such a magical place

a couple of weeks ago i went home for a week for my best friend's wedding {elizabeth cohea sayer: wedding post to come} with the super added bonus of visiting my family.  i'm sure everyone is like this with their hometown/place, but to me, there is nothing like an iowa summer.  as soon as i got off the plane in des moines, the rush of humidity and the subtle earthy smell of iowa told me it was finally summer.  don't get me wrong, i love love love utah summers, but fireflies, humidity, cornfields, little bunnies running around everywhere {which i didn't even really appreciate until tanner pointed them out to me},

tanner: "...you mean, bunnies are like squirrels here?"

and the color green scream summer to my heart.  so while i was there, i went to the pool everyday and rode the lazy river approximately 50 times i'm sure, rode my bike around with my little brother everywhere, watched the fireflies with my dad, ate cupcakes almost everyday with my mom, helped my little sister pick out decorating things for her college apartment {what?????}, went to a wedding, saw old friends, and enjoyed basically doing nothing all day everyday.  it was relaxing and so iowa to me.

since then, we have been working working working mostly and we are off to california {take two} to hang out with my family in tahoe tomorrow!  cannot wait.

oh and p.s. i have to congratulate my sister and her boyfriend on running their first {and probably last, right, madison??} marathon one week ago.  almost makes me want to get off the couch right now. almost.

swamp cooler summer

we live on the second story of an old brick house - keep in mind, science says heat rises - and we think it's completely perfect and charming except for the fact that it lacks climate control in every shape and form.  in the winter our electric bill was through the roof {and our house was none the warmer...} and this summer we find relief from the heat in only one corner of our house where our swamp cooler lives.  despite its initial shockingly loud motor and never-ending hum, it does a good job of keeping our {single} room cool.  and this is why our bed has become our permanent summer dining room table.

p.s. post about my iowa vacay coming ASAP.