‘Tis the season for pumpkin flavored everything! Have you ever tried a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks? They’re all the rage and quite delicious, but I’m not a fan of the high sugar content, so I decided to make my own version a couple evenings ago. Caffeine any later than about 4pm tends to keep me awake at night, so I came up with a pumpkin spice latte recipe (posted below) that doesn’t contain coffee. I know that means that it’s technically not a latte, but “pumpkin spice beverage” just didn’t sound right. I plan to post one with coffee very soon….
Archives for 2018
My New Cheese Slicer
A few of you have asked that I share some of my favorite products. I recently acquired a cheese slicer, and I love it. Mr. Handsome and I both really love cheese, and we go through a lot of it. We have a cheese knife, but it doesn’t work as advertised, so for the first three years of marriage, we just used a regular knife….
17 Years Since 9/11
When I woke up this morning, I immediately noticed the date on my phone. September 11, 2018. Seventeen years ago, September 11 started off as a normal day for the American people. We were in the first year of the George W. Bush administration and the second year of the new millennium. Summer was ending, fall was beginning. Just an average day.
But just before 9:00am, it became clear that it was far from just an average day. An airplane hijacked by hate-filled, Al-Qaeda militants slammed into the North Tower of New York City’s World Trade Center. For the American people, the rest of the morning was a blur….
Morning Sickness Remedies
Morning sickness is one of the most unpleasant side effects of pregnancy. Pregnant ladies experiences it for varying amounts of time and at different levels of intensity, and some are lucky enough to avoid it altogether. When I found out I was expecting, I was anticipating some morning sickness but was hoping that it would be light. Sadly, that didn’t happen.
From week six until about week 18, I had all-day morning sickness. The mornings and nights were the worst, and I often found myself canceling evening plans because I didn’t feel up to leaving the house. After I reached my second trimester, it slowly started to improve, and when I say slowly, I mean S-L-O-W-L-Y. At this point, I usually only feel sick in the mornings and evenings, and it isn’t as bad as it was, so I’m grateful. Every once in a while, I’ll have an especially bad day, but they aren’t as common as they were.
While I was in the thick of morning sickness and desperate for relief, I scoured the internet for natural remedies and tried a bunch of different ones. Now I know that not every remedy will work for every woman, but these literally became lifelines for me, so I thought I would share….
Prairie Dogs
A few weeks ago, Mr. Handsome and I ventured down to the massive state of Texas to visit some military friends who are stationed there temporarily. They live three hours west of Dallas in Abilene, and one thing we noticed was that the area is a lot more arid than we had expected. There were some small trees, but nothing the size of what we are accustomed to here. The temperatures were in the high 90s (around 38 degrees Celsius), which I have noticed is a lot more difficult to handle while pregnant. Abilene is a large town that has plenty of amenities, but it is as much in the middle of nowhere as it gets….
CPR…on a Goat
This spring, I posted about our experience at goat yoga. If you didn’t see that post, I highly recommend checking it out for the photos alone. It was a hoot.
Speaking of goats, I have another goat experience to share with you. In April, Mr. Handsome and I traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii for a vacation. (We have been so sad to see all the destruction that the island has endured since our trip, between the volcanic eruptions and hurricanes. Our prayers go out to all who live there.)…
Pregnancy Reveal Video
Earlier this week, Mr. Handsome and I announced our first pregnancy, and we have been overwhelmed by all the prayers and well wishes that you have sent our way. You are very kind! This is new territory for us, and it has already been quite the adventure.
I am more than halfway through the pregnancy, and although the due date still feels far away, I know it will go by in a snap. The first five months have passed by so quickly that I still sometimes forget that I’m pregnant! But then I feel a kick and am reminded that there is a little life growing inside me. The whole thing still feels too good to be true, similar to how the first months of marriage felt.
I am still struggling with morning sickness, and as the baby has grown, life in general has become increasingly harder, but I know it’s more than worth it. Below is a short video message that I filmed for my readers. …
Family of 3
We’re Trading our Silent Nights
For a Bundle of Joy
Our Little Angel is Due
This Holiday Season
Mr. Handsome and I have exciting news to share. We’re expecting a baby in four months! This pregnancy has gone by much quicker than I thought it would, and I am thrilled to be more than halfway through my second trimester.
We enjoyed keeping the secret to ourselves for the first few months and then sharing it with our parents about five weeks before telling the rest of our extended family. Since the middle of July, we have been slowly revealing the news to friends as we have seen them or had a chance to talk with them over the phone. For those who are new to the blog, Mr. Handsome and I have been married for just over three years, and we are grateful that God has chosen to grow our little family.
Solar-Powered Chicken Coop
Recently, I was looking back at photos from our 2016 trip down the Oregon Coast and our 20-hour adventure in San Francisco, and I realized that I never told you about the chicken coop that we came across. At first glance, it looks like an ordinary chicken coop, but it’s not…it’s solar powered and self-operating!
While in San Francisco, we had dinner with Mr. Handsome’s distant cousin over the bridge in Sausalito. She lived in a very suburban area and had a small backyard, but she had chickens. She traveled a fair amount for work and had coyotes in her area, so she installed a coop that would keep the chickens safe while she was gone….
Tales of Little Mr. Handsome
If time travel were possible, I have always thought it would be fun to go back in time and meet Mr. Handsome as a child. By the stories I have heard and the pictures I have seen, he sounds like he was a really neat little guy….