Summer Sun is Fading.

It is a weekend full of mixed emotions here at the O'Neil house. Tuesday marks the first day of school, and the first day that I will be working full time in quite some time. As this approaches it feels like a good time to reflect on this now, past summer, and move forward onto some exciting, uncharted territories.

This summer was a whirlwind for us. It began so quickly with us leaving on June 27th for almost three weeks in Europe. Those three weeks were unlike anything I have ever experienced, and made Kevin and I even stronger together than we were before. We have no memory of Europe that does not make us smile. We thank our lucky stars every day that we had the opportunity to experience something like that at this age, and even more importantly, together.

When we got home there was little sleep. We left our home with the backyard in ruins, and various paint colors splatted on our walls. These were all things that we needed to tend to before summer ended. I must say it has been non-stop craziness around here since the day we returned, but due to my amazing husbands work ethic, things got finished. There has been a total remodel inside our house, with turning our living room into a formal living space, moving the tv into the brand new "man cave" in the basement, moving the spare bedroom downstairs, moving the workout room and painting all of these new spaces. And once you step on our amazing deck it feels like you have been placed in an entirely different yard than what used to be here. Here are some before and current pictures...

As you can tell from these pictures we lived on a pretty horrible, steep hill before.

There was really no usable space due to the incline.

NOW it looks like this....

Now this side is flat enough to put in all kinds of fun things to do in a yard... Swing-sets, pools, etc. 

So all we still need is some topsoil and grass seed and we will have a beautiful, FLAT, yard. My husband is every bit amazing! And our girls cannot wait to actually have a yard to play in. 

But besides all the work we have done this summer we have had some of the worst weather I have ever seen during a summer vacation, which has made it not so enjoyable, and we have had to say goodbye to a loved one, and my kitty cat that I got when I was eight. 

Saying goodbye to Grandpa Jim was extremely hard for both Kevin and I. Many of you know he lived right down the hill from us and visiting him was something we did often. When we lived in our little house not a day passed when Grandpa Jim didn't drive by and honk and wave. He was at our house for every party we had, and when Rahja was an only child and needed a good babysitter to watch her while I was at work (she had an injury that had to be watched constantly) there was nowhere she loved more then sitting at Grandpas feet watching tv with him. He was funny, full of life, giving and sweet. He loved my girls and my cookies, so he instantly won a place with me :) I will miss him every time I bake (knowing that I can no longer run it down to him while it is still warm) and every time we pass by his street. He touched so many people and he will never be forgotten. He would, and probably is, so very proud of Kevin's work in the yard. He kept good tabs on how far along Kev had got by doing drive-bys, but complained that it was hard to see everything that had changed from the road... I know now he has the best view of the project.

After that heartache came another small milestone in Kevin and my life together, our three year wedding anniversary. Every year we try and do something that kind of puts us in a spot where we don't feel entirely comfortable and have to trust that the other is going to be there for us (or jump with us). Year one was sky diving, year two was letting Kevin plan a surprise trip with no help or hints from me, and this year we decided to go bungee jumping to celebrate... It must be his looks that are always able to talk me into these horribly scary adventures. It was an absolute blast and, once again, reminded us how lucky we are to have each other.

    

Now things around here have done a 180 and changed from fun and house stuff, to classroom and work stuff. I am nervous, excited, overwhelmed, anxious, inspired, hopeful and terrified about the upcoming task, but know that I have an incredible team of supporters that I will be able to lean on. It's going to be an adjustment in our lives to have me gone so much, but I know that I will enjoy every minute of doing what I love to do. There are so many things for me to be thankful for, and having a job I love, with a family who supports that is something I cherish. 

So, happy end of summer for you all... hope it has been a wonderful one for all of you, and good luck to all my friends who will be returning to work this week for another exciting school year!

A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.  ~Author Unknown