Recent Posts

My mother-in-law was the Best. Cook. Ever.  Mashed potatoes were a staple at each meal.  Creamy, fluffy, butter filled scrumptiousness.  But try as I might I never could replicate the texture or flavor of her mashed potatoes.  Epic fail.  Every time. 

One day when grocery shopping I dropped some Idahoan Mashed Potatoes into my grocery cart.  I sneakily made them one night to accompany a roast.

One of the best gifts I ever received was the Canon camera my parents bought me for my high school graduation.  I was taking a gap year and going to India and a good camera let me catch tangible memories of the places and people that I met while I was overseas.  Over the years I’ve upgraded my camera many times and now I’m using a camera with interchangeable lenses, and I’m so glad I have it to get super photos of all the things and places my family and I are blessed to go and do.

The one and only experience I had with a Chrysler vehicle is the one I learned to drive on.  My mom’s Chrysler Fifth Avenue.  You know back in the 80s when hood ornaments were a thing.  My mom’s was black with a maroon velvety interior and the back seat looked like huge, plush sofa.  Knowing how my dad purchases vehicles, it was most likely a luxury sedan at the time, but really for a 16-18 year old…well let’s just say my parents didn’t have to worry about me drag racing in it.

Sometimes I wish the month of December had more hours in the day than the other 11 .  I’m always looking for the easiest way to do…well everything, because there is just so little time to pack in all the things that need to get done before Christmas Day.  That includes using my slow cooker for suppers, which allows me to get a little bit fancy but still make things easy and efficient when it comes to using my time.  Adding garnishes like holiday nuts to a simple dish makes it festive and takes it up a notch for the Christmas season.

My mother-in-law’s chocolate chip cookie recipe is legendary.  It was the one thing my husband brought to our marriage that I didn’t somehow try to get rid of over the years .  He used to make them religiously, batch after batch and I was okay with that, because hey, besides always having fresh cookies in the jar, I didn’t have to make them.  They became the staple item we brought to family gatherings and potlucks because everybody loved them…and everybody asked for the recipe.

Our family does two primary things for entertainment; play video games and watch movies.  In our neck of the woods we have a few movie theaters to choose from, but we gravitate to the two AMC Theatres that are closest to us.  The primary reason is because of their concessions and their AMC Stubs Card.

If you missed my post at the end of November on how I get my guest bathroom holiday ready, you’re in luck.  I decided to show you an up close version of the DIY Mason Jar Soap Dispenser I made designed just for the holiday season.

All you need are a few supplies:

If your kids are anxiously awaiting the DVD release of the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie…did you know that it’s already available on Digital HD?!

My daughter grew up with VeggieTales (way back when they were sold on VHS tapes!).

We loved snuggling up on the couch and watching the antics of Bob, Larry, Junior and the rest of the crisper drawer, laughing, singing and learning important life lessons, and that God Made Us Special and Loves Us Very Much.  She is now all grown up, but we still sing the songs, and it’s actually one of our Christmas traditions to play the CDs while we decorate our Christmas tree.

We didn’t really know how our daughter would adjust to the first semester of her freshman year of college, turns out we didn’t have to worry.  She’s not only doing fantastic academically, but has also made a ton of friends.  To our surprise she’s taken to being the “activities director” among her friends.  That means planning study sessions, coordinating video game tournaments and hijacking our streaming accounts so they can all see the latest episode of Once Upon a Time in their mini-lounge area.  Since she uses her laptop to do this we thought that wireless JBL Charge 2 Speakers would be a great Christmas gift for her.