When just being normal is outstanding...

Nicki gets very frustrated with me because I like to treat the blog like a twitter or Facebook account.  If you don't have something to blog about, don't blog.  Now, that probably is not the best way to approach things - especially when you are trying to keep family and friends up to speed on how life is progressing in a place they all think is just short of off the map.  But it does prevent me from blogging about spending a night watching hours of DVRd Tour de France coverage...

That said, it hit me the other day as I was feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt about not posting for a week or so:  we have settled in to a sense of normalcy.  And that, in itself, feels great.  Certainly, that doesn't mean every day is not a new challenge, and that each and every 'event' is a chance to make memories in this surprisingly wonderful place cut out of Northwest Arkansas.  The thing is, after three months of being here it has been nice to settle in to a routine of sorts.  We each have been blessed incredibly to meet wonderful people since we've been here who have all helped us to settle in so smoothly, that exceeding expectations would be a grand understatement.

All of that said, we did have a couple of wonderful highlights over the course of the past few weeks.  First and foremost we got a visit from some friends from Cincinnati.  Mike McGowan and Lindsey Cunio are great friends of ours who made the trek to NWA over the 4th of July.  Lindsey is actually from Springfield, MO and the two of them are getting married there in October - so they cut out some time with us during a visit for some wedding planning.

We had a night in Fayetteville, and more importantly, we had an entire day on Table Rock Lake in Missouri with Lindsey's parents.  As both Nicki and I have expressed before on the blog, it is amazing to be apart from friends for an extended period of time, and then just settle right in to the flow like nothing had changed.  We had great conversation and enjoyed every minute we had together.  Of course, it was hard no to enjoy when you are surrounded by a beautiful lake and scenery.

Next weekend we are off for our first visit back to Cincinnati!  We can't wait to get back and see family and friends, and who knows...maybe try to eat at every favorite place we had in one weekend (LaRosas, Skyline, Deweys, Paxtons, Greaters, Nada, Green Papaya...I just don't know if we'll have enough time.

Oh...and one last point - as you will see in the picture at the bottom - we gave Jack a...well...lets just call it his summer haircut.  Needless to say it took us a bit too long to find a groomer - and PetSmart finally told us he was too matted to have 'groomed'.  So they brought out the razor and gave him an official high and tight.  We actually think he likes it especially given the 105 degree weather we've been having...but yes, he looks just a bit ridiculous.