Mackinaw River

JD and I had a great time this weekend. The weather was perfect (even though it felt like fall, not August) with highs in the 60's and 70's. We took advantage of the weather and the weekend by going canoeing on the nearby Mackinaw river. Although sections of the river are flat farmland, the section we rode was beautifully wooded.

It was the perfect escape from the work and stress that the end of summer promises.

After we canoed the five miles, we rode our bikes the five miles back to the Jeep. The bike ride took us through some fields of soy beans and corn, where we had some fun.

Weekends of adventure are the best ones! I can honestly say that I am now refreshed for the week.

Grandparents and Tomatoes

To be perfectly honest, it wasn't the best back-to-school week. By the end of the day on Monday, I already felt weeks behind with hundreds of pages to read, presentations due the next week, and complete exhaustion setting in. Every semester is busy, but I can't remember ever getting hit so hard so fast before. The good news is, a week later I'm slowly catching up. I've already given a presentation on The Wizard of Oz, and I've survived a week of teaching my first literature class. I love my work, but I hate having so much of it.

JD has been such a great husband, picking up my slack around the house and supporting me through the stress. And when I'm busy, he heads out to the mountain biking trails at nearby Evergreen Lake.

The good news was that Grandma and Grandpa gave me a mental breather by visiting us this weekend. They had seen the house before we bought it, but they hadn't been back since. So, Saturday we were able to catch up while Grandpa hung the beautiful stained-glass lamp they brought us (can you think of a better gift?!), and Grandma and I spent some quality time together.

We also went by the Sweet Corn Festival in Uptown Normal where Grandpa got interested in the Kettle Corn.

It is also now the heart of tomato season here. Take a gander at some of our beauties: This is an heirloom tomato that grows darker as it ripens until it acheives a dark purple/black color. They are so juicy!!

Chicago Fun

It's the last weekend before school starts, but it was a great weekend. JD had to work in Chicago on Saturday at an eco-friendly festival, so I joined him Saturday night in the windy city. We've only visited Chicago once before (not counting the trip to pick up a dresser we bought on Craig's list), and each time we go, I like Chicago even better. Sunday, we walked the Magnificent Mile (Chicago's designer-clothing street),

strolled down the Chicago River river-walk, checked out Navy Pier,

rode the ferris wheel a couple of times, and watched the Chicago air show from afar. It was a lot of walking on a hot, humid day, but it was worth it!

The city that I've seen is clean and feels safe. We love the museum district and the lake's presence. Chicago is quickly becoming one of my favorite cities. Here's a video that JD caught of a figher-jet flying by us on the Pier:

Now, I take a deep breath as year two begins...

Traveling Around the Country

This really is our last big summer trip; I promise. School starts next week, so I can't go too far once the workload hits, although we do have a trip to Chicago planned for next weekend and the annual Labor Day trip to Michigan in September.

But this trip was to Greenville, SC where our friend Kevin was married. JD and Kevin worked for Philip Morris together, both starting the job at the same time and living out in the boonies of Tennesse at the same time. Before I came along, they were quite the pair of bachelors. Kevin attended our wedding and lent us his gorgeous car as our get-away vehicle, not to mention that he is a fellow Harry Potter fan, so we were excited to support him as he got married. On Saturday afternoon, he wed Amy, a Methodist pastor, who plans to keep him in line.
Saturday evening, JD and I were sitting around in our hotel room, preparing to watch our third movie of the day when we realized that we were only 2 hours from Atlanta. And Atlanta is 2 hours closer to Normal, IL than Greenville is. Within 10 minutes, we were packed up, checked out, and on the road to Atlanta. We didn't arrive until pretty late, but we got to visit with Mom and Dad briefly. Sunday morning, we were up early to check out Michael's new house before he headed to church and we began our long haul home. His house is beautiful.

I now start my last week before school starts, training, planning, and scheduling. However, in all the busyness, we were able to finish our painting last week. From the old, faded blue wallpaper, we moved to a light gold sponge-painting that I find infinitely superior!

Yes, here you see some clouds. I think I like it; it adds something different. We'll see if I feel the same way in a year or two...

At Home in Normal

JD and I feel like we've been traveling a lot this summer, and we're getting to the point where we're looking foward to a quiet fall and winter (okay, JD's already to this point, but we still have one big trip to Greenville, SC left next weekend). It was nice to stay put this weekend; we've had many projects on which to catch up. I've been working really hard this week to prepare for classes, which start in two weeks. I'm teaching a new class this fall - Introduction to Children's Literature. So, I'm starting from scratch, reading novels, researching author biographies, writing lectures. Needless to say, it's a lot of work, and I'm not sure I'll have it all completed by the time that school starts.

I also launched a big painting project: the stairwell and upstairs hallway. We had old wallpaper to paint over, and we've accomplished two coats of primer, a base coat, and we're currently sponge painting. It's getting there, but because of the stairs, it's hard to reach a lot of the wall. We have some crazy ladder set-ups going on right now.

Throughout all this work, JD has been staying very busy with work, traveling a bit during the days and finishing all kinds of little projects around the house and garden. We have some serious vegetables coming right now, especially on our six tomato plants.

We did make time to celebrate our three year wedding anniversary over the weekend. Although our anniversary is July 1, we're always traveling with the families during that time, so we had to postpone the celebration until we had a free weekend at home. I can happily say that I am blessed in my marriage and thankful to God for the amazing gift He gave me in John David.