4th of July Weekend

We had a great 4th of July Weekend celebrating with family and friends.  The girls splashed around in the backyard kiddie pool, we saw fireworks at Arlington Park, went to the towns festival "Frontier Days", walked to the town parade, and had a bbq with local friends!  Last year we went to the same parade but we weren't residents yet. We were just beginning the selling and buying home process.  The day of the parade this year I kept thinking how we've come full circle in just one year and also how much we've been through this past year (in terms of the home journey) to get where we are today.  If someone would have told me a year ago that this is where we would be today I'm not so sure I would have believed them!  But here we are, in a home we love, in a neighborhood we love, in a town we love....our kids our meeting friends that they will go through all their school years with and we are meeting family friends that we'll have wonderful memories with as we sit back and watch our kids grow up together!  It feels like a sweet victory, we sold our house and conquered the odds in this crazy market!  Needless to say that little town parade had lot more meaning to me this year as I watched it with my little family and new friends!!  On this 4rth of July I am so grateful for my freedom, for my country, for the privilages I often take for granted, for the troops and their families, for my town, home, and the little family I love and adore!!!  

I was born in a small town...

Not only do I love the song "Small Town" by John Mellencamp but I could relate to it as well for I was born in a small town!  I have wonderful memories growing up in that small town where we road our bikes to the beach everyday in the summer, caught fireflies, knew all our neighbors, frequented the local candy store, and lived a very simplistic modest life style.  Over the 4rth of July weekend I was reminded of that small town feeling as we went to our towns local festival.  We've lived here for three years but never really spent a lot of time at the local festivities.  We met my family there and had a great time!  Mallory went on every carnival ride she qualified for, we ate pizza, drank lemonade, listened to live music and watched the fireworks into the evening!  And in "small town" fashion we even ran into some friends that live in the area, exchanged hellos and went on our merry way!  For the moment it was a feeling of living in that Mellencamp song as I fondly recalled the lyrics..."No I can not forget where it is I come from".  Oh how easy it is to forget that...thanks John for that simple tune to remind us once in awhile of what's really important!