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Ryan, as I read your post I can picture the lake, the dock and feel the sunlight on my skin.  What a beautiful sight!  We have had an opportunity to visit a friend's cabin in northern Minnesota, such a peaceful place.  It's like the rest of the world stops and you are able to slow down for just a little while.  One of my husband's dreams is to find a property up north that our extended family could vacation at during the summer.  We would love to make memories at a special place like you have found for your family.

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A view from my favorite window: Michael VanderPlas

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A view from my favorite window: Michael VanderPlas

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We just bought our first house this last fall. We have numerous large windows on both levels of a specific side of the house. In the morning when getting ready for work, we have a beautiful view for miles where we can see the amazing colors of the sunrise. We can see our newly acquired dog outside rolling in the snow, running around, and finding inconvenient places to deposit his "personal effects". We see our sheds and small barn, the quiet road that we live on, and a few neighbors in the distance. Past our property, we see farm fields as well. Growing up, and in the early days of adulthood, I knew someday I wanted to live in the country with space where I had the freedom to live, raise children, and enjoy a life with some privacy. While this specific view is new to us, it is one I have been imagining for a long time. I envisioned different things over the years, and now it is all about finding out what those unknown details turned out to be. We are loving it!

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Trade places with me Kiya! -Ryan's response

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Trade places with me Kiya! -Ryan's response

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Kiya some of my favorite childhood memories are the weeks I spent at my grandparents house in Long Prairie Minnesota. They had a huge window the looked out over the yard where I spend so many days playing. I loved getting up in the morning and turning on the TV, eating cereal, having some Russia tea, and talking with my grandma about what we were going to do that day.  Some days it was to the sales barn, some days to the store downtown, and some other days it was a walk to the lake.  As I got older I still loved spending time there, it was a place where our family sat and talked, where my great grandpa would put me in a headlock, where we had some great conversations and made so many memories.  It makes me so happy that I was able to experience all these wonderful feelings again while reading your post.

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Trade places with me, Jaime! - Liz Kilkus

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Trade places with me, Jaime! - Liz Kilkus

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The view out your window sounds wonderful, Jaime! One of the best things about life in Minnesota is having 4 seasons, all totally different and all truly beautiful. Thinking about the changing seasons makes me remember the many days I spent looking out my grandparents' dining room window noticing how the woods in the rolling hills were different  with each passing season.

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Trade places with me, Suzanne! - Molly Murray

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Trade places with me, Suzanne! - Molly Murray

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As I read your post about the old home that you and your husband purchased 20 years ago it make me think of how much my husband and I want an old home that we can renovate. Steve and I love home rehab shows and especially the old homes with big front porches. I have always wanted to have a big front porch to sit on in the mornings with my coffee and read the morning paper. I can already see my kids outside swinging on that porch swing and never wanted to come inside!

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A view from my favorite window - Molly Murray

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A view from my favorite window - Molly Murray

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My favorite window is the one from our cabin in Clitherall, MN. I wake up in the morning and have my coffee in the three season porch watching the waves roll in on the beach and the fishing boats go by. I love the smell of the fresh air in the morning and wondering what the day will bring. As the day goes on I watch my nephews and children build sand castles and play in the cold but somehow refreshing lake waters for hours until we tell them that it is time to come in. This has been a place that I have been going to with my family for 18 years now and I love that my children are now able to experience the simple by amazing days at the lake!

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Trade places with me  Micheal! - Jennifer 

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Trade places with me  Micheal! - Jennifer 

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I can feel the endless possibilities in your life just by reading your post!  Right now, I imagine you have calm, quiet moments each morning to enjoy what you've accomplished represented by that view, actually living what you've dreamed.  Someday your mornings will be occupied by noisier, busier moments, but I hope you will still find time to appreciate  what you have both outside your window and inside your home.  Your words bring to mind my oldest son, Jacob who was just married in June.  I am so excited to see his life as a husband to my sweet daughter-in-law unfold just as you described your life unfolding.  Best to you always!

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If we traded places Suzanne- Brenda Grupe

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If we traded places Suzanne- Brenda Grupe

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Suzanne when I read your post I thought that I was looking out the front window of our current house! The big window still has the lead glass with stain glass header in a beautiful green and gold tulip pattern. the window raises and lowers with the rope pulleys located inside the molding of the window. We too are able to look out and see company coming or neighbors walking their dog. I have a wicker love seat that the neighbor cat curls up on. We have a swing that hangs from the covered porch. It is nice on warm summer evenings. We have not eaten a Popsicle on the porch but there have been many early morning sunrise coffee talks with adult girls!

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Trade places with me, Kiya!     -Suzanne Pilger

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Trade places with me, Kiya!     -Suzanne Pilger

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Kiya, I love the description of your grandparent's window! It took me right back to my Grandma Emma's house in Eyota, MN. Hers was actually one of the two windows I was considering for my favorite. My Grandma had many gardens as well, on all sides of her house. My favorite flowers of hers were the orange poppies that would bloom every June. If you were inside, you could only see them from her laundry room window. Nothing says summer is here more than those bright orange poppies waving in the sun. My husband and I bought our house in the fall and I cried tears of joy that next spring when a huge patch of the same poppies sprouted in our back yard. We have done so much to transform our back yard but the poppies remain. You also mentioned watching birds form your Grandparent's window.  If you looked out my Grandma's laundry room window and leaned just right you could see the swing set under the big willow tree. On summer nights when we stayed over at her house we would look out that window and see baby barn owls sitting on top of the swing set. My whole classroom is owl themed and I always tell my students about my Grandma Emma and the baby owls.

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Why I would like to trade places for a day with Kiya - Michael 

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Why I would like to trade places for a day with Kiya - Michael 

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Your memory and window made me think of my time with my own grandparents. My mother was older when she had me, and hers were older when they had her. I only knew my grandparents for a short time- I was 4 when my grandfather passed, and 13 when my grandmother passed. My memory of visiting my grandma, who lived in the same small town I did, are very precious to me as yours are to you. We would sit at her table, where there was a window next to it, and also a sliding glass door on the adjacent wall that looked on the backyard. It wasn't so much the view out those, but the memories of time spent with grandma that made it special. Thank you for jogging my memory!

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Trade places with me, Liz! - Heather Herold

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Trade places with me, Liz! - Heather Herold

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Liz, I can truly picture your view out of your window because my aunt and uncle live close to Winona and your description matches much of what their view from their house looks like. I love visiting them throughout the year and being able to see the bluffs out in the distance and being able to see for miles and miles. It really is a breath-taking view! I also love that it is from your childhood home. There is nothing better than that feeling of going home to where you grew up and having a sense of comfort. My parents recently sold my childhood home and moved into their new house. It definitely is bittersweet to know that even though their new home is beautiful, I will miss having my home that I grew up in all of those years.

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Why I would like to trade places for a day with Liz - Michael

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Why I would like to trade places for a day with Liz - Michael

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Liz, I am not from Winona, but spent my undergrad time there. I lived in two houses that both had great views of the town. Such a great description you gave! Looking out from the windows of my houses there were similar. One looked toward the parks on East Lake with the bluffs in the background. The other, if you were at the top level of the house, toward the river and bluffs from the Wisconsin side. Old churches and industrial buildings of Winona's past made out part of the view as well. It was such a great time in my life, and thinking of the view you described put me back there. Such a great town!

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A view from my favorite window - Heather Herold

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A view from my favorite window - Heather Herold

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My favorite window is the one right inside my living room which is our beautiful bay window that overlooks a field across the gravel road. The field is actually one that my fiance's family farms. Throughout the year, I am able to watch this field be planted, grow over the summer, and eventually be harvested in the fall. It's such a satisfying feeling to watch all of Brian and his family members work together to plant and care for such a beautiful piece of God's earth. I purposefully placed our couch right in front of this window so that I would be able to get a full view through the window and give our dog, Nala, a chance to lay on top of the couch and enjoy the sunshine that comes through on sunny days.

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Trade places with me, Connie! - Erin Nolden

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Trade places with me, Connie! - Erin Nolden

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Connie, I love reading your post about the view from a window that I assume is in your home. It's a view that I hope to have someday (relatively) soon, when my fiancee and I get married, have children, and move from in town to the country. I can tell that the memories you have in your home are very precious to you, and I can't wait to be able to relate to that feeling of watching your children grow up and explore the outdoors. My fiancee, a dairy farmer, and I are both passionate about the fact that someday, our children will spend plenty of time outside, and gain an appreciation for our environment and learn the value of hard work. We look forward to making the types of memories that you have already had the opportunity to make with your family, and because of that, I would love to switch places with you and experience the warm feelings you must have about them.  Thank you for sharing and including the picture! Your picture also made me want to trade places with you, because I would love to have a deck in the back of my home that overlooks such beautiful scenery!

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Trade places with me Emily! -Jaime Beskau

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Trade places with me Emily! -Jaime Beskau

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Emily, thinking about my childhood home is one of my favorite things. I often say to myself, "oh what I wouldn't give to be a kid again". Your childhood home sounds so familiar to mine. Even though my home was in the country and not in the city there are so many common aspects that they share. For example lilac bushes. To this day, the smell of lilacs brings me straight back to my childhood. We had evergreen trees that lined the side of our house and that was my favorite hiding spot. In the summer I would spend hours with my sisters running through the sprinklers and in the fall we would spend days raking leaves and jumping into the piles we made. In the winter, we would have huge snow hills and we would spend so much time sliding down them and building tunnels in them.

Your view made me think of another view that I love as well. My parents still live in our childhood home and I can't wait to bring my kids there someday to do the same things I loved to do growing up.

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A view from my favorite window- Jaime Beskau

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A view from my favorite window- Jaime Beskau

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I am currently looking out of my favorite window on this beautiful, snowy snow day.  My husband and I bought our first home just over a year ago. Our living room patio door has the most spectacular view and it is constantly changing throughout the year. Right now the trees are lightly dusted with snow and there isn't a green/brown patch in sight. My puppy Kona is cheerfully running through the snow, trying to find her tennis ball. When I close my eyes I can picture all of the other seasons in my mind. Spring brings back the birds that are chirping and eating out of the multiple bird feeders that we have. The leaves are finally coming back and I can no longer see through the woods. In the summer, the smell of food on the grill and people laughing is coming through the open door. The tiki torches are lit and the bonfire is going. Kona, again, is running around the yard happier than ever. Fall brings back the crisp cool air blowing through the screen door. The neighbor kids are playing football in the yard and the leaves are falling to the ground. You can finally see into the trees again and see the deer eating the apples in our backyard. No matter what kind of day I have this view always makes me happy.

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View from my favorite window  - Connie Sikkink

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View from my favorite window  - Connie Sikkink

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I am looking out my favorite window right now as the snow is falling, so beautiful.  I have looked through this window almost twenty years now and it never gets old.  Each season paints a new picture.  Winter, the quiet white of snow is so peaceful.  Spring, the energy of new life and budding of the leaves in the valley.  Summer, the lush green playground outside.  Fall, the bold colors all around.

From the window, you can see the small pond where my four sons have all enjoyed playing in the water and catching frogs.  There is also a small creek running through the property below the shed with trout. Oh, the fun the boys have had there. We have viewed deer, turkey, fox, bald eagles and other wildlife out this window.  We hope that our love for the outdoors passed on to our children.  As our boys are growing up and beginning to leave home, that they too, will always cherish the view from this window.

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A view from my favorite window- Brenda grupe

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A view from my favorite window- Brenda grupe

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In my minds’ eye I walk through the door of our home on Circle Drive, I step in and I gasp as I see the natural world transported indoors by 2 floor to ceiling windows across the room. They look out over the screened in 3 season porch and out into the yard that expands down to the wooded ravine. As I continue to gaze I see the beautiful images of our growing family of 6 children. Camp outs on the porch, hammock reading and snuggling, first birthdays, campfires, weather watchers on the deck of the swing set, snowshoeing right up to the house.  If the sunlight was just right I would see the wildlife that welcomed themselves right up to our living room. You could sit quietly right by the window and they would never know you were there. There were births, baptisms, first communions, confirmations, graduations and 15 years of family Christmases, Easters and celebrations that took place with those windows watching.  I never did put up curtains on these windows. I hung a scarf swag across the top and slightly down the sides to frame the décor of nature.

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A view from my favorite window:  Jennifer Rogers

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A view from my favorite window:  Jennifer Rogers

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Some of the sweetest moments of my life were spent looking out the window in the nursery in our first home in Las Vegas, NV. The view from the rocking chair was most often a velvet blue/black sky with pinprick stars above Sunrise Mountain. Always floating just in front of that dark outdoor scene was the reflection of one of my babies in my arms. That reflection is what stays with me. The miles we put on that rocking chair stay with me. The feeling of utter peace stays with me. The warmth of each of my babies stays with me. The feeling that time could stand still stays with me...but time has marched on and what I love most about the window that looks out on the porch of our Minnesota home is seeing our children walk through the door a thousand times over. Halloween costumes, scraped knees, best buddies arm in arm, swimsuits and towels, football gear, letter jackets, a new baby brother, ice skates, prom dates, college roommates, a fiance, a wife. Maybe some day I'll be able to put a few more miles on that old rocking chair of ours.

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View from my favorite window - Liz Kilkus

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View from my favorite window - Liz Kilkus

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I'm sitting on the bed in my childhood bedroom in Winona. Looking out the window, I see the magnificent bluffs that surround my hometown. This view is best in the fall when the vivid orange, yellow, and red leaves brighten even a dreary day. The contrast of tall, rolling bluffs behind small houses is a perfect illustration of life in Winona: all the comforts of city-living with the beauty of nature always close by. Seeing this brings happiness as I recall the many play dates I had with friends in that room. I feel a strong sense of love from this window, the love of my family living in that house.

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A view from my favorite window: Suzanne Pilger

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A view from my favorite window: Suzanne Pilger

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Right now I am sitting in my dining room with a cup of coffee looking out my favorite window.  When my husband and I bought this 100 year old house 20 years ago, and before the renovations begun, all the windows in our home had the original lead glass and I loved the softened, wavy  view from that old glass.  This special window is next to our front door and looks out onto our front porch.  I can see our porch swing.  It is covered with snow now but in the summer it is where you will most likely find our cat Henry.  I can not count the number of popsicles my children ate on that porch or the endless summer hours spend reading our new library books on the porch swing.  This is the window we look out anxiously when we are waiting for company, the window we check when we hear a car pull in the driveway and as soon as the car doors open the excited shrieks of “Grandma and Grandpa are here!” begin.  Just past our porch is a lovely crab apple tree.  Only in  the winter, when the leaves are gone, can we see beyond our front curb.  The rest of the year we are sheltered from the goings on of the world by spring green leaves and pink blossoms, dark green leaves and shiny red crab apples or yellow brown leaves that slowly fall to reveal what was always there but what seemed so removed.

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A view from my favorite window: Emily Shroyer

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A view from my favorite window: Emily Shroyer

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My favorite view comes from a window in my childhood home in Mankato, MN.  In our family room there is a large picture window overlooking our backyard, set below a small garden, retaining wall, and patio.  Although we are located smack dab in the middle of the city, our backyard is straight out of the country.  With a ravine wrapping on the left side, evergreen trees lining the back edge of the yard, and a big garden enclosing the right side, our yard gives a feeling of peace and seclusion.  When I look out this window memories from all of the seasons come flooding back into my memory.  In the spring, we would run to the lilac bush in our backyard before school, dew and fresh cut grass coating our feet, to snip a bouquet to give to our teachers.  In summer, the sprinkler constantly spun as we joyfully played for hours under the hot sun.  In fall, the sweat and hard work of raking the yard, getting to jump in the leaves, and enjoying the feeling of accomplishment as we pushed the leaves down into our ravine.  Finally, in winter, the most vivid and best memories of all...clearing the snow from the patio and down the steps, creating our own snow hill complete with an iced jump at the bottom.  We would sled and tube for hours down the steps of our patio into our backyard until our fingers and toes were numb.  When we went inside we were greeted with a warm cup of hot chocolate and a cozy home.  My mom still lives in the house she raised us in and I look forward to reliving some of these memories with my children when we visit Nana’s house.

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My favorite window -           Kiya Virgin

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My favorite window -           Kiya Virgin

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My favorite window was the large three-paned bay window in my grandparents' kitchen. When I was young, we spent almost every weekend at their house.  Pictured below is my late Grandpa Bruce, my little sister Karrie, and me.  Out this window my grandparents had numerous bird houses and bird feeders.  When I was little, I would watch the birds and squirrels with my grandma while we ate breakfast at the table.  My grandparents also had a large garden and I loved looking out at the flowers and the big bumblebees pollinating in the afternoon.  My grandparents have since sold this house, so my memories of that view are extremely precious to me.

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Trade places with me, Ryan!        -     Kiya Virgin

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Trade places with me, Ryan!        -     Kiya Virgin

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Ryan, I can relate so much to the view out your window.  My family enjoys going to the lake as well, and there is nothing better than looking out at the water, especially at sunrise or sunset. I loved your description of kids on the dock - some of my best memories are of playing on the dock or in the boat with my cousins. Thank you for sharing - your view definitely made me excited for summer.

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Trade places with me, Jennifer!--Emily Shroyer

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Trade places with me, Jennifer!--Emily Shroyer

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Jennifer, I read your post and immediately went back to the baby snuggles, nursing sessions, and sleepless nights (still happening) with my first baby, Isaac.  Although it wasn’t long ago, I find myself often daydreaming of the precious time and wishing to have it back.  This may also be what’s contributing to my ‘baby fever’ as of late!  I too hope to put more mileage on our rocking chair in the near future!  Your post also reminded me of a time I lived and taught in Arizona.  The surrounding mountains, clear night skies, and warm climate are often missed, but I am thankful to be back in MN near family and friends. I loved your list of memories that have come with your home and life in MN.  My husband and I recently bought our first home and I hope to make many of those same memories over the years with our family and develop a new favorite window with a view.  Thank you for taking me back to two special times of my life.

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A view from my favorite window: Erin Nolden

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A view from my favorite window: Erin Nolden

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My favorite window is a large, floor to ceiling window located in Nekoosa, Wisconsin. I love to sit on the big couch, facing the window, and watch as the sun rises over the lake. When we're there, my dog Frankie is so excited to start playing with my parent's dog out in the water, that she typically wakes me up by sunrise, so I rarely miss my favorite view! As the day progresses, the view from the window changes from sunrise, to a slow fog rolling across the water in the early morning hours, to (hopefully) a blue-skied, sunshine day! As long as the view from the window isn't rainy, my family puts on our suits and we take rides on the boat, practice our water-skiing (I need a lot of practice!) and relax on the sandy beach close to our dock.  We've escaped to our weekend home since I started my second year of college in 2013, and it has quickly become a favorite destination for family vacation weekends with my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents!  I always love when the view out the window includes my three youngest cousins, who will soon be flower girls in my wedding, smiling widely as they jump into the lake off the shiny, metal dock with their floaties!

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The view from my favorite window is in Deer River Minnesota where we vacation with my in-laws.   This has been our vacation spot since my wife and I started dating so it holds a special place in our hearts.  Some of my most favorite or vivid memories is when I wake up and look out that window at the lake and the sunrise it just makes you feel so alive.  Another memory is watching my children coming in off the dock after swimming or a boat ride with grandpa, and seeing the smiles on their faces and the pure joy they have. Also when they come in from swimming and you can see their footprints on the dock as they run into the camper so excited and happy to be in this wonderful place.  It truly combines my love of the lake and my family.  I could go on for days about this place, but these are just some of the memories I have from my favorite window.