Sunrise at YMCA of the Ozarks, photo by MilliGFunk

Ground Bison Meat, photo taken with my iPhone4

From there, my mom took over, making a fantastic meatloaf from Sayersbrook’s meat, mashed potatoes, salad, and vegetables. The whole family enjoyed the meal.

Meat. Photo taken with my iPhone4

My dad (the son of a cattle farmer) commented that the meat wasn’t dry like he anticipated it might be. My brother and mom commented on the good flavor, and I just sat back smiling, feeling good about how healthy it was (bison is very nearly fat free). It also felt great knowing that I bought meat produced by a local ranch and sold in a locally-owned grocery store.

When’s the last time you fed your family locally-grown food? Are there any local farms that you would recommend?

The site, devoted to creating a “home on the web for Missouri’s Parkland” was founded by a Parkland-area native now living and working the Washingon D.C. Metro Area. Some of you may already follow Nick (@nbarron) on twitter, but if you don’t, you should. Nick is a a small town boy who’s taking what he’s learned on the East Coast about marketing and building online communities to create a web-based community for the Parkland that’s the first of its kind.

People like Nick who are prepared to devote their personal resources to making small town Missouri communities stronger are the kind of people I like to surround myself with.

I couldn’t be happier that Nick and I have remained friends for more than a decade after we met in high school Spanish class. I’m thrilled to be able to support Nick’s endeavors on ParklandUSA by contributing photos and blog content to the site.

If you live in or near Missouri’s Parkland, please visit the site often for gas prices, sports updates, and, of course, insights and images from A Small Town Girl’s Guide and MilliGFunk Photography. You can read the announcement Nick posted on ParklandUSA about syndicating Small Town Girl’s Guide here.

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If you’re interested in republishing content from A Small Town Girl’s Guide through syndication, please contact me. Click on the following links for more information on hiring me as a freelance writer or as a freelance photographer. I’m also available to speak on social media strategy, blogging and marketing.

On a recent trip to YMCA Trout Lodge in Potosi, Missouri, I had the pleasure of taking part in a Cowboy Campfire at the YMCA’s Triangle Y Ranch. Triangle Y Ranch has a mascot of sorts; a dummy named Chavez who has an amazing mustache. Chavez and I bonded, so he let me borrow his ‘stache.

Here’s me, with my new man, Chavez. If you’re in a city somewhere, have a margarita for me tonight!

MilliGFunk and Chavez

In the next forty-eight hours, Southern Missouri is anticipating the usually icy winter mix. In honor of Missouri winters, I thought I’d share my favorite Winter 2010 Missouri snow picture.

I took this at Sunnen Lake, outside of Potosi, Missouri in Washington County. Potosi is a town of approximately 2,500 people, and this particular shot was taken at a YMCA of the Ozarks boat dock.

Snowy Lake, photo by MilliGFunk

MilliGFunkyCorn, photo by the Independent Journal

You’ll note that I’m in good company with my corn on the cob. (Willie Nelson Dude’s braids were fake, by the way. They were attached to the bandanna. I was disappointed.)

Photo scanned from the Independent Journal, Washington County Missouri’s local paper.

Why dress a dog in a skirt? Because it’s hiLARious.

Dogs in dresses, photo by smalltowngirl

The only thing funnier than a dog in a skirt is a male dog dressed in pink sparkles:

Cross-dressing puppy, photo by smalltowngirl

And the only thing funnier than a boy dog in pink sparkles is a boy dog in a pink skirt.

These first two pictures were from the Moses Austin Festival, but I also saw dressed up dogs yesterday at the Fall Festival in Farmington. One of those dogs was, in fact, a boy dog in a pink, sparkly dress.

Unfortunately, I missed that photo opportunity. To compensate, here’s a dog dressed as the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz:

Scarecrow dog, photo by smalltowngirl

I used to think that New York City was more liberal than rural Missouri. Now I think Missourians are just taking their closet-liberal leanings out on their unsuspecting canine pals.

Though I didn’t learn much about the town, I did score an awesome picture of a whole different kind of fire engine:

Fire Truck Slide, photo by smalltowngirl

A parking lot had been converted into a bouncy-tent mini-park, with five or six large inflatable bouncy tents and slides for kids. $10 bought an unlimited pass on all the bouncy and slidey inflatables. You know I was tempted.