Remember that one time when I said I was going to be blogging All. The. Time?! Yeah, me either. Good thing I never said that! 😉 I know I went missing again, but I’m back! I have a good excuse this time, and it doesn’t just consist of me being lazy. The past couple of weeks, I’ve been in Missouri/Kansas/Illinois! As you might have guessed, it was pretty awesome.

I was planning on doing this trip in September (wedding photography season #1), before I had applied to be a teacher, but then awesome things happened and I obviously wasn’t going to be able to take three weeks off just to head back home, so I moved my trip up a couple of months, and shortened it just a little. I’ll be headed back to MO for a couple of weekends this fall for those weddings mentioned above though, I just won’t get to spend a couple of weeks there.

I decided for this trip, I would just drive back. It was 11 hours to my brother and sister-in-law’s house in Illinois, and I am so grateful they let me stay at their place on the way there and on my way back. I loved getting to see the two of them! I also had a great time meeting my beautiful new niece, and hanging out with her equally beautiful big sister! I love those two little girls an awful lot! We had fun sending a lot of love and “snap chaps” to their Uncle Braden and the husband.

After my 11 hour drive to Illinois, I still had 4 more hours to drive the next day. Dad scheduled us for quite a few photo shoots while I was home, and I really had a lot of fun getting to shoot with him again! I love getting to take pictures no matter where I am, but it’s even more fun to get to shoot with him. It’s a great time for us to bond and catch up on life. We even got to do one of our famous photo outings!

While I was in Missouri, I also got to have a couple of mother-daughter days. I love getting to share that time with my mom and catch up with her as well! I also got to have some much needed one-on-one time with some of my favorite people!! Being able to see those people face-to-face instead of just getting to text or call always makes my heart full. I’m in no way complaining, because technology is a wonderful thing, and I’m so glad I get to stay in touch with them when we are miles apart, it just does the soul good to be able to see them in person.

While it was so much fun being back in Missouri, seeing family and friends, I’m happy to be back home with the husband, who, by the way, got to do his second solo while I was away! Like always, I couldn’t be more proud of him! I also came home to “Welcome Home” flowers from him! What a lucky wife I am! 🙂

Here are just a few pictures from my time back in the Midwest.