Hey... you?

So it's been awhile. I get that. BUT at least I have a few reasons as to why I've been lacking on the blog posts. It's mostly because we've been super busy. I know I say that a lot, but I really mean it this time. In case you don't believe me, here's a timeline of what we've been up to for the past two weeks...

So on my first week off, we took a trip back up to Central Illinois to see my beautiful friends & family. Even though we gave ourselves a couple extra days, it never seems to be enough.

My Aunt, Dad, Grandmother & myself

Speaking of family, I was able to catch up with Mom and get a few more family stories & photos. I've had to put my work on ancestry.com on hold for now, but information is still coming in. For the first time, I found a photo of my mother when she was younger with all of her siblings and both of her parents.

I know I've said it before, but I really can't get enough of these families photos. It doesn't matter if it's my mom, dad, or even my husband's sides, I love them all. I imagine these snapshots are itty bitty glimpses of a better time. The stories too. Can't. Get. Enough.

But enough about that. Needless to say when we were in central Illinois, we drove. A lot.

Visited Pontiac, Streator, Peoria, Lexington & Bloomington-Normal

Loved seeing even more wind farms being built near my hometown

And I even got to see my friend's beautiful bunny for the first time

It was a very fast lovely yet exhausting four days. But we had a lot of fun. And within just a few days after that, one of my best friends in Central Illinois started the process of moving to Western Kentucky. She even works with me at the station & is starting to fit right in. But I'm not surprised since we worked so well together back in Illinois. And we are so happy to have her here now.

Toasting to her first day at her new job

So we are helping her (and soon her husband) move & adjust to their new life down here- like rental searching, moving, even a little shopping. And my beautiful new best friends in Kentucky know how to welcome a new bud in style. It's a bit of my past clashing with the present.

Ashley, myself & Heather- Hopefully more similar photos to come

And if you couldn't tell from the photo above, I got a bit of a dye job. It was part of a lovely ladies' night at our loving abode last week. After dyeing part of my hair purple for domestic abuse awareness month last October, I haven't done much. Needed a change.

Heather being oh so helpful at getting my hair back to one color

Speaking of ladies' night, this last weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to the bridal shower/bachelorette party for a dear friend that I went to school with and worked with back in Central Illinois. I can't wait for her wedding in a few weeks. The couple's been dating for YEARS. I'm so happy for them. But first, some shenanigans.

Having a beautiful time with a beautiful bride to be

 The party was in St. Louis. It was a blast, but once again, it meant a lot of driving. It's getting tiring, but I enjoyed seeing parts of Southern Illinois that I'm not familiar with.

The Mississippi River being super low in Chester, IL

And what's a trip to Southern Illinois without- guess it- a winery stop. Met up with some lovely girlfriends at our favorite vineyard- Blue Sky.

White sangria, fused olive oil, tasty bread...

So after all of these fun events I wrapped up the past two weeks the best way possible: making a new batch of liquid laundry detergent.

Soapy cleanness in all its lemony glory

So it's been a crazy two weeks, but we're having lot of fun. And there's a lot more excitement coming up- two weddings, more moving business, a local charity... not to mention work. I hope to update & expand on here as much as possible soon. I'd also like to clean up some of the old post- like my laundry detergent recipe. We will see how soon that all happens... Thanks for sticking with me, gang.