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    There’s no Place like Home

    “There’s no place like home” might seem like a cheesy quote from a movie to some, but to us it’s now the story of our lives. Tuesday, January 7, 2014 we were having our nightly dinner together in our kitchen that was just starting to come together after living in our home for nearly 5 years. My custom built spice rack that my husband made me (I collect spices… and salt & pepper shakers…) adorned the wall, my brand new KitchenAid (in raspberry ice color) that I’d been saving up for, for what seemed like forever sat proudly atop the counter, and we had just finished saying the blessing when…

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    Recipes

    Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe

    It was one of those days… We slept in until 11:30am (yes, my 18 month old loves to sleep, be very jealous), which led to a late nap, waking up around 6:30pm and panicking with thoughts of what’s for dinner… I immediately ran to my freezer, and after gazing upon the last two lonely, frozen chicken breasts from last weeks stock-up sale, I had a vision.  No, I had a dream.  I had a dream that I could feed 6 ravenous carnivores with these 2 solitary chicken parts.         I pride myself in 3 things.  1. My monkey feet – I can pick up almost anything with my feet – sans…

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    Recipes

    Best Chili Recipe Ever – Secret Ingredient

    Sometimes, you find something so delicious, so perfect, that it doesn’t need a fancy name or catchy title accompanying it.  Sometimes your creation is so perfect that you can’t speak, let alone come up with a clever intro for it.  So here is my chili recipe. (Adapted from: cdkitchen.com recipe HERE ) Ingredients: Directions:      7.  Add this mixture to the chili, mix well, cover and cook for another 20 minutes.      8.  Serve with cornbread & butter on the side, with toppings of choice (sour cream, cheese, Frito’s,           etc). Enjoy! *Notes:  Last time I made this, I used half ground beef & half ground steak (Tyson…

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    Influential People

    We are impacted by everyone we meet and every experience we have, in one way or another.  Sometimes we can be influenced by those we have never met, but have read about or know of.  Those influences can be either good, bad, or neutral.  Usually, those who make the biggest impact on our lives will be remembered for always.  I chose the people on this list because they have made an impact on my life in one way or another.  I honestly don’t think of myself as a very easily influenced person, but I wanted to do this challenge, so I’m just going to go with what pops in my…

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    5 Passions

      Fittingly enough, after just posting about Passion Monday, my blog challenge for the day is on 5 passions!  Passion describes an intense, and “barely controllable” emotion.  When we are passionate about something, we are obsessed with it and put our all into it.  Passion is aggressive, strong, and full of feeling. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passion

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    Business

    Dream Job

    Some little girls dream about being princesses when they grow up. Some, however, are more realistic.  Usually, our ideal job / career is different than what we imagined it to be in our childhood.  Personally I’ve changed my mind several times over the years.  I recall reading somewhere that the part of our brains responsible for rational thinking and decision making don’t even form until our mid-twenties.  That explains a lot – about a lot.         As a youngin’, I dreamt of being a veterinarian, oddly enough I don’t even really like animals now.  I mean don’t get me wrong, if I see a turtle crossing a highway I’ll stop to…

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    marriage

    Igniting the Passion in your Marriage

     Two of my favorite bloggers, Time-Warp Wife & Women Living Well have just released their newest Marriage Series, entitled: Ignite the fire.  It’s a 3 week series, with a different sub-topic each Monday.  This week the hot topic is passion, and it truly is a hot topic!         We’re all familiar with that “butterflies in the tummy” feeling of young love, yes?  The feeling you get when he walks into the room, grabs your hand, or even when you just get a text 😉 from your new beau?  Why doesn’t he do that anymore? we ponder.  Why did he stop wooing me?  How did holding hands turn into walking single file…

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    The Hardest Thing

      It’s hard to pinpoint the hardest thing that I’ve ever experienced.  Having been a young mom in a unhealthy relationship at the time, that would probably be near the top of my list, except for the fact that I had the immense support of my mother and father to help me.  Although I was originally super apprehensive about them finding out about my pregnancy, they were very loving and supportive.  I thank God every day that my parents were pro-life and never even suggested abortion, although that would have been the “easy way out” at the time.         I think back to a friend I had, the same age as me,…

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    5 Things that Make Me Happy

    Happiness.  Feeling pleasure, satisfaction, or joy.  A state of well-being and contentment.  How many people today can say that they are truly happy?  I don’t mean the kind of happy that you feel on those days when you wake up and manage to not stub your toe while heading to Wawa to find out that they have your favorite pumpkin spice coffee when you arrive, your work day goes smooth and quick, & before you know if you’re home and the kids already have their homework finished and your husband decides to take you out to dinner and give you the night off.  No, not that kind.  That’s superficial happiness. …

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    Advice / Wisdom

    Letter to my 16 Year Old Self

     I am switching this up a bit from 10 things you would tell your 16 year old self if you could to just writing a letter to my 16 year old self.  Reason being, I don’t know if I can genuinely come up with 10 things.  Heck, there might be more or there might be less, I won’t know until I start.  I think that a letter format would be much easier and more heartfelt anyhow, so feel free to improvise too if you are following along with your very own blog challenge.  This is about having fun, we’re not being graded for following directions =)         Dear 16 year old…