[what i’m loving]

Whole, fresh food: I’ve had a food revolution in my brain lately. I’ve been shopping differently than ever before, and making all new types of food. We have done lots of grilling this summer, including a lot of corn and squash. Yesterday, we bought a full-size upright freezer for our garage, which I will use to buy and store grass-fed meat in bulk, and freeze seasonal produce to enjoy year-round. My mom and I are planning on doing some canning at the end of this month as well.

Being outside: We have spent so much time outside, between being out on the boat, camping up north, or just working on things around the yard. For the first time in my life, I have a tan! We are going camping again in a few weeks (and I’m hoping for one more trip beyond that before summer ends), and there is still lots of time for weekend boating.

Our new porch: Greg built an amazing cedar porch on the front of our house! It spans the entire width of the house. We bought four adirondack chairs in bright, fun colors to put on it. And we have a wrought-iron swing that use to reside on our old porch which will be getting a fun new cushion and placed on the new porch. He finished it yesterday, and I spent some time sitting out reading in the sun today. It’s great!

School officially starts in six weeks (though I have a one-day-per-week class starting at the end of this month), and I’m determined to get in a lot more fun before I go back. I would love to take two more camping trips if possible. We are going this month for sure, and I would love to squeeze in another trip in August. Fingers crossed!