Family Archives - Dine and Dish

Birthday Reflections – This is 45

Kristen — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 15:46:36 +0000

Today, October 5th, is my 45th Birthday, and as I often do, I’m sharing reflections of my past year.

I woke up this morning, the morning of my 45th birthday, with a terrible RA flare up. Every inch of my body ached. In addition, I’ve been playing tennis almost every night for the past couple of months and for the past few weeks have had a horrible case of tennis elbow. Seriously – I can’t even squeeze toothpaste or turn the keys in my ignition without searing pain. Getting older is a lesson in patience and acceptance, isn’t it? (Happy birthday to me – I ordered a tennis elbow brace last night at 10pm that will be delivered for free today by Amazon. What a time to be alive!)…

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Dear Friend, A Graduation Celebration

Kristen — Mon, 28 May 2018 22:08:37 +0000

Dear friend,

Hello and happy Memorial Day! We just returned home from spending the weekend in Iowa celebrating our niece Allison’s high school graduation. In Iowa, they do HUGE parties for high school graduation. It wasn’t that way in Southeast Kansas where I grew up and I don’t think it’s this way here in Kansas City, but in Iowa it’s a grand event.

My sister-in-law planned a wonderful party and it was the best way to kick off summer. There was lots of great food, fun outdoor lawn games, kitten cuddling, and catching up with friends and family. It was hotter than normal but it was a great event. …

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Dear Friend, Leah Turned 9 (Sheet Pan Fruit Pizza)

Kristen — Thu, 24 May 2018 02:56:09 +0000

Dear friend,

We celebrated a birthday last week. Leah, our youngest, turned 9! Ella was just a few months old when I started Dine & Dish, but Leah wasn’t even born. Many of you were there when we found out I was pregnant with a girl, she was born and I made this cute video, and all the other milestones since then. It’s weird to think Dine & Dish is older than my youngest baby, and by quite a few years! It’s been such an honor to have you watch my little family grow up….

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Dear Friend, I Miss You

Kristen — Mon, 07 May 2018 19:31:42 +0000

Dear friend,

Hello! I’ve been meaning to write you for quite some time to share a little bit about what’s happening around here. There’s so much I want to tell you about, but I’ll try to keep it as short as possible so not to take up too much of your day.

I’m just going to come right out with it…this past year or so has been a difficult one for me when it comes to blogging. About 5 years ago (coincidentally right around the time my brother passed away), I noticed a shift in my brain. I began having trouble focusing and following through on things or even really caring much about things I formerly cared a lot about. As a former Type A, get stuff done, kind of person, this shift was really hard for me to deal with. I’m not sure if it was the grief, getting older, hormones, or what but there was a definite change I had a hard time dealing with….

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It’s Time to Show Up

Kristen — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 15:44:25 +0000

I was sitting at my kitchen table on a Sunday morning, reading the newspaper and drinking my coffee. It was a quiet morning, the kind I absolutely love. I felt happy and loved, but overshadowing this feeling was a simmering feeling of discontent. I couldn’t put my finger on where that feeling was coming from, because on the surface everything seemed perfectly fine.

A few minutes passed and I decided to pick up my phone and check Facebook. The first thing I noticed was a status update from my best childhood friend, Julie. She currently lives in Georgia, but I noticed that her update said she was driving home to visit her parents in our hometown. Our hometown of Altamont, KS was 2 1/2 hours from my house. I hadn’t been back since my high school reunion many years prior.

As I was sitting there, a sudden feeling washed over me…one I couldn’t ignore. I needed to go home, and I needed to visit Julie. My week ahead was a busy one, but I knew I had to find time to make the trip home, even if it was for just a quick lunch and hello. …

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Thankfulness and a Pineapple Hard Cider Recipe

Kristen — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 12:14:25 +0000

A simple twist on a favorite cocktail… this Pineapple Hard Cider Recipe is certain to keep you warm from the inside, out!

Hi friends! I just wanted to take a moment out of the holiday weekend to say I hope you all had a truly wonderful, family and friends filled, Thanksgiving. As I counted my blessings this week, you were among those – right up near the top. I am so thankful to each and every one of you who make Dine & Dish – the recipes, travel, and full on life posts – a part of your own life. It truly means the world to me every time you click through, leave a comment, send an email, or share one of my posts with your friends.

For those of you who survived the craziness of Black Friday shopping, or for those of you who made it through Thanksgiving without ticking off someone in your family, I have a special recipe for you! This Pineapple Hard Cider recipe will keep you warm from the inside out – and has just enough of a little kick to to help you relax after the hustle and bustle of the day….

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The Summer of Yes {In 1 Second Everyday}

Kristen — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 17:08:53 +0000

Our summer is officially over and the kids have been in school now for a whole week. It was so hard for me to let summer go this year because it was one of our best, yet. I intentionally didn’t do my typical Summer Bucket List, but instead deemed the summer of 2015 “The Summer of Yes”.

I vowed that this summer, I was going to say yes as much as I could. If the kids asked to do something or had an idea, even a far out there idea, I said yes (naturally within reason). We had so much fun!

It was the summer of lots of swimming, beaches, pink hair, reading, ice cream for breakfast, sno cones for lunch, sleeping in, staying up late, friends, family, baseball, bike rides, travel and more. I loved absolutely every last second of our summer! (Well I could have done without my mom being so sick and hospitalized for most of it, but even that brought some fun adventures for our family). …

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French Silk Pie Recipe and McFarland USA Thoughts

Kristen — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 16:56:25 +0000

After eating and loving French Silk Pie for years, having no idea how to make it, I finally found an incredibly easy and amazing French Silk Pie recipe I’m sharing today. Plus, I’m sharing some musings after watching the movie McFarland USA.

This is going to be one of those blog posts that really has absolutely nothing to do with the recipe, and for that I apologize. I wanted to talk about one thing, but I also wanted to share a recipe for French Silk Pie, and couldn’t figure out a way to get the two of them to make any sense together. So, you’ll just have to get a French Silk Pie recipe with a dose of nothing related to it.

Our family saw the movie McFarland USA over the weekend and LOVED it. If you haven’t seen it, I implore you to take yourself, your family, anyone you know to see it. It is a fantastic family movie with an incredible message about making a difference. …

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