Goodbye Blogger

I think my time has come to say farewell to blogger.  I have loved it so much, and appreciated all it has to offer, but it just seems as though the time has come to move on.

I can now be found at www.theatypicalhousewife.com

I hope to see you all over there!

Christmas 2012 Blogging Break and Year In Review

First off, I'd like to say Merry Christmas!!  This is, simply put, the most amazing, magical time of the year.  A time of gratitude for a baby born in a manger and the greatest gift we've ever been given.  We would be completely lost without the hope given to us by Jesus!  I love celebrating His birth and being with family this time of year.

As is typical for this wonderful time of year I'm officially starting my blogging break.  It's a time to spend with family, and celebrate!  I am not sure how long this break will last, but expect some changes upon my return.  2012 was a year of unexpected adventures and bloggy confusion!  Let's take a look back, shall we?!

January

365 Reasons I Love My Husband-I started the 365 reasons I love my husband challenge!  I did not finish this because I got behind and then gave up.  However, stay tuned to see it's redo for 2013!

Come On A Walk With Us-We had some very warm temperatures last January so I let you all come on a walk with us!

February

Simplified Meal Planning-I discovered a simple and effective way to menu plan with contact paper and note cards!

March

Gardening Ideas-A list of ideas found on pinterest for gardening.  Great resource!

April

2012 Ultimate Blog Party-I partied hard with other bloggers and met new friends!

May

Homemade Fresh Spaghetti Sauce-I shared how to make fresh, homemade (delicious!) tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes.

13 Truths About Chickens-I shared 13 truths and things I'd learned about chickens.

June

DIY Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts-I shared how to make your own boneless skinless chicken breasts. Super simple by the way!

July

I have no posts from July!  During this time I tried out wordpress and didn't like it.  I unfortunately lost some blog posts because of this.

August

Kissing Frogs-I wrote a post about kisses.  Saving kisses, or not, I share my experience and how I was grateful for it.

Nasty Nagging-I wrote a post about how nagging, and how detrimental it can be.

September

Hoop House-I shared our hoop house with you.  It wasn't what I had expected when I got chickens, but it has worked out wonderfully.

October

Homemade Pie Crust Tutorial-I shared a super awesome pie crust tutorial.  My first ever successful pie crust!

November

Marriage Truths-I shared truths about marriage...like it isn't always perfect, and sometimes things hurt.

2012 Thanksgiving Guide: Menu Planning: In this post I shared how I menu plan, make a grocery list and how I keep from forgetting anything when planning for the big day!  (This could totally be used for a big Christmas party as well!)

December

Our Priorities as Christian Women-This is a post I just recently wrote and kind of love.  It's been one of my most favorite blog post I've written in a while!

Christmas Cookies-A pinterest resource for quite a few cookie recipes...just in time for you to do some last minute cooking!

It's awesome to see all these posts lined up together!  Although I felt as though this year wasn't my best when it came to blogging, looking back maybe it wasn't so bad after all!

Here's hoping 2013 is a year full of unexpected surprises, and adventure.  A time of learning, growing, and changing.  I am hesitant, a little scared, but completely excited!

Although I won't be blogging I can still be found at facebook, here, and pinterest, here.

I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas, and a wonderful new year!

Our Priorities as Christian Women

I don't know about you, but my best thinking happens when I cook alone in the kitchen.  Quiet and alone with my thoughts, things tend to come together better and more easily.  Tonight, while in the kitchen together whipping up baked ziti for dinner, I started thinking.  There's a whole string of thoughts that have been on my mind for quite some time and I just wasn't sure how to make them fit into a blog post.  While stirring my sauce it hit me, some women just have their priorities wrong.

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Our modern day society tells us so many trivial things are important.  Big houses, multiple cars, name brand food and clothing to name a few.  Not even going into the desire for technology to be omnipresent.  Society is wrong, leading us like a cow to slaughter.  It's caused us to tame our husbands, neglect our children, and mock the ideas of homemaking.  Where has it gotten us?  We are training up a generation that is unintelligent, materialistic, and lazy.  We are forsaking the passing down of traditions, and our young women can't bake pies, much less care for a home.

I believe a huge reason this has happened, is because we have forgotten what our priorities are.  We've forgotten and lost sight of what is important.  Here is an example on how I feel many women view their priorities...

Children.

Husband.

Career.

Church.

Home.

This creates a very unbalanced life, a life in which nothing is where it should be.  Children are being shuffled around and put into so many activities they are constantly busy.  Husbands are neglected, disrespected, and snapped at.  Career is so important it overwhelms and overtakes time and energy that is limited.  Church becomes more of an idol and popularity contest than it is about serving the Lord and reaching out to those in need.  Lastly, our homes are thrust to the bottom of the pile.  An empty, stressed environment that is no longer sacred and inviting.  I believe having such priorities sets women up to be unfulfilled, sour, and unhappy.  So here is how I think our priorities should look...

God.  Jesus said that our greatest commandment above all others was to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:35-38)  Our relationship with God is the foundation of our life.  He is our rock on which we build our lives.  We want to be like the wise man and build our lives on the rock, not in the sand where it will be washed away.  (Matthew 7:24-27)

Husband.  It is so important to always remember your husband as your best friend.  Constantly cultivating your marriage, helping him, respecting him is so important.  I also believe if you have children this makes a lasting impression on them.

Children.  Today's society almost always tries to put children as a priority over our husbands, but that is not how God meant it to be.  A strong marriage is one of the best things and examples you could ever give your child.

Home.  Today most people scoff even at the idea of homemaking, much less having it as a top priority in their lives.  The fact of the matter is making a house a home is more than just paint and furniture.  It's about children knowing where there mom is.  Knowing when they get home, she'll be there to listen to what happened at school.  Husbands will know when they come home from work food will be ready.  It's creating a haven, a safe, comfy place for everyone to rest in.  It's about making memories, and keeping the peace.

Church.  Church is low on this list of priorities which probably makes some women wonder if it's right.  I believe that it's in the right place though.  Church is a gathering together of believers to grow in Christ.  I think all to often church becomes an idol, and women can become too involved.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have priorities.  The way we live our lives, treat our families, and care for our homes all speak volumes into what we find important.  It's never to late to take a stand, and pull our lives back from the rat race they've become.  I chose to live simply, love fully, and have no regrets, how about you?

Christmas Cookies

Have you done any baking yet?!  I haven't, but hope to do some this coming weekend.  Baking is one of my favorite holiday traditions!  I've seen a lot of great recipes on pinterest lately and thought I'd compile a recipe resource for your holiday baking!  Hopefully ya'll have eaten recently, if not this is bound to make you crave something yummy and sweet!

1.  Slice and Bake cookies.  Uh, how ingenious is this?!  This would be great for gifts to give, or if you wanted to have an easy bake day with younger children.  It'd also be great to make and freeze to have on hand for satisfying that sweet tooth!

2.  Sugared Wreath Cookies.  I love the looks of these!  They are so sweet, and so nostalgic to me.  I could totally envision them on the table for a Christmas party next to a tinseled tree back in the 1950's!

3.  Wreath Cookies.  Ok kids, does anyone else have memories of these from church gatherings or Christmas parties at school?!  I do!  These aren't the picture of homemade healthy, but they are delicious.

4.  Turtle Cookies.  These cookies makes me wish it was already this weekend so I could make these.  These are chocolate cookies...dipped in pecans...filled with caramel...and drizzled with chocolate!  Yum.  Yummy.  YUM!

5.  Mock Lofthouse Cookies.  My husband loves lofthouse cookies, so when I found these I knew I'd have to give them a try!  My mom and I are having my nieces and nephews over this Sunday for a cookie decorating party...these are on the menu!

6.  Snowdrops.  These are also known as Russian Tea Cakes.  They look absolutely adorable!  The ingredient list is simple, and they sound delicious!  They'd be totally adorable with the rest of your holiday treats!

7.  Decorated Christmas Cookies.  This is a tutorial on The Pioneer Woman's site.  AMAZING tutorial on decorating your cookies.  If I am at all lucky I can make some cookies that look half as good as hers!

8.  Sugar cookies that don't lose their shape.  This is supposed to be a recipe that doesn't loose it's shape when baked!  I'm so eager to try these, hoping they are delicious and live up to their name.  I hate cutting out cute shapes and then pulling blobs out of the oven.

9.  No Bake Cookies.  These are a must for us at Christmas time!  Every year my mom would make these, and oddly enough my husbands grandmother made these too.  They are chocolate-y, peanut butter-y and oh so delicious!

10.  Big Soft Ginger Cookies.  You just cannot skip on ginger cookies for the holidays!  Spicy, sweet, and often shaped into little people.  The perfect thing to add to your holiday cookie platter!

I hope you enjoyed!  Feel free to share your favorite cookie recipes or links to the recipes below!  I love seeing what others are baking up!