As of last week, when Kelly turned 13, I officially have 2 teenagers in the house! Everyone tells me that teenagers are tough…but so far my experience has been uniquely positive and I sure hope it stays that way!…

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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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A year before I met my husband, I sat down and wrote a list of all the things I wanted in a spouse. I had a series of relationships prior, including a crushing, failed marriage, that really forced me to take stock in what I wanted my future to look like. I wanted my next serious relationship to last, but I wasn’t going to settle for someone who didn’t fully meet everything I wanted in a husband. I was done settling and ready to find that person who I knew…absolutely knew… fully and easily fit into the space I had in my heart for someone.

A few weeks ago I was doing some cleaning and decluttering and in the back of my jewelry drawer, I found some folded up pieces of notebook paper. When I pulled the paper out, I realized it was my “list” I had created 17+ years ago, outlining the 40 things I wanted in a husband. The funny thing is, I’ve never once shared this list with my husband, even though up until the day we got married, I had a mental checklist going on in my head, always amazed at how well he stood up to it.

So, as part of the Hallmark “Put Your Heart to Paper” initiative, I’ve decided to share some of the things I love about Nick. These things just so happen to correspond with “the list”…and still stand true, a thousand times over. What words would you use if you couldn’t use “I Love You”? Think beyond those three little words, and express your love by putting your heart to paper. For some ideas, read what the writers over at Hallmark would say. But for now… to my husband…and my list of 36 things (combined some of them) I wanted in a husband:…

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Happy Happiness Report Day, everyone! The photo you see above is of Leah this past spring at Ella’s first communion. I found it while I was looking for an old photo of a recipe I needed and it made me realize how much I miss sharing my Project 365 photos. This photo along with the ones below would most likely suffer the fate of sitting on my external hard drive, never to be seen and enjoyed by anyone. What’s the point of that?

To rectify the situation, I’m starting a “no-rules” Project 365 project for myself. No rules meaning… if I accidentally skip a day of taking a photo, I’ll say oops and move on. If my photo is taken with my camera phone instead of my DSLR, I’ll say oops and carry on. No rules meaning I’m not waiting until January 1st to start. I’m going to start on December 1st…or if I feel like it, tomorrow or whenever. No rules is not within my comfort zone, but the thought of a no rules photography project makes me very happy! I actually think I’m going to call it just that “The No Rules Photography Project”. Sounds easy enough, right?

Here are a few of the photos that I saved from external hard drive purgatory……

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This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Random.org winner Jennifer W. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

So Valentine’s Day… do you love it or kind of hate it? I personally think we could all do with a few more holidays celebrating love…but without the roses and mushiness. I’d like to see more of a focus on loving gestures, accepting others, and giving others the gift of time. In fact, celebrating THAT kind of love every day would make me happy!

One of my favorite parts of every week is when my husband (who is rarely here in the morning because he goes to work super early or is traveling) and I get to sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee, read the paper and catch up with each other on the happenings of the week. Coffee connects…there’s no doubt about that. My friends at Starbucks want to celebrate that special connection over coffee with a fun, flash Valentine’s Day giveaway! …

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The post I Heart Starbucks Coffee Valentine’s Flash Giveaway – CLOSED appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Did I ever tell you about the time ten years ago when my husband and I were invited to be on The Dr. Phil Show? I don’t think I have…

Let me give you some back story first. When I was in high school, on Valentine’s Day every year, our school office would be overloaded with flowers, balloons, candy, stuffed animals, etc. The bigger, the better. The school office was long and in the main area of the building. Lined with windows, you could easily walk by and see every inch of the office. Teen girls would walk by the windows, sneak a glance, envious of the other girls picking up their armfuls of Valentine’s. We’d wait anxiously, all day, for our name to be called over the loud speaker to come pick up “something in the office.” For me, it happened once and it was from an admirer whom I didn’t appreciate like I should (sorry, Doug Hammer).

I had boyfriends in high school and I had plenty of love from my family. They just didn’t shower me with flowers and candy and balloons on Valentine’s day. They always gave me something, but it was never through a public display at school. I knew I was loved, but always felt slighted because of the lack of goodies waiting in the school office for me. I had high expectations and they weren’t being met….

The post Dr. Phil, Love and Expectations…Ramblings on Valentine’s Day appeared first on Dine and Dish.

There was a time in my life where I wrote prolific love letters… deep and meaningful words spoken from the heart. Then, after a failed first marriage, I came face to face with a box of letters I had written. Each page, raw, real and vulnerable, laid out there to remind me how exposed I had let my heart become through words. I can remember so clearly, sitting on the floor of my bedroom, reading each letter, sobbing at what was and what would never be again and feeling nakedly exposed and so vulnerable.

I was young…really young and was convinced any vision of a happily married life was over. I remember crying to my sister the first time I had to put a check mark on a form asking whether I was “married, divorced or widowed”.  23 and already divorced. Who would want me now?

Thankfully, God had very specific plans for me… the first marriage, the divorce… those and every relationship I had even prior to that led me to the man I ended up marrying 13 years ago today. And you know what? Despite the hurt and heartache each relationship yielded, I would gladly do it all over again if it led me to the man I am now married to. For, because of him, I am eternally blessed.

Photo courtesy of my talented friend, Jennifer of Jennifer Mullinax Photography.

So, to my husband, who has never received a love letter from me, but deserves a box full, I want you and the world to know that I love you more than words can say. You are the answer to my prayers, and each and every day I am extremely thankful that you chose me to be your bride. I love the life we have together… it has not always been rosy, but even through our darkest times, I know that we are meant to be together and that our love is as real as it comes.

Marriage is full of peaks and valleys, I now know that. I’m glad you are there to hold me during both.

Thank you for your patience, your kindness and most of all for being my best friend.

I am ever grateful to have you as my partner in this life. Happy 13th Anniversary!

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This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to winner, Jackie Davis! Thanks to all who entered.

There are few greater feelings in the world than knowing you’ve helped to make someones day special. When I asked the question “Do you prefer to give or receive?” on the Dine & Dish Facebook Page, so many of you agreed that giving is the way to go! Your answers helped to inspire this special Harry & David giveaway today.

Harry & David… you know, the company who pretty much rules the gift giving roost… has offered to give one lucky Dine & Dish reader the opportunity to help make the day of someone else special. Yes! You get to let me know in the comments section who you would like to see receive a gorgeous Pear Medley Gift Basket. Giving is great and now is your chance to nominate someone you think is pretty special to receive something special….

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