bring joy

Should I go sugar free?

grain-free, vegan/health, gestational diabetes

original image from Jose Miguel Calatayud via Flickr

I blame it on my dad.

It runs in the family

Awhile back, my sister had my parents for a visit.

She shared this picture & status update on facebook:

“So my dad loves his late night snacks. We are out of milk and so he proceeds to eat the brown sugar that is heaped onto the cereal. I say “Dad, are you just eating the brown sugar by itself?” He says, ‘Yeah, it’s always been one of my favorites.'”

No joke, it has always been one of his favorites. Growing up, I recall his typical before bedtime snack being a little bit of cereal with a rather generous pile of brown sugar on top.

In all fairness though, it’s not just my dad that I can blame for my sweet tooth.

My dad no doubt got it from his dad who was known, particularly in his...

best vegan gluten-free christmas recipes

best of recipes, holiday foods

We don’t have any Christmas decorations up. (We’re moving into our new, smaller place next week as part of our project downsize.)

And of course, I’m still getting used to living in southern Texas, where it’s not uncommon to enjoy 60 & 70 degree during the holidays. Which, having spent most of my Christmases surrounded by ice & snow, or at least cold weather, it’s still a bit odd for me.

But for the religious aspect–for us, the most important part–we’re doing a daily devotional (we’re doing the 25 days of Christ–it’s awesome!), & for the fun/cultural aspect we’re doing the Elf on the shelf (our first year, & Joseph is taking on the role of placing the elf in all sorts of fun & random locations, which surprises & delights even me).

Most years, you’d find me bustling about the kitchen,...

little things add up

debt-free, frugal holidays

The above quote, originally appeared in this post.

Have you ever said to yourself, “Well, I can get ______, it’s just $5”?

Or, it’s not that big a deal, it’s only 15 bucks a month.”

Or, “$60/month is a steal for a gym membership–think of all I’m getting for JUST $60!!”

But $15 here, $5, $20, $10, $12, & $8 there adds up to $48 a month. $70/month adds up to $840 a year. In how running is like getting out of debt fast, I share how we’re quickening our get out of debt pass at lightening speed.

Part of this quickening is putting on our “attention-to-detail” caps which gives us the superhero like quality of being able to focus on the little things. The “details,” that so many people tend to gloss over.

(used mint.com & then a DIY paper budget before that–a crazy headache when...