When You Finish Each Other's Sentences

 

   A few months ago I saw something on Facebook that really made me sad for the author.  She was talking about all the "bad relationships" that she did not want to be a part of and one of the things she listed as being bad was being a couple that could finish each other's sentences.  That stopped me in my tracks and made me think that a. the author is either really young so has no clue about long lasting love or b.the author just wants that beginning of a relationship "thrill ride" feeling and is never in a relationship long enough to find out how truly wonderful it is to have that deep connection with someone to be able to finish each other's sentences.

   My husband and I have been together since the day after Thanksgiving in 1983.  We got married in March of 1985.  That means that we have been a couple for 33 years now.  No one knows me as well as he does or him I.  We are each other's best friend, confidant, biggest cheerleader and the one person in this world that we know will be there for each other no matter what.  Our connection in very deep and strong.  We can look at something and both of us think the exact thing with the exact wording when we speak that thought out loud.  We can look at each other across a room and know that the other one is thinking.  This has come in handy when one of us is hurting or ill.  No words have to be spoken, but we know what each other needs at that moment.  As I have shared before, I have both Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia and the "brain fog" that comes with both of those.  There are times when I am in the middle of a sentence and I can't find the word I want to say or I know it but it does not make the connection from my brain to my mouth. My husband knows how frustrating this is for me and he finishes my sentence and bridges that gap for me.  He goes with me to most of my doctor's appointments because I can't remember simple things like what supplements and the dosages I take.  I really do need to write those things down and keep a copy of them in my wallet.  

   My husband, like a lot of men, has trouble putting into words what he is feeling at times, especially when he is dealing with something that is hurting him deeply.  I help him find the words to express himself so that he can get it all out.  My doing this helps him cope with it better so it is not building up inside and making him feel even worse than he already is.  It has helped him be able to see patterns of behavior going way back to his childhood that are hurtful and not healthy at all and has helped him deal with some very traumatic events in his life.

   Being able to finish each other's sentences is a good and positive thing.  It comes from years of love, trust and truly paying attention to what is important to the other person.  It shows a deep and strong bond between people.  Love matures over time and goes through different stages.  I hope that the author of the post I read that "sparked" this post one day finds herself in a deep and mature relationships where she and the one she loves can finish each other's sentences.
   

 

Cozy Winter Days at Home

Fiery Winter sunrises that herald the arrival of a new day.

Bradley thoroughly enjoying his hot cocoa and digging the marshmallows out of his cup while he watches a movie.

Gpa and Isaiah getting in some good cuddle time after hot tubbing.

Doofy cat curled up on the pellet stove getting warm after one of his many trips outside to play in the snow that had drifted onto the screened in porch.

A young moose who came to graciously trim our neighbor's bushes while his mother trimmed the rose bush around the corner.

Snow was shoveled...multiple times so we could find our stairs and get our cars out of the driveway.

Homemade chicken and orzo soup was made and enjoyed as it warmed us from the inside out.

And Scrabble was played by the warmth of the pellet stove while hot cider or another drink was sipped on.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 12/17-12/30 2016

   

   I'm doing a 2 week wrap up since the holidays found me busy, sick, busy, sick, busy and I was unable to get this posted last Friday.  I hope you all do not mind!  Christmas was wonderful this year and most of the gifts we both gave and received were homemade items filled with lots of love and meaning.  Those are the best kinds in my mind. :)  Here are some of the ways we saved...


~Over the weekend, Jeff and I stopped at Goodwill while we were in town and I found another king sized fleece blanket (it looked brand new) just like the one I found last week, but this one is red.  It was only $3.99!
~We also found some shirts for Jeff, 1 shirt for me, a cd that Jeff wanted and a few books at Goodwill.
~Monday I baked 2 loaves of Whole Wheat Oatmeal bread.
~Monday I also made some homemade breadcrumbs with the leftover bread from last week.
~Six batches of candy were made on Monday morning.  These are all for gifts for family and friends.
~Jeff and I have been binge watching "Fixer Upper" on Netflix since Netflix will be dropping all their HGTV shows come January.  I hate to see those shows go because they are some of our favorites.
~Jeff was able to help Jaysn and Rachel get their frozen pipes thawed out at their home.  Calling a plumber was way too expensive and that's what parents are for right?  To help their kids out in their time of need. 😉
~I've been working my points programs like a mad woman again.  I really want to be able to have some Walmart gift cards to use for the after Christmas sales.

~I was able to get in on a few free offers for a Christian worship CD and for Weight Watcher's magazine.
~Tuesday we had high winds here and I was afraid we might lose our power.  I got busy in the morning and made a ground turkey meatloaf and baked 6 potatoes.  After our meal we still have some leftover meatloaf and 3 of the potatoes for another meal.
~I found a small package of breakfast sausages in our small above the refrigerator freezer.  I pulled them out and stuck them in the refrigerator to thaw.  We will have a breakfast for dinner meal later this week.
~Another Walmart gift card is on the way!  I cashed out for a $25 card via Swagbucks.
~Our jug of honey had crystallized with the cold weather.  I stuck it near the pellet stove to get it back to liquid form.
~I made 10 small loaves of Cranberry Orange Bread and a double batch of Texas Roadhouse Butter for gifts.

~Bradley and Isaiah came over to spend Friday afternoon with us while their parents got one of their Christmas presents.  They bought them a miniature hamster and named it Roger. :)
~Since I was still recovering from that awful cold, I spent most of my days at home.
~In need of something healthy to eat for breakfasts, I cooked up a pot of steel cut oats and had those for several days adding some huckleberries to it that I pulled out of the freezer and just a touch of brown sugar.

Week Two:
~Saturday we did not go anywhere.  I was worn out so we skipped the Christmas Eve services and stayed home and hot tubbed that evening.  The weather was awful and the roads were bad so we watched some movies we borrowed from Jaysn and Rachel.
~Christmas was spent with our family.  The morning and early afternoon were with Chris, Heather, Jeremy, Heather's parents and her grandparents.  We had a potluck brunch and did a White Elephant gift exchange that was lots and lots of fun!  We also exchanged our other gifts and were so blessed by the creativity and generosity of everyone.  Some of the  more creative ones were a snowglobe with our grandsons pictures in it, a book of animal and pet stories from the extended family all collected and then put in book form by Heather's grandmother Sandra, a beaded bracelet that my oldest grandson Bradley made for me, a great picture of our grandsons in sepia tones on a slice of wood, and gift baskets and bags filled with all kinds of goodies!

~Christmas evening we spent with Jaysn, Rachel, Jeremy, Joyce and Michelle (Rachel's mom and sister).  We did a potluck dinner there with Jaysn and Rachel making the bulk of it.  The highlight of the evening was Jaysn and Rachel revealing that they were having a baby boy!  Steven David will be here in May!  I am so glad that we got to find out together with Rachel's mom and sister! :)  More wonderful gifts were exchanged including scarves and hats, gloves, homemade goodies, jams and jellies, gift cards and a hand thrown and painted bowl from Mexico that my cousin bought for me on his last trip there.  We are beyond blessed!
~Monday we headed out to see one of our hanai daughters, Mollie, that is home for a few weeks before she moves to Arizona for a job.  She is a traveling nurse.  Her parents live right outside of town here and we had a wonderful visit with them, Mollie and her brother William. :)
~Tuesday was spent at home digging out from all the snow.  The wind had blown it around quite a bit and we had large drifts in the driveway, backyard and walkways.
~Jeff pulled some leftover ham and a precooked rotisserie chicken out of the freezer to use in meals this week.
~While hot tubbing, Jeff and I planned out our menu for the week based on what we had on hand and came up with a plan for the rest of the month also.  We are really going to try to just buy fresh produce, milk products and maybe a few other great deals but for the most part, eat out of the freezer and pantry for the rest of this month and January.

~I made 2 more loaves of Whole Wheat Oatmeal bread.
~We borrowed some books and movies from the library.
~Jeff was out Tuesday shoveling snow off the roof of our hot tub enclosure and the garage.  The roof started bowing from all the heavy snow on the hot tub enclosure and Jeff was worried since the temperature started to heat up making the snow even heavier.
~I ran out of Whole Wheat Flour here in the house.  Luckily we had a bag of it in the freezer that we had been given a few months ago.
~There was just a little ham leftover so I chopped it up, added some pickle relish and mayo and made it into a ham spread for my hubby's work dinner sandwiches.
~I ordered some supplements that we needed from Vitacost.  I went through Swagbucks (hopefully it will credit this time), found one of the things I needed on a B1G1 half off sale and used a 20% off coupon code along with free shipping.
~Walmart's after Christmas clearance sales were not as good as they were in years past but I still managed to spend my $25 gift card there stocking up on Christmas themed Ziplock bags (I'll use them all year round, I could care less if they have snowflakes on them), other food gift bags, Ziplock storage containers, and yummy smelling candles.  While there I also picked up some reduced priced pizzas in the deli section, some fresh produce and some reduced priced brat sausages.  The cashier rang one of my pizzas up at full price so I got my money back on that.
~Safeway had a sale on their Rice a Roni for .59 a box, their milk prices were cheaper than Walmart, they had sugar on sale and their Seltzer water (for some reason it helps perk me up when I am starting to crash) was also on sale.  I picked all those items up there.
~I did pick up a Chinese meal at the deli of another store and there was so much food that it gave me 2 meals!

~The thrift stores .10 clearance rack rewarded me with more clothes for Steven and some for me too.  I also found some fun new puzzles for Bradley and Isaiah and an activity book for their homeschooling.  I did find a calendar that I had originally gone in for too. ;)  Oh yes, I also bought a Grammie Brag Book photo wallet to put all their pictures in and carry in my purse. 😍
~Swagbucks encraves or watch lists have been running in the background on my computer whenever it is on.
~I've gotten into the habit of wearing socks and house slippers (I love the ones from LLBean that I picked up at the thrift store) along with a sweater around the house.  It really does allow me to keep the heat turned down a bit more.
~I love Dawn liquid dish soap.  I was able to remove crayon marks from a canvas wallet using Dawn, some warm water and a little elbow grease.
~My dear friend picked something I needed up at the grocery store for me on Friday, thus saving me a 60 mile round trip to get 1 item.  She was going into town to do her grocery shopping and asked if I needed anything. I do have great friends!
~Friday I made another double batch of homemade laundry detergent.  I was getting a bit low and did not want to run out.
~We have another big snowstorm headed our way along with bitter cold temperatures and blowing winds coming this weekend and into next week so Jeff got more of the pellets that we burn in our pellet stove up on the deck and ready to bring into the house.

  

~I made a huge pan of elk burger and sour cream enchiladas using things from our freezers, fridge and pantry.  It was a huge hit with both Jeff and I. :)
~My Walmart Beauty Box came in the mail and had a mascara in it that I have been wanting to try along with some other really good items...happy dance!
~Jeff and I have been enjoying the homemade candies that were made for us by Heather and her Aunt Cha Cha.  We are trying to limit ourselves to a few a day. 😇
~Lots of money has been saved on gas by me limiting my trips out of town.  It has been nice to be home for the most part this week.




   I think we did pretty well.  The best part was not feeling the pressure to spend money that we did not have.  Yes, I did hit the after Christmas sales but only bought things that we actually would be using throughout the year (along with a few candles that I love and will either burn myself or give as future gifts).  I'm trying to be kind to myself and not push myself too hard as I continue to get over that nasty cold.  Each day now I am feeling stronger but know that if I overdo it, I'll set back my healing.  I'm looking forward to a quiet and cozy long weekend since my hubby is off Monday too.  With a new winter storm hitting this weekend, I think we will be spending a lot of time cuddled up watching movies and maybe even playing some Scrabble!

 



 

My Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

   Here is the recipe for the bread that I make for my hubby's sandwiches that he takes to work.  I created this recipe while fooling around trying to make a healthier version of the bread that I used to make by adding some oatmeal and a bit of oil to my old bread recipe.  My hubby loves this bread and so do it!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
2 tablespoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
 2 cups very warm water

Mix dry ingredients .  Add wet ingredients.  Mix all together. If the dough is sticky, you may have to add a bit more flour. Knead for 3 minutes in the mixer or by hand for about 6 minutes.  Divide into 2 loaves and let rise in greased loaf pans.  Bake at 400 degrees F  for 25 minutes.

Steven David will be Making his Debut in May!

Our precious grandson, Steven David


It's official, it's a boy!

Our Rachel and Jaysn revealed on Christmas Night that they are expecting a son!  That makes three grandsons for Jeff and I and we could not be more thrilled!  Rachel's mom and sister, along with my cousin Jeremy were there in person for the big reveal and our Josh joined us via Facetime so he could be part of it too.  Steven David is named after Jaysn and Rachel's pastor Steve who became such an important part of their lives and performed their wedding ceremony.  He was their good friend as well as their pastor and sadly passed away earlier this year after losing his battle with cancer.  Our grandson's middle name is in tribute and remembrance of Rachel's beloved father David, who also lost his life to cancer when she was just a child.  I thought it was so special that Jaysn and Rachel named their firstborn son after these two amazing men.  We all are so excited to meet this new little baby boy and now that this Grammie knows that he is a boy, I can focus on buying all those cute baby boy clothes and toys!

   

Meaningful and Frugal Alternative Gift Ideas

   I'm always on the lookout for inspiration on how to save money and still give generously.  I was inspired by a post at Personal Capital.com about Alternative Gift Giving to share what we have done. Personal Capital.com offers free financial Software to help you budget and reach your financial goals.  Here is a link to their free software financial software Alternative giving includes homemade gifts, cookie and gift exchanges, giving to charities in the recipients name or planning an experience with friends and family.  I loved all these ideas since that is what we, as a family, have done for either done years now and/or started a new tradition this year it really has taken a lot of pressure off us financially and reduced the stress of having to hit the malls to "find the perfect and expensive gift".  Here are a few things that we have done...

   This year, when the family gathered for Thanksgiving, we each donated some money and picked out several gifts from Heifer International to send to needy families and communitities.  Here is a description from their website about how this program works:

We empower families to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity – but our approach is more than just giving them a handout. Heifer links communities and helps bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. Our animals provide partners with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey can be traded or sold at market.

When many families gain this new sustainable income, it brings new opportunities for building schools, creating agricultural cooperatives, forming community savings and funding small businesses.

   Each year our extended family gathers for Christmas and we do a White Elephant Gift exchange after a big potluck brunch.  The gifts are limited to $10 and under and can be homemade and/or thrift store or garage sale purchases.  We all know that this is a yearly thing, so we keep our eyes open for the perfect man's or woman's gift.  Those gifts have run the gamut from homemade goodies to a mosaic fish statue!  There is lots of laughter and stealing of gifts and it has become one of the highlights of the season for us.

Gift Basket with homemade goodies

   Our family loves to give homemade gifts and they are very well received.  In fact, in years when I have not made certain things, like Cranberry Orange Bread, I have heard about it.  ;)   This year I baked 10 mini loaves each of Banana Bread and Cranberry Orange Bread.  I also filled pint sized canning jars with homemade Texas Roadhouse Butter.  If you have not ever tried it, you really need to!  Spread on toast, it makes you think you are eating a cinnamon roll!  Three different kinds of candy were easily made using Almond Bark that you melt and then either stir in or top with crushed peppermint candies, craisins, nuts, raisins or whatever else sounds good to you. Spread it on pretty thinly on a wax paper lined cookie sheet, let harden and then break into bite sized chunks.   This year I did both white and milk chocolate peppermint bark and a white chocolate and craisin candy.  New for me this year was making homemade "crackers" which are just empty toilet paper tubes that you stuff with candy, fun sayings and/or little trinkets.  You just wrap them in shiny paper and tie them off with ribbons.  The gift basket pictured above is for our Heather's parents.  It has homemade Cranberry Bread, Texas Roadhouse Butter, Peppermint Bark, White Chocolate Craisin Candy, the "Crackers" and a fun ornament.  All of this was put in a basket that I found at the thrift store for  .94.  Frugal, fun and yummy!

   Most of the things that I made can be done within 1-2 hours.  The Texas Roadhouse Butter  took me 5 minutes to whip up.  Brenda at Coffee Tea Books and Me shared this recipe on her site and it is now a favorite here too.  I'm sharing in case you need a last minute gift or just want to treat yourself to something heavenly.  This is great on toast, rolls, acorn squash, yams and sweet potatoes.

Texas Roadhouse Butter

2 sticks butter at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Whip together with your mixer.  Makes 2 pint jars. 


   I hope this gives you some ideas for those last minute Christmas gifts that we all seem to need.  May your Christmas be a very blessed one filled with love, laughter, friends, and family!




 
 
 

Frozen Pipes and Candy Making

White Chocolate and Craisin Bark

      Our poor Jaysn and Rachel have been without water at their home for 3 days now.  Our temperatures plummeted into the negatives and their pipes to their home froze up.  Imagine being pregnant and not having running water...not fun at all.  Poor Rachel.  Luckily they have been able to shower at the health and fitness center at their place of employment but still.

   Jeff headed over there today to see if he could help them.  He and Jaysn have heat tape that works on a thermostat wrapped around the pipes now and bought lots of insulation to put around the skirting of the house since there was none.  Hopefully their pipes will thaw out now...if not, we will be hosting Christmas dinner here this year and the kids may bring their dishes out to wash here sometime this week also.  Jeff just called and is on his way home so that he can get some sleep before he has to go into work tonight.  I may join him and take a nap myself.

   I've been busy this morning making 2 loaves of my whole wheat and oatmeal bread and 6 batches of candy.  I made 2 batches of White Chocolate and Craisin Bark, 2 batches of White Chocolate Peppermint Bark and 2 batches of Milk Chocolate Peppermint Bark.  These are to be gifts for family and friends.  I still need to make Cranberry Orange Bread and some different types of candy, but that is going to have to wait because I am worn out.  The most ambitious I have been since the candy making session was heating up some soup I pulled out of the freezer and getting some homemade bread crumbs drying in the oven.

   I still have this cold, but I am doing much better than I was a few days ago.  I think I may be on the mend.  I certainly hope so...I don't have time for this!