As I thought about what I would post today, I began thinking about how I would sum up my year in 5 words or less....

Projects
Unexpected
Hurt
Togetherness
Stretching

are the words that came to mind for me.

Projects:

It is a season for projects at our house. After living here for almost 9 years, it is amazing how things begin to fall apart and need updating. Our biggest house project of the moment is redoing our front porch and painting the garage. Our porch has been stained a orange color, with a peachy color for the railings. If you know me at all, you will know that I am not a big fan of that color scheme. Since much of the stain had worn off, especially after the harsh winter, it was time to re-stain. Being the person that I am, I decided to make it a much bigger project than it needed to be. We took all the railings down, and went to work replacing some boards in the floor that had splintered, staining the porch floor and beams, priming and painting the railings, and all the other "little" things that go along with that. It started out as a weekend project for the 4th of July, and we aren't even close to being done with it yet. Typical for home improvement projects I think. Overall though, I am very excited about the new and fresh look. I can't wait to get it all done. I have been taking some pictures along the way, so I will try to post about the project when it is completed.

Unexpected:

This is certainly a good word to describe our year. We have had many unexpected situations come up, both good and difficult. Some of the blessings of the unexpected have been new work-from-home opportunities, and an unexpected amount of time to spend together as a family.

Togetherness:

Since we have had fewer committments this summer, Anthony, T, and I have done all kinds of wonderful things together. We took a vacation to Colorado to visit my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins, and had an amazing time together. We saw family we hadn't seen in a long time, visited friends, and had an unexpected mini family reunion. It was wonderful. We have also gone to the Children's museum in Lincoln, the Summer Arts Festival in Omaha's Old Market, camping with friends at Branched Oak, fed the geese at Heartland of America Park, climbed the trees at John C. Fremont Days with the crew from Camp Fontanelle, took a stroll down the Gene Lahey Mall, and just hung out together watching classic tv shows on hulu.com.

Stretching:

This is another word that has been both great for us and difficult. On the positive note, this year has really stretched me career wise. I have branched out into areas I never dreamed I would work in, learned things I didn't know I could learn, and have experimented with new techniques in photography. So many of you have been such an encouragement along the way. Thank you for all your help.

So, there it is. My 5 words. I would LOVE to know what yours are. Leave me a comment!