FOR MY HUSBAND WITH LOVE

My husband and I were high school sweethearts and we have truly shared our entire lives together. We married young, worked hard, made a home, and raised two beautiful children.

We made a promise many years ago to love each other forever, and I'm proud to say that we have kept that promise through all the ups and inevitable downs of life.

He had a serious health scare recently; thankfully he is doing well and we have been told we can expect a full recovery.  But during that scary, difficult time, I realized even more how much I love him, need him, and could not live without him.

I made this video as a tribute to him. Thank you for this wonderful life we share together.  I love you forever.

(Song is "Beautiful Man, Beautiful Boy" by Karen Taylor-Good; "Perfect Work of Art" album.)

LOLOL!

OMW!!! This YouTube video just CRAAAACKS me up!

This (previously miserable) little tot obviously LOVES Katy Perry's song, Dark Horse, and makes no apologies about it.  I totally understand... I really like the song too.

HOWEVER... I can only hope when that song is played at Zumba class, that I show a LITTLE MORE restraint!

LOL! (I think?!)

OK... I'm not sure WHAT to think about this short video.

On one hand, it IS adorable, and this little girl does seem to have such a sweet, tender heart.

On the other hand, I think maybe mom and dad ought to stick to HAPPY movies, only!

This seems a bit like... torture! 

Your thoughts?!

Makin' Bagels

It was a cold and blustery day in PA... a good day to be inside. My husband was out of town. It was a day off work for my dear daughter and me.   It was a perfect day to try our hand at... making bagels!

We LOVE Panera bagels, especially the Asiago ones and the cinnamon toast ones. But we don't live near a Panera. So unless we wanted to drive a distance (which we didn't), we would have to make our own.

We did a little research, read and compared recipes and finally decided on THIS ONE (Asiago) and THIS ONE (Cinnamon Crunch).

We convened at my house and got started:

Brody had his faced washed and was ready to get busy.

As usual, the cats were excited and involved...  #sarcasm

Double checking the recipes:

Beautiful new KitchenAid mixer did a wonderful job mixing up the dough.  

But nothing beats hand kneading!

Our dough raised beautifully!

Dough shaped into 13 rounds. Starting to look like bagels now!

Short break for a belly rub:

"Awww thanks Sissy! You know the BEST spots!"

Next the bagels got boiled for a few minutes...

Grating the cheese...

Ready for the oven now...

Sprinkled with the cheese and baking in the oven.

Smelled soooooo good!

TA DA! Beautiful finished Asiago bagels! #AsGoodAsPaneras #MaybeEvenBetter

Next up, the Cinnamon Crunch bagels. (We were pros by now!)

Then kitchen tidied up...

Two happy (and just-a-little-tired) bagel loving' girls:

We divided the bagels and darling daughter went home.

All told, about 4.5 hours, start to finish...

The cats were EXHAUSTED!

A Brand New Year...

I have such a love/hate relationship with a new year. On one hand, I always shake my head and wonder, "How can it be? Another whole year, gone!" I brood a little over how fast the years seem to fly by. Remember how loooooong a year seemed when we were children? I want that feeling back!

But... on the other hand... I really like the start of a new year. Although I tend to think more in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's... I  can't help but feeling like the new year stretching out ahead is full of promise and excitement.  Like a beautiful new book, just waiting to be opened and filled with new experiences and new memories, I can't wait to see what the year will hold.

I hope to continue to grow and learn. I hope to become wiser, kinder and more compassionate.  I hope to better show my family and friends that I love and adore them more than words can say.  And YES, I hope to lose five pounds!