It's easy to look back over the last two months and feel like summer is just flying by. In a lot of ways, it is... but I think it always feels that way. Unless you sit around and watch TV all day.
Which is something I only dream about.
In retrospect, July was quite eventful...
We packed up our Colorado house (gosh that makes it sound so easy) and moved our weary selves across the country...
I drove a Penske truck from Colorado to Illinois... (I am a self-proclaimed Penske rock star.)
I found the words I needed to hear in one of the most stressful times of my life...
And clung to them like a bird on a wire. (Do birds cling to wires?)
We rolled into Illinois and took in one of the most peaceful views. A soul-feeder to me...
I lamented about my ridiculously dark roots. (Who knew my hair is practically black now?)
And discovered my mom was driving around town with this on her back window:
I marveled at the fact that people actually buy this carpet (they do, the sales guy told me.)
And rejoiced when I found some REALLY good reading material at our local Chrsitian bookstore.
We moved into our new house, thanks to some VERY amazing people...
...and then realized we have a whole lot of work to do...
We put it off to play hoops with our kids. It turns out I'm still not good at sports.
We said goodbye to my grandma's husband, Ab, a WW2 veteran...
...which made me realize how much I still miss my grandma.
I discovered sugar free, dairy free, gluten free ice cream isn't so bad...
...and bought a pair of jeans the next size down. I won't be lounging in them anytime soon, but they fit. And they were on sale. (This is my surprised face...)
We started construction (ha) on my new office...which is almost finished and I am in LOVE with it:
And A Sweethaven Summer hit the NYTimes bestseller list. It also made it to #1 in Christian Fiction and Women's fiction on amazon, though I don't know how long it stayed there. I took a picture to remind myself.
I opened a Facebook author page (which was hugely nerve-wracking.) If you want to join, I'm going to be doing more fun things there...
I traveled in to Chicago for CHA and met/re-met some beautiful friends...
I got to launch my very first E-book with Ella Publishing:
I sent my kids off to Spotlight Youth Theater summer camp and was wowed by their showcase Friday afternoon. Also wowed by Adam's mad photo bombing skills.
This weekend, when my kids went outside to play, the masses of children descended upon our house...and they all found friends in our neighborhood.
And, perhaps one of the most exciting things of the summer...I am preparing to release my second novel on Wednesday...
To celebrate, I announced a big, fat giveaway...
Scroll down to enter!
So, yeah, it feels like it went fast, but it's been a jam-packed summer. In the upcoming weeks, between book signings, the wedding of a very good friend, a visit from my sister & her family and back to school shopping, my goal is to take it all in. To plan a few FUN things (for the kids) and to relish every one of them.
What about you? What are you doing with your last few, precious weeks of summer?
