I'm Back! It's Been A Long Time Coming.

If you've followed my blog at all, you've likely noticed it's been YEARS since I last wrote a post, more specifically since September 2015. I've been meaning to start writing again, but other writing has taken the place of this blog spot, but now I'm going to try and keep up with this blog again too.

So an update: I'm still in Wisconsin, and still enjoying Christmas. My Christmas tree has been up since the Sunday before Halloween, but not decorated. I set it up because I love the light in the evening, and when I write, it sets the mood. I believe it was the end of October 2015 that I started writing novels again. And that plays into a big part of what I wanted to say in this post.

There's someone I want you to meet:

This is Bryar, and yes, he's a cookie jar. You must be thinking I'm crazy for naming my cookie jar, but let me tell you about him. He's the inspiration for the male main character in my most recent release, "Evergreen Christmas." I've always loved this cookie jar since I bought it at a GoodWill (seriously, some of my most favorite decorations have come from GoodWill, especially the older decorations). He has some flaws, but they make him who he is, much like the character in my book.

One thing I love about Christmas is that it seems to take our flaws and make us better people in spite of those flaws. It takes cold hearts and warms them, lifts the downtrodden, and blesses those in need. If only we could live that way all year long, but it's difficult, even for me. 

While the Bryar in my book wasn't always as sweet as this little guy, he did have some help learning to trust, to love again, and to lead with compassion. He did this with the help of one elf in particular, a young woman named Jolly. It's a romance, so of course these two have some fireworks between them, but even without that romance, we each have those around us who can help lift us.

If you're interested in a fun, lighthearted read, check out my Christmas books! (yes, a little self promo, but hey, it's my blog!) They each have a bit of a paranormal twist, but nothing too weird.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JK27XRZ

It's Never A Good Idea To Diet Over Christmas

I hope everyone was able to have a good Labor Day weekend! My weekend was totally amazing, and very hard for anyone to beat. I was able to spend time with my friends here in Madison and do some fun things. One of those things was to make Christmas ornaments and decorations with a friend (and I totally got re-addicted to Michael's...yeah that's not good!!!). I've got our creations from that project coming up in another blog, so anticipate that!

Today I've got a treat for you! (Pun intended) On Monday we had a church BBQ and we were asked to bring desserts. Well, I didn't have much time to make something by the time I finished that day's extracurricular activities, so i quickly threw together one of my family's favorite Christmas treats. You'll probably wonder why it's Christmas related and honestly so do I, but we've made them every year for as long as I can remember.

When in doubt, and in a college dorm room, you can always make some Reese's Bars. They're completely and utterly amazing!!! I do sometimes make them throughout the year, but they always get made around Christmas. They freeze well (or if you're from the north they can sit outside in a cooler until spring and still be good). But beware: They are extremely addicting!!! If you love a peanut butter & chocolate mix, they do not disappoint. In fact they taste just like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It makes a 9x13 pan full so you'd better invite some friends to help eat them. That is unless you have far better restraint than me and can eat them over a long period of time. I have to eat them right away, so instead I force them on my friends! I still get plenty, just not the whole pan. So here goes:

Reese's Bars

1 Stick margarine, softened

2 c. Peanut Butter

1 c. Brown Sugar

1 lbs. Powdered Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

12 oz. Semi-sweet or Milk Chocolate Chips

At this point it's time to use your hands

First, soften margarine. Then mix Margarine, Peanut Butter, Sugars and Vanilla together until well blended.

To make this well blended you're going to have to use your hands! This is perfect for young kids who are old enough to handle it. It lets them get messy for a reason!

Once the Peanut Butter mixture is fully blended, it's time to put it into the 9x13 pan. You can use a smaller pan if you want, but it's going to make the Peanut Butter thicker so you'll want to cut them into smaller pieces as this is really rich. Make sure it is patted down as flat as you can get it, and make sure it goes to the edges. There's no need to grease the pan as the oil from the Peanut Butter works fine to do this.

Next is the fun part! Okay, really it's all fun, but now you get to melt the chocolate! In a microwave save bowl, melt the chocolate chips. I tend to use Milk Chocolate. I think one of my sisters uses Semi-sweet. It's totally up to you. One day I want to try white chocolate. Once the chips are all melted, pour the chocolate over the Peanut Butter and spread evenly. Then stick it in the fridge (or freezer if you're short on time like I was Monday).

Usually what we have done in the past is to let the chocolate harden completely and then we have to wait for it to warm a little before we cut the bars or else the chocolate will crack and sometimes the chocolate will separate from the Peanut Butter. This time I let the chocolate cool until it was stiff but not quite solid and cut them. They turned out great! I was so happy about that.

And there you have it. We are done!

As I mentioned in the recipe directions, this is a really good project to have kids help with. I'm sure they wouldn't mind getting their hands dirty! It's also an easy recipe for college kids to make as long as they have a microwave available or any other way to melt the chips. My sisters and I made them in our dorm room several times around Christmas (and of course we had to make them a lot because they disappeared so quickly!). 

I hope you enjoy them!

Merry Christmas!!!

Feeling Kinda Crafty At The Moment...

A week or two ago I decided that I felt in the mood to make some homemade Christmas ornaments. In other words: I was feeling crafty. I haven't felt like doing any of that in a while so I took the bull by the horns and set out to start my projects. I began two types of ornaments at the same time (both are a little time consuming but so easy).

The first that I'd like to share with you looks like this. It's one of my favorites. This past Christmas when we had to make ornaments to exchange on Christmas Eve, this is what I made. We drew names Christmas Eve to find out who would receiver our ornament. My nephew Jamie got my ornament. He's still too young to appreciate it now, but he will one day (he's not quite 2 yet). His is exactly like the white one here. This was my first time trying a snowflake, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

The process is really simple. The hardest part is waiting for everything to dry. So here's how you do it:


First you start by getting all of your supplies together. You'll obviously need some clear bulbs (I got mine at Hobby Lobby), I used glitter glue (got at a Family Dollar), acrylic paint and ribbon to hang it with. Oh, and something like newspaper or paper towel to put under your project to keep you table clean.












Next, decide what design you want and what colors you want to use and draw that design on the ornament. I found it is better to do the outside design first and then paint the interior. When i first made Jamie's ornament I painted the inside first. For some reason putting the glitter glue on the outside after having the paint dried on the inside made the inside paint slide away from the place the glitter glue was. This left me having to redo the inside painting a few times. Long story short: do the outside first.








The next step is easy, but can be difficult if you're in a hurry. That is to wait. Wait until the glue dries. You can tell it's dry because all of the liquid will be gone and the glitter will be stuck to the bulb. I let it sit overnight. It's better to let it sit longer than not long enough so that the design won't get smudged if it's too wet still. You can see the difference in the pictures.

The glitter glue is now dry.

If you want a design on both sides like I did then you have to repeat this process again by flipping the ornament over (which is why the first glitter glue must be dry since it will be on the bottom this time.)









Now, take the top off the ornament (or you can do it before you use the glitter glue) and put a little paint in the bulb. The hard part with this is that the paint moves around the inside of the bulb slowly. Because it doesn't look like the paint will cover a lot or move quickly you may have a tendency to use more than you should. I did this for my first bulb and wasted a lot of paint in the end. The paint covers more than you thing it will. I suggest letting it sit and rotating the bulb so any parts that aren't covered are on the bottom and letting the paint slide into those sections. This is extremely helpful when most of the bulb is covered and just a few sections aren't. It takes patience but is totally worth it. If anyone has any other suggestions I'm totally up for them.

 Let the inside paint dry and then carefully put the top back on. If you aren't careful about holding the prongs together as long as possible you will scratch the paint off the inside at the top and it will show the prongs. It's not a big deal, but I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to that type of thing. Also, once the top is on, DO NOT rotate it. Make sure it is facing the direction that you want when you first put it on. Rotating it will peel the paint away immediately. Unless you're going for that look, then by all means go for it.

What is always helpful too is if you think you have too much paint inside the ornament and it's taking a while to dry, just put it upside down and let the paint flow out onto your newspaper. Also, when trying to get paint to an obscure part of the bulb, use your paint bottles to hold the bulb in place if you need to.

This is one of my new favorite ornaments. It's simple, yet beautiful. I just bought some puffy paint from Walmart last week so I think I might try that next time instead of glitter glue and see how it goes. Anyone have any ideas of what to try next? Let's keep it simple shall we? I like simple.

I'm not quite finished with my other ornament project yet. Most of it is done, I just have to figure out how I want the finishing touches. I can't wait to share it with you when it's done! I hope you've liked this ornament. Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas!!

Merry Christmas!!

Stop: Hands Off

For fun the other night I was reading through some of my blog posts when I noticed that I'd mentioned a tradition that my family has about Christmas presents on Christmas morning. Let me tell you about that...

I should point out first that my parents are geniuses. Brilliantly evil geniuses. Though I love them to death, the tradition they instituted has remained intact for years (I'm talking like over a decade). As a future parent I feel I must also add this tradition to my own family. And you're probably wondering what it is...Well let me tell you.

YOU CANNOT TOUCH THE PRESENTS. LIKE AT ALL.

If that's not bad enough, Mom and Dad began to turn the presents so that the receivers name was on the bottom or facing the completely wrong direction, like toward the tree. We were honest kids so we didn't dare break the rule (It was Christmas for crying out loud. Tradition must stand!). That and we didn't want to anger the parental units. So we invented very clever ways to find out whose the "big" presents were. Most of this was before the age of smart phones, so putting your phone to the back of the present and taking a picture of the name tag was out of the question.

One of the favorite options open to us was to have one person lean around the present so they could see the tag, all the while their arms and pjs being held by sisters so that you didn't go crashing into the pile of presents (because that would NOT have gone over well at all!). Mind you, this is all happening in the middle of the night so coordination was not always the best. I believe there were some close calls, but the details are a little fuzzy.

I believe one of the reasons that my parents did this was so that they could see our reactions as we got our presents. Believe me either way we would have reacted, but we also loved the challenge. At first it was annoying, and when we first saw what they'd done that first year we were a bit upset by the surprise. Then we began to enjoy it. It's since become a game, although we really don't get up to look at presents anymore- only now we get up to fill stockings.

Although this past year we instituted a new stocking tradition. I loved it! Instead of our parents filling our stockings and we fill theirs, since there are now so many of us, each person bought stocking stuffers and secretly on Christmas Eve we each took turns filling the stockings with our contribution. On Christmas morning none of us knew what was in the stocking except for what we had put in. It was so fun for everyone to be surprised! This also added a large variety to what could possibly be in it. I think it's a tradition that will be kept, no matter who is or isn't at Mom and Dad's house now.

Okay, now back on task. So yeah, we couldn't touch the presents and it was incredibly difficult to see the names on any of the presents. It wasn't until it was time to pass out presents that we were given permission to touch them. Some people may find this harsh and strict, but really it just added to the mystery and fun of Christmas morning.

I would totally recommend this tradition to everyone! It adds a little variety and fun to your holiday. And I'm sure it can be tweaked a bit to fit your situation.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Is Back!!!

Hello!! I'm back!!!

As many of my close friends and family know, back in December I moved yet again. Now I'm in Wisconsin. This was an unexpected move, which is why I haven't been writing. It has been a great move though. I've also been pretty busy, but it is wayyyyyy past time to bless you with my presence once again!!! All day long I've had Pandora on Christmas music stations. It always amazes me just how much Christmas music really helps put you in the Christmas Spirit. I texted a friend today, as one of my favorite songs was playing, that I had the overwhelming feeling to put up Christmas lights tonight! She of course told me to go for it!!! Unfortunately I'm not going to get around to doing it. I have some family in town for the weekend, so maybe they'll help me??? If you read this family I insist you help me!!! I just bought a new string of wonderful new lights to hang around my apartment (it's a 400 bulb string) so I'm pretty darn excited for Christmas to get here so I can put them up! (If I make it that long) Since I haven't gotten to decorate at all the last two years I'm kinda having withdrawals!!

Just in case you are curious...

Yes, you heard right: for the second depressing year in a row I haven't been able to decorate for my most favorite holiday! I moved mid December to my new apartment. There was still plenty of time to put up a few decorations, but my body was having none of it as the day after I got moved in I came down with the flu. I haven't been that sick in a while and it put me out of commission for about a week. My sister, Sarah, who lives in town was nice enough to put up my little two foot fiber optic Christmas tree for me. I think she knew it would help me feel better. It did :)

I have so many Christmas adventures and ideas to catch you up on! I guess I'd better make sure to get started soon.

Yes, this has been short but sweet. I just wanted to let you know that I'm alive and well. I'm using a different computer now so I don't have access to the many pictures that I want to show you...and I've got some crafts in store to share so be waiting for those!!



Merry Christmas!!!

"Are we there yet???" Christmas Style

As  many of you know, Christmas is getting closer! It is now 80 days and some change away. Some people are saying they don't want to know that yet because that means winter is almost upon us. Very true, and if you hate winter, that's a problem. But I love winter and the snowfall, so I say bring it on!! 

My sister's NOEL blocks: naturally they're named after her.

Lately I've been wanting to put up my Christmas decorations and start celebrating the holiday more than ever!! So as to not be considered totally weird, I've been playing even more Christmas music and watching more Christmas movies. I've watched "Christmas with the Kranks" at least 4-5 times in the last two or three months, "White Christmas" at least once, and "A Muppets Christmas Carol" once. There's nothing like a good Christmas movie to get you in the spirit of Christmas!!! 

These are only a few of my grandpa's Christmas Carolers.

As many people know, I am not a fan of Halloween. Never really was, but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get candy right??? Ever since I grew out of Trick-Or-Treating I can probably count on one hand how many times I've dressed up for Halloween. Maybe part of the reason I dislike the holiday so much is that I am really not creative when it comes to putting a costume together. There's probably more reasons I can think of to dislike the holiday. However this year, me and my friends will be going to a Halloween church dance on October 31st, in costume. Can you say not my forte? and at first I really wasn't too excited to go. I mean, it's all the same, I still lack costume creativity. That just does not change overnight.

This Grinch sits under our tree every year. When it sings
the legs move back and forth, and actually shake the whole
tree when it is placed right.

So...how to fix this problem? Easy. I decided to put Christmas into Halloween!! If I have to suffer through it, I might as well enjoy it. Now I will leave you hanging because I don't want to spoil my costume. Plus it's not ready yet so there aren't any pictures. Yes, I know, that's so nice of me to leave this with a cliff hanger. It'll just keep you looking out for future posts!

Another solution to my lack of patience for Christmas to get here is this: decorate early. So the eta for Christmas going up in my apartment is Nov. 1. Some people may think that it's a bit early for that, but I have a good reason. One of my friends is leaving for a church mission to Mexico at the end of November. My friends and I all want to have a Christmas party with her before she leaves. I instantly volunteered to host! How could I not? Give up a chance to decorate wayyyyy early? I think not. Do we have a date set for the party? Nope, so decorating the first Saturday in November it is. After all, it's only 15 days ahead of the traditional date anyway, so not too far ahead.

Bubble lights: My absolute favorite Christmas light!

Does anyone have any ways that help prepare them for Christmas or favorite Christmas activities that I should try to help me celebrate Christmas now without people thinking I'm too crazy??? I've been looking into several Pinterest projects that would be fun to try. Now I just need to sit down and actually pick out one or two to accomplish this month.

Well, gotta run. Until next time!

Merry Christmas!!!

The Stockings Were Hung...

The stockings were all hung on the bookshelf with care...

As I was thinking about what to write my next blog post on, I happened to ponder on my family's Christmas traditions on Christmas morning. I don't know about you, but traditions are big in my family, and we've had one that has stood in place for my entire life. This one will not be changed...ever! It has been hated and cursed but also loved (it all depended on your point of view). As kids we did all the hatin' and Mom and Dad did all the lovin'.


The tradition: We couldn't open any presents (nor touch them) before we were dressed and had eaten breakfast together as a familiy.

What. A. Bummer.

Now that I'm all grown up it's not so bad, but as a kid it was pure torture. It wasn't that I wanted to do nothing but open presents, but I was always so excited about Christmas I couldn't eat!! I was literally gagging on my food I had worked myself up so much with excitement. 

Okay, confession time. Last Christmas was the first Christmas that I remember where I didn't have any trouble eating breakfast! I was so happy. Breakfast was actually enjoyable.

But it's not like breakfast is small either. Mom or someone else now that we're older, will usually make a big breakfast, like a casserole or some other fancy thing. And there's always Orange Julius and hot chocolate...mmm, yummy.

Gunney's stocking at my home.

To be fair, Mom and Dad did allow us to open our stockings before breakfast. Every Christmas Eve "Santa" would take our stockings from where they hung on our bookshelf (they have never been anywhere else) and would fill them and place them on the dining room table for us to find in the morning. Before breakfast would be served, we'd all meet at the table and open our stockings together.

When we were little it was just us opening our stockings. Once we were old enough, we surprised Mom and Dad by filling their stockings. Now it's a yearly thing. We set alarms to wake up in the middle of the night to go look at the presents and fill their stockings. Looking at the presents is another blog post entirely. Anyway, we'd fill the stockings with small treats that we'd picked up and then head off to bed- and not before taking a look at the candy, but never eating. Yes, it was very hard to look and not sample.

Mommy and Daddy Pomeranian...

...And the three puppies.

We always fill the dogs' stockings with raw hides for them to chew on while we open presents. It keeps them busy. However, Toby is totally terrified of things Christmas so he tries to avoid the whole living room. Point: they get to open their stockings as well!

Although I was never a fan of this tradition growing up, now that I'm an adult and mature, I actually like it. I may even start this tradition in my own family in the future.

                        Merry Christmas!!!