{ Hello 2021 - My plans for this year }

 

January 1, 2021

A blank slate, 12 months, 365 days.  A mountain of possibilities and experiences before us.

I have never been one to do resolutions, and I still don't like doing them.  But I like to think that there are ways to set certain goals for myself, or my family and home, that don't put so much pressure on me to get them accomplished.

I guess as with everything else in life, it's how we deal with situations, that matter.  Do we allow those failures to consume us, or do we just accept them and move on.

For me, it was the thought of failure that bothered me.  If I didn't stick to every resolution I made, I felt like I had failed everyone around me, and myself.  So, I decided that I am going to make a list of certain things I would like to get done this year, or change or start and so on, but that if they for some reason don't happen, it is OK.

 

 

♥ Books ♥

I plan on setting myself a book challenge, 12 books to read this year.  I am starting with just one book a month, from my own bookshelf, because I do participate in book reviews throughout the year so never know how many I'll have coming in.

Just want to do more reading this year, spend more time with my nose in the books, and less on social media. 

I will be sharing my book list in an upcoming post, in the next few days.

♥ TV ♥

This is the year I am going back to my period dramas.  Not that I haven't watched any at all, but definitely not as many as I used to.  I have a huge running list of period shows and movies I want to watch, so plan on starting on those as soon as possible.

Just a few on my list:

 

The Last Czars

The Windermere Children

The Secret Garden (new version)

Becoming Elizabeth

The Luminaries

Miss Scarlet and the Duke

Malory Towers

Fatima

Hetty Feather

 

 

♥ Crochet ♥

 

Yes, bring back my crochet.  I don't know why I ever stopped crocheting, other than life getting so busy that I just never found time to sit and crochet in peace.

 

But that is something else that I've missed tremendously and plan on bringing back.  It's the year for many crochet projects, many warm crochet blankets and many hours of row after row turning from just a simple chain, to a gorgeous finished product.

 

Matter of fact, I started my first blanket of the year, last night.  A simple granny stripe blanket, using my stash up before I buy any new yarn.

 

 

 

 

♥ Bible reading, devotionals and bible studies ♥

 

I plan on continuing with my bible reading, and getting through the whole bible in the next few months.  I am almost done with the Old Testament, and I'm sure the New Testament will go by faster.  Once I am done, I plan on restarting from the very beginning, but using Vernon McGhees Commentary to go with it, to help me better understand what I'm reading.

 

For my devotionals, I used Charles Spurgeons Day and Night last year, but this year I plan on switching to Grace for Each Day. 

As for Bible Studies, I am going to go with Trustworthy by Lysa Terkeust.

♥ Home Cooked Meals ♥

 

I'm starting the year with a no spend January.  That means zero take out food, only essentials, groceries and so on.

 

I am making it a mission to cook every single day, including Saturday and Sunday.  Usually Saturdays we just snack around, and Sundays are leftover days.  But I've decided to cook those days as well.  With that in mind, I have started making a menu plan for the whole month of January.  I am still doing my two week grocery shopping and meal plan, but am planning ahead to make it easier for me.

My hope is to make more home cooked meals this year than last year.  Last year was all over the place for us, we had a lot going on as you know and spent a lot of time picking up food on the road.   Time to change that up and eat more healthy.

♥ Gardening and Back Yard ♥

Curt and I plan on kicking up our gardening, to the next level.  We did really well last year, planted quite a bit and got an amazing harvest in return.   We started a green house and then never ended it.  The structure is there but it needs to be finished and covered.  That is happening this Spring.

We also plan on building more garden beds and extending our gardening area to a full enclosed vegetable garden.

We are getting a few things done in the backyard too.  Would like to extend our patio out, but that will mean putting down more cement.  Also want to get the pool put back up, we need a new pump since the one that came with the pool is just not strong enough to keep it clean.   

And this is the year we plan on getting chickens too.  You know how long I have wanted chickens, so really excited for that dream to come true.

♥ Personal goals ♥

Oh boy.  We never like talking about these do we?  At least I don't, mainly because it usually means it involves exercise.  Hahah

Truth is, I used to be very good about taking care of my body, and then again, life got in the way and you know it just fell to the wayside.  But you know I am inching closer to 50 and I have Osteopenia, bad allergies and sciatica and going through perimenopause etc.  It feels like within the last 2 years, everything just came up and I think it's time for me to take back the reigns and get back on that horse.

I'm not going to start off too hard because that is just a recipe for disaster, for myself at least.  I'm going to start slow, adding more salad and vegetables to our meals, stepping back from junk, incorporate more smoothies that I used to love having.  I also want to get back into an exercise routine of some kind, I need to be careful with what I do since I do have Osteopenia and the doctor wants me to be careful with the exercise routine I pick.  

I also need to start taking my calcium and some vitamins on a daily basis.  I am so bad about taking them and often forget, but I really and I mean REALLY need to be better at that.

♥ Blogging ♥

My blog!!!  

 

I wish I could express to you how much I love this little corner of the world.  How much it has helped me organize my thoughts, share my love for homemaking and keep memories alive from my babies as little ones all the way to adulthood.  It's been such an incredible journey, some years filled to the brim with posts, some years quiet with just a little something here and there.

Huge moments in our lives recorded, others failed to be mentioned.  I don't want to go into the new year with a blog that is stalled in time, and as much as I love my Happy Homemaker Monday feature, I also don't want my blog to have just those posts up, month after month.

So here it goes.....here I go again with the "I want to blog more".  Usually when I say that it ends up working for a week then I stop.  Ugh!  

But, I feel that this year I want to go back to my roots, back to the things I love and the things that make me ME.  As I said above, crochet, period dramas, exercise and more cooking etc.  Basically, stepping away from the craziness and going back to Idaho and Arizona Sandra.  

 

Yes that is where I want to be, but with the knowledge and the relationship I have with God now.

 

 

And those, my friends, are my goals and plans and wants, for the new year ahead.  Will I succeed in every area?  I sure hope so, but if I don't, then at least I will have tried my best.

What about you?  Do you make resolutions or plans for the year ahead? 

{ New Year Fun - 2020 Edition }

I love doing this meme every year, it sort of brings the whole blogging year to an end and also takes me back in time to reflect on what I was doing.

Post the first sentence of your first blog post of each month. You can also add a favorite picture from each month.

I would love for you to join me, just leave me a comment and I'll come by and check yours out :)

Happy New Year everyone!

 ****************************************

January 

 

 

 Good morning my sweet friends, come on in out of the cold and sit a bit with me.

 

 

February

 

 

 

It is just shy of 6pm, and the day is winding down.

 

 

March

 

 

Good morning dear friends, and a very Happy March.

 

 

April

 

 

Day 10 and I've lost track of what day of the week it is.

 

 

May

 

 

No words, just the past few days in pictures.

June

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

 

 

July

 

 

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog. 

 

 

August

 

 

Good morning sweet ladies, how was your weekend?

 

 

September

 

 

Good morning everyone.  Hope you are having a good Labor Day weekend.

 

 

October

 

 

I have been extremely lucky to have been able to review the Almanac the past 2 years.

 

 

November

 

 

Good morning everyone, welcome back to the Happy Homemaker Monday headquarters.

 

 

December 

 

 

On the 14th of September, 2006, I started a feature on my blog called Slow Cooking Thursday.

 

 

 

{ The Amish Baker's Rival by Marie E. Bast - TLC Book Tours }

Mass Market Paperback : 224 pages

Publisher : Love Inspired; Original Edition (December 29, 2020)

This exciting new Amish romance is from Publishers Weekly bestselling author of The Amish Baker and The Amish Marriage Bargain.

She’ll do anything to protect her bakery… no matter the cost to her heart.

Small-town, Amish baker Mary Brenneman is devastated when handsome Englischer Noah Miller opens up a bakery right across from hers. Now she must win a local baking contest just to stay in business. But somewhere along the way, Noah and Mary’s kitchen wars are quickly warming into something more…

Still mourning the death of his parents, Mary helps Noah search for the Amish grandparents he has never met. And when a crisis hits Mary’s bakery, Noah volunteers his assistance.

After Mary’s now ex-fiancé broke their engagement so he could go live in the Englisch world, she vows to stay away from men…especially Englisch men. Even though she likes Noah more each day, she keeps her distance.

With her heart packed with distrust, Noah hopes to soften her resolve and convince Mary of their undeniable love. But trouble brews at the baking contest when Mary thinks Noah has stolen her recipe. After the surprising result of the contest, Noah and Mary must face their feelings and decide what road God has set them upon.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Harlequin

.

About Marie E. Bast

MARIE E. BAST is the Publishers Weekly Bestselling Author of The Amish Baker and The Amish Marriage Bargain, and the first place 2015 contemporary winner of the Ignite the Flame Contest for The Perfect Client. She is also a finalist in the 2020 Book Buyers Best Contest for The Amish Baker. Her stories whisper words of hope, healing, and forgiveness through complex characters and twisting plots. Her books are sold all over the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland and Australia. She has published short stories and poetry in book compilations to include Chicken Soup for the Soul. She lives in Illinois with her husband of twenty-nine years. When she’s not writing, she’s walking, golfing, gardening, or spending time with her family. She loves to bake and enjoys her homemade rolls and bread way too much.

Learn more about Marie and her books HERE.

Connect with Marie

Website | Goodreads | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

 

REVIEW: 

 

Well first and foremost, it is an Amish centered story, so what is there not to like about it, right?

 

I have loved anything Amish related, for as long as I can remember.  My family actually jokes with me all the time, that if I was able to, I would become Amish and go off and live their way of life.  They're not wrong lol

 

So we have Amish and baking in one amazing little book, and that just made for the sweetest read, ever.

 

I don't think there is anything about this story that is surprising, if anything, it is pretty predictable, but yet a joy to read.  I read it in one day, not just because it is a short kind of story, but because I enjoyed it so much and when I am enjoying a certain book I tend to zip through it really quickly.

 

Mary is a sweet Amish girl, dealing with a broken heart, trying to move on, and throwing herself fully into her small town bakery.  It's something she loves doing and she has worked very hard to get where she is.

 

When a new face comes into town, in the form of Noah, an Englischer, who so happens to open up his own bakery just across the street.   His arrival stirs up emotions she was not expecting to deal with. 

For one she has an immense dislike for Englischers, since her ex fiancee ditched her for a life away from the Amish, living in that Englisch world so foreign to the Amish way of life.  His betrayal, and her broken heart, have made her determined to stay away from men, to focus on her bakery and do the best she can.

Noah's presence now threatens it all for her, so she must fight to keep what she loves.

Mary figures the only way to get that, is to win a local baking contest.  In her mind, if she wins it, it gives her the upper hand and maybe Noah will take his bakery elsewhere.  The problem is that she finds herself attracted to the handsome young man who is throwing her whole life into disarray.

Noah on the other hand has moved to the small Amish town, with his two sisters, after the death of their parents.  He is in search of his Amish grandparents, and dealing with his own issues.

Before long the two are attracted to each other, fighting those feelings.  

Just as all good Amish stories, it keeps you intrigued, it makes you smile, and it has romance but in a subdued sweet way.  Marie Bast did a fantastic job telling the story of Mary and Noah.

 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Love Inspired for providing me with a review copy.

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - Last one of 2020 }

Good morning my dear friends, and welcome to the last Happy Homemaker Monday, of 2020.  I have added a category to this last one, just because I think it is an important one for us to think on.

 

What 2020 has taught me.

 

Can't wait to read your answers.  So without further ado, let's close off our HHM for 2020 and set our sights on the new upcoming year.

 

My wish for you all is that the new year bring you abundant blessings, that you get everything your heart desires, that you are blessed with health and wealth, joy and gratitude.

 

Thank you, each and every single one of you who come by faithfully to participate.  It means the absolute world to me and I wish I could give you all a huge hug personally.  I can't though, so consider yourselves cyber hugged.

 

Now, let's get going and put an end to this insane year, once and for all.

What 2020 has taught me::::

That God is, has and always will be in control.

That I'm stronger than I give myself credit for.

That I have been changed by the Lord, that He is still working within me and is molding me into the Christian Woman He needs me to be.

That prayer and faith overcome everything.

That worry and fear are tools of the enemy, that we need to rebuke.

That in times of need, the real friends show up, while the fake ones pull back.

The weather outside is::::

Currently 41 degrees.  We actually had 70 degree days last week which was so strange.  My dreams of a white Christmas will continue to live just inside my head.  LOL  

We have a rainy/snowy week ahead so there's that.

On the breakfast plate this morning::::

Just had some coffee with sweet cream creamer.  Will probably make some pancakes later.    

 

As I look outside my window::::

It is morning, sun is already out but it is cloudy so not very bright at all.  Usually I get this post up earlier in the morning so my view of outside is nothing, but pitch black.  It's nice to see the trees and the birds, for a change.    

As I look around the house::::

I started taking down the Christmas decorations yesterday, just have to finish.  I set everything on the couch and today, I need to pull out the Christmas boxes and pack it all away until next year.  Thankfully I didn't go all out this year, so don't have too much to pack away.         

 

What I'm wearing today::::

In my nightgown for now.  My brother and sister in law gave me this sweet one for Christmas, it says "All I need today is a bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.  Love it.              

 

Currently reading::::

Finishing up Isaiah in the Bible.  

Started Four Perfect Pebbles:  A Holocaust Story  

 

On the TV for this week::::

My Portuguese soap "Bem me Quer"

Vlogs on Youtube

 

Binged Bridgerton and it got me in the mood for more Period dramas, so with that in mind, I plan on watching:

 

The Windermere Children

The Secret Garden

The Luminaries

Thieves of the Wood

 

 

On the menu this week::::

 

Monday - Stuffed Smoked Sausage, Roast Potatoes, Creamed Spinach

Tuesday - One pan bacon cheeseburger casserole, Salad

Wednesday  - Feijoada (Portuguese Bean Stew), Rice

Thursday - French Onion Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli 

Friday - Cowboy Burgers, Seasoned Fries

Saturday -  Chicken Spaghetti, Salad

Sunday - Slow Cooker Kielbasa Hashbrown Bake, Garlic Bread

 

 

Something fun to share::::

So many of you are enjoying the videos I'm sharing.  That makes me very happy.  So, you ready for another one?  I absolutely adore Her86m2 Channel on Youtube.  I can't even describe for you how peaceful her videos make me feel.

 

This one is called Farewell, Old Year - To make an end is to make a beginning.

 

 

Favorite photo from the camera::::

Just love these two, they are so sweet and getting closer and closer, as each day goes by.       

 

 

Prayers, Inspiration quotes, Devotionals::::

Still praying for a few people, will leave the same 4 from last week, and just adding some more. 

 

Joca in Portugal - he is in the hospital with covid and having some issues with his respiration.

Ze - a dear friend's husband in South Africa, he has liver cancer and is hospitalized at the moment with fluid in the lungs.

Isabel - friend in South Africa, she is 42 years old and has ovarian cancer that unfortunately has spread.  She is going through a very difficult time.

Bruno my brother, and his family who all have tested positive for Covid - They were on vacation in Cape Town and must have picked it up there, because upon returning to their home in Johannesburg, they came down with symptoms and tested positive last week.

Nela - my stepmom watched their house while they were gone, and obviously interacted with them when they returned.  She also tested positive for Covid, although thankfully she has no symptoms  She is 67 years old, so there's always extra worry with that age.

Olga - My brother Bruno's mother in law who went with them to Cape Town and also tested positive.  She is 72 and has been admitted to hospital to receive oxygen and to lower her fevers.

My daughter's cowoker - also tested positive for Covid last week and has been home since then. 

For the whole country, the President, and the new year that is coming upon us.  My fervent prayers are for a year filled with the Lord's glory and blessings.  I pray each one of you and your families, have a wonderful New Year, and that we can all put 2020 behind us as the biggest lesson we have all learned.

{ Recipe binder and new notebooks }

 

Every year, I buy new notebooks to use for my budget and meal plan. It's something I've been doing for a long time, and can't really imagine trying to function without them. 

 

They keep me organized, they keep me on track, and I love having a record of everything I've done throughout the year. 

 

This year, I also purchased a planner. I am not a fan of planners, I'll just throw that out there. 

 

Not because I don't think they're helpful, but because I have never been able to stick to one consistently. I start off great, and within a few weeks it has been set aside, and never looked at again. 

 

But this coming year, I want to try and be consistent. I will probably not use it like others do, and I'll have to adapt it to my needs, so it will probably end up being more of another place to record weekly meals, birthdays or important dates, and blog posts I want to work on. 

 

I don't think it will be a place to keep appointments and so forth, because as I stated above, I don't stick to it, and I forget to even look at the planner. 

 

I have a new budget book. I've mentioned before how I keep mine, but basically, I just organize it by month, I write down all the income that comes in and then all the expenses. 

 

As I pay my bills, I check it off, write down the total and the confirmation number alongside it too for future reference. 

 

I also got a new meal plan and grocery shopping book. Again, I've mentioned it before in my blog, you can read that post here.

 

On one side is the menu, on the opposite page is the grocery list. I take this book with me when I go shopping and if for some reason I can't find an item I need for a specific meal, or if something is on sale, I can easily change the meal plan, right there in the store. Love it, it's helped me immensely. And it also helps when I'm planning a new menu, to go back and see what we were eating and what our favorites were. 

 

The new book I got this year, is actually a dream journal. I dream a lot, like every night, and I usually remember all of my dreams. Some are strange, some are no doubt visitations by family members who have passed on. They tend to show up in my dreams anytime I'm going through a hard time. 

 

I just thought it would be fun to keep a dream journal. A place I can jot down my dreams, first thing in the morning. It will be interesting to go back and read those. 

 

 

 

Next year, I also plan on bringing back my recipe binder. I used to have one, and for some reason I can't find it. I think with all our moves while active duty, and then state wide moves after retiring etc., it seems to have been misplaced or lost, I don't know. 

 

 

 

But as much as I love my food blog online, and the ease of having thousands of recipes at our fingertips, I still feel like there is nothing as amazing as actual recipes in your hand. 

 

My recipe binder was one of my favorite possessions, so I've decided to bring it back to life. I've been working on it and will do a more in depth post, this upcoming week. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Days have been otherwise slow here at home.  Curt is on leave, Nick is on Winter break.  I've spent a lot of time reading, baking and snuggling with these two sweet boys.

They've become so sweet with each other, a cute bond has been forming.  Yes there are still moments Elliott aggravates Marley and Marley will bark at him once, then it's done.  Hahaha

I do thank God daily for the blessing of Elliott in our lives.   It seems a strange thing to say since I've never liked cats, and now here I am, completely besotted with this little boy.  

The funny thing is that he has taken to me as well, and because he has been with us and Marley his whole life, he acts more like a dog than a cat.  It is quite funny to see.

 

I have also been enjoying catching up on tv shows.  I binged the whole Bridgerton series on Friday.  So good, and I had been eagerly waiting for a new period piece to watch.

 

I will say, there were far too many sex scenes, it actually made me a bit uncomfortable at times, but it was a brilliant series and I'm glad I stuck with it.

 

Also watched The Christmas Chronicles 2, Virgin River Season 2 and something else that I can't for the life of me remember.  Goodness.

 

I will be watching the documentary on Netflix called, Diana in Her Own Words, later today.   And I'm sure I'll find some other period pieces to enjoy as well.

 

Right now though, I will finish off this post, then need to get dressed, have some breakfast and take Jasmine to work.

 

I hope you are all having a blessed weekend and I hope your Christmas was an amazing one.  I for one am very much looking forward to the new year, I think it's safe to say we are all ready to put 2020 behind us.