Happy Independence Day! I hope all my fellow Americans had a fun holiday. And I hope the rest of you had a great Friday and that we are all looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

If you follow me on Flickr, you might have noticed I’ve been posting a lot of photos the last few days. That’s because my mom just went back home, and I know she always goes through Annalie withdrawal for a while. So I’m trying to ease the pain a little bit.

Of course, my mom’s not the only one who misses Annalie. I know her other grandparents wish they could see her more often, not to mention assorted aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

I guess what I’m saying is, one of the reasons I take so many photos is the same reason I started this blog: so family and friends can see what we’re doing in our day-to-day lives even if they live far away.

Since we moved recently and are missing our friends on the other end of the country I am happier than ever that I listened to Angella and Brenda and Heather, that I believed them when they said I would love blogging. I’ve had at least two of our Maryland friends tell me specifically that they enjoy reading (Hi, Sarah! Hi, Bek!) and are glad they have this way to keep in touch.

My friend Rachel commented once that she looks forward to reading my blog, and sometimes wishes I would blog more. That was one of the nicest comments I’ve ever got, and often when I start to think I’m posting too often I remember her comment and post again anyway.

Huh. I’ve rambled on a little bit and I don’t really know how to end this post. I guess that’s okay once in a while. It’s late and I’m tired. So I’ll just stick another photo at the end and call it a night.

I made this OMSH monster on our cross-country trip, intending to bestow this gift in person, but it wasn’t quite finished when we got together in Dallas.

Happy birthday, Heather! I hope you forgive me for walking all over your intellectual copyright yet again. I’ll get Lil’ OMSH in the mail as soon as I can get to a post office. Just doing my part to extend your birthday a little.

Amanda saw the mug I painted for Schnozz a while back. She liked it and asked if I was still taking custom orders. So I said, of course! I’m always looking for fun ideas for what to paint. Amanda, your mug is in my Etsy shop whenever you’re ready!