It’s funny.  It’s early June, and I’m wearing a lightweight fleece vest while I write this column for our July issue. And this somewhat chilly start to the summer comes on the heels of what I consider (and I’m no meteorologist) a long, wet, and chilly spring.

        But I’m anticipating that come July 1 (happy birthday to my daughter that day) when this issue is out, I’ll be wearing shorts and sitting on my back deck looking through the magazine and deciding which July events we won’t want to miss during our family’s own staycation this summer. And when we make plans to head to Stanley or McCall, I won’t forget my fleece—for a little extra warmth.

        Notice how I wrote about sitting on the deck with the magazine, reading, planning, etc. Maybe you’d rather be outside with your phone.  Maybe that’s where and how you get all your information and do all your reading and communicating.

        Or maybe you need something a little bigger (although they get thinner and smaller all the time!) and you just grab your laptop and head out to the deck for some research, catch up with fans and friends, even do a little shopping while you’re at it.

        And since you love to read, you might just decide to download a book to your portable device and block out the rest of the world with your ear buds.

        Why do I bring all this up (I’m not a meteorologist and I’m certainly not a hi-tech whiz)? Because it’s been on my mind lately and in my thoughts:  how to find moments of peace and quiet in my day while the methods and ways to get information, to be connected, to communicate, have become so varied and so vast, so readily available and so instantaneous. Kind of a deep thought but personally and professionally, it’s become a big part of my day. I’m hoping this summer to better balance (and juggle) them and enjoy the warm summer days and family time!

        As a company, we’re also having these thoughts, “How can we best get you the information you want, when you need it?”

        You start with the monthly magazine you’re holding in your hands, but we know you probably turn to other methods for family information, too. So here’s where we can help:  our two websites, treasurevalleyfamily.com and treasurevalleyteen.com; become a fan on our two Facebook pages; sign up for our weekend e-newsletter and monthly teen update; follow me on Twitter; pick up our annuals Resources and Baby (new edition just out!), and see us at several local events.

                Need more from our “Family”? Then call or email me. You know where you can find me this summer—on my deck reading a magazine.