Recipes, Groceries, Family, and Books

 I came to my blog to look up a couple of soup recipes (it is finally getting cooler here so I plan to cook soup a couple of times next week), and I decided to type up a post to say hello. :)

When I search for recipes on this blog I am always taken to "Menu Monday". This brings back so many fun memories. I remember doing that link up each Monday, and I always liked clicking on a couple of other random participants to see what they had planned to eat that week. I am still menu planning. Every. Single. Week. I haven't found it to get any easier! But once I get started it goes fairly quickly.  Most weeks I buy my groceries on Friday mornings. I do grocery pick up a lot, but sometimes I just want to go inside the store and look around. And sometimes (like tonight) I wait too long to make my list and I can't get a pick up time for the next morning. 

Speaking of grocery pick up. That is the greatest idea ever! It would have been life changing for me to have had the option of grocery pick up back when I was taking five children to the grocery store with me every week. I also always longed for a drive-through post office window. Actually, I would like that even now. It could sell stamps or take your package to be mailed and let you pay right there at the window without getting out of your car. 

***Family Update

Olivia and Brian are having a baby girl, due in December. So Jimmy and I will have three granddaughters. 

Clay and his girlfriend, Libby got engaged on October 1. They have set their wedding date for July 1.

The rest of us are doing well too. Leah and Sam are both taking some online college classes (dual enrollment for college/high school). They are also both running cross country. I have lost count of how many years I have had a child running XC. We have a state meet this Saturday. 

I have been reading a lot since the beginning of 2020. I read 50 books in 2020, and I am not sure how many I have read this year, but at last count I was over 30. Maybe I can devote some time to reviewing some of the books I have read. I am keeping track of them on a Trello board and also in a book journal. I am currently reading Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers and listening to Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. The next book I plan to read is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. 

I also read many, many books to Mae and Bea--most of which I have memorized from reading to my children when they were little. :) 

A Johnson Family Update

 So Sunshine left a comment asking about my family and our summer. That little nudge made me realize that yes, I do miss blogging. I still read blogs periodically, but I do spend a good bit of time listening to podcasts. Anyway, here is an update on our family.

We are all doing well!

• Jimmy and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on June 22. What a blessing to have been married 30 years to my best friend. 
• Olivia and Brian are expecting their first baby in December. They still live super far away in Indiana--a 9 hour drive. I am so excited for them! She will find out next month if the the baby is a boy or a girl.
• Julie and Big Sam are doing well with their two little girls, Mae 2.5 and Bea 10 months. Both girls' birthdays are in August. They live about 15 minutes from us. :) Julie has a garden and baby chickens, and I am looking forward to having fresh tomatoes. 
• Clay is in pharmacy school at The University of Tennessee. He will begin his second year in August. He is also working part time this summer at Handy Man and is studying for the MCAT.
• Leah will be a high school senior (how is that possible?) this fall. Leah has her driver's license now, and it is so nice to have an extra driver. She can drive herself and Sam to their XC practices and Bible studies now which is so nice! Leah has an Etsy shop called PaperCactusDesigns where she sells stickers and various other things that she designs and creates. 
• Sam will be in 10th grade this fall. He is busy this summer working on engineering projects, yard work, and various outdoor activities. Both of them have already been to RYC, and they will attend another camp in July.

I have many, many projects planned this summer. Right now I am picking blueberries for 1-2 hours each day and also working on my "secret room" which is unfinished room off of Olivia's room. This is where I keep all my children's old toys (large and small), stuffed animals (thousands!), memorabilia, college stuff, dress up supplies (way too many!), old t-shirts they want to save, etc. When Olivia, Julie, and Clay were little, this room was cleared out enough that they could play in there, weather (temperature) permitting. Over the years as they have outgrown their toys and things, I stored all of it in this secret room with the intention of getting it out for my grandchildren. Well now that that time is here, I realize that I kept way too much! So I am purging and organizing with the hopes of clearing it out enough for Mae and Bea and future grandchildren to be able to play in there when it's not too hot or cold. I am pulling out all of the children's boxes of "things they want to save" for them to go through and either take it to their houses or get rid of some of it. I am willing to store 2-3 boxes for each child, but not 12! Julie cleaned out the secret room 4 years ago, and I tidied it a little bit 3 years ago, but since that time way too much stuff has been dumped in there. I failed to take before pictures, but I may take some "in progress" pictures today. 

I hope all of you are having a good summer.