Back in The Big D

We arrived safely back in Texas on Tuesday night...a week ago now. It took me a few days to get my bearings and get back into the routine of life at home. I had no idea a two week trip would throw me off so much. I think it was a combination of the traveling, being sick, and finally getting to see my family after a year and a half!

This will be a random post (as if they all aren't random).

I entered our kids in the Chick-fil-A photo contest associated with Cow Appreciation Day. Please, please vote for our photo. Go one step further and email some friends and ask them to vote for us too, please. We need lots and lots of votes to win. Win? Yep...we win goodies if we're a finalist photo and even more goodies if we're the top photo. Stuff like free food and a savings bond. Click the link here and enter your info. You have to submit a name and email address then confirm when you get an email. It's simple, quick, and would be much appreciated.

On another note, my mom is leaving this evening after being here for a month. We've enjoyed our time with her very much. The kids love when Nana reads to them or plays something silly. The other night we had a nice water fight in the back yard with buckets, water guns, and the hose.
The last of this random post...embarrassing pictures. I got my hair cut. I've been growing it for a while--say for 2 years maybe. I kept cutting it to try and keep some sort of style as it was growing. Now that it's finally longer, I can't do anything with it. I've discovered I don't like wearing it up much and it's so hot. It takes forever to dry and straighten and still doesn't look that good when it's done. So, I went shorter. I'm only posting this because I found it incredibly helpful to find some blogs with before/after shots when I was searching for styles. So, I thought (though the pictures are not very good), it would be fun to post before/after shots here too. She cut it shorter than what I was aiming for, but it will grow. I imagine I'll like the length in another month or so. And, I really didn't want the layers around my face, but they'll grow too. Overall, it's got more shape and I think I'll like it. What do you think?

^ Before

^ AfterThe picture I took with me.
(Overall, her hair is longer, so my stylist cut it too short.
But, my stylist also cut layers on the side of my face
and I don't like that. Next time...we'll just keep the sides longer.
Plus, I need to figure out how to style it. I just did it yesterday.)