winner and nostalgia

my view this summer has been of this. (and yes i've purposely cropped my legs so they look like they last forever and are not short tater tot looking legs.)

and other pools in the area, and the parks, and behind the wheel driving to and from camps and what not.
i don't think i've stopped in the house for too long, except to do our morning routines.
sounds about right for this family. that's the way i like it. busy but not over scheduled, just simple, boring, busy.
i really love summers.
like
a
lot.
last summer i didn't get to really fully enjoy "our summer" because of all the moves and selling of houses, and trying to figure out where we were going to live, and then stressing over the move across country when we did decide where we were going to live, and then having to say goodbye to everything we ever knew...but...
...BUT...
whenever you go through something really hard, and trial-some, it gives you a new sense of happiness, and peace when you leave unrest, and rocky waters behind.
i have been feeling immensely blessed, can you tell?
i feel like i need to keep knocking on wood.
we are approaching our first anniversary living here in iowa, and aside from the weird garage sales starting on wednesdays instead of friday or saturday, and well some driving things (did you know they still have 55 mph here on the freeway?!) i can't complain.
i got a mild first winter.
i've re-found my love of hats again so my hair doesn't look like a cotton ball on my head with the humidity, and i've learned of mineral based powder and makeup...when i wear it in the humidity so i don't look like alice cooper anymore.

life.
is.
beautiful.
and i love my boring summer of wondering if we should grill once or twice or every night. and i love that my children have friends, they bug me to call to see if they can come to the pool with us, and i love that my husband loves his job, that his practice is doing well, and that i get to enjoy my very normal boring life.
i get to wake up.
we get to do our chore routine.
then i get to go somewhere with the kids to waste a few hours.
so that when we get home it doesn't feel like forever before dad gets home for dinner.
yes, i love my normal boring life.
i'm in a blissful happy place.
oh we miss our old happy place, that small middle of nowhere town that i still can imagine living in, but we are very happy that our new happy place will be a good place to be as well.
and hey, that little town and the people in it is one the ONLY reasons i keep my Facebook account open, so that i can feel like i still live on my little road, just around the corner from the first house we owned (with the cows those stupid swear word goats) and just a few blocks from everyone we knew.
yeah, i miss you little of nowhere town, please know you will never be forgotten, but that we're doing okay. :) till we meet again right? ;)

now for a winner of that book i was talking about last week:

winner of the more take 5 book is:

~ Julie ~ said...

My plans for the fall are to make my neighborhood Christmas gifts! I just know I'll be on top of things this year and get everything for Christmas done early so I can enjoy the holidays without the pressure of last-minute gifts! (Yeah, right!) I have some snowman fabric already bought to make some cute mug rugs for everyone's hot chocolate mugs! Thanks for the opportunity to win such a great book! :)

thank you all for playing.

i'm sorry its been a little on the quiet side on the project front, but i'm really enjoying living life outside and with my family. i'll be throwing in a project or two perhaps if i so fancy. the girl noisemaker is starting to bug me to do more sewing, so perhaps we will...or maybe we'll paint. we shall see how it goes.

all i know is that this is a wonderful time in my life, and i can do a lot of working when all 4 of the kiddos are in school this fall. (ahhhhh! the day has come when i have no kids home during the day? what?!)
so for now, perhaps i'll babble of silly things. like how ridiculously happy i am with boring, and normal. :D