After supporting many friends through pregnancies, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the breadth of modern pregnancy celebrations. However, when my husband and I were finally blessed with a pregnancy this last spring, I quickly realized that I had no idea how pregnancy is celebrated by a large number of Americans. After announcing … [Read more...] about Modern Pregnancy Celebrations: Nurturing or Narcissistic?
Caring for Your Family by Purchasing Life Insurance
Big changes in life provide opportunities to reevaluate your family’s financial needs. We’ve been reevaluating our needs, including our life insurance needs, as we prepare to welcome our baby girl. Personally, I don’t enjoy talking about finances in general. The specific topic of life insurance is even worse! After all, discussing this … [Read more...] about Caring for Your Family by Purchasing Life Insurance
Dare to Prepare: Creating a Family Emergency Plan
Sometimes families have to rush out of their homes due to disasters. Though there is often warning that an incident such as a hurricane is about to occur, warning is rare for disasters such as wildfires and industrial accidents. If work, school, or other activities have your family separated when a disaster that requires evacuation occurs, how … [Read more...] about Dare to Prepare: Creating a Family Emergency Plan
Italian Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Every now and then I come up with an idea for a truly unique dish—something that is unlike anything I’ve eaten previously. That’s what happened when I thought of Italian Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches while developing our menu for this fall. These tasty sandwiches are easy to prepare and hearty, making them a great addition to our … [Read more...] about Italian Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
How to Sew Simple Rod Pocket Curtains: A Tutorial for Novices
When my husband and I purchased our home two years ago, we went in search of curtains. I was surprised at how pricy they were! Though I have very rudimentary sewing skills, I decided to purchase fabric and sew my own. Now that we are furnishing a nursery, I purchased some cute fabric and pulled out the sewing machine once again. Rod … [Read more...] about How to Sew Simple Rod Pocket Curtains: A Tutorial for Novices
Why I’m Glad We Don’t Have Cable or Satellite TV
A few weeks ago my husband and I had access to cable television because we were staying in a hotel for a couple of days. Though we have a TV in our living room, we don’t have cable or satellite for it. We typically enjoy having temporary access to cable. My husband will watch a couple games and other sports-related shows. Together we’ll … [Read more...] about Why I’m Glad We Don’t Have Cable or Satellite TV
Dare to Prepare: Remaining Vigilant
September is National Preparedness Month. As we did last year, we’re going to take advantage of the national emphasis on disaster preparedness to look at a couple of important topics. Public health experts recommend that all households create an emergency plan and assemble a basic disaster supply kit. Though these sound like good ideas … [Read more...] about Dare to Prepare: Remaining Vigilant
Fall 2014 Menu
The official start of autumn is only a couple of weeks away. In addition to the changing leaves and pumpkin-flavored baked goods, I’m eager to start a new menu. As I’ve shared before, I periodically develop monthly menus. We use each for 3 consecutive months before moving on to a new one (read more on why and how I plan monthly menus … [Read more...] about Fall 2014 Menu
