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I really would love to be one of those people who comes home from a trip, unpacks my suitcase(s) the moment I step foot in the door, throws a load of laundry in the washer before I've even taken off my shoes, and then creates a scrapbook or photo album entitled "Summer Family Photo Album" before the memories have faded. If you know me or have read this blog for more than a week, you know good and well that just isn't me. Not even close. But this past summer was one of the best summers of my life. Maybe the best. Despite the screaming and tantrums, the sleepless nights, the potty training failures, and my miserable attempts at motherhood, I can look back through my thousands of photos from our summer and know that I am blessed far beyond what I expected. And certainly beyond what I have earned. This has been a summer full of grace...in so many ways. Let's start here:

Alrighty, it's giveaway time. And confession time. Don't worry dad. It's just a goofy confession about my changing body that not even my closest friends know about me. Aaaaaaaaaaand we just lost my dad. [Please tell me she's not about to talk about women's troubles.] Don't worry, I'm not talking about women's troubles. I'm talking about my ears. [I guess it depends on the woman as to whether or not there's trouble in that department.] Seriously, cut it out. This is a friendly place. [Who is Katy always talking to in the brackets? I'm so confused by this blog sometimes.] So, my ears. They're just…different. For one, they just don't work as well as they used to, according to my husband. Whether or not that is a "selective" phenomenon is still up for debate.

If you had a chance to catch my first ever Google Glass video, you may remember the part where I compared the entire New York experience to a hair appointment in a really swanky salon. And it truly was just like that. The different "stations" with mirrors and the ambiance had me itching to act like I was at a hair appointment and get video of the whole thing.

Me to Google Employee: "Okay, so I'll pretend like you just gave me a haircut—except that the "haircut" is Google Glass—and then I'll just act really surprised and maybe cry a lot. Also, we'll get it all on video and promote it to my millio—dozens of subscribers."

Only, my Google Glass representative didn't quite share my enthusiasm for improv.

Some of you may have picked up on all the hubbub on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, but Brian and I dashed off to New York City last Saturday for a pretty exciting opportunity. I was selected to join the Google Glass Explorer Program. Now, In case you are like me and never really know what's happening until your mom calls to tell you, I'll give you a quick overview of what that all means: 1) Google invented a wearable computer. It looks like a pair of glasses. They call it Google Glass (or "GLΛSS" if we're getting really specific). 2) Google then chose a select number of people to beta test this new technology. These people are called "Explorers." 3) Google thought, "Who better to wear GLΛSS than a stay-at-home mommy blogger who basically watches cartoons all day and will probably post ridiculous videos of herself using our groundbreaking technology incorrectly?" Naturally, I was invited to join the Google Glass program. I believe it was because of all my experience with cartoon explorers—thanks, Dora!

As many of you may have noticed from my social media pages, Brian and I jetted off to New York City Saturday morning and returned to Kansas on Sunday evening. The purpose of our trip was blog-related [update: read more about my experience with Google Glass here], but we did our best to soak up the city while we were there. And by "soak up" the city, I mean that I ended up sneezing black stuff for a solid 24 hours after we returned home. [Well, that was an unnecessary detail.] Seriously, New Yorkers, how do you deal with all that smog? It's so suffocating! Wait, I know how. It's the food. The glorious food! Mmmm...I could really go for some Bareburger right about now.



Enough about the food, though. That's not what stresses me out about traveling to New York. The purpose of this post is to tell you more about our hotel. Because I like to talk to fellow hotel snobs before I spend the equivalent of a mortgage payment on a hotel room. That's why.

I forget myself sometimes. It happens every time I attend a live theatre performance. Especially on Broadway. I forget that I’m a wife. I forget that I’m a mother. I forget that I actually drive a minivan. I forget that I can’t move to New York and work in a restaurant the rest of my […]

No photo sums up our weekend trip to New York City better than this one: L-O-V-E. Loved our first weekend away with just the two of us since the kiddos were born.

Start spreading the news. We’re leaving today. (Actually, tomorrow.) We want to be a part of it. New York, New York. Sorry, I can’t help myself. I’ve been singing this song ever since Brian gifted me (on Valentine’s Day) with a trip to New York City. Actually he gifted me with a trip anywhere I […]