It feels good to be home....

I can't tell you how many times I've tried to sit down in this very spot at my computer and try to compose the last six months living with my mom while we waited for our house to complete. At this moment my dog has his paw on my lap eye balling me for attention. He probably wants food, maybe a little love, but most likely he has to go potty. It won't be long before I'll give in to his begging tendencies and find myself working on this tomorrow. 


A shocking tomorrow. 


Tonight I have a plan. My sweet little Ave and her daddy are snuggled up watching ET. The dog has been fed, cleaned, loved, and bathed. The dishes are done. The laundry is folded. Okay, maybe there's still a pile on my bed. The dog has been fed. Wait! I already said that. I have less than an hour to pull this off. 


Ready, set, go!


What a ride this last summer. Talk about fly by the seat of your pants. I don't think I've ever had a summer go by as quickly as this one. I anticipated most of my summer days spent at moms. Mom and I had much intent to cook together every night, take walks in the early mornings, and garden with our fancy gardening hats. All the while drink ice tea and watch Ave play gymnastics on her manicured lawn. I'm happy to say we did all these things, except the gardening hats, but it was few and far between. The work at the house kept us busy enough, and the traveling back and forth became the norm. 


My mama was gracious and hospitable and extremely patient with our coming and going. She was selfless and giving and a blessing to us during our transition. She even rolled up her sleeves and helped us on the weekends when she could with clean up and lunch runs. I love you mama.

Don't be mad mom. It's the only picture I could find. 


Building a house is really stressful, but I won't spend the last half hour I have dishing out the logistics. It was stressful. It's now over. And I'm still married. Shew!


Some big things happened over the summer with my little munchkin, Ave. She now rides a bike without training wheels. She accomplished the front crawl stroke in her swimming lessons, and she grew like a foot, maybe more, maybe I'm exaggerating, but she's tall. 


She lost her first tooth.

She's about to lose her second. And she got a "big girl haircut". Why do they call a shorter cut a big girl haircut? I still have long hair; does that mean I haven't grown up yet? Don't answer that. 


The biggest change I've seen in her over the summer is she's lost her baby face. "Don't call me baby anymore mommy" she said, "except when we're at home and you tuck me in". We threw out the sippy cups, ditched the desitin, and got rid of the blankie. Over Aves dead body! The blankie stays for life. Baby spoons, baby books, baby boomers, gone! Sniff, sniff.  Einstein movies, and much more....gone!


She's now my little helper, and does everything herself. She gets her own breakfast, picks out her own clothes (which by the way never match) and takes her own showers (which by the way her nails are still dirty). Why does this chapter in life go by so fast? Sniff, sniff. She asked me if I could drop her off at the door to Kindergarten. I don't think so sister. I'm not ready for that one.

Let's see. There is so much to share and I simply can't share it all. My husband was amazing during our building. He managed his faith, his family, his work, and the house. He has a perma scowl from it all, but I see it smoothing out every day. The project took its toll. Some days more than others, but I'm so thankful I have such a detailed oriented man to lead us. I'm also thankful that without our faith we wouldn't see the true blessing in it all. Love you babe.

Oh and he turned 35 over the summer and it seemed appropriate that I get what any 35 year old would want...

If you can't tell what that is, it's the amazing Shake Weight. Yes it's real, and no he hasn't used it. 


Copper's still the same old mutt.

He digs my new wood floors. And by digs, I mean he digs his nails in them while he burns out to see who's at the front door. Any takers? 

Anybody? 


Summer was lovely with beach trips, camping trips, and nights out on the town. 

We stayed at Diamond Lake and visited Crater.

It was GORGEOUS!




After all the hustle and bustle of the last six months, nothing came close to the excitement we felt the night we moved into our home. All the hard work did pay off. Except for the mortgage, we still have that to pay off. 


And we owe a big thanks to everyone who was even the slightest bit involved in supporting us and helping us during our journey. We love you all sooooo much.


PS... Aaron, I appreciate all you did to help out with Copper. He can visit you anytime you want. Anytime meaning, he can come live with you forever. If you want.


I think my time is up. For what it's worth I hope I was able to catch you up a little. I hope I made you laugh. And I hope It doesn't take me two months to post again.

Awww, home again.