Summer 2015

I seem to fall off the face of the earth each summer and this year was no different.  I’m excited to be returning to blogging and have some exciting posts planned including some new recipes.  I hope you had a great summer filled with friends, family, and making lots of great memories.  I have always hated summers in AZ.  I’m still a bit unsure of why I ever thought that moving to the desert was a good idea for someone who hated the heat with an intense passion.   This summer I decided to just embrace the heat and it ended up being one of my favorite summers.  For my first post back I’m sharing some highlights of my summer.

Almost every weekend we spent at the in-law’s house swimming.  While the pool was of course great, we really enjoyed just hanging out and spending time together with family. 

This was my fist summer at the new job and in addition to being able to wear jeans all summer (my most favorite thing EVER!!), I also had an altered work schedule for 2 months that allowed me one more day each week to spend with Mr. C.  That in itself was amazing and it allowed me to spend one day swimming and still get everything done during the weekend I needed.  It was like having an actual summer break every week.

We gave up sugar and severely limited our refined grains at the beginning of the summer as a lifestyle change and we've both never felt better.  The other day I had a small bite of a truffle and was satisfied with just that bite sized amount.  Never before would I have not inhaled the truffle and wanted another.  We were conscious about what we ate before but when I look in our cart at Sprouts each week I’m so proud of the food we’re putting into our bodies.  We’re still discovering new foods and I’m enjoying trying new recipes and revising old ones.

We finally made it back to the Phoenix Art Museum for the Warhol exhibit.  There was also an amazing firefly exhibit but pictures didn’t do it justice.  A church burnt down and this picture is an exhibit created with the pieces that were left.  This was one of my favorites. 

We didn’t spend the 4^th of  July in NE as we traditionally have, but we still made it back for a summer visit.  It was wonderful spending time with my nieces, seeing my sweet grandma, catching up with some friends, and being surrounded by so much green again.

I continued to take tons of pictures of our animals because they are so darn cute.

This summer was pretty great, even amongst the 117 degree, record breaking days and other life frustrations that tested our patience.  I’m still counting down the days until fall but I’d put this in the books as one of the best summers yet.  I can only hope next year will be even better!

What was the best part of your summer?