It's My Life

Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. I have longed to go there for a few years but the distance from our home to the park is really...really far. So, we took a week off from work and made the 300 mile drive worth our effort.

We started off at the week off at Montauk State Park. We spent four days trout fishing before moving on over to Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. Before we explored the Shut-Ins we drove up to Elephant Rock State Park.  After all that rock climbing we were ready for a cool dip into the spring fed water.

I did a lot of research before we left to go on vacation. I knew that a Shut-In was a constriction in a river-way. I knew that hundreds of people visit the Shut-Ins every weekend of the summer. I also knew that approximately five years ago an electric company's water reservoir breached sending 1.3 billion gallons of water downstream flooding this state park. I also knew that venomous copperhead snakes and even black bears were known to call this area their habi…

The last week before school started we packed up our camper and headed out on a long road trip to explore the southeastern part of Missouri. After spending four days at Montauk State Park we moved further east to Johnson Shut-In's State Park.


We were so lucky to have shared this vacation with some great friends and family members. The Husband's father joined us on the first leg for fly fishing. One of my work friends and her family joined us at Johnson Shut-In's. We were not the only one's who had family join us, our camping buddy's  mom and husband also joined us. In the end, we had a group of fourteen people for parts of our Johnson Shut-In's stay.

After a hot dog cookout on our first night in Johnson Shut-Ins we were ready to gather  by the campfire to enjoy some adult beverages and a few laughs while the kids "tore up" the campground on their scooters. Apparently our space and group looked so inviting that a venomous copperhead snake decided to pa…

In my preparation for college and subsequent adjustment disorder as I find a new path with The Boy out of our home and tucked two hours away in college, I almost forgot to share The Short Chic's first day of second grade.

You should know that she loves school! Every week of the summer she played teacher/school with her Nana and Papa. I am sure Papa is thrilled she is back in school so he can finally get out of detention!
She still taking her lunch to school. Peanut Butter and Jelly is still her favorite lunch. 
Boys still have cooties. But maybe not as many as last year. 
Justice sells her favorite clothing. Her back to school outfit is 100% from them. 

She does her own hair in the morning. That should explain a lot. 
Currently, she is in love with the Disney's Descendant's movie. We have watched it on loop since it first aired. 
She was assigned to her desired teacher. Her desired teacher assigned homework on the first day. Despite this, she is still in love with her tea…

While summer has not officially ended, and won't for another few weeks, school has resumed therefore unofficially ending summer.
We have had all summer to emotionally and physically prepare to send The Boy off to school. I have been physically ready for some time but honestly over the past few weeks I also felt emotionally prepared. 
I have enjoyed seeing so many parents post to social media as they too sent their children off to college. Dorm rooms were decorated, textbooks purchased, schedules have been walked, roommates have met, and good-bye's were made. 
This past weekend, The Boy moved into college. But you won't find a single photo of it on my social media. You won't find a single post-move in comment anywhere. Sadly, I can't get a redo and this day is forever embedded into my memory. 
Let me try and explain why. 
About one and half weeks before school The Boy was invited to join a fraternity. He accepted. The fraternity requires him to move into their house…

August has become our summer vacation month. Summer activities have usually wound down and we like to get one last hooray in before school starts.  This summer we decided to travel our own state and visit a few places we have been dreaming of visiting but were a little too far for a weekend road trip.


Despite last minute vacation glitches we managed to pull out of Kansas City around 9:00 in the morning headed to Montauk State Park just outside of Licking, Missouri.  Montauk State Park is one of three state parks where you can trout fish in Missouri. We are frequent visitors of Bennett Springs State Park but not Montauk, just because of the travel distance from our house. (Bennett Springs is about 3 hours and Montauk is double that.)



Setting up and settling in was relatively easy. We took a tour of the park and hiked around exploring the spring that feeds into the river. The Park stocks this river each night with trout. The fishermen like this river better for fishing than Bennett Spri…

Six years ago I started this blog. Six years ago I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and I could not comprehend the fact that I had cancer. Six years ago when I left the doctors office with the news that I had cancer, I could not even say the word without crying.  Instinctively, I started blogging. I think I was trying to grapple with the idea that I could be sick. This little blog helped me process through my illness and continues to be a source of comfort to me.

I don't get a lot of traffic here any more, mostly because I changed my URL and lost a lot of folks. Hardly anyone comments on my post. Most day's I am not even sure if anyone, other than my dutiful husband and son, read my post. I do this mostly as an outlet for me. Blogging has always helped me process through my thoughts and become more focused or even centered.


I use to post several times a week. I hardly post once a week now. At times I have thought about shutting it down but somehow I am connected here…