{ The Beginner's Guide to Winning an Election by Michael R. French - TLC Book Tour }

About The Beginner’s Guide to Winning an Election

Paperback: 272 Pages
November 25, 2018

Brit Kitridge’s plan was just to get her high school diploma and head to college and med school, but nobody can escape from fate, or is it history? The Beginner’s Guide To Winning an Election reveals our main character’s love for history, and after a summer reading books that fuel her passion for politics, Brit decides to join TM (Team Mathew), a fourteen-member group that has helped Mathew Boltanski win every election he’s ever entered. Now he’s going for the big one—student body president.

By orchestrating brilliant campaigns one after the other, TM has made Matthew a national young star and promising politician who could even run for higher office in Washington. When Brit is accused of sabotaging the team, she realizes that Hawthorn High has its secrets, and someone needs to shed some light on them. The story is set in a world six years ahead of our time. Security is a constant issue.

Politics isn’t black-and-white, it’s not even gray anymore. Inflation is out of control and the educational system is in crisis. But what happens when you find out what’s really going on? What do you do with secrets no one but you wants to hold up to the light?

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 08/26/2019 }

Good morning everyone, hope you've had a blessed weekend.

I'm sorry this post is going up a little later than usual, but I've just been busy with bills and schooling and am only now getting a chance to come an get this up for you all.

Let's get right on with it.

Oh before I get going, I want to once again ask you NOT to leave links down below that are not relating to our Happy Homemaker Monday.  I have been having to remove links every week, to other blog posts that are not part of our Monday feature.  Please be respectful of my request, it is a pain to have to go in every Monday and manually delete these links.   Thanks :) 

{ A quick trip to Lawton and a cake for Sunday }

Hubby and I took a short trip to Lawton, to help my mother in law with moving some items from her home, into storage.  She is trying to sell the house they have up there.

I always enjoy driving across Oklahoma and seeing the beautiful land, the cows, the sky and the old buildings teetering on old beams, barely hanging on.

{ Ancestry DNA - The Beginning }

Oh my friends, I am so beyond excited to start this journey.  Before I do though, let me just tell you that I am in NO way affiliated to or sponsored by Ancestry.com.  I wouldn't turn down some kind of partnership, of course, but this post is my own and in no way an advert.

I've been into genealogy for a very long time, years and years and years.  That curiosity peaked when I first watched an episode of Who do You think You are?  around the time it first came out.  I love watching it and find it absolutely fascinating following the different individual journeys through different countries and eras, right back to their ancestors.  I wish I could do the same, it would be the best thing ever if I was able to not only retrace my ancestor's steps, but actually go to the physical places they once lived, worked, and eventually passed.

But I can't, cause you know, I'm not famous, and I don't have money to travel all over the world LOL

The next closest thing is to just do what is available to me, online and try to go back as far as I can.

{ Finally rain and a diagnosis at the doctor }

We have just had the most glorious of rain showers. 

Aahhh there is nothing quite like it, especially when you've been dealing with horrible heat and triple digits that just won't budge.  The first thunder boomed out and I must have looked like a crazy woman with a huge smile on my face.

It didn't last very long, about 30 minutes, but it cooled things down and the plants in the garden certainly welcomed the water.

I've had a bit of a busy day, an appointment, and a few hours homeschooling with Nick.  

{ Soapberries aka Soap Nuts - What they are and how to use them }

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned my soapberry tree, and how I had started harvesting the berries and using them for laundry soap.

I first noticed these berries on the tree, about 2 years ago but I had no idea what they were, or if they were edible or usable for anything at all.  I kind of forgot about them, and then the beginning of this year I again thought about the big tree in my back yard, and all those questions came flooding back.

{ What makes a house a home }

house

noun

/hous/

a building for human habitation, especially one that is lived in by a family or small group of people.

We all have houses we live in, and that can be an actual house or an apartment, but there is a huge difference between a house and a home, at least in my eyes.

I follow a ton of accounts on Instagram, mainly homemaking and such because I love seeing like minded women going about their days, and sharing their lives, just like I do.

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 08/19/2019 }

EDIT:  Oh my goodness, I am SO sorry, I completely forgot to put the link up.  It is up now, thank you all for reminding me LOL

Good morning ladies, and a very Happy Monday to you all.

How was your weekend?

I had a pretty good one, didn't do much which is always nice since we tend to work through our weekends like they're weekdays.  Sometimes your body needs a rest and thankfully that is what we got.

Yesterday afternoon, the hubby, myself and our daughter, headed to our local Antique stores.  Unfortunately they were all closed, except for one, and we had a nice browse around it.  I LOVE antique stores, honestly I could live in them LOL

I ended up just picking up two books, a cookbook and an old book to add to my collection of old books, you know how much I love those.

Anyway, it is Monday, I actually am home all day today and very much looking forward to it.  I have a pretty easy week, my girl is not working many days which is a nice break from the constant driving back and forth.  I do have my annual breast exam and smear test, on Thursday morning.  It's been 5 years since my last smear so I'm up for one again, but then it will be another 5 years after that.

It's not an exam I look forward to, much like the mammogram, but it is a necessity and I encourage you all to go.  If you haven't been for either of these tests, please, please book yours now.  It is so important to do.

Ok, enough babbling, I always tend to ramble on these hahahah

Let's see what we all have coming up in our Happy Homemaker Monday

Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep - TLC Book Tour

About Protect the Prince

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager (July 2, 2019)

Magic, murder, adventure, and romance combine in this second novel in the exciting Crown of Shards saga from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Estep.
Everleigh Blair might be the new gladiator queen of Bellona, but her problems are far from over.
First, Evie has to deal with a court full of arrogant, demanding nobles, all of whom want to get their greedy hands on her crown. As if that wasn’t bad enough, an assassin tries to kill Evie in her own throne room.

Despite the dangers, Evie goes ahead with a scheduled trip to the neighboring kingdom of Andvari in order to secure a desperately needed alliance. But complicating matters is the stubborn Andvarian king, who wants to punish Evie for the deaths of his countrymen during the Seven Spire massacre.
Dark forces are also at work inside the Andvarian palace, and Evie soon realizes that no one is safe. Worse, her immunity to magic starts acting in strange, unexpected ways, which makes Evie wonder whether she is truly strong enough to be a Winter Queen.

Evie’s magic, life, and crown aren’t the only things in danger—so is her heart, thanks to Lucas Sullivan, the Andvarian king’s bastard son and Evie’s … well, Evie isn’t quite sure what Sullivan is to her.

Only one thing is certain—protecting a prince might be even harder than killing a queen…

Meal Plan Friday #10

Good morning everyone, and a very happy Friday to you all :)

It's that time again, meal planning day, so let me show you what is on the menu for the upcoming week.

This past week I managed to stay on track.  I did change up on meal, I ended up not making the breaded pork chops last night, I was not feeling well at all and needed something quick, so made the Chourico Carbonara instead. It was delicious.  I don't have a recipe for it, I basically fried up some onions with garlic, olive oil and half of a green bell pepper.

I then sliced up some chourizo and popped that in.  Cooked it until it was done, then added a small can of Media Crema (cream), some parsley and cilantro and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  Mixed it all up with some noodles and popped it in the oven topped with some cheese.  Easy peasy and usually one of the family's favorite meals.
Hey guys welcome back to my blog.

I have a few Portuguese recipes this week, I've really been missing the food I grew up on, and so it's time to get a few served up.  The theme will more than likely continue on through next two weeks as well, but we will see how that goes.

As always you can check out the food blog, there are a ton of recipes on there that I'm sure you will enjoy.

I made the brownies a few days ago, they were delicious, and I'll try to get the recipe up either today or tomorrow, whenever I get a chance.  For desserts next week, I'll be whipping up a simple Portuguese pudding of sorts made with Maria Biscuits and condensed milk.  I'll share when I make it :) 



SHEET PAN CHOURICO PIZZA

 
BREADED PORK CHOPS, TOMATO RICE, PORTUGUESE SALAD

 
BACON CHEESEBURGER SLIDERS

 
FRANGO COM CHOURICO NO TACHO (Chicken and Chourico Bake)

 
CROQUETES DE ATUM (Tuna Croquetes)

 
BIFE A CERVEJARIA (Steaks Brewery Style) with homemade chips

 
SPAGHETTI, GARLIC BREAD, SALAD







Doce da Casa (Biscuit Coffee Pudding)