as of sunday, my 99 days of summer has begun!

here is a recap of how it has gone so far..

day 99: packed for home. went to cracker barrel to eat with my family before we hit the road. ate too much food and proceeded to feel on the verge of vomiting for the 8+ hours we were in the car. what a way to kick off the summer! :) things got much better after the road trip part was over.

day 98: mom and i went out to cecil and cleo's for breakfast. we were there for a long time just talking. i love to hear the stories they tell about their life. i found out that my grandma has only taken off her wedding ring once since she has been married (over 50 years!). my grandpa's response "she better not take it off. it cost me a whole dollar!" --no joke. prices sure have gone up lately...after breakfast and coffee, mom and i ventured in the pouring rain to tj maxx to check out their stock. we left with baby clothes for my cousins that are coming into town this weekend. we hit hyvee (the kroger of the midwest) and headed home soggy and ready to spend the rest of the day at home in sweats. we made cookies (no break and bakes! it has been soo long since i have made cookies that weren't prepackaged. it was a delight) and watched a ridiculous amount of gilmore girls all day. mom made parmesan cheese with a side of spaghetti with bread sticks for dinner. that woman sure knows the way to my heart. all in all, it was a really good, lazy, rainy day.

day 97: it is almost noon here and i haven't checked off even one thing on my to do list. here is my list:

-go to panera (check email, balance check book, write thank you notes)

-post office (more stamps, mail thank you notes)

-target (deodorant, razors, a couple of surprise things for mom...shh don't tell..)

-lowe's (check out a door knob for her, check out dresser knobs for me, dream)

-joann's fabrics (see if they have the headboard fabric i have had picked out for weeks)

-good will (see if i can stockup on t'shirts from my youth to make a sweatshirt blanket this summer)

i am close to marking one thing off...i am at panera. email checked, check book balanced, thank you notes not written, but blog post has become a new addition to my list.

as you can see, my summer is off to a rip-roaring start!

on a more serious note, friends, please pray for my time here. it can be really hard for me to be home sometimes. i think it is a bunch of things that can make it hard. some things have changed a lot, some things haven't changed at all. i am trying to have a more intentional servant's heart though. instead of going home and wanting to be served or lazy, i want to do the serving. i want to be more intentional about the time i spend with my family. i want to love my family better while i am here. i have some fun ideas so we will see how it goes. just pray for my time here. i have been praying for more specific vision for my time here and an intentional heart. also, pray that i would spend lots of time with the Lord (why is it so hard to stay in the rhythm when i am out of my day-to-day routine?)

friends, i miss you! and i will start taking guesses as to how many of the things on my to do list will actually get done!

---love from the midwest!