Heads up, this post is full of things that make me smile, so if you're in a bad mood, get ready to smile, cause my heavenly Daddy blessed me a lot these past five days!

So, here we go.

Wednesday I had a friend from Taylor come visit! I showed him around good ol' Oswego, we got ice cream, listened to this really funny old band play down at the park, and played cards with the family. It was a blessing to see a little piece of Taylor in my house, and talk about how God has been working in our summers so far!

Thursday was an 8 hour long day of work, but the day ended with a car show and a beautiful sunset at Chik-fil-A, and call me a nerd, but Chik-fil-A got a new ice-cream machine which makes it SO much easier to make milkshakes. For this, I'm grateful.  

...Milkshake Mondays, I'm coming for you. 

Also, on Thursday night I went roller blading for the first time since school ended. Now don't be fooled. Six miles on roller blades sounds like a lot, and that's because it is. But..I got to enjoy the awesome weather doing one of my new favorite things. 

 

Friday...was great. Let's start there. 

It was cow appreciation day at Chik-fil-A, I had lunch with a great friend, and left to go on my Indiana adventure to visit another great friend! Seriously, so blessed. ...Also, Grason is in the cow costume. That's just an added bonus. 

It's definitely not mountains, but seriously, I'm loving these views.

Saturday I was in Indiana all day visiting with one of my best friends from school and her family. Guys, I loved it. And it was so needed.

I've heard that spending time on a lake is one of the best things to do in the summer, and this weekend I learned why. 

It was perfect. 

The weather, the company, the sun, the water...everything was just so perfect.

Sunday I went tubing. If you've never been on a tube, you need to go. People's true "crazy" comes out, and it's oh, so fun. Also, I had an awesome drive home. Driving in the car is one of my absolute favorite things to do, and when I get to drive down long stretches of highway and listen to some of my favorite artists, I am one happy girl.


I told you, I was totally blessed.
Look for the little things, guys. And praise the One above who makes everything beautiful.

Yesterday, one of the most important men in my life (my Grandpa) celebrated his 74th birthday!

Now, I know that everybody likes to think that their grandpa is the best, but honestly people, my grandpa is up on that list for sure.

My Grandpa is possibly one of the funniest people I know. He has a mass of jokes that he tells over and over again, and the funny thing is, I never actually laugh at the jokes themselves, but I always laugh at him, as his eyes start to tear up, his face gets red, and you can tell that he is absolutely one of the most joy-filled people to walk this earth.

My Grandpa is also one of the smartest men I know. My sophomore year of high school I had to build a miniature roller coaster for my science class. Honestly, I absolutely hated it. There were so many things that had to be screwed in just so, and angles that had to be just right, and wood that had to be cut perfectly...and being the impatient person that I am, I would have had a lot of trouble with it. Fortunately, my Grandpa is all about that stuff, and regardless of the fact that he was having a lot of health issues which made him not as "on top of his game" as he usually is, he worked on my roller coaster project with me from start to finish, always knowing how to do this or that to make it run better, and always, always exhibiting so much patience.

There are so many things that describe my Grandpa. He is so loving, courageous, trustworthy, wise and so, so kind.
I think the world of him, and so last night at dinner I asked him what was one piece of advice he would give after living 74 years, he, true to fashion, kindly gave me three things that all work together, and they describe this man's life perfectly.
He said,
"Always talk to the Lord, just keep talking to Him about everything, big and small. And be in His word, that's how He talks to us, and be thankful for every little thing that He does in your life. Your relationship with Him is the most important thing."

Guys, I love my Grandpa because he is such a good example of what it means to absolutely be in love with Jesus.
Throughout my 19 years of living, I have seen that my Grandpa's life has always been about his relationship with the Lord. Whether that was in his relationships with others, the way he spent his time, or the way he handled situations, he always has done it for the glory of God, and for the sake of their relationship.

So, today I want to encourage you to make the Lord a priority. Talk to Him about every little thing, and be thankful for every little thing. And maybe, when you're 74, you'll be able to give the same advice to the next generation of "young'uns" and they'll be able to see the way you loved Jesus, just like I can see it in my Grandpa.

So, those are my thoughts of the day. 

Happy birthday to my Grandpa, and happy hump day to the rest of you! 

Ever meet one of those families whose entire world revolves around one sports team? 
Like their house is painted their teams colors, and they have signed jerseys and all that stuff? 

Ya. 

You know what I'm talking about. 

Well, my family is not like that..usually, and by usually I mean that tennis is our one exception.

Luckily, you can't really paint a house the color of a tennis team or player, but you can keep tennis on 24/7 and that's pretty much what we do. 

My Dad went to a tennis academy in Florida when he was a teenager, and was planning on playing tennis professionally until the Lord asked him to be a pastor. However, his love for tennis stayed the same and was passed down to his kids. 

Now, I know what you're thinking.. "Does she play?"

The answer, is no. BUT, I do absolutely love to watch, and this time of year is possibly one of my favorite times to do so. 

People, it's Wimbledon time! Now, that means British accents, very white clothing, strawberries and cream, and the grunts and screams (...oh those girls) of players as they try to win every game. 

Gotta love it.

Maybe one of these years I'll go to the actual event, but for now I'm enjoying the tradition of Wimbledon with my family right here at home. 

(Go, Murray!)

It's that time of year again...

The time of year where everything gets just a little bit warmer than it was in June, July 4th comes around, lightning bugs finally make an appearance, sunsets are crazy beautiful, everything smells like bonfire, and no matter what, windows are (and should be) rolled down with some type of music coming through the speakers. 

And maybe it's just me, but this time of year makes me love the midwest. 

Now, I am aware that I might be crazy, because who doesn't love mountains or the beach (I know I do), and I know that you can catch lightning bugs pretty much anywhere, but honestly I love seeing that sun set over acres of corn. I love seeing the tractors travel down the road on the way to work...even though that means I have to eventually figure out how to pass them, I love it regardless. I also love the county fairs, where anything and everything is deep fried, it smells like dirt and far too many animals, and the people...well for me, are just really fun to watch. (Go to one, you'll figure it out.) 

Ever hear the saying, "Bloom where you're planted"? 

I think it might just be a good idea to actually do that.

So often I look too far ahead. I want to live there, do this, meet them, experience that..yada yada yada..

And maybe I will do all those things, but for right now I'm learning to be here, and to enjoy being here. 

Here. In the good ol' state of Illinois. With people that have known me all my life. Doing the same basic summer thing I've always done. And honestly I do like it.

I had coffee with a pretty cool lady this past week, and as I listened to her tell part of her story of how she was going in one direction, and God took her a totally different one, and how if someone had told her when she was my age that she'd end up in Illinois, there was no way she would have believed them, I laughed to myself, because I think God loves to do that. Not that he likes to make us miserable by changing our carefully constructed plans, but I think he loves to reveal his plans for our lives that far exceed our own. I think he loves to take us to places and have us look back on our lives wondering how on earth we got to that place when it was so far from what we saw and had planned for our futures, and to realize that the place we’ve ended up is so far better than what we had initially wanted and planned.

And who knows, maybe the Lord will take me to the mountains, or the ocean, and I definitely wouldn't hate either of those one bit, but for right now I'm here, learning to "Bloom where I'm planted," and catching glimpses of all things beautiful that this home state has to offer.