Category: Life in General

  • How To Grow Onions

    Onions are one of the primary ingredients in the classic mirepoix, but even without the other ingredients, there aren’t many things that get my stomach rumbling like the smell of onions sauteing in butter. Add some garlic and it’s a pretty perfect combination.

    Of course, not everyone shares my taste, but if you can put up with the tears and stinky breath (and your spouse can as well), and you have a garden plot, then you should absolutely grow some yourself. Because, as with everything else, nothing quite beats homegrown, so if you’re interested in how to grow onions, read on!

    How To Grow Onions
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  • 2017 Year in Review

    I don’t share a lot of personal stuff, but sometimes it’s helpful to remind you that I’m a real person too. Although I could easily be mistaken for a robot on occasion. But truly, we’re just like you – we have highs and lows, reasons to be joyful and to cry, good days and not-so-good days. At the end of it all, we feel extremely blessed, and while life isn’t perfect, there’s not much that we would trade. Maybe one of the dogs for something a little quieter. Anyway, I hope you feel equally blessed, and remember, we’re all trying to get through this thing together!

    I know that we’re now well into 2018, so this comes a little late, but that’s kinda how we roll around here. We tend to show up five or ten (or thirty, who am I kidding?) minutes after the party has started. Especially with an extra kid in tow… Yeah, speaking of that, we added another to the mix in 2017.

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  • 2015 Year In Review

    It’s been awhile since I had a “what have we been up to” kind of post, so since today’s the last day of 2015, I thought it would be fitting to do a quick recap of some things that happened this year.

    Mostly because I enjoy doing occasional pic-heavy posts of the kids, but also because I think it’s a good idea, at least every now and then, to remind you that there is an actual person behind this writing, and our family is just like most other families. Except for the fact that our 2 year-old asks for kombucha and C is probably the only kid in kindergarten packing rutabaga fritters in his lunch. But completely normal otherwise…

    2015 was a year of ups (we took some trips, sold our old house, started new chapters in life, and generally made it through the year in once piece) and downs (well, except for Brando, who thought jumping in front of a car would be a good idea). 2016 will almost certainly hold some ups and downs too, because what year doesn’t? But from all of us here, we hope that your year is more good than not good, and that a year from now, you can look back and laugh a little! Have a blessed 2016.

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  • Four

    And just like that, C is four already. Where does the time go?

    We had his party at Squire’s Castle again, and like last year, it was an absolutely beautiful day. Games, pizza, and a Thomas (and friends) cake extravaganza. What more could a little boy want?

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  • I Know What We Did This Summer

    We’ve had a busier than normal summer. I think I’m okay with it though. I had an epiphany shortly before the Fourth of July weekend, and realized that, 1) summer is pretty short around here, 2) winter is pretty long around here, and 3) most of the winter that comes between January 2 and May kinda sucks, so therefore, we should live it up while we can.

    Okay, maybe I didn’t just suddenly realize that winters are long in Ohio, since I’ve lived here for my entire life; I just had a perspective shift. Must be getting old… or this past winter just sucked extra. Either way, I like this new philosophy, and I think we’ll try to stick with it every summer, polar vortex or not.

    Since that “a-ha” moment, we’ve gone back to North Carolina:

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