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Peeps. Everyone has an opinion on Peeps. There has never been a more controversial topic around the family Easter table that has resulted in so much thrown ham. They are either a perennial Easter favorite or a much maligned “last treat in the basket” candy. Some adults have fond memories of these sugar coated marshmallows …

Read More about If You Don’t Like Peeps, We Can’t Be Friends

Whether you have toddlers or teens, these 25 Totally Adorable Easter Crafts will provide hours of crafting awesomeness. Chances are as they grow up they won’t remember what you made, but they’ll always remember the time you spent crafting together. My mom was a Pinterest mom before Pinterest existed. Every Easter we’d dig into the …

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Any true craftsman will say, “Measure twice, cut once.” But if you’re like me it’s more like, “Close your eyes and hope you don’t lose a thumb.” It’s Halloween, and if you’re an environmentally friendly hippy with time on your hands between protests or if you’re a broke guy with an underwhelming job, this post …

Read More about Keeping The Earth Alive And Your Yard Undead: Upcycled Halloween Decorations

I have always been curvy and well endowed gal: a habitual “yo-yo dieter”/fad dieter. I always felt bigger than I was when I was younger. Never a size 6, always around 10…and in school that was huge in my mind. I realize that I was usually the only one that it bothered. If I’d known …

Read More about I Can Pull My Butt Up Like Panties, And Other Unexpected Joys Of Weight Loss Surgery

This year alone we have had around a dozen phone calls to deal with one emergency or another. It feels like ever since college I’ve been prepared, down to a packed bag and ready to go hospital kit. It’s not because we’re accident prone or have unusual health needs. I have an older father and …

Read More about A Practical Guide To Dealing With Family Health Emergencies

Last June I had a miscarriage. It was a quiet thing which made it all the more dreadful. Something so wretched as losing a very VERY wanted pregnancy should at least have the decency to be loud and obvious. But no one knew. My husband did, of course. My boss, too, since I had to …

Read More about Surviving An IVF Miscarriage: My Only Month With A.J.

To start with, this post is probably going to make me look horrible. I swear I’m not. I love my kids. I love my husband. I love love love my family with all of my life and every fiber of my being. But…sometimes it’s a bit much. I mean, the whole family and life and …

Read More about Am I The Only Mom Who Always Seems To End Up In Tears On Mother’s Day?

I don’t care if my husband watches porn. Like at all. Well, I mean, not while he’s driving…or when he’s supposed to be taking out the trash. But if I’m not home and he’s got a spare minute? He’s welcome to peel his own carrot. Now, for some of you this is a non-issue. Of …

Read More about I Don’t Care If My Husband Watches THAT, I Watch It, Too!

My family are idiots. I honestly don’t know how they’ve survived this long. They don’t have the basic life skills that I learned when I was young. I mean, I can be lazy. Sometimes I’ll even sleep the day away if I find a nice sunny spot. But my family takes it to a whole …

Read More about A Hunter’s Guide To Dealing With An Ungrateful Family

People in your life look at you and wonder why you aren’t tangled up in the all-American pursuit of that picket fence family. I look at you, and I just don’t freaking care. I understand the pressure. You have family members asking when you’re going to get married and have babies. You have friends who …

Read More about I Don’t Care That You Don’t Want Kids

It’s like a picture taken straight from the scene of a horror movie: You walk into your kitchen, and find the cabinets wide open. You look down. Two drawers are pulled out, like something was riffling through them looking for a spoon. You quickly shut them, trying not to think about that movie you just watched …

Read More about If I Find The Cabinets Doors Left Open ONE MORE TIME…

At the time of writing this I’ve been engaged (that’s such a weird word to use in regards to…well…me) for almost five whole days. My long time boyfriend proposed on New Year’s Day. We waited a few days to tell family and close friends. This was, essentially, to ease ourselves into the chaos that is the …

Read More about Telling People I Got Engaged Was A Huge Mistake

In the last few years Santa Claus’ darker half, Krampus, has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. The delightful half goat, half demon punishes where Santa Claus rewards. But he’s not the only other Christmas time folklore figure that kids can look forward to a visit from this holiday season. The History Of Krampus’s Gal-Pal, Frau …

Read More about The History Of Krampus’s Gal-Pal, Frau Perchta: The Belly-Slitter

You might not know this, but blogs aren’t always written in order. You might get a kick butt Arbor Day blog idea, but Bastille Day is just around the corner. What are you suppose to do? Post one holiday’s blog the same time as another? That would be stupid. Plus, I hate how Big Arbor …

Read More about It’s Okay To Not Hate Your Weird Relatives This Christmas

When I was a little kid, my Christmases were fairly predictable. My brother and I would fall asleep on Christmas Eve somewhere after 1 AM (we were, of course, in bed by 9 PM but Christmas morning excitement is a hell of a drug). As soon as it was light enough to see, we’d bolt …

Read More about Remembering Christmases Past And Missing My Family…

I love giving gifts, but I hate shopping for them. I mean, HATE it. It isn’t that I’m indecisive. I know that when I see the right thing for somebody, I’ll know it. And by God, I’m going to keep looking until I find it. That’s why I cheat. I’m a Cheaty McCheaterson when it …

Read More about 9 Ways To Survive Christmas Without Driving Yourself (And Everyone Around You) Insane

I was young when my doctor told me I wouldn’t be able to conceive without help—medical help, I mean, not the usual two-to-tango type. It sucked, but infertility runs in my family and having drawn the short straw in my generation, at least I found out early. I had plenty of time to think about …

Read More about Christmas For Women Struggling With Fertility…

I’m writing this post from a very conflicted place in life. This weekend was supposed to be about a reunion. A coming together of generations for food and games and stories. A gathering of loved ones. Instead, it was a hectic juggling of travel details and the fall out from someone taking their own life. Please …

Read More about Hard Choices: Why Do We Get To Decide When It’s Someone Else’s Time To Go?

My boyfriend and I are on year three of living together, and we still don’t have a real plan for how to split or manage the holidays. Add to it my birthday is in December, and, well…the season is always a marathon of family, parties and too much peopling. For one, he has a large, …

Read More about How Do You Split The Holidays Without Disappointing Everyone?

Yet another year has zipped on by, leaving us all in much the same position we were 365 days ago:  wondering if it’s technically a “regift” if you only touched the packaging twice, hovering over our bank balance like a hawk, and dreading the inevitable racist comments from Grandma.  But we tolerate it, because the …

Read More about A Tactical Guide to Surviving the Holidays

October is here, and with the crisp weather and the promise of Halloween on the wind comes the traditional horror movie marathons. We watch in giddy anticipation of the hapless hero stumbling upon a murder in progress. Then we yell at the screen when they idiotically run upstairs instead of outside to the already running …

Read More about 3 Everyday Horrors That Will Never Get Their Own Movie

I suppose I’d always imagined that if I ever made a late night trip to purchase a humidifier it would be as a last ditch effort to comfort a sick kid. As I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot at 10:45 PM I realized I was half right. But the sick kid was my husband. …

Read More about My Husband Isn’t a Baby When He’s Sick. He’s In Denial.

I think my family was transplanted from another planet. You would think, being raised in the same environment, that we would turn out to lead somewhat similar lives, right? We had the same parents, went to the same schools (mostly, I rebelled in high school a little), and we were taught the same manners, beliefs, …

Read More about We’re Siblings, So How Are We So Different?

I got my period the day my mom died. It wasn’t my first period or anything. I was 29 at the time. But the painful coincidence didn’t go unnoticed. Nor did the parallel that exactly nine months had passed between Mom’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and the day of her death. My mom had been …

Read More about Waiting For Pregnancy, And Missing My Mom…

From the minute you said ‘I Do’ you’ve had issues with certain members of your new husband’s family. They’re different than you (you didn’t realize how different until now), they’re strange about how they deal with normal things, they eat their food on the wrong side of their mouth. Right now you are experiencing life …

Read More about 5 Essential Things To Keep In Mind When Dealing With Inlaws

Dr. O had been my doctor for twenty years. Not just any doctor: my gynecologist. There’s something so much more personal about the doctor who intimately examines our junk as opposed to other doctors. I was his patient within his very first week of opening an office. He was my doctor through the loss of …

Read More about If You Think Your Doctor Considers You Family, Try Changing Insurance Companies

I didn’t get to spend Easter with my family, and it was more emotional than I ever thought it would be. Every holiday I find myself dreading going to family events. They’re crowded and being the only single, childless person there puts me in this ‘odd man out’ place that somehow feels worse Because I’m …

Read More about I didn’t get to spend Easter with my Family

Hey, I get it. Whether you’re related to me or not, as a romance author with a penchant for profanity, I understand that my online presence isn’t suitable for children or the ultra conservative. But if you’re like me, social media is the one place you can broadcast your opinions to the world, share your …

Read More about When Family Unfriends You: 10 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Care

This post is sponsored by Socialstars and Tide, however all opinions are my own. #SmallButPowerful So, here we sit on yet another Super Bowl Sunday, and my family has no plans to watch, attend watching parties, or have anything to do with it at all, really. It’s weird, I live in Texas, and am totally …

Read More about Why Super Bowl Sunday is Just Like Any Other Day at My House…{#SmallButPowerful}

When I was a kid, family game night usually involved a never-ending game of Monopoly in which I was forced to be the banker so that I might learn some math skills (that didn’t work very well), or my dad teaching me how to play poker (that worked a little better – getting to keep real …

Read More about The Twelve Best Family Friendly Table Top Games For Your Family

Every time I find out a friend of mine is pregnant, I feel a moment of intense happiness and sheer pain all in the same breath. “Oh my goodness,” I exclaim, the ecstatic feelings winning out. “When are you due?” And then we start gushing together and share in that intimately happy moment of knowing …

Read More about Please Stop Inviting Me To Your Baby Showers

There are some things I forget about every single year when it comes to Christmas, but I’m determined to remember them for next year. I’m pretty sure they’re universal, too. Like that we all have someone in our family who tells inappropriate jokes around children. Or that grandma’s don’t always understand your sense of humor. …

Read More about 50 Things To Keep In Mind For Next Christmas…

Rudolph was always my favorite reindeer. While the other reindeer always seemed a bit snooty (they wouldn’t let him play their games, c’mon!) Rudolph used his bright red nose to guide Santa through fog and make sure all kids get presents. What an amazing guy! That’s why instead of making any ol’ boring reindeer candle, …

Read More about DIY Gift Idea: Rudolph Candle & Printable Gift Tag

Some people love Christmas, but we’ve all got that one friend who REALLY LOVES CHRISTMAS. That one perky person in our lives whose eyes are bright and shiny year round and their optimism could brighten a funeral… When Christmas rolls around, it’s like GO TIME for that person. And while some of us drag out …

Read More about We All Have That One Friend Who Is Like Buddy The Elf…

The holiday season is a time of joyous celebration, of giving, and of time spent with family. It reminds us all what it means to put others before ourselves. There is nothing more rewarding than to see the look on a child’s face on Christmas morning as the wrapping paper flies across the room, or the smiles …

Read More about 8 Times Christmas is Actually the Worst

It’s no secret that Minions have taken the world by storm, and everyone is all about these strange talking little creatures that want nothing more than to be a part of taking over the world. So the other day when I was at the store planning for family game night, I saw a box of …

Read More about Minions Invaded Our Game Night…And We LOVED IT!

Summertime is built for picnics and these 25 Must Have Picnic Recipes will become your new picnic favorites. Sure, you probably usually pack sandwiches, and chips, soda, things like that…but have you ever tried packing muffuletta? Or how about  cheesecake in a jar, or maybe even (if you’re really wanting those sandwiches) the easiest quick …

Read More about 25 Must Have Picnic Recipes

No question breakfast is the most hectic meal of the day around our house. With everyone rushing around trying to get to where they need to be on time, it’s a wonder my family ever gets anything in their stomachs before they leave. At least it used to be. Now that I have these 25 insanely …

Read More about 25 Insanely Easy Muffin Tin Breakfast Recipes

We had a small, impromptu family dinner the other evening. One of those “oh, we were in the neighborhood” pop-in’s from my parents, my daughter was hungry and suddenly I needed dinner-in a hurry! It was Marie Callenders Pot Pies to the rescue! The holidays are just around the corner and I’m so not in the mood to …

Read More about Emergency Dinner ~ Marie Callenders Pot Pies to the Rescue

Okay, my daughter is back home, my company is gone, and we should be able to return to normal now… I had a super great time with my cousins here, but I am definitely worn out from the weekend! Yesterday we had my husband’s company picnic, and Hal went on her very first boat ride! …

Read More about Back to normal…

My cousins are here my cousins are here! They came to play with me for the weekend and it is a big scrapbooking party up in my scrap room woot woot! I love bringing people into the scrapbooking fold… makes me feel all evil, but in a crafty way. Tomorrow we are having lunch with …

Read More about my cousins are here!