The Advent Conspiracy...
I prefer to hold off on most Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving. I like my holidays one at at time and it's too easy to let the glitter of Christmas overwhelm the simplicity of Thanksgiving. For that reason, I don't decorate before Thanksgiving. Well, I mean, I don't put up Christmas decorations. I do have some simple autumn and Thanksgiving decorations which I enjoy this time of year. I also try to refrain from listening to Christmas music this early, however I must admit that I did play a few songs from Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album this morning. In general, though, I hold off until

Menu Plan Monday...
Click graphic above for more menu ideas.Monday: * roasted whole chicken * potatoes, carrots and onions (roasted alongside chicken) * green saladTuesday: * chicken and rice casserole * green beans

Menu Plan Monday...
Click above for more menu plans.David will be on a business trip Wednesday through Friday so I'm gifting myself with minimal cooking during that time.Monday:potatoes/peas/smoked sausage casserole (thanks to P

Memories of Grandma...
Today our family will be celebrating the life of my grandmother. She passed away this past Friday at the age of 96. Each of her eleven grandchildren wrote about their special memories of this remarkable woman and these will be shared at the service today. It was incredibly difficult to decide on a reasonable number of memories to share but this is what I finally completed at about 1 o'clock this morning:“I have the best family.” These were the words I heard nearly every time I visited Grandma the past few years. If that’s true, and it just might be, Grandma was much of the reason for it. All of my life she has been there…a tower of strength, a model of selfle

We're Back!
Yeah, the picture is not good quality (not to mention, small) but it was taken by a friend with his phone. We had an amazing trip and are utterly exhausted. I have so much to blog about and will have better pictures to share later but that will have to wait. I need to leave the house