Greetings blog readers. Happy August. Can you believe it's August already? A lot of crazy stuff happened since I last blogged. I'm probably not going to blog about it, though. Here's some light and fluffy stuff.

Joy is growing up! She's getting more and more proficient at walking, stair climbing, and now...talking! Not too much talking, yet, but things like "uh-oh!" and "hi!" She'll take things and drop them over the edge of her high chair just so she can say "uh oh!" Kinda funny. Also, I haven't done baby sign language with her for a long time, but the other day I said "say please" and she just did the sign for that and I was like, "WHOA!" What a memory! I seriously haven't done that since we lived in Ames.

SALT is over today which means I have to start cooking again (dun dun dun!) I do enjoy cooking and having cooked food around the house, but I've also been doing a great job at avoiding using the oven, (just stovetop, toaster oven and microwave.) Let's just say that it's been hot. Like in the 90's in our house (and outside). Like the kind of whether where you constantly have a sticky layer on your skin. I'll probably keep doing my oven-avoiding recipes. I've really enjoyed eating with the SALTers 3 nights a week, too. It's been such a blessing to have the free time to try to meet people. It's made me realize that I can be happy with less extravagent meals. (I tend to get caught up in making sure everything's healthy and that all of the food groups are available.) Forget about it.

In a week and a half Mike and I leave for our whirlwind trip around Lake Superior. This is a Biang family vacation in which all of the Biangs excluding the second eldest (but including the grandmas) travel to Canada and then some. As Mike likes to say, we're using our government stimulus package in Canada. It'll be my first Biang family vacation, family cabin excluded. I'm kinda curious what it will be like.

We've been garage-sale-ing when we're around on the weekends. It's different here. No one really puts ads in the paper--they just put signs out. And, unlike the crazies in Ames, garage sales here start around 9 or 10am, not 6 or 7 (phew!) But, a lot of garage sales are a little expensive, or it's just a garage full of Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving-type stuff. erk. I went to this one garage sale at the beginning of the summer, got this whole pile of clothes for Joy, asked the lady what it would cost and she said "$68!" I was like "um...we're going to have to put some of those back". Oh well. There will always be more garage sales :) Something big out here are these estate sales--where you get to walk through the house and everything is for sale. Those are kinda neat, but also over-priced and mostly antique-type stuff.

Mike's been fishing some lately. He loves it. And I've been working on a mosaic and running. Good stuff. It's been a really good decision to try to exercise regularly--does wonders for my energy level and spirits. No jogging stroller, I just have to slow down for the bumps.

That's all for now--cheers-