Simple Joys At Home

When I was little, my mom made me write letters. Lots of letters. All. The. Time.  Or so it felt.  I wrote letters to my grandmothers, and my aunts. I wrote letters to my friends, and my great grandparents. I even wrote letters to one of my great uncles for awhile.  And I hated it with a passion.  I hated coming up with things to say. I hated having to copy everything out in my best handwriting.  I hated every part of writing.  Except the receiving letters back part. That was fun. Then came the time when I had to go through a writing book for school. Like a learn-how-to-write writing book. It was torture.  It was difficult. And boring. I cried over that book a lot. My poor mother thought that she had ruined me, and that I would forever hate anything to do with writing.  I thought I would forever hate writing, too.  When I was 13, I wanted to get a Facebook account.   No surprise there ....

Nearly two years ago, I opened an Etsy shop, selling my crocheted items . A few months back, my brother Caleb decided to open his own Etsy shop as well. He's making super neat paracord belts and bracelets, that make a great addition to any survival pack. The paracord (short for parachute cord , and also called  550 cord ) he uses is super strong, and a single strand can hold up to 550 pounds.  Are you interested in building your stock of survival supplies?  You can visit his shop, Survivor Paracord , here , but be sure to check back for more items in the future as well, as he already has all sorts of ideas for further expansion.

"Thank you Mommy, you're my friend!" The little girl's request had been granted, and she was elated. She reached for a hug before going to play, but her mothers' words stopped her as she pulled back from the quick embrace. "No, I'm not your friend, just your mommy." was her almost sharp reply. The words sent a pang to my heart. Why was it that this mother felt she and her young daughter could not be friends? My mama and I have long been friends - since I was able to converse.  Of course, that that relationship has changed ever the years. It's blossomed and bloomed into a close-knit friendship, very different than when I was three, or even thirteen.  We are dear and close friends. Some may scoff that such a thing is even possible, while others are relieved that their child keeps his or her distance. Who wants to spend time with someone that wild and unruly anyway? Still others, long for that, but don't know how to f...

  "There is a lad here, which hath   five barley loaves, and two small fishes:  but what are they among so many?"              John 6:9 There were thousands of people to be fed, and only a  small  amount of  food  to feed them with. Andrew's question was a valid one. How would they feed so many? We all know the story. Jesus blessed the  small  amount they had, and fed the crowd. There was enough. And when everyone had eaten,  there  were even leftovers. Don't we too, at times, have the same question as Andrew did? How will this little bit, this small thing, make a difference? The truth is,  that  we will never know what difference something will make, until we do it.  Even then, there are times that we won't know. Sometimes we do things, or have  promptings  to do things, that we can't see how they would make a difference. S...

So, I was compiling a list of some of our favorite THM recipes for some friends of ours, and since I went through all the work of doing it (which I enjoyed) I thought I'd share it with y'all too. So, here goes, in case you wanted to know everything that we ever eat, and then some. *Note: All the foods with page numbers beside them are from the Trim Healthy Mama book , and can be found on that page number in the book. So, one thing that we eat about once a week, that there isn't actually a recipe for (at least that I recall coming across.) Naked Burritos. We eat this so often that once Leah asked if we could have burritos with clothes on them. Basically, we cook up a big pot of rice, and a big pot of black beans. We also marinade a bunch (as in, however much your family would eat) of meat (chicken breasts or a beef roast) n Italian salad dressing. We normally at that point cut it up, and cook it an electric skillet. Traditionally, it would be grilled, but o...

         Starting tomorrow evening (11/28/2013) I'll be having a Black Friday/Cyber Monday SALE in my Etsy shop !  I sell all sorts of fun crocheted items, such as hats, cowboy boots, and doll shoes.  I also have a few little girls' aprons for sale. All items will have between a 15% and 50% discount in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This ONLY applies to my Etsy Shop , and NOT my Facebook page .  This also does not apply to custom orders, although I will still be taking custom orders during this time. Sales will start Thursday evening, and end either Monday night or Tuesday morning.  Four+ days of savings!  Keep in mind that this is the perfect time to purchase Christmas gifts!  Hope to see you there!  Visit my shop --->  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleJoysAtHome

This is week six of a six week Menu Monday trial period.....I've gotten very little feedback, which means no more Menu Monday! Sad, I know, but also somewhat of a freedom for me. rest assured though, I'll still post some recipes, they just won't be as regular. In fact, I'm in the middle of creating a super duper yummy THM approved recipe.... Today's Menu Monday is super simple, because we've been sick, and I kept forgetting to take pictures of my food. In fact, this picture was taken of the leftovers from this meal, that I just pulled out of the fridge and arranged on a plate for the picture. There wasn't any leftover broccoli,  which is why there isn't any in the picture. This is real life y'all. Oh, by the way, this is a THM approved 'E' meal. Baked Chicken: Ingredients: Chicken breasts (however much your family will eat) Salt Pepper Garlic Powder Chives Place chicken in a pan, and sprinkle with spices. I use dried chives, ...