We live in the desert. The desert is our home. I have grown to love the desert with its unique beauty, contrasted landscape, practically no natural disasters (unless you consider extreme heat to be a disaster), and the Winter weather is right up our ally.

But I grew up in Maryland. All that farmland, rolling hills, the Appalacian mountains … that’s my home too. Visiting the place that has my roots in its soil is always therapeutic and refreshing. And then I’m always ready to come back to our home in Arizona.

Our little family just spent a week back east. Some of you know my parents just spent two years serving a mission in Finland. They’re back home now. So we went to spend time with them and our other family there (I have a couple brothers and their families in Maryland also).

I’m very much in travel-recovery mode this week. My inboxes are overflowing, not to mention the laundry and my to-do list. But first things first. My pictures are uploaded and organized. Of course. Here’s a little look at beautiful Maryland, according to my camera lens.

You’ll notice a theme: Green, green, green.

All of the above photographs are from around my parents’ property. The place where I grew up. The clovers, the ivy, the honeysuckles … so very much a part of my childhood. That brush pile? You’ll see that again later this week when I share pictures of the bonfire.

Looking into the backyard where nieces and nephews played for hours (at my brother’s home).

The motion in this shot is evidence of snapping this picture from the car as we drove into Brunswick — my hometown. Every time we drive through this area my nose is practically glued to the window. I never seem to tire of the sites. It is simply beautiful.

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As I get back into the routine of everyday life this week, I’ll be sharing more pictures from our trip back east. Expect a lot of visual, and very few words. Stay tuned for pictures from Washington D.C., Amish Country, and more. I hope you’re off to a really great start this week. If you watch and listen carefully, you’ll notice a lot of blessings in store for you.