by Sarah | Sep 13, 2013 | All About Home, All About Me, All of Us, Holidays
It’s that time of year.
Can you believe it?
102 days until Christmas.
I started some minor Christmas shopping recently.
But what I’m most focused on is what happens right after Thanksgiving for me.
Cookie time!!
Every year at this time I start making my list – the ultimate list of cookies & candies to be made. This year, since I have a job, I’ll have to make more than usual for sharing.
Always on the list, of course, is my Ultimate Christmas Cookie Cutout Recipe. I’ve made those every year for 3+ years, and they are so good, they remain on the list without fail.
I also make poor man’s toffee every year (easy as pie), and some sort of bark (I’ve done Oreo and white chocolate cranberry before).
From there I never know. Depends on what I find on pinterest, or in magazines.
I’ve got all my recipes gathered…but do you have a favorite you can direct me toward? I’m always open to suggestions!
by Sarah | Jul 4, 2013 | All of Us, Holidays, Random
by Sarah | May 15, 2013 | All About Home, All About Me, All of Us, Crap, Random
I make no secret of my husband’s obsession.
I have a few of my own, so I don’t deny him his.
Unfortunately, his eats up space like you wouldn’t believe.
<—This is (one of) my bookshelves two years ago.
That is approximates 500 (or more?) movies.
Blu ray, standard, TV series, movie series, duplicates and an occasional triplicate.
You think it doesn’t look bad?
Those suckers are 2 rows deep.
At one time they’d been alphabetized, but every time hubby took out a movie, alphabetizing went right out the window. New movies were bought and we had nowhere left to put them. We had movies he forgot about because they were hidden in the back.
Our books were pretty much the same.
Out of control.
Fed up, and desperate, I took myself into the depths of Amazon. I knew what I wanted. I was a matter of finding it and balancing the cost vs. the reward.
I finally decided the cost was worth it for the final reward.
i.e. Being organized.
Still, in 2012 I used caution. I only bought about half of what we needed. Just in case–a) they didn’t work or b) we hated them.
Well, it’s now 2 years later. In 2012 I bought more, plus blank pages.
What did I use? The Bellagio Italia in Brown (Pro-tip, buying them 3 at a time is cheaper in the long run than by 1, 2 or 6….). Last year I bought 9, this year I bought 9 more, plus 6 packs of the refill pages.
What else did we do? Well, we thinned out some duplicate movies (but not all, I can’t tell you how many versions of Star Wars we have…okay, I can. It’s 5). We thinned out books (namely I thinned out books because I rarely re-read anything). We took them to Half-Price (w/ regret as we got next to nothing…selling to Amazon would have gotten us more $).
Movies are organized into just a few categories.
My Movies
[amazon_link id=”B002C6A6N6″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Dr. Quinn Series[/amazon_link] (also mine)
Standalone Movies
Movie Series
Standalone Movie Bonus Discs
Series Movie Bonus
TV Series
[amazon_link id=”B002M2T1UO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Shield[/amazon_link]
Some special movies/series still aren’t put away. The James Bonds b/c they aren’t ours. The new blu-rays of the [amazon_link id=”B002I9Z8GW” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Star Trek[/amazon_link] [amazon_link id=”B001TH16DI” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Movies[/amazon_link], b/c we just got them and haven’t decided if we want to take them out of their pretty cases yet.
For the first time in…well, ever…I’m becoming extremely picky about organization. Right now I’m die-hard about the movies, but it’s seeping into the rest of the house.
The husband couldn’t be happier 😉
by Sarah | Apr 10, 2013 | A to Z Challenge, All About Family, All About Home, All About Indiana, All About Me, Random, Story of Me, The Reluctant Hoosier
The path is familiar.
Second nature.
The first time I followed it, I was only 14.
Unable to drive.
Unable to process what it meant.
How I would change.
While the path stayed the same.
*
The first time it was the I-90 to 271, to 71, to 270, to 70…and off the highway in the middle of Indiana.
A far cry from home.
From the suburbs of Buffalo, the suburbs of Indianapolis – that felt to me more rural than suburban.
From attitudes and pride, to looking people in the eye and church.
A foreign land.
*
For three years we traversed the path between two worlds frequently.
We lingered in the past, and at the same time moved forward.
Our lives moved on, and a few years later, so did we.
We left behind Indiana and followed new paths…
Only to return again.
Not “home”…no, not New York.
“Home.” Indiana.
*
20 years later I could still drive the path blindfolded.
I know the way.
I can still find my way through my old home town, even though I learned to drive 500 miles away from it.
Instinct brings me back around.
But I don’t.
*
Now the roles are reversed.
This foreign land has become home.
Familiar.
Safe.
The last time I drove that route was 2 years ago…and it was for a funeral.
Before that, almost 4 years had passed.
I missed much.
So much it’s now foreign.
There are days I miss that land.
Days I feel my heart call me home.
But life has moved on.
And so have I.
*
I will return again.
I will eat the familiar, delicious foods.
I will drive the pathways that no longer lead to the same places I remember, where strangers now live, or where the home itself has been changed.
Because a piece of me will always remember and belong.
*
Those interstate pathways carried me away.
Took me to places I never expected.
But they can never lead home again.
*~*~*
The A-Z Challenge has over 1900 participants, all blogging from A to Z this month. Check them out and see if you can’t find a few new favorites!!
by Sarah | Apr 8, 2013 | A to Z Challenge, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Molly, All of Us
In a house of girls, many favorites pass through these halls.
Stuffed animals galore go from favorite, to well worn, to out the door.
One of the oldest and still most cherished are two identical animals.
So old, the glitter that once adorned them is worn off.
The fuzzies are no longer fuzzy.
The ‘hair’. is matted and ripped off, and what’s left is knotted.
But in this house, these animals aren’t called unicorns.
Oh no.
It’s the unigoat.
*~*~*The A-Z Challenge has over 1900 participants, all blogging from A to Z this month. Check them out and see if you can’t find a few new favorites!!
by Sarah | Feb 9, 2013 | All About Family, All About Home, All of Us, Random
We’ve been discussing the dog idea again. Finding one that needs rescued, that needs a good home, that has an established personality that we can mesh into our family.
Not a puppy.
Not a big dog (but likely not a small one either).
Right now it’s still an idea. We have things that need done before we can think about the cost of caring for a dog.
While we continue to deliberate and weigh our decision.
We get a visitor.
My parents dog, sweet thing that she is.
We’re often her sitter.
And she always melts into the family seamlessly.
It’s a joy having her.
And we are going to soak up every moment of the next two weeks.
Maybe our decision will be made.
It’s that time of year.
