bring joy

{MM} Some awesome flash sales + Christmas cookies!

Today’s {MM} post is going to be a bit on the lighter side–I’m busy with holiday activities & Christmas prep, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to scour the www in search of the best & brightest.

On that note, I’ll be posting through the end of this week, but after that, I’m going to take a few weeks off until the beginning of the new year so I can totally focus & enjoy being with my family during the Christmas season.

I’m doing a poll on facebook today:

So far, lots of great, varied responses (there’s no right or “wrong” answer, by the way, I just want to get a better feel for who’s reading my blog).

I especially like Cadry’s response:
“I’m vegan, because I don’t want to cause suffering to others when I have the choice to do otherwise. It makes me feel good inside and...

Let’s talk about…the importance of, ahem, sex

marriage, popular posts

pinned to my love board, via freshly picked

Please understand, I know that sex can be a complicated, difficult issue even if both you & your spouse are both entirely loving, selfless people in love. I get that. And my heart truly goes out to those who struggle for one reason or another, be it due to past abuses, health problems, or what not. This post is not intended to make anyone feel bad, nor to say it’s as easy as: just jump into bed with your spouse, darn it! Rather, my intention is to share some of my thoughts & experiences, & hopefully motivate other women to open themselves to the idea that sex is not a chore, but a blessing.

This is one of those posts where I’m blushing.

Because, as a Mormon (ie. socially conservative), you just don’t talk about sex.

But I’m going to.

...

peppermint double chocolate brownies

dessert & bread, holiday foods, parenting

When you become a parent, you want to give your kids the childhood that you had, or didn’t have. If that makes sense. You also want your kids to be talented, brilliant, successful in every way.

When we went to the Nutcracker last weekend, there were little ballerinas doing backflips, & I’m sure they were no older than 4 or 5 years old.

Amalia is 5, and she takes ballet.

She practices once a week, & though I’m confident she’s as cute as a peach & learning a lot, she’s not going to be preforming in a professional production of the Nutcracker any time soon.

Joseph & I have talked at length about the kinds of kids we want to raise & in this ongoing conversation, one of the reoccurring themes is: we want our kids to be balanced.

Maybe they won’t be the best at anything, but we hope that...