back for a bit

we're back from a 2 1/2 week road trip which included 4 days in missoula, 2ish days in sioux center, 7 days in branson, and the rest of the days in transit. i love road trips. i much prefer them to flying. more freedom. more control. less anxiety!

while in the midwest, i remembered how awesome heat is. yes, heat. and even humidity. i didn't mind it at all since we hit the swimming pool daily (or more). it was strange being back in sioux center/dad & mom's house/covenant crc. strange but good. things look different, yet exactly the same. they look bigger. (wider roads, less traffic...) it was a fabulous vacation.

we arrived home yesterday afternoon, excited to see our apartment (complete with new stove!) and our kitty. lil' ophums was happy to see us. she hung out with us all evening and slept on our bed nicely last night (no shoving philip off, no standing on our heads, no incessant meowing--just togetherness). coming home from vacation is awesome. of course, i have 6 loads of laundry to do today, plus catching up on lots of other things.

i am rediscovering my love for bellingham. we biked to trader joe's yesterday to get the kinks out, and the exercise felt good. the sun was out, it was 67 degrees, and it felt great. zero humidity with a breeze off the bay = delightful. i love the midwest. i love bellingham. this means i'm happy in different places. it's awesome.

i also went for a run this morning. that also felt good. i basically did zero exercise on vacation (except hiking up the crazy hill to the swimming pool--totally worth it!), despite my good intentions. i don't think humidity and running and i can be friends. i think i can be friends with running, but throwing humidity on top of it might just do me in. anyway, the run this morning felt great.

intentionality for this week before our next vacation? eat salads for dinner every night. as in, for our main dish. we need to detox from vacation. last night, philip made a delicious green salad with chicken, lemony vinaigrette dressing, sliced almonds, and feta & parmesan cheese. yummers.

off to enjoy this first day at home. i need to finish at least one of the 12 books i took on vacation!!