Totally Random Catch Up Post! :-)

December 16th already..... Christmas is almost here and a new year is fast approaching. What a year it's been! Last year at this time I was in the hospital finding out I have heart failure and almost not making it.... I am so thankful they treated me in time and that I'm here another year to celebrate. I feel so incredibly blessed.

I wanted to do a little blog catching up and also to share a link to a great website for designing your own online cards, digital invitations and more. I have enjoyed using it myself and I know it can bring a smile to those receiving it. It is called Paperless Post and this is the link Enjoy!

I've been doing some baking and these are some hot cocoa muffins, not too sweet! You can add icing to make them sweeter if you prefer ;-) 

Now if you are really looking for sweetness, you'll want to make this Gingerbread fudge I made! So very sweet! Good though, tastes just like Gingerbread :-) I sent a bunch to Jerry's work and they were pretty happy.

This is one of my favorite breakfast sandwiches to make. It is a scrambled egg on toast with mashed avocado! So yummy :-)

   Salmon is also another one of my favorite dishes to make, I added roasted parsnips and sweet         potatoes along with steamed green beans for dinner one night. So delicious and healthy!

Christmas decorating is complete and most of my shopping is done. Here is some of the decorations we have on our porch.

Our porch swing is one of my favorite places to be. Even today here in the South it is almost 60 degrees! Makes it easy to enjoy outside time for most of the year.

                                       One of our trees inside that we have in our sunroom.

My dad has his trains set up and this is just a couple pictures of them. Always turns out so nice every year.

                                       I'm still busy wrapping a few last minute presents!

Advent calendars are in full swing! The girls have a chocolate one and a Harry Potter one this year also that they open each day.

                                          The elves have been very mischievous this year ;-)

                  This one was Jerry's idea, lol..... we all have fun moving them around now.

We did get some bad news the other day. A very good friend of ours whom we consider family fell 40 feet out of a tree stand and by sheer grace of God survived.... however he landed on both feet breaking his shin bone through the skin and shattering his other foot. He is still in the hospital and receiving several surgeries to try to get everything back together. He could certainly use any available prayers. We've been visiting him at the hospital and taking care of their home and cat while they are there. There is a Starbucks at the hospital and Kathleen was enjoying a cold cocoa drink, we stopped in there on the way home one day.

Hayley is back for winter break from Appalachian State and we are so happy to have her home. We missed her so much!! I know it's going to fly by!

They are going to be playing in the bowl game in New Orleans this weekend!!!! Way to go App State Mountaineers!

                         And for your viewing pleasure a sweet photo of our cat Penelope, lol.

One evening I was sitting down enjoying a great book Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner and enjoying the lights of the Christmas  Tree.

If you'd like to see some of my recipes and more of what we've been up to, I will post my latest YouTube videos down below. I have been participating in Vlogmas, which is basically posting a video every day in December. It's been a challenge to get them up each day, lol. But I've been enjoying it. I'll post a few and you can find more on my channel. Thanks for watching and helping me grow my community there!

                                              Hope you are having an amazing December!

                                                                      Many Blessings,
                                                                                 Jill

Catching Up!

Hello December! :-) It's been quite busy here and recently Kathleen turned 14!!!! How is that even possible?

We bought her a sweatshirt from one of her favorite YouTubers and she put it on right away. I think you can tell by her smile how much she loves it :-)

We had a little cake for her birthday and it was so strange not having Hayley there to celebrate as she was still at college.

However for Thanksgiving when we had everyone around we did get another cake and celebrated it with her again.

Our niece Neve drove to Appalachian state with my sister and got to see Hayley's dorm and campus and spend the night. Then they brought her back home to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.

  I wish we were all closer to spend more time together. These girls are growing up so quickly!!!
                                           Neve is 15, Hayley is 18 and now Kathleen is 14!!!

On Black Friday, Jerry, myself, my sister and Hayley went shopping for awhile. Hayley started out in heels initially which I told her she was crazy for wearing that day, lol. Needless to say she saw a great sale on slippers in Torrid and bought them and wore them around as we were wrapping up the night. :-)

 Before she headed back to college we started their Advent calendars. Chocolates and Harry Potter this year!

Jerry made this wooden Christmas tree and star for his work and added lights to it for decoration. He also made the girls each a wooden Christmas tree a little smaller version and let them paint it. I told him I wanted him to build me one of the bigger ones for our yard, lol ;-)

                       We've started decorating around the house and the outside is all finished!

Both trees are done inside and again it was strange not having Hayley there to decorate with us. I miss her so much!

                                                 It was Jerry's night to move the elves, lol......
                           We still do it as a family tradition and now the girls are in on it too. ;-)

    This is very suitable for our home this year having 2 decorated trees inside with 3 cats! LOL

I've been busy this month taking part in Vlogmas on YouTube, which is basically creating a vlog video every day until Christmas, some go through the whole month which I may do! I'm posting the first 5 here in case you'd like to follow along. It's been a lot of filming and editing, but so worth it for the memories!

                                         Have a fabulous weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!

                                                                       Many Blessings,
                                                                                 Jill

Reviewing 100% Pure Water Lentil Superfood Supplement

Taking care of our health comes in many forms, but one of the most important, along with exercise, is eating a healthy and clean diet. When I was asked to review the water lentil superfood product from Real Source, I decided to give it a try. It is a nutrient dense plant based superfood dietary supplement.

 Along with offering many nutrients and possible health benefits, it is also vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and probiotic.

  Lots of vitamins are included such as vitamin A, iron and calcium, plus it is one of the only plants                                                                to contain vitamin B-12! :-)

                                                                As well as amino acids.

   The powder is a very fine consistency and lightweight to the touch. It comes with a scoop to                                                             measure the proper amount for recipes.

I added a scoop to a glass of water to try and honestly found it a but too strong for me that way. A little of a bitter taste due to the concentration of the greens. However their website offers many recipes for incorporating the powder into other options so the taste isn't quite as strong that way. It all comes down to personal tastes and preferences. :-) One of their peanut butter banana smoothie recipes is listed here and looks delicious! Adding it in with other healthy foods would certainly improve the taste as well as offer a magnitude of health benefits.  There are also no pesticides used on their farm when growing the lentils in the pond.

To receive a 40% discount on trying this product and others like it click this link and be sure to add my code JILLKH to receive your savings!

Also to keep up with all the latest deals that Real Source offers, you can check them out at this link on the Dealspotr website.

                                                         ( Photo credit from Real Source)

                                                         (Photo credit from Real Source)

                        How are you getting your greens and extra nutrients into your diet? ;-)

                                                                       Blessings,
                                                                            Jill

          *I received this product for free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own*

Fall Changes and Halloween :-)

            Fall is my favorite time of year with all the beautiful leaves and cooler temperatures. :-)

                         Snapchat was my go to for my Halloween costume this year, lol. ;-)

       We found a cute little pumpkin patch that we took Kathleen to and we had a great time :-)

                                      Still hard to believe how fast she is growing up!

They had great little stations set up all around, just a neat little place to go to and pick out our pumpkins.

Kathleen likes to pick the ones that are a little irregular because she knows others will probably leave them behind. ;-)

After the pumpkin patch we went to see Maleficent 2 in Imax and it was wonderful! I loved it! Even teared up in a few parts.

              This month I've been making some treats for Halloween.... yummy shakes......

                                                Candy marshmallow Frankensteins :-)

                          We also enjoyed decorating pumpkins on a really beautiful fall day.

Here's a little sneak peek of the pumpkins we decorated. If you'd like to see more you can watch one of my YouTube videos about that day. I listed that one and some other videos I've made recently down below.

Halloween night was rained out in our area so it was moved to the following night. It actually worked out well because Hayley came home to visit us for the weekend so she was able to go along.

                                            Kathleen was Daphne from Scooby-Doo!!

                      Hayley made an impromptu Scooby Doo outfit since it was last minute.

                 She also had 2 of her friends dress up and go along with her. Velma and Fred :-)

                          Here are a couple of my recent videos if you'd like to see more :-)

                                                  Hope you have a wonderful week!! :-)

                                                                           Blessings,
                                                                                Jill