On hiatus.

I really love blogging. I do. I love "meeting" other people online and seeing the creativity that is out there. But I am a BAD blogger. Yes, I was out of town for 3 weeks with a poor internet connection and a lot to do. But that is no excuse. I should have let you all know before I left. Updated you weekly on the haps in my neck of the woods. But no. I didn't. So instead I'll be showing you what I was up to over the next few days/weeks.

I was in Missouri visiting my family while my hubs travelled to Alaska for work. Missouri is home for me and I miss it desperately. Here's a little taste of home...

One of the first things I did after arriving in KC was take E outside to experience real grass. We have the fake stuff. Yes. I do mean astroturf. Apparently in Vegas it's the way to go. But I wanted her to wiggle her toes in it, rip chunks of it out of the ground, even try to down a few blades before I could swipe it away from her fiercely strong little grasp. So I plopped her in the grass and within a millisecond my sister was screaming "NOOOOOO! She'll get chiggers!"

Ahhh. I'd forgotten all about those tiny, invisible pests that can make summer an itchy nightmare. So here's my Missouri love #1

• Chigger Stick. (Or a Benedryl stick but that's not nearly as fun to say)

We also celebrated my bro-in-law's birthday with an annual shrimp boil which was great fun...

Not really a Missouri thing but that's how he celebrates every year. And, its reminiscent of New Orleans which is near and dear to my heart as well.

You should have seen the amount of butter my momma dripped and dropped into this pan. It was glorious and terrifying all at the same time!

So, MO love #2 is

• a party with my peeps and good grub!

Stay tuned for more of what I did in Missouri and hopefully a pic of some curtains that I'm hanging in both girls' rooms. Glad to be back!!!