I still have Take Me Out to the Ballgame stuck in my head.

 There is something about summer that seems to slowly right all of the wrongs in the world.

Everything slows down to the pace I wish it was all of the time.

Devin is actually home during the evenings.

I am still job hunting for the third year in a row.

I am still going to physical therapy and the chiropractor.

There are a lot of stills right now, but I am sure am happy about summer.

read it

Fact: I thought I was going to hate this book.

I have heard about this book for months. I am not sure what I was expecting. I knew the book was about two teenagers with cancer so I assumed it would be sad, but I didn't expect the book to be so witty too.

I ended up reading the book in less than 12 hours surrounded by a pile of tissues and with a smile on my face. This book is totally irreverent, but it made the books I have been reading look like a waste of paper.

On a side note, I'm totally happy I didn't read this in high school because I was angsty enough without thinking I needed a terminal disease to have a good love story.  (This isn't a spoiler because you totally get that from reading the book jacket.)

family reunion

Every year for decades my family has had a huge family reunion in Arkansas and then we go camping and fishing for a week together.

I used to always stay in the camper with my grandpa so we could spend special time together.  After he passed away, I was so worried this tradition for us would be over because our group gets smaller and smaller ever year; one of my earliest memories is camping here with family!

This year though we were totally surprised. Every one of my great-aunt and great-uncle's kids except one or two came out with their spouses this year for the first time ever!  It made everything really fun and we always had something to go do.  They even brought THEE best baby I have ever met.  I'm not a baby person at all and I was stealing her to mug on her all week.

I am so grateful for the past two weeks we spent on vacation and with family.  I came back feeling recharged, loved, and a little bit more aware that God knows the needs I have.  I'm definitely ready for the rest of the summer now!

With love from Michigan

After a month of house hunting and being busy with our jobs, we flew out on the last day of my teaching job to Michigan.

We have spent the whole time surrounded by Devin's Mom's family playing cards, reading, and sneaking around with cousins past their bed time.

I have spent our time since last July trying to adjust to city life.  It feels so good to be in an obscure town in the middle of nowhere again.