Summer Corn: Recipe Roundup

One of the first things my husband got excited about, as we moved closer and closer to our new home in Colorado, was fresh sweet corn. We both lived in Nebraska for a time and the summer sweet corn was one of the highlights of knowing a lot of farmers. My husband even swears that no other corn is as good as Nebraska sweet corn!
We were lucky enough to snag a bunch from my sister-in-law (she comes from a farming family). I don't mind basic corn on the cob, but eventually, I'm going to need something new and exciting to make it through all this corn! So I decided to round-up some delicious corn recipes from around the web.

Confessions of a Stay-At-Home Wife

Well... this is it. This is my new life.
I don't work outside the home. I am now a stay-at-home wife.

And that new role is very strange and difficult for me to get used to living. Prior to the wedding, I used the excuse of the "wedding coming up" to not get into a routine. And last week, I used the excuse of needing to "rest" after our trip to Nebraska for the wedding. But, I can't make excuses any longer. This is my new life... I have to get the hang of it.

So today I spent a good deal of time researching and brainstorming to finally develop a schedule for myself.

In my research, I came across so many great posts from women who were in the same situation and I felt some relief when I learned that they, also, had trouble settling into their new role (especially since I've worked my whole life so far).
If you think about it, when you work for a living (outside the home) you are working on someone else's schedule. You're suppose to show up at a certain time and accomplish certain tasks throughout the day before leaving at a certain time. The next day you do it again.
I got used to that.
Now, I can wake up whenever I want and do whatever I want. It's so easy to go crazy and, in the end, not get a damn thing done. I'm a smart girl... I could see how this much freedom can cause trouble!

So, I've created myself a system to follow. I'll be honest, I have no idea if it will work. Trying it for a while will help and I can always adjust and reformat this system to better fit.

First, I reviewed why I am staying home/what my purpose is in staying home. Then I made goals. Lastly, I worked out the details (mapping out my available time). I figured this out using this blog post from Pursuing Titus 2.

After realizing what I needed to do, I created a few ways to organize my days. I made myself a daily agenda (with checklists) to fill out everyday. I found SO MUCH inspiration for this checklist on Pinterest & other great sites.
I included a morning, afternoon and before bed checklist, menu planner, appointment reminder, exercise log and water intake log. A lot of this is necessary to remind me to do certain things in order to achieve my personal goals (having a clean house, taking care of myself inside & out and saving money).

And I updated a cleaning checklist (the older one was used when I worked full-time... now I do all the cleaning myself) to coordinate with my daily agenda.
Lastly, I made some goals for creating bags and accessories for my Etsy shop... which I'd like to open back up by the end of this week.

So, all in all, I think I'm ready to take this new life on. Again, I'll just see how my new tools work for me and make adjustments as needed. 

DOWNLOAD a PDF version of my daily agenda by clicking on the DOWLOADS tab.

LOVE MY DAILY AGENDA but want a customized one?
E-mail me and we'll work out all the details, including cost.

Bones: My Dog Niece is a Little Hyper

Hello from Nebraska!

This is Bones. Isn't she cute? She's still a puppy (just barely).

She & I are organizing the wedding decorations for the wedding Saturday!

 

Let's take a break. She looks like she needs some hugs & kisses!

 

"What? Hugs & kisses you say?!" She's getting excited.

 

Whoa! No chewing, girl! I said hugs & kisses!

 

Hey brat! I said hugs & kisses, dammit!

 

!!!!

"Here comes your kiss Aunt M!"

Ahhh! Puppy clobbering!! AHH!!!

... ... ... ... ... ... ?

Getting My Sh*t Together

Well... we've been in Florida for three weeks. And I'll admit, I'm going a little crazy.

Just ask my poor husband (there has been a lot of crazy-woman ramblings & screaming).

And I really think it's an aftershock to all the crazy that was happening during the last week in NC. I worked overtime all that week... and I was packing the house all week... I was trying to uproot our life (we didn't know we were leaving so fast... honestly, I wasn't ready). I was running around like a lunatic that last week.

And now that we're here in our new house it just so, so quiet. And I don't have a routine yet. I'm just waking up... shuffling here and there... tidying and unpacking...

bleh...

So now, I'm looking forward to my cousin's wedding on June 23rd. I have to fly to Nebraska and I'll be there for a week. It'll be nice to get that done, fly back to my new home and then I can really start my new life in Florida.

The plan is to start sewing again and blogging. And really, just to get my sh*t together. I'm ready to start my new routine, whatever that may be.

I'm ready.

Why Reveal All My Secrets?

Hubby & I moved from Nebraska many years ago and we did it for many reasons. The top three reasons are: we wanted a more exciting place to spend the rest of our lives (nothing against boring ol’ yellow Nebraska); we wanted to live around people that are more open-minded (my insincere apologies to small-town Nebraska); and I was sick of everyone knowing or thinking they know my business (damn gossip-hounds).

Nebraska... in all it's yellow glory.

After moving to North Carolina I became quiet & secretive. I lack a large number of friends... I keep in touch with some back home, but in general, I keep to myself.
And this is a no-brainer, but it’s hard to trust your inner-most thoughts with just anybody.
So I live the life of a loner (and I love it).

I just have to warn you... this next part is sad. It’s depressing. You might cry... I might cry. And you might feel sorry for me. But don’t... please. That always makes it worse. And I sure as hell don’t want you worrying about my mental health. That will just piss me off... and I don’t want to be mad at you.

Carrying on now...

Days became dark. Not because I was alone, but because I was diagnosed with severe infertility. Hubby and I wanted children, but couldn’t have them.

Expensive & failed medical treatments led to depressing thoughts of “what will happen to my legacy when I die?” It became all too real... when I die who will remember me? Who can say they knew me? Did I pass on any information? Who will make my favorite recipes? Who learned how to sew from me? Who was touched by my presence on this earth? Without children, who will carry on my name & heritage?

I only came up with one bleak answer... no one.

Now, listen up, I haven’t completely given up on having kids. I hope it will still happen, but I’ve decided that I’m too cool/awesome/bad-ass to go down in history as “just some lady... nothing to look at here... move along... just some dead lady.”

So why am I revealing all my secrets? Because I gotta tell someone... just in case.

Now stop your sniveling... we’re gonna learn how to make muffins or something.

FAST FACT:
Approximately 6.1 million couples in the United States have difficulty conceiving. That's like... a lot.