-happiness hangover

i've come to the conclusion that this is the best trip i've ever taken home.
ever.
it may be due to the fact that i'm finally growing weary of phoenix's relentless summers and can't stand watching my boys thrash about the house like restless caged beasts dying for a blade of grass underfoot or a sniff of wind at the boiling playground.
this escape to eastern washington has filled me in ways i've never allowed it to before.
dare i say it may also have something to do with maturity?

no. ew. spit that back out onto the ground.

(we'll stick with the former "sick of the arizona heat" theory before the inner 17 year old in me hears that logic garbage and forces me to do something crazy like flip off an old person or try to run over a cat in fear of disappearing with this aging wisdom.)

whoa. i'm back. so here's a list of reasons i wake up every morning and lay down every evening with a real, genuine home town smile on my face:

-i spent about 8 hours on sunday under a tree, reading my favorite book
-i have to wash my feet every night before bed to scrub off the grass stains
-i had the pleasure of driving home behind 2 matching obese women on scooters with neon orange safety vests. (because without the vests, they would've gone unnoticed)
-my family slept in the shape of an H this morning (brooks's head in brandon's back and feet in mine)and it didn't bother me because i was distracted by the sounds of morning birds outside
-i've done a photo shoot in an apple orchard and a vineyard
-it's been a little windy
-after dinner conversations happen in the front yard, in the dark, under the corkscrew willow
-the cows are starting to recognize me on my morning runs
-i actually went on a movie date with my husband
AND
-tomorrow i will be eating God's gift to county fairs...... an elephant ear!!

yes priscilla, i will be eating a fried piece of dough the size of my torso.
heaven help me.