. We chose to raft and canoe. It was a lot of fun and we would love to go back.  After we checked out on Sunday, we stopped by the Mermac Caverns.  We all enjoyed the cool 60 degree tour, the kids did great and I left triumphantly with my rock candy!  After lunch we all headed home to catch up on laundry. We had a great weekend and are thankful that we got to go. Also, we are very thankful that Alex's parents were willing to watch Moose- Thanks Eric & Sue!!

Rafting down the river

We almost tipped over, but Jared hopped out of his canoe and rescued us. After that Alex was a master steer-er and did 99.99% of the work.