How to Create a Perfect Husband

Scientists have been pondering this question for years. There was Frankenstein’s Monster, which, you may not know, was actually built for Mrs. Frankenstein. She kept begging her husband to invent the perfect man, and he tried, but we all know how that experiment turned out. Then there was artificial genetic mutation. See, the scientists thought that maybe if they took the components of a few really good men and put them together, they could accomplish perfection, but it didn’t work. They ended up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who were all male, but they weren’t human, and they weren’t … Continue reading

The Perfect Pie Crust

I am vehemently opposed to reinventing the wheel. So when it comes to pie crust, we use the recipe from The Joy of Cooking. Deluxe Butter Double Pie Crust 2 ½ cups flour 1 teaspoon of sugar 1 teaspoon of salt 1 cup cold butter ¼ cup shortening 6 to 8 tablespoons of ice cold water Start by mixing together your dry ingredients. You can sift them together. . .but I really find it makes little difference. Tip #1 Add the fat very quickly. If you’re using the recipe in this blog, add the butter first (mixing it in as … Continue reading

The Marriage Blog Week in Review for Jan 20-26

Good morning, if you noticed a curious lack of the marriage blog week in review, I have to plead guilty. I wrote most of it, but yesterday, my daughter had a birthday party and we went out together to attend. It was a roller skating party and for those of you who follow my fitness blog posts, you know that my daughter and I have been roller-skating a great deal frequently, well we enjoyed ourselves roller-skating, but I was whipped after an hour and half on the skates and my legs felt like spaghetti. I’ll talk more about that in … Continue reading

Why You and Your Spouse Should Create Your Own Traditions

We’ve been talking about the holidays and creating your own traditions for the holidays. That’s the great thing about having a family of your own. You can keep some of the traditions you grew up participating in and you can skip right over the traditions you didn’t care for. It doesn’t matter if you and your spouse have children, because holiday traditions are about building strong bonds. Our First Few Christmases The first few years we were together, we did not have children and I’ve told you some of the traditions we embraced in those years. When you have kids, … Continue reading

A Note of Thanks: To My Husband

I’ve spent the last few days preparing for Thanksgiving and working with my daughter so that she understands how to say thank you and be thankful in all aspects of her life and not just at the big spread tomorrow. In that light, I want to say thank you for my husband. Let me tell you a little story of a little girl that didn’t dream about white picket fences and the house in suburbia. When I was growing up, through my pre-teen and teenage years, I remember wishing on eyelashes, on birthday candles and even on falling stars that … Continue reading

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints View of Family

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has its own view of what a family is. This is described in a proclamation to the world that was issued by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles in 1995. Here is what it said: We, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit … Continue reading

Less is More: How Not to Feel Deprived

Buying less not only means saving money, but it can also be freeing in other ways. For ten years of my life I gave up coffee. This was mostly because of two factors. My new (then) husband could not stand the smell of coffee brewing, and during those ten years, I was either pregnant or nursing or both, and choose to stay away from the caffeine. I didn’t actually miss coffee much after a little bit, and I could knock that expense out of our budget. I no longer felt I needed coffee, had desires for coffee or felt deprived … Continue reading

How Much Work Will You Really Do On Vacation?

One of the benefits of owning and operating your own business is that you can often take your work with you when you go out of town for a vacation. While that is certainly a good thing, it is important to have reasonable expectations about how much work you will be able to get done while you are on the go. For the past few days, I have been traveling with my family. We still have a few more days of vacation left, and I have not been able to do as much work as I thought that I would … Continue reading

Salute Dad

Who says you have to break a sweat crafting an elaborate scrapbook layout design for Dad? This Father’s Day you can give your favorite guy a touching gift from the heart that he will cherish forever by using just a few simple scrapbooking techniques. One of the most precious page designs incorporates photos and poems. If you have the time and energy, you could sit down and pen an original prose detailing the reasons your Dad is so special to you. However, don’t ditch the idea if you lack inspiration or you simply don’t think you have what it takes … Continue reading

Developing a Meal Plan

I have shared in a few blogs my lack of meal planning. Which in turn means I don’t always feed my family well…or at all. In fact, my children are frequently complaining about their mother not preparing dinner and yes, I do feel guilty about that. As a housekeeper, I take my role as caring for the home and family very seriously. But let’s face it…I am human and I am imperfect. There are some areas that I do better in. But I also have those areas I really struggle with. I have had good intentions about changing this but … Continue reading