Looking back-June 2017

I thought it would be fun to look back each month at a few pictures that ended up on my phone, but don't need an entire post.  So, looking back...

We started June off with an evening by the fire pit roasting s'mores.  So yummy and such a fun way to relax together!

Kittens were born in our garage Mother's Day weekend.  Here they are about 4 weeks old.  So sweet and snuggly!

The perfect (flat) country road for a run.  

Our church puts on an outreach event in the park called SPLASH.  So many sweet kiddos!

One of my childhood friends got married on a beautiful June evening.

Most of the time we're in shorts and t-shirts during the summer, so it's fun to have a reason to dress up!

One more.  Love him!

Evan drove an old car in our local summer parade.  He said it was called a Checker car, but I thought it looked more like a limo hearse.  hehe

After a busy week and weekend, I spent Sunday afternoon in the yard with these guys.

They love to play together!

Kansas City

The first weekend in June we headed to Kansas City with my family.  My brother moved down there last fall, but we've been trying to plan a family weekend trip to KC for the last several summers.  Apparently it took one of my brothers moving there to finally make it happen!  One of Evan's high school friends got married Friday night, so we headed down Saturday morning.  We went straight to the Kansas City River Market, a farmer's market full of fresh flowers, produce, and international food.  We had lunch at the River Market (I had delicious homemade tamales!) before heading down to the Plaza.

After wandering around the Plaza, we all hopped into the vehicle my youngest brother had rented for the weekend (It helps when he works for a car rental company!) and went to a Kansas City Sporting soccer game.  The game was so much fun!  I had never seen a professional soccer game before, but loved it!

The Sporting won!

Everyone received a pair of KC Sporting sunglasses at the game.

After the game we went to a restaurant called Char Bar for supper.  It was a fun indoor/outdoor, dog friendly BBQ restaurant with yard games and a fire pit.  It was fun and delicious!  Sunday morning we took my mom out for brunch for Mother's Day at a delicious restaurant called Brick House.  After eating, we headed to a Kansas City Royals game.  Unfortunately, we only saw about an inning and a half before a rain delay.  Bummer!  But, overall, it was a great weekend!

Love my family!

Evan and I 💜

My "little" brothers

Memorial Weekend

One of my very best friends married a great guy from Illinois.  The only problem is, he farms too, so when they got married, my best friend moved 8 hours away.  Sad day, but SO happy for them and their sweet family that now includes two little boys.  Now, we get to be creative with the time we are able to spend together.

We had talked about planning a weekend away together and finally made it happen over Memorial Day weekend.  We each left home Friday morning and met in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  We had such a fun weekend spending time together and catching up.  We never seem to be short on conversation, and our hubbies can always chat about farming!

Thursday night we walked around the University of Minnesota campus and ate the best pizza at a restaurant called Punch Pizza.

Friday we grabbed breakfast and headed to the Mall of America.  So. Much. Mall.  We spent the entire day wandering through the mall and still didn't see it all.  We discovered a new favorite store called Alter'd State.  The boys were such good sports.  They found a wall of brochures to read about Minnesota. 😆  That evening we saw the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, then headed to Old Chicago for supper.

Saturday morning we decided to walk to the Mill City Farmer's Market.  We found breakfast, wandered around the ruins of the old mills along the river, then headed back to the hotel.  We decided to have lunch at Ikea and spent the rest of the afternoon there before heading to a yummy Mexican restaurant for supper.

Sunday morning we found a great church in downtown Minneapolis called River Valley.  After church we walked to the Lyons Pub near our hotel, which happens to be the Husker hangout on football Saturdays.  From there we headed to the Minnesota Twins game.  The game ended up going 15 innings!  We left after the 11th and found supper before heading back to the hotel to dip our feet in the hot tub one more time before saying goodbye and heading home Monday morning.  Coincidently, we both pulled off at the same gas station, so we got to say goodbye one more time before going our separate ways.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend with a friend who I don't see nearly enough.  Love you, Elise!

"A sweet friendship refreshes the soul." ~ Proverbs 27:9

It's Been Awhile...

Just over four years, to be exact.  So let's see, to keep this simple, here are 4 things that have happened in the last 4 years:

1. We moved

About 3 months after my last post we moved to our own home in the country.  Up until that point, we had been apartment dwellers or renters.  How exciting to be in our first real home together!  Even more special is that this was the home built by my husband's great grandparents on the family farm.  Eventually, they moved to town and his grandparents moved into the farmhouse.  When his grandparents moved to town, his parents moved in, and the cycle continues with Evan and I.  Although I was hesitant at first about the possibility of truly making this house feel like OUR home, I can now say, four years later, I love it and it feels like HOME!

Our house not long after moving in

2. I got a job

Just a few weeks later I accepted a teaching job in our hometown at the school my husband grew up attending.  I get to teach third grade reading and middle school Spanish.  I also coach freshman volleyball and, just this year, became an assistant soccer coach.  I always thought I wanted to teach middle elementary grades, but after my first job teaching 6th grade, I discovered I love middle school too!  So, this job is the best of both worlds.  I'm still enjoying it four years later!

Go Huskies!

3. We tackled countless house projects

We worked on remodeling our house for about two months before we actually moved in July 2013.  I did much of this work over the summer before school started.  Since moving in, we have continued to slowly make changes as we are able.  I will share more about this in a separate post(s)!  Like I said earlier, I'm so happy with how this house has become our home, and I think much of this has to do with the changes we've made to make it ours. 

Our living room currently looks like this...

4. We got two dogs

My husband grew up with St. Bernard dogs.  Two of them (Bradford and Boomer) stayed on the farm when we moved in, so they were our dogs for awhile, but they were older and we knew we wanted to always have dogs on the farm.

Boomer and Bradford

Once Bradford passed away we knew we needed a friend for Boomer, so we got Clark.  He's half black lab/half St. Bernard.

Clark soon after we got him two years ago.

Last winter Boomer passed away, so we needed a friend for Clark.  Kiya, a German shepherd, joined the farm with Clark.

Clark (2 years old) and Kiya (about 3 months old)

Of course, much more has happened over the last four years, but these four things stand out.  When I take the time to stop and think about it, we have much to be thankful for!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.~Psalm 106:1~