a trip to cleveland.

now that we have a car, the hubs and i are able to go places and do stuff. and as much as this may sound like the basis of every car commercial ever made ever, having a car brings us a renewed sense of freedom. and in a time when jobs are hard to come by, and fuel prices are ridiculously high, i thank my lucky stars that we can swing it. yay for wheelz.

i'm especially glad we have a car these days, since my little, teeny, tiny, precious niece, caroline, is just 6 hours away in cleveland. i grew up especially close with my aunts and cousins, and since most of my fam is coastal, and because they're especially awesome, i plan to cling (or should i say, Kling?!) to the fam we have close by.

jim, fred, and i ventured out to The Cleve last weekend. and it was wonderful. every. single. moment. was great. even the car ride was fun. jim, the fredster, and i drove past the wind farms and corn fields of illinois, indiana, and ohio, listening to The Decemberists and stopping at rest stops for candy and fast food -- we basically allowed americana to bleed out our ears.

sometimes i get scared that i'm getting older. sometimes i feel pressured to hurry up and get stuff done. but sometimes i catch a really great moment with my hubs and our bully and i think that this is the best i've ever felt ever and only more good stuff is yet to come -- so i might as well enjoy the ride.