Time Zones

So the other day it dawned on me that for the month of September, I lived in three different time zones.


West Coast:

Midwest:

and now:
Southeast.
Home.

Not a bad way to end the Summer.


My last week in Illinois was full of long days of work.
However - Thursday night I left work to a stormy sky so you obviously know what happened next...

Chased em'.
I thrive off thunderstorms. Supercells, funnel clouds, lightening & thunder...it gets me high.

^ I took that photo laying on a dirt road getting soaked in the warm, end of Summer rain.
I didn't want it to end.


Storms are one of the main reasons why I find flat land to be more beautiful than mountains.
You can see storms coming from a mile away.
And the lightening show?
Out of this world.

Such a great way to end my stay in the Midwest!

I drove North to Chicago after work on Friday.
SO EXCITED TO HEAD HOME!
After a pit stop at Chipotle & 83 toll roads, I made it to the world's most crowded airport and hopped on my flight South.

I'm usually not the happiest of spirits when adventures come to an end.
However this time around I was pretty darn thrilled.
I already miss the beautiful heartland but I was so, SO excited to come home to Mitch.
Adventures just aren't the same without your better half.
Seeing his bright eyed face eating a twix in the airport waiting for me next to baggage claim will go down as one of my favorite moments ever. I was just so happy to be with my best friend again, back to our quiet, calm home routine.

Ya know....when you announce you're engaged, a lot of times people will say things like OHH taking the plunge! Putting on the ball and chain!...or my favorite: Say goodbye to freedom.

I used to let those messages resonate with me. But now that I've been married almost a year and a half, I think, what the hell are they talking about?

My life since getting married has constantly improved. I've been the happiest I've ever felt. I'm calm. I'm more confident. I'm learning so much about not only relationships but myself as well. I'm learning patience & gratitude on the regular. I even think I'm becoming slightly feminist... (how does Powers-Albro sound?)

*I say feminist because Mitch never makes me feel inferior as 'his wife'.
My husband --- he's not my world, but he's a large part of it. I feel like we're life partners - not husband & wife.
But this is a whole other blog post.
Just don't look for me picketing over the glass ceiling at the white house.
;-)

 It's been the best year and a half of my life and I feel like we're only getting started.
Hard to fathom how it get's any better than this.

After 15 long hours of much needed sleep, we woke up Saturday and began our first day together in a while. We had brunch and then picked out some fall decorations for our lil' apartment!

While running around I noticed the Greenway next door grew some beautiful Fall flowers while I was gone...

In case you were wondering if I screamed at Mitch: STOPPPP! and make a U-turn in order to get pictures of these beauties..... yes, yes I did.


And then we went back later in the evening to take some more photos with the big-girl camera.

South Carolina is full of so much natural beauty.
Don't let society trick you into thinking it's some redneck, fried food eating, uneducated state.
Train your mind to find beauty in the ordinary, to see the good in everything and accept & look past the negative.

" And above all,
watch with glimmering eyes the whole world around you,
because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.
Those who don't believe in magic will never find it " - Roald Dahl

^ Anyone catching the eclipse tomorrow morning?
Thinking I might bribe Mitch with Starbucks to get up early & go for a walk to catch it with me
;-)



Back to my routine I go!
To long days of work.
Ended with long walks in the woods.
Taco Salads on Tuesdays
&
Soup on Sundays....







...And everyday snuggles with my fur babies.