Thursday, November 22, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope you and your family enjoy your day today. I spent all day yesterday cooking after I made one last trip to Kroger and Hobby Lobby (I decided last minute to make some sort of table decoration for my Thanksgiving dinner--good thing I was last minute because most of the fall items were 80% off!)

This morning all I have left to do is cook the turkey (first time ever for me), finish decorating the table, and do all the things on my list. I am printing out some Thanksgiving themed conversation starters and activities. I hope everyone will be a good sport and play along! 

We plan to eat at 1:00 when Jimmy gets home from work. Tonight we are going to Kelly and Lynn's to eat leftovers with them and watch the Egg Bowl.

Enjoy your day! 

Monday, November 19, 2018

The Thanksgiving Celebrations Countdown

Whew! Yesterday afternoon I typed my to-do list and timeline for this week. This is my first time ever to prepare the Thanksgiving meal all by myself and serve it at my own house! My mother is unable to host this year, so I am using all her traditional recipes and hosting my immediate family. There will be eight  of us for Thanksgiving lunch: Jimmy, Me, Clay, Leah, Sam, Julie, Big Sam, and Mae.  I plan to serve the meal on my fine china that I have used only once or twice in our 27 years of marriage.

Thursday night we plan to take our leftovers over to Kelly and Lynn's house to eat with them and watch the Egg Bowl on TV. Friday night we are having a Thanksgiving dinner at Russ (Jimmy's brother) and Megan's house, and on Saturday we are going to Rhett (my brother) and Amanda's house. Lots of fun and food ahead!

Here is the timeline: As I just read over it, I realized that I forgot to list actually buying the Christmas tree! We will buy it sometime Wednesday and decorate it Friday.
Oh. And we will do some school today and tomorrow, and we also have CrossFit and piano lessons today.

Monday:
  • clean upstairs
  • change Clay's sheets, guest sheets, and Julie's sheets
  • get out Christmas dishes
  • decorate for Christmas (after supper)
Tuesday
  • vacuum downstairs
  • clean guest bathroom
  • make dressing
  • make carrot salad
  • slice ham
  • freeze hambone
Wednesday:
  • grocery store early for last minute ingredients
  • make sweet potatoes
  • make corn/rice casserole
  • make orange delight
  • make green beans x 2
  • thaw dressing
  • make chocolate and pumpkin pies
  • clean my bathroom/bedroom
Thursday:
8:00 AM
  • bake turkey
  • vacuum downstairs
  • vacuum stairs
  • set table—wash and dry tablecloth on quick cycle to remove wrinkles
11:30AM
  • set out all casseroles
  • boil eggs
  • make gravy
  • prepare cranberry sauce
12:00PM
  • bake dressing
  • bake green beans
  • slice turkey
  • put ham and turkey on platter


12:30PM
  • bake sweet potatoes
  • bake corn/rice casserole
  • set out butter
12:45PM
  • bake rolls
12:55PM
  • set out orange delight
  • set out carrot salad
1:00PM—EAT
Friday
  • white chili in crock pot on high (for lunch)
  • brown ground beef for tomorrow
  • decorate Christmas tree (hot chocolate and popcorn!)
  • make banana pudding
  • make chocolate pies
  • make chocolate chip pound cake 
  • bake green beans one hour before going to Megan's.

Saturday
  • put 7 can soup in crock pot on low (for supper)
  • make strawberry spinach salad
  • take cake and salad
Happy Thanksgiving Week to you!

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Podcasts and Books

A while back I shared which podcasts I listen to. My list today is pretty much the same with maybe one new addition.


  • The Lazy Genius. Kendra, the host of The Lazy Genius, would so be my friend in real life if she lived in my town! I love her ideas! She gives practical, doable tips about all areas of homemaking and personal care. Her topics range from how to cook chicken, to skin care, to planning your holidays without losing your mind. She always breaks down things into small, manageable steps, and I am always encouraged after listening to her. Her podcast is weekly, and it is fairly short, around 15 minutes an episode.
  • The Big Boo Cast. Sophie and Melanie are so much fun to listen to. It's really like listening in on their phone conversation. They discuss lighthearted topics such as college football (specifically Mississippi State and Texas A&M), make-up, skin care products, fashion, pets, TV shows, books, and a host of other topics. I love this podcast! They just released (just this morning!) their much anticipated holiday gift giving guide. I cannot wait to listen!
  • Happier With Gretchen Rubin. Gretchen and her sister Elizabeth discuss ways to be happier in your daily life. They include tips on improving your quality of life in areas like fitness, productivity, and relationships. Gretchen and Elizabeth live a life very unlike mine (Sophie and Melanie from the Big Boo Cast are certainly more relatable)--Gretchen is a former attorney and now she is a best selling author, and Elizabeth is a TV writer and producer, yet most of the time they have practical ideas. This is a very polished podcast. 

I am currently reading Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. I previously read his book Hannah Coulter, and it ranks up there with one of my all time favorite books! I highly recommend it. Most of his books are set in a fictional town called Port William. The books read like memoirs, but they are fiction. I hope to read all of Berry's works.

I will share more of my summer reading later. 

Friday, November 16, 2018

Today

I had planned to blog last night about either books I am reading and podcasts I am listening to or about my Christmas planner and Thanksgiving plans, but instead my family invited me to watch Elf with them! I am not much of a TV or movie watcher unless I am on the treadmill, and when I do sit down to watch a movie with the family I am usually multitasking. However, last night I decided to sit on the couch with nothing extra to do and just watch the movie. I enjoyed it so much! I felt like I was in college.....just sitting on the couch with Jimmy, watching a movie.
After the movie I told everyone goodnight and put on a new set of sticker fingernails. Then I was too tired to think so I went to bed.

This morning I have to make my grocery list which will include all the non-perishable ingredients I will need to cook for our three Thanksgiving celebrations next week. I am off to the grocery store soon, and then I will do school with Leah and Sam for a little bit before it's time for Leah and I to go get our hair cut. After that, more school and then cooking for a Family Bible study and potluck dinner tonight (at Julie and Big Sam's house). Also Julie and Mae are coming over for the day! That's the most fun of all.

Later tonight I hope to get my thoughts together about all the books I have read over the summer and into the fall. I have a few good ones!

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Facebook Shopping Parties


Here's something else I have been doing lately......Facebook shopping parties. In the past few months I have been introduced to Norwex (three parties), Younique, and Color Street Nails. I know there are many Facebook parties out there, but these are the three I have been invited to recently. Before these online parties, I knew nothing about these companies' products. In fact, when Lynn was showing me her sticker nails and was trying to tell me where she bought them, it took several tries before I understood what she was saying. Color Street Nails. I still don't know why they are called that.

Ok. Disclaimer. I am not selling any of these products. I am not hosting any online parties. I am getting no financial or other company benefit from telling you about this......I have just had so much fun, and I am sharing my life with you readers again! :)

1. Norwex. This is the only Facebook party that I have participated in live, and it was fun! I am sold on their enviro cloth, mirror cloth, and dusting mitt. I have enjoyed cleaning so much with them. The dusting mitt really attracts the dust, and my furniture stays dust free so much longer than before. I will not be using their body cloths to shower without soap or their kitchen cloths to wash dishes without soap, because, well, I like soap! I like the smell of soap! I do have their makeup removal cloths, which I love! I still use Mary Kay eye makeup remover to get my mascara off, but the Norwex cloths and hot water get my face clean. It's very easy. I have three of these cloths, and since I do laundry every. single. day. I always have one clean. 

2.  Younique.  Makeup. I am not high maintenance in the makeup department. I still wear some Cover Girl products just like I did in high school. I use several Mary Kay products, including my long time staple, tinted moisturizer, along with various other products all sold at Walmart. 
But, I watched several tutorial videos, spent a long time chatting with a consultant while I held Baby Mae late one night while Julie slept, and before you knew it, I had bought some new makeup! I am now using some sort of foundation, a fabulous foundation/powder/concealer brush, and mascara and a fiber lash set--all from Younique. This is the first time I have worn actual foundation in decades, and I really like it. It is very light and goes on effortlessly with the brush. (I don't wear the tinted moisturizer if I wear the foundation.) I also just bought some face primer, which I used for the first time today. The Epic mascara may be my new favorite mascara. I have used the fiber lashes a few times, but I really don't have time for too much extra in my daily "getting ready" routine. 

3. Color Street Nails. This is my favorite of all. I have painted my fingernails maybe three times since Olivia was born (she's 23), and I have had one manicure in my entire life. (last year). I have had some sort of fingernail infection on most of my fingernails (it comes and goes and alternates nails) for  almost 12 years. Yuk. It's not a fungus. I have taken many different medications over the years, and nothing helps. I am pretty sure I have chronic paronychia. (Google that. It's gross.) Anyway, I do not have pretty fingernails. But these Color Street Nails have changed my life! I bought four sets (because the party special was buy 3, get 1 free! :) With each set I am pretty sure I am getting two full manicures. I bought three sets of regular polish, and one set of glitter! I use the glitter stickers on my currently yucky nails, because I have found that they stick the best. 

The first time I applied them Lynn did most of it for me. She was concerned that I would not have the patience to do them, and she was right! If I had tried them all by myself the first time, I would have given up. But she showed me how to do it, and now I have done two more sets all by myself. I think the company advertises that each "manicure" lasts two weeks, but mine have lasted only six days each time. But wow! Six days. That's great to me! After 5-6 days they start cracking and coming off little bit on the tips. I am sure it's because I keep my hands in water so much washing and scrubbing dishes.
In case you are not familiar with Color Street Nails, they are nail shaped stickers made of actual nail polish. You apply the sticker and then gently shape it to your nail. I can do it in less than 30 minutes now. And no drying time!

I am done with Facebook parties for now, because I need to get onto online Christmas shopping.

But it has been lots of fun!

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Countdown to Christmas: Part 1



No. I'm not "robbing the Pilgrims" as Kelly tries to tell us when we decorate for the Christmas Holidays well before Thanksgiving. It's just that Christmas decorations are so much fun. The tree, my Santa collection, the special ornaments, the greenery--I love it all, and I want to enjoy it a little bit longer than 3-4 weeks. 

I saw this sentiment somewhere on social media recently:

November 1-21:  Christmas
November 22:  Thanksgiving
November 23-December 25:  Christmas

I agree!  

My plan is for "the other Kelly" (Jimmy's college roommate who decorates for me each year--not be confused with "Uncle Kelly", my best friend, Lynn's husband) to come over next Monday night to work his magic. In about two hours he has the living areas of our home decked out in Christmas finery. It takes me way, way longer to take it down and pack it up each year than it does for him to make it all look so beautiful! 

But today's plan is to make a plan.
If you are beginning to think about the holiday season, now is time to make a list. Make lots of lists

Here is my plan for today:



  • Take inventory of the gifts I have bought so far this year. I try to pick up a few things here and there for people as I see things that I think would be perfect for someone. I create a word document on my computer each year of each family member and friend's name that I buy/make gifts for, the gift, and when I wrap it. Actually I delete all the previous year's information and use the same document template each year. I don't make a whole new document. I just save the new one with the current year in the title. I think they are all called "Christmas 2018", etc. 
  • Look in the various places I hide gifts and bring them all to a central location.
  • Type the gifts into my Christmas document.
  • Record the amount of money already spent on various Christmas items (gifts, cards, stamps, supplies etc.) in another document. I do set a Christmas Holidays budget each year, and I save money all throughout the year for this purpose. 
  • Rehide all the gifts, but this time begin grouping them for wrapping.
  • One more thing--when I am done shopping and wrapping, I print out all my gift lists and place them inside my Christmas binder. (More about my Christmas binder another day.)
P.S.
I ran/walked again this morning! Today I did 2.5 miles, so now I have 4 miles for this week. My goal is 10, and I think I can do it!

Do you have any exercise goals?
Do you want to start your holiday planning fun with me?

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, November 12, 2018

I May Be Back

Well. It's been a long, long time since I blogged.

I have heard on social media more than once that blogging is dead. That podcasts are the new thing now, and many people just don't read blogs anymore. True. I listen to a few podcasts myself, and I don't read blogs like I used to. However part of that is because of the stage of life I am in, and part of that is because many of the bloggers I used to follow are no longer blogging!

But I miss my blogging community, and I miss writing. I like getting my thoughts down on "paper", and I like sharing a little bit of my life and hopefully some encouragement to my readers.

So here goes. Again. I am going to try to jump back in.

Here is some of what has been going on in my life:

  • Julie and Big Sam moved back to Mississippi (from Romania).
  • Julie and Big Sam had a baby in August!  A precious baby girl named Mae.
  • I am a grandmother! I love being a grandmother so much!
  • It is difficult being a grandmother, a mother to a married daughter 9.5 hours away, a mother to a college sophomore 12 hours away, and a homeschooling mother to a 12 and 14 year old. (Plus Julie who now lives only 15 minutes away! :) All of those roles together have been quite the task. But I love being a wife/mother/grandmother most of all. Even when it's hard.
  • Olivia and Brian have visited us twice--once in July and once over Labor Day weekend. I love having my children come home.
  • I hosted Clay's college cross county team for an overnight stay last week. All 18 of them. It was delightful!
  • Jimmy and I were able to travel and watch Clay's college end of season conference meet and also Leah and Sam's national meet over the last several days.
  • I have basically quit running. :( I sometimes meet Leanna once a week or so for a 4-6 mile run, but that's it. I am not sure how or why I lost my motivation to run, but it's gone. And I am working on getting my motivation back. I ran/walked 1.5 miles this morning. I have set a goal of 10 miles this week.  For the first time in probably 10 years, I am not running the St. Jude Half Marathon (I ran the full marathon back in 2011, and I skipped 2014 to run a full marathon the next weekend). I signed up for the 10K instead. Now I am sad that I will be getting in the line to pick up the 10K bib instead of the half or full marathon bib! That may motivate me to get back into running! (Not that there is any shame in running the 5K or 10K, it's just that for so long I was running 2-3 half marathons a year, and now.......nothing.)
  • I am still doing CrossFit once or twice a week. Our class meets three times a week, but going twice is always my weekly goal. 
  • I am beginning to work on my Christmas Holidays plans. That makes me happy! This is the topic I will probably blog about first.....as I get my thoughts and plans together I will share them.
  • I have read several good books over the last several months.
  • I stated an inductive Bible study. I have found a new groove in my personal Bible study that is working well in my life right now.
  • I love my church family. 
  • I love my best friends, Lynn and Leanna.
  • I love my family. 
  • I am so thankful for all of my blessings.