State Flags I Have Known 9-15: A Rundown and Ranking

It's time for our third installment in The Topic That I Never Imagined That I Would Ever Blog About: state flags!

Canadian Legislatures 1-5 + 1: A Round Up

 

Friends, as you may know, I am on a mission to spend at least one night in each state and province and to tour all of the state capitol buildings and legislatures.  

The good news: I am well along in my little project.  As of last week my stats are: 30 states and five provinces.

The bad news: I am woefully behind in blogging about my little project!  So far I've only done a round up of 10 capitols.  What do you do when you have a problem?  You fix it!  So let's get ourselves caught up.  Today we're going to hop across the border and see how our friends up north do things.

Weekly Round Up: Shorty

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  Since we last talked, I went on another trip and I have a million things to tell you about it, but I also want to chit chat about everyday life.  So let's do that today and we'll talk about the trip soon-ish.

Weekly Round Up: A Week at Home!

A weekly roundup: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  The big news for the weekly round up is that I actually spent an entire week at home!  And I have things to tell you about it!

Let's Go Places: The Great Blogger Road Trip Wrap Up!

 

Friends, the Great Blogger Road Trip of 2026 has gone from being a conversation to a spreadsheet to a memory.  Let's get into how it all began, where we went, and find some silly and profound things to say to wrap it up.

Let's Go Places: The Great Blogger Road Trip, Part Five

 

Friends, the Great Blogger Road Trip of 2026 has been epic.  But it can't last forever.  Let's have our last hurrah before Kyria and I head home.

Let's Go Places: The Great Blogger Road Trip, Part Four

Picking it up from where we left it last time!  Kyria and I had just settled in Ten Sleep WY on our way to adventures unknown.

Let's Go Places: The Great Blogger Road Trip, Part Three

Picking it up from last time, Kyria and I were getting ready to leave Helena and our Airbnb host had promised to bake scones.  Did she follow through and where did we go next?  Read on to find out!

Let's Go Places: The Great Blogger Road Trip, Part Two

 

The last time that we talked, Kyria and I had just arrived in Bismarck, North Dakota.  It was the first time for both of us in the state.  Here is what happened next, in rapid/semi-real time blogging style.

Let's Go Places: The Great Blogger Road Trip, Part One

 

Friends, the Great Road Trip of 2026 is in progress.  Two bloggers, one car, and many miles.

I am a slow writer in general and an even slower travel writer in particular, so I thought I would try a little experiment with rapid, semi-real time blogging.  Instead of sifting through billions of pictures and trying to come up with Profound Thoughts, how about I check in every few days and give you a quick run down of what's been going on?

Weekly Round Up: Let's Cook!

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  After skimping on the cooking for a while, this week I got back into the kitchen with a vengeance to try out some new eats.

Let's Go Places: Springfield, Illinois and Des Moines, Iowa feat. Art and FLW

 

Friends, it's road trip time again!  I packed a lot into one week, so we're going to do this "post card" style.

The mission: visit the state capitals/capitols of Illinois and Iowa, go on an Iowa FLW bender, and most importantly, meet an epic blogger.  The result: all of that plus a surprise encounter with a work of art.

Weekly Round Up: Books and a Long Weekend Trip

 

This week we're doing a mashup of the Weekly Round Up and Let's Go Places!  We'll be talking about TV and books, lounging on the beach, and walking across an international border, all within a few hours of home.

Weekly Round Up: Visitors

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, reads, and other odds and ends.  This week Doggo and I hosted visitors, two of whom were invited and one of whom was not, and we laid low to beat the heat.  We've been leaning into early morning and late evening dog walks, with a few outdoor breaks in the yard throughout the day.

Let's Go Places: Jefferson City, Bentonville, and Indianapolis

 

Picking it up from where we left off last time...we've just had two action packed days in St. Louis and we're now wheels up to Jefferson City.

Let's Go Places: St. Louis, Missouri

 

Who wants to take a road trip with me???  Great, let's do it!!!  We're going to an iconic landmark, a state capital, and we'll get a couple of FLW hits in for good measure.

Weekly Round Up: Domestic Life

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  This was a domestic week, spent hanging out at home.  I did a little experimenting in the kitchen and my roommate and I kept up with the chores.

Let's Go Places: Red River Gorge, Kentucky feat. Serpent Mound, Shrum Mound, and a Capitol

Friends, who wants to come along for a long weekend adventure with me??????  The primary activity will be staring at rocks.

Well, now that pretty much everyone except you has said "no thanks", let's pack up the car and get wheels up.  We're going to a place called Red River Gorge in Kentucky.  It's about a five hour drive so we have time to make a few stops along the way.

Weekly Round Up: Dog Days of Summer

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, reads, and a little early retirement life chit-chat and June travel plans.  Summer is in full swing over here, and someone is making the most of her dog days.

Let's Go Places: Austin, Texas

 

Friends, it's time for part three of three of the great Chicago/Amtrak/Austin rampage.  We're going to check state capital #21 off our list.

Let's Go Places: The Texas Eagle

 

Friends, it is time to get into every last detail of the trip that you've been dying to hear about and that I've been dying to tell you about!  Choo-choo and All Aboard!!!  We are going to take the Texas Eagle, which is Amtrak's Chicago to Texas route.  It's a 30 hour trip, so we will be sleeping (and showering) on the train, and we're doing a round trip.  We are Team Princess so we will be riding in a private roomette.

Let's Go Places: Chicago and Austin Madness!

 

Friends, we have things to talk about! Buckle in and let me tell you about my latest trip.  It started with a single day event in Chicago, and from there it morphed into a 10 day trip that included a train and Texas.  As if that wasn't enough, I scored big time on the travel hacking front.

Weekly Round Up: It Really is Weekly for a Change!

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  

The last time that we talked, I had just gotten on a train, so I have epic travel stories to tell you.  But we can't be on vacation everyday, so look at me finally dropping a weekly round up on a weekly basis!  Truth in advertising right here!

I firmly believe that everyone needs to have PTO from the internet, and real life takes precedence over blogging, but if I don't keep up a somewhat regular "normie" posting schedule, then I end up forgetting to tell you things and it makes for too much of a backup on books, so let's get into it.

Weekly Round Up: New Digs!

A belated weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  Plus an abbreviated house tour!

ICYMI, I announced that Hubs and I have separated and that I moved to a rental house.  I won't be spilling any tea on that, so instead let's take a look at my new digs.

An Unbloggable Life Update

Friends, this is a brief note to let you know that I love my husband very much, and that our marriage is not where it needs to be.  I recently moved out of the family home.

The issues are private, and they are also PG rated.  No abuse, no adultery, and no addiction.  Marriage counseling was had.

I've been slowly telling people the news, and the most common response is "I don't know whether to say sorry or congratulations".  The answer is neither.  Sorry would only apply if I stayed in the relationship as is, and congratulations is a little too flip.

Hubs and I continue to see each other and we had a family dinner to celebrate the end of the semester.  Hubs believes that our problems are fixable.  I am more skeptical but am certainly open to a reconciliation.  There is no time limit in place.  I assume that at some point the next steps will be clear.

I will not be discussing my marriage on the blog, since I am pretty sure that would not be helpful, but you will continue to hear about the bloggable parts of my life in more detail than you ever wanted to know.  In particular, I am dying to tell you about my new home.

Now to answer the question that everyone is asking right now: what about the dog????  Doggo has been staying with me, and will stay with Hubs for my upcoming trip.  After that we will figure out her custody situation.  All of our meetings include dog walks.

I turned comments off for this post, since there is really nothing to be said.  I'll be back soon with stuff to chat about.

Let's Go Places: Columbia, South Carolina and Raleigh, North Carolina feat. Pilot's Mountain and Beckley, West Virginia

 

Picking up the story from last time, we've just had an epic time at New River Gorge NP.  Now it's time to focus and get some state capitals/capitols checked off the list.

Let's Go (Back to) Places: New River Gorge NP, West Virginia

 

 

Friends, this is the story of how I fit the puzzle pieces together for my latest road trip.  If you are not in the mood to see gorgeous things, you might want to skip this post.

The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch: All Stories Have An End

Aw friends, we did it!  I rewatched every Alfred Hitchcock movie in reverse order, and you came along for the ride.  Let's do some rankings and recaps, and figure out what we learned.

Weekly Round Up: Pre-Road Trip Edition

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  This week I'm dropping some quick notes from home before I get back on the road.

Weekly Round Up: Easter and Time At Home

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, reads, and a few crazy stories.  Oops I did not mean to fall behind on blogging, but it happens.  Let's catch up!

The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch: The First Five Movies

Sigh, it feels like such a short while ago that I decided to rewatch all of the Alfred Hitchcock moves in reverse order, and now four months later I have done it.  It is always a little bittersweet to reach the end of a journey, but it was such a fun voyage.  Let's go back to where it all began!

Let's Go Places: Postcards from a Tri-State Captial Sweep

 

Friends, if I do say so myself, I really outdid myself in the capital quest last week.  One week, three capitals - let's go!

Weekly Round Up: Mostly Books

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  Last week was a busy week, action packed with travel and a family party.  I owe you another travel story, but first I need to pop in with a weekly round up or we will never catch up on books.

Let's Go Places: Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama feat. Florence, Alabama

 

Friends, we've been at home for a while.  Who wants to take a road trip????????

The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch: The Farmer's Wife to Blackmail

This is the second to last installment in The Great Alfred Hitchcock rewatch.  Time flies when you're watching great movies.

Weekly Round Up: Anti-Climax

 

A weekly round up: eats, watches, workouts, and reads.  This week was wonderfully anti-climatic after last week's drama: my ears are working and the weather was beautiful.  Nothing much happened, and I'm good with that.

Weekly Round Up: All Ears!

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  In this week's edition I made a dupe of one of my favorite frozen breakfasts and I had the stupidest thing happen to me.  So stupid that I am going to tell you all about it.

The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch: Elstree Calling to The Skin Game

Friends, welcome to the third to last installment of the Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch!  It's not over yet, but we are getting closer.

Weekly Round Up: Road Food

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  Last week I escaped the cold with a last minute road trip to somewhere warm, which means that I will never, ever catch up with blogging.  Oh well, let's take a shot at it.

Let's Go Places: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

The last time that we talked, I had wrapped up a week in New Orleans and was on my way to Baton Rouge.  This is the story of what happened next.

Let's Go Places: New Orleans, Louisiana

 

Friends, my first big trip of 2026 is in the books!  Let me tell you all about New Orleans.

The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch: Rich and Strange to The 39 Steps

Woo hoo and welcome to another installment of The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch!!!  This time we're solidly in the 1930s.  When this batch of movies started Hitchcock was a director like any other director but by the time it was over he was a superstar.

Weekly Roundup: Belly Deep

 

A weekly round up: a weather report, eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  Greetings from the other side of my trip to New Orleans!  I'll get the bloggy blog caught up on that soon, and in the meantime here is all the everyday stuff that we need to chat about.

We are in the midst of Snowmaggedon, and Doggo is here for it.  When we came home from our lunchtime walk, she had the choice of walking up the plowed driveway or walking in belly deep snow in the yard, and she made her choice.

2025: The Year in Travel Hacking/Bank Bonuses

Last year I wrote about my baby steps into the world of travel hacking and bank bonuses, and a few months later I reported on my first big travel hacking coup.  Now that I've been at this game a little bit longer, let's see how the credit card/bank bonus world is going.

The Great Alfred Hitchcock Rewatch: From Secret Agent to Jamaica Inn

Welcome back to the Great Alfred Hitchcock rewatch!  Last time we watched Hitchcock's first American movies, and now we're going back to England to see what he was up to that made Hollywood come a knockin'.

Weekly Round Up: In the Wild

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  This week marked the last week of winter break!  The boys are back at school, I'm sitting at the airport waiting to take to the skies, and Hubs and Doggo are holding down the home front.  Let me tells you the tales of the last week of home life.

Steal a Post: 2025 in Chapters

For the second year in a row, this post is a blatant steal of Stephany's Best of 2025, A Month-by-Month Recap.

Credit where credit is due:

• The chapters concept is c/o Elisabeth's 2024 "write a book with me" project
• Kyria carried the chapters concept forward to 2025 in the "Looking Forward, Looking Back" series
• Stephany's 2024 post is here
• My 2024 thievery is here

2025: The Year in Books

Hey 2025, you were really something.  Let's talk about the books that came my way while we were together.

Weekly Roundup: A Home Decor Update

A weekly roundup: Home decor and NYE hijinks, eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  Let's kick it off with that home decor update.

I Retired Two Month Ago: Here's How It's Going

 

After years of talking about it, I finally retired at the age of 50 on October 31, 2025.  Now that it is two months later, it's fair to ask how things are going.  I mean, I don't have a boss anymore so I guess the blog is the place for my performance reviews now.