One day my parents told me they finally sealed the deal on a house, and we were moving. I had no idea which one they had picked, and at the time, I had no concept of real estate. We all jumped into the car and drove about six minutes north from our old house and ended up in Lake Rosemound. For all of you who do not know where Lake Rosemound is, it is a lake in St. Francisville, Louisiana. What a lot of people don't know is that one end of the lake is actually in Mississippi, and from my house, it is only a five minute drive to the state line. At first, I had mixed emotions about living here. I was extremely happy when I realized I could be on the water all the time, but then I was also upset that I had to make the 15-minute drive to school every day, and most of my friends lived twenty minutes away. The only grocery store was still a good 20-minute drive into town, but we learned to deal with it. It wasn't until recently, right before I went off to college, that I began to actually appreciate my home. People come from all over just to vacation here and stay in the bed and breakfast right on the lake, and I thought it was the biggest pain to live so far away from everyone. Little did I know this place was more than just my home.

1. You have your own beach
On Lake Rosemound there is a man-made beach with a pavilion, picnic tables, a shower, and yes, even a port-a-potty. Gross. The maintenance crew brings in a fresh load of sand each year to please all of the guests. On Memorial Day weekend or the Fourth of July, you are lucky if you can even put a chair on the beach because it is packed with people. You could find us swimming and sunbathing out there for hours, and we would pack up and come out again the next day.

If you are coming in from your long day at work, most likely you can catch a sunset about 7:15 at night. The sun falls right behind the trees across the bridge, and most of the time, the sky is painted with orange and yellows. It makes you wish it was summer all year long.

3. The landing pier is the best
The landing is where everyone takes their boat when they want to put it in the water or take it out. The pier right next to it called the landing pier is the best place to jump into the water. Usually when there are no boats around, you can find kids jumping off this pier because it is where the water gets deeper. Most of us live on the lake where the water comes up to about your knee, and that is not very fun to jump into.

4. The best places to put your ENO .
I recently bought an ENO, which is basically a hammock in a bag. Lake Rosemound gives you the best places to put your ENOs, whether it is on your front porch or on two trees in your backyard. There is not a bad view anywhere on this lake, only thing you need is a little bug spray, My favorite place to put my ENO is on my neighbor's pier between two Cyprus trees (shhh ... they aren't avid neighbors, so they don't really know, at least they are nice though). I could stay out there for hours laying in my ENO watching the sun go down.

5. The best place to tube and water ski
One of my favorite parts about summer is that my best friends, and I always get together. Our favorite place is Lake Rosemound. My dad will usually take us out on the party barge and pull us on the tube and occasionally one of us will brave the knee board. Unless it is a holiday day weekend, we usually have the lake to ourselves.

6. Fire pits are more fun by the water
My dad built a fire pit right in our backyard. One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to get a bunch of friends together, sit back in our chairs, roast some hot dogs, and make some s'mores. Seeing all the fireflies around you with the smell of the fire almost makes you want to pitch a tent, but then you remember a bed is only 100 yards away.

7. Back porches are key
Some back porches on the lake are screened in with rocking chairs. Most are just open and usually wrap around the back of your house or camp. The best part is when you wake up early one morning and sit out on your back porch with a nice cup of coffee. As you are out there you can see the fog roll across the water and hear all the birds chirping. Some even have movable fire pits, so if you want to enjoy a nice fire with your friends or family you don't have to go so far.

It is sad that I began to appreciate this place as I was leaving it. I never thought that this could be the best thing my parents could have done for our family. From the countless crawfish boils, summer barbecues, to just having a normal movie night inside, it has been the best place to call home. Not only is it my home but it is the best "staycation" I could ever have.