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If you read Friday’s post, you have a good idea why I took the weekend off from blogging. ;) Guys, it feels SO good! We’re still very much in full-blown renovation mode, but the house is super clean and organized. Or, at least, the cleanest and most organized it’s been since September. And some amazing news: construction on the nursery starts this morning! I’ve been freaking out about this for months (#nesting), and it looks like it might actually get done in time for the baby. Happiness.

Another reason I took the weekend off: I had a scary little episode when I drove Mitch up to Wisconsin for Ragnar on Friday night.

It had been an extremely hot day, and I’d been working really hard to get the house in order. I was constantly moving, going up and down the stairs a lot, and probably not drinking or resting enough. I thought I was having contractions, and (understandably?) completely freaked out, as I was only 33.5 weeks and over two hours away from my hospital. But the contractions turned out to be Braxton Hicks contractions. Cruel, no?! Not fun.

I finished up the cleaning job on Saturday, but took things much more slowly, pumping the AC and taking breaks every 15 minutes. On Saturday night, Sarah (my sister-in-law) drove down and we had a little girls’ night while waiting for Mitch and John (my brother-in-law) to arrive from the race.

If you haven’t heard of Ragnar, it’s a 200(ish)-mile long-distance relay race. Watch the above video. Pretty incredible, and so proud of Mitch and John, especially considering they ran for two days in 95-degree heat!

The boys were ridiculously tired when they arrived, so we got a deep dish pizza and had a nice little night in. Yesterday, we got coffees at Sweet Mandy B’s, had lunch at Homeslice, sat on the front stoop and hung out with neighbors, and put down the rug in the master bedroom. (Thank you so much, John and Sarah.) Such a nice little visit!

Anyway, these photos are from last weekend, when Mitch and I went down to Lake Bloomington for my mother-in-law’s retirement party. (Congrats, Lisa!) On our way back home, we stopped by my brother-in-law’s chicken farm, Above Normal Eggs, to take photos for the website’s upcoming redesign. I love doing photography projects like this. (No stress!) The light was also stunning, and I think Central Illinois is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen… so I had a grand old time with my camera. :)

In case you’re wondering, the photos were taken with a Canon 5D Mark III, 50mm f/1.2 lens, and 24mm f/1.4 lens. And if you’re ever in the Bloomington, Illinois area, stop by to meet Charlie (my brother-in-law) at the Bloomington Farmers Market on Saturdays. Best farm-fresh, cage-free, non-GMO eggs in Illinois!

Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend. :)

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