Happy to be...

I often struggle with contentment. I dream of being in a newer neighborhood where all the homes are beautiful. I often think I would like a bigger house, one that is beautifully decorated and new. A neighbor once referred to our area as the "Grandville ghetto" which i did not take to real kindly but now it has become our own private joke that we laugh about. You see, sometimes when people ask where we live, you can tell by their expressions that they consider our area as "old" probably more lower socio-economic class if you will. It can be hard to not feel judged and I admit that yes, I would love to build a new home and feel frustrated when we cannot afford to fix up the "old" on our little 1 1/2 story home. I am learning to not let the opinions of others matter to me and to find joy right where I am... Let me tell you why I am happy to be... right where I am... I have amazing neighbors, like my awesome friend Marnie, who baked me a blueberry buckle to take with me on vacation
and Ruth who every year picks blackberries and makes homemade jam and pours it into any old jar like this spaghetti jar and brings it over to share because she knows it is Luke's favorite kind of jam.

and John who is soo much fun and such a practical jokester... yes, we came home from vacation to a toilet filled with silk flowers on our front porch... lovely

and Bob and Todd and Brad and their wives Marnie, Dawn and Holly who we enjoy having cookouts and campfires and such. We take turns hosting and enjoying eachothers company. They are gracious... Bob and Marnie share their pool and make me feel special on my birthday and I could hang with Marnie all day... love that girl. Todd and Dawn are alot of fun and make me laugh and Todd takes Marc and the boys out on his boat perch fishing. Brad and Holly are right next door and share life with us day in and day out... Brad is a great cook/griller and shares his "goods". All our neighbors are great. We have a blast on the 4th, everyone parties... and of course we have a block party every August, the road gets blocked, the firetrucks and police cars come and we put picnic tables in the middle of the road and hang... i'll post pics of this fun event come August.

Oh, and my boys get to play with their best friends every single day.(Jaeger and Zach are missing but those two are best buds as well.)

and ummmm... look at this sweet face... Anna. When Holly was pregnant I had a dream that they had a girl and in my dream she was about 2, blond with curly hair and had blue eyes... in my dream I said "Hi Anna" later I told Holly about my dream and she was incredulous because Anna was the name they had chosen. Anna is now almost 2 and is blond with curly hair and blue eyes. WOW... that dream came from God. Holly believes it was God's way of confirming the name and the plans He had for this little beauty!

So there you have it... a few of the reasons I am happy to be right where I am!!