Celebrate Absolutely Everything

Easy 3 Ingredient Cheese Dip- With REAL Cheese

February 2, 2019 by Quin Leave a Comment

This recipe was born out of a desire to eat my weight in cheese dip during a past Super Bowl, without sacrificing the quality of the food I was putting in my body. I think it’s only fitting to share it now, as we embark on another Super Bowl! Go, Patriots!

The fake cheese in the box has its place, and that’s left on the grocery store shelf.

I started playing around with different cheeses and add-ins to get this “just right”.

Throughout my experimentation, Mr. Awesome and our kids have eaten a lot of cheese dip and given me a lot of great feedback. I’m so appreciative of their willingness to QC my recipes, and I bet after you try this recipe for yourself you will be too!

The way I’m showing you how to do this today is in it’s simplest form. You seriously just toss all the ingredients you see in the picture into a slow cooker, or heat it up in a pan on the stove.

I often double the recipe or just add another brick of cream cheese to stretch it a little, depending on how many people we’re hosting.

This has been my go-to potluck appetizer for the past year, so I’m super excited to share this with you finally!

I’ve found the difference between making this with the store brand or name brand ingredients to be so minimal that I don’t bother spending the extra change on the “good stuff”. Whatever is cheaper at the time works just fine. Stock up a little on these ingredients when they are on sale and you’ll be even better off!

This recipe is easy to tweak to use whatever you have on hand. Sometimes I like to dice real tomatoes and onions, other times I only use canned tomatoes with onions. You can’t mess this one up, I’m sure of it!

The most hearty way we like to make this dip is with a few big scoops of ground hamburger from the meat locker, and some diced tomatoes and onions from the garden. It’s a summertime favorite that is so filling we sometimes just all it supper! Let’s be honest, the delicious really starts with a warm pot of cheese. mmm-mm-mmm!

Cost Break Down (for my fellow math geeks):

$1/box of Cream Cheese (recipe calls for 2)

$2/brick of Cheese

$1/can of tomatoes

$2/bag of Chips

You can serve a crock pot of warm gooey cheese dip + chips to a crowd for about $6! Cost effective, simple, and yummy! That’s a win in my book!

Sweet Sundays

December 30, 2018 by Quin Leave a Comment

I forgot to hit publish on this one over a month ago!

I’m savoring sweet sweet Sundays with my girls. ❤ Since the sewing machine was still out from last week when my 11yr old son begged to stitch up his favorite sweatpants -bless his frugal heart-, we bought some fabric and started on birthday + Christmas gifts. I thought my plate was too full and I couldn’t take on even an hour of this, but as it turns out, this is just what I needed to feel refreshed. It also helps that I did 8 loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen and floors this morning. Once the momentum starts, it doesn’t stop quickly.
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My 32-year old hands love to create and my wandering heart is so happy each time I get another craft-like project started. Lately, I’ve been too busy for creating and it has sucked the joy right out of my journey. No more of that! <- I said out loud. I have to learn to prioritize what matters, and moments like these with my children matter a whole lot.
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There’s just something about your oldest child getting a driver’s license that just makes you realize how short a childhood really is.
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Moms + Dads, don’t waste it, don’t wish it away. Savor it all. ❤ Do the messy stuff, do the things that take a long time, and do the things they ask to do over and over before they stop asking at all.

If only I could go back in time, I think I’d live a few years of my life in a much different way and with greater persistence. Nevertheless, I’m here, and it’s here and now that I’m listening and creating.

The Most Greatest.Gift.Ever

December 14, 2017 by Quin Leave a Comment

As I held the phone in my hand talking to the receptionist and looking at my calendar I held my breath and tried not to let my worry show through the phone lines when she gave me the next available appointment date.

My words said “Great, I’ll take it, thank you”, but my heart said, “Oh no! Why so long!”

We’ve shared with our family and many of our friends, now we want to share with all of you too. About 3 months ago I scheduled my youngest daughter’s routine appointment with her cardiologist. We can typically get in to see him within 2 weeks, but because of some unforeseen circumstances, their calendar was booked out quite a ways.

I hung up the phone and sat down and prayed. The baby was crying, the big kids wanted me, but I needed Jesus so badly in that moment that I just paused and prayed, or I would’ve been bawling too.

I cried out to God and told Him I was SO.WORRIED. I couldn’t imagine waiting 3 months to get in. Even though it was a routine appointment, I like to have the most up-to-date facts, and I wanted them right then. It’s so hard for me to give up control. I begged God to take away the worry since there wasn’t a thing I could do about the wait.

A couple weeks later we visited our favorite pumpkin patch and our kiddos got a bounce house all to themselves while there was a lull in visitors. Best day ever for any kid, right?! Well, you see, our sweet girl NEVER gets to go in bounce houses, because it’s hard for her to keep up with the other kids, and you know, all those stinkin’ germs. So it really was a dream come true for her to bounce alongside of her big brother and sister. She STILL talks about it, months later!

The bad part:

Later that evening and for the next several days she just sat, completely exhausted. She had bounced and bounced until she couldn’t bounce anymore, and now she was paying for it. She didn’t run and play, she didn’t get excited over anything, she was just so calm, but almost seemed limp and pale. She asked to be held and kept her hand near her chest feeling her heartbeat and asking me to feel it often too. It broke my heart.

As much as I want my kids to stand out for their greatnesses, I don’t want them to stand out for their weaknesses. I don’t want anything to slow them down or hinder them from reaching the desires of their hearts.

I knew we couldn’t get into her heart doctor, and even so, what would they be able to do? We prayed.

Fast forward to just last week… It’s late, I’m in bed nearly asleep and Mr. Awesome comes in and asks what time we need to leave for the cardiologist appointment the next day. “What? THAT’S TOMORROW?”

If you know me at all you know I am a planner. I should’ve had outfits laid out, snacks packed, and water bottles filled and activities to keep us busy while we waited. I have calendars and reminders everywhere, and I had somehow (through the grace of God) forgot all about this!

I am so grateful that the weight of the worry was removed so I could just enjoy the days and months leading up to the appointment, rather than looking for all the signs that something was wrong like I had done in the past.

At the doctor’s office what I expected to hear were the words we often hear and are grateful for: “No change, but we will see you in a year”. That’s been fairly typical since we graduated off of every 3-6 month appointments. It sure beats hearing that things are worse.

What we actually heard was something like this: “I am going to dismiss you as a patient, as far as I’m concerned, you are healed”.

What?! Seriously God? You did that? For our sweet girl? For us?

THAT was the new best.day.ever. And I think it may take quite a while for anything to top that.

What the doctor explained typically could heal itself around the age of 15, had healed at age 5! FIVE! I feel like 10 years of waiting and worrying were wiped clean!

Now it doesn’t mean her condition has totally disappeared, but it as not anywhere near a place that surgery would be considered a necessity, which we had thought at one point as we held her in his office when she was an infant.

She’s to go on and enjoy life. No problem, enjoying life is what this girl does!

Friends, I have said I’m giving things to God before, but I can be a bit of a control-freak and take it right back. This time, I gave it, I trusted Him, and I didn’t turn back.

What a gift it was to follow through, and to feel His blessings poured out on us.

We explained what all the doctor talk meant, and asked our girl how she wanted to celebrate, letting her know that ANYTHING was game. Her choice, MCDONALDS for the “expensive ice cream”. Oh, my heart! I love her to pieces!

By the way, McDonald’s online ordering through their mobile app is amazing. Even though we ate inside this time, picking out everyone’s choices from the privacy of our van using the app, is simple, and simply amazing! No more wishy-washy time spent at the drive-thru window or in front of the counter while others wait for our kids (or us) to make a perfect choice of a meal. Bonus: I’ve discovered menu items on the app that I hadn’t ever seen on the physical menu before.

You know we love to Celebrate Absolutely Everything, but this thing, this sweet and glorious thing, really deserved celebrating.

Please, celebrate with us and head out for ice cream soon. You can tag us on Facebook or Instagram, and use our hashtag #CelebrateAbsolutelyEverything.

Easy Super Bowl Snack Mix: Cute Last Minute Party Idea

February 3, 2017 by Quin Leave a Comment

Need a last minute snack idea for the super bowl, but short on time, or maybe ambition? I’m guilty of both this year! Well then give this little shortcut a try!

It’s still creative and cute, and will impress your guests, but you won’t have to go to much fuss at all. Yeah! That’s just my style!

What you need:

Zip-Top Style Snack or Sandwich Baggies
Party Snack Mix (I picked up a couple of bags at ALDI for $1.99 each, they were delicious and just like the name brand)
Ribbon, String, Yarn, or Twine. Just something to tie the tags on.
Card Stock & a Printer.
Hole Punch & a Scissors.

Not that you even need directions for this, but let me provide them real quick anyway.

First I dumped two bags of the party mix into a big bowl.

Then I measured 1 cup of mix into each baggie. I should’ve used snack sized bags, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I used sandwich bags, zipped them, folded them in half, and put a small piece of tape on the back side to make it appear like it was totally intentional.

I made up these little tags (that you can download below), & cut them down to size with my favorite paper cutter (a scissors would absolutely work too).

Then I hole-punched them, and used the ribbon I had on hand to tie them onto the bags. To be sure they didn’t slip off I added another small piece of tape to hold the ribbon onto the bag. If you’re keeping them at your house on a platter or in a bowl, you could totally omit that last step. We were taking some of ours to a bake sale, so I wanted to be sure the tags stayed on during transporting.

There are two sets of tags, one with allergy information, and one without. Free for you to use for personal use only. If you’d like to share this idea, please link back to my post here. ENJOY!

Super Bowl Snack Mix ASBW

Super Bowl Snack Mix With Allergy Alert ASBW

What is Making YOU Smile Today?

January 31, 2017 by Quin Leave a Comment

~What is Making YOU Smile Today?~

Last week I shared this image on my Facebook Page:

With the caption:

Is there anything more glorious than a brick of new pencils? Yes there is, getting to sharpen them! I’m a self-proclaimed office supply addict, so I get that you all may not be as excited as I am over this sight. I’m sharing anyway, because new pencils make me smile!

If you find yourself in need of 144 #2 pencils, click that link above and order yourself a box!

For 15 years I have thought the only pencils that performed well were the expensive name brand pencils that the popular kids carried in their book bags in high school. I was wrong. These are just as good!

I definitely think there are some cheap pencils out there that do not write as smooth, or show up as well on paper, but I can assure you you will not be disappointed by these.

I believe life is about Celebrating Absolutely Everything. For me, that means I am smiling and finding joy in a brick of new pencils. Yes it’s no big deal, I get that, really I’m not some crazy that thinks everything is perfect and life is a breeze. I choose JOY though, because it’s a whole lot better than the alternative.

Dear Friends, would you please choose joy also? It would mean so much to me!

Blog Reader Preview: I have a new website that will very slowly be launching (life is busy), and it will be all about celebrating the mundane moments of life. Start looking at the ordinary as an opportunity to seek joy, and be on the look out for a place to share that joy here soon!

Happy Birthday, Dorothy. Life is Hard.

January 20, 2017 by Quin Leave a Comment

My mother-in-law has been with Jesus for almost 9 years. Cancer took her all too soon. In August of 2007 we welcomed our first son into this world, within a week she and my father-in-law told us that the doctors had discovered she had cancer. It was in her colon and pancreas.

What? I thought we were celebrating new life? How could it be that her life was being threatened at such a joyous time in ours? I couldn’t process it and slipped into a phase of depression. On the outside most people probably thought I was fine, but I most certainly wasn’t and it took me a little too long to realize it.

Never once did anyone say she wasn’t going to pull through it. We thought it was caught early enough, we thought a little chemo would do the trick. We were wrong. Lots of treatments and a surgery later, she was laying in ICU for 3 weeks, taking her last breaths.

Today would’ve been her 76th birthday. I don’t know how we would’ve celebrated, but I do know we would’ve done it together. All the siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, kids, grand kids, everyone. We would’ve been together, and that’s all that would’ve mattered.

Each year when January 20th rolls around we still choose to celebrate her birthday. We don’t have to, we could sit in puddles instead, still pissed that life isn’t fair, but we just can’t do that to each other, or to ourselves.

We miss her like crazy. We miss reading the sales flyers with her while swiveling in the chairs on the porch, we miss her frying bacon for BLTs, we miss her voice, her laugh, her mannerisms.

Sometimes I even miss the dumb arguments we’d get in over things that didn’t matter at all. She could get so fired up over the little details, and so could I.

This afternoon one of my big brothers dropped off a package of double stuffed chocolate chip sandwich cookies, from the local bakery. We celebrate big, so we added them on the side of our already enormous banana splits.

We sang, we shared memories, and that was that. We can’t stay in the sad places. We can visit them briefly, and I believe we should, but we cannot stay there.
Friends, I know life is hard at times. I haven’t even ever shared my greatest struggles here, because they’re still just too hard to relive. But believe me when I say I GET IT.

You guys, sometimes it’s so hard that all you want to do is cry and honestly give up. But don’t! Oh please, don’t. Because somewhere, sometimes years down the road, sometimes only a day away, you can make the choice to celebrate.

I am celebrating that I believe my beloved mother-in-law is resting safely, completely healed, in the arms of Jesus. I cannot even begin to imagine what a feeling it is to be safe with Him.
Life is hard sometimes, but there are moments when it’s out-of-this-world beautiful too. Like when you’re sitting around the table with your great big family scarfing down deluxe banana splits and feeling so blessed that your heart could just burst right open.
Whatever tough season you’re in, hang in there. It will get easier. I don’t know when, there’s no magic time frame, but I know that it will.
Might I suggest that you find something to celebrate? Honestly, my greatest secret to happiness is always keeping something on the calendar that I have to look forward to.

xoxoxox,

Quincey B.

Go For Broke Day, I’m All In

April 6, 2016 by Quin Leave a Comment

I’m a huge fan of bizarre holidays. I look for a way to celebrate or put a theme to whatever I can. I have so many dates to celebrate marked on my calendar it’s ridiculous… and awesome.

Did you know that today is “Go For Broke Day”? It’s a day where you put it all out there, and take a risk. I’m sure this occasion is a fun one to celebrate amongst the gambling crowd, “ALL IN!”, but why not relate it to other areas too?

What might that look like?

So if I’m going to “Go For Broke” with my children, it might mean:

I listen to every second of every far-fetched story that my son tells me.
I might give in to the request of reading the Elmo book for the 5^th time today.
I may declare it a dessert night and whip up some banana splits after supper.
Singing an extra verse or two of Amazing Grace at bedtime.
Being extra patient.
Playing on the floor and giggling along with the kiddos as we make silly animal sounds and crawl around like chickens.
Writing each child a note or coloring a picture, then tucking it next to their bed for them to find in the morning.

What if I “Go For Broke” in my marriage?

Listen closely. Not just listen and respond, but really try to HEAR what my husband is saying, and what he isn’t saying. Taking extra time to understanding his side of things and appreciate his perspective.

Fix a nice dinner that I know my husband will love, rather than frantically just landing something that was once frozen onto the center of the table at 6pm and calling it good- all while I yell at the top of my lungs to get everyone in the room and sitting down at the same time to quietly say grace together. Don’t judge, these homeschooling days are long. Even though I’m home all day, I am often more exhausted by 5 pm than when I worked outside the home (It’s not even the kids necessarily, I’m just more charged up by big crowds).

Tidy up all the miscellaneous things that have been put into our bedroom but don’t belong there (I’m notorious for this scenario, and maybe you are too? Company is coming so I fill a laundry basket with random stuff from around the house. Shove it in the bedroom and shut the door. Company leaves, I do nothing about the basket. Oops, laundry is done and I need a basket, dump that basket of stuff on the dresser and never put it away). So this day I think I’ll create a romantic oasis- or I mean at least a clutter free bedroom zone. Who am I kidding? I’m probably just going to throw half that stuff away because it’s easier and probably mostly outdated at this point, but hey it will actually look a little better.
Be excited about what he’s excited about. I really have no idea what that is right now, maybe something to do with a basketball game, and a property project at church? I’ll ask him.
Pray fervently about my husband’s health and what concerns him.
Love fiercely.

Going “All In” as a friend:

Taking a little time to text friends and check in with them, maybe set up coffee dates for next week.
Offering to bring a meal to a friend, or babysit for a couple hours.

I know these all sound like baby steps, but you all know it’s been a demanding season here lately and this is just where I am and what I can do today to be “all in”. I’m totally okay with this, and I hope that wherever you are right now, that you’re okay in that season too.

Tea & Crumpets, or Whatever

March 18, 2016 by Quin Leave a Comment

It’s a Tea & crumpets kind of day. Well okay, here it’s more like water and donuts.

I just wanted to give you another visual of my favorite soapbox, which is: “Do what works for you”.

God created us each unique with our own gifts, talents, and interests.

You do you, I’ll do me. Together we’ll praise Jesus.

In short, this little saying means to me that although we are different, that doesn’t need to separate us. We can all praise Jesus for His perfect design within our lives and the gift of friendship despite diversities.

I have a wide community of homeschooling mom friends both in real life, and online. I love each of them for their uniqueness and can learn something from every one of them.

Many of my HS momma friends do a tea time with their children and I really truly admire it. It makes me smile to see the pictures they post of the read aloud they’re doing, and the fancy tea cups they’re sipping from.

I don’t beat myself up feeling envious or like I need to do better because I’m serving store bought donuts on the dishes I bought for myself at Target. I’m okay with serving water when I’m not in the mood to fix tea (yes, I do know how easy it is to make).

I have a teenager now (along with an 8yr old and a toddler), and I understand that this sort of contentment I feel has come with age and experience, and above all, from Jesus.

I’ve had to pray for God to help my heart and mind find places where I can feel satisfied and content.

It’s my prayer that each of you may also feel satisfied wherever you are, and that you’d only feel the nudge to self-reflect and change if it comes from God alone. Not from your Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest feeds, but only from Christ.

Be blessed my friends, and have a beautiful weekend!

My Top 3 Thoughts on Christmas Morning 2015

December 25, 2015 by Quin Leave a Comment

As we gathered around the tree to open presents, I was left with 3 strong thoughts in my head. This is the first year we have commercialized Christmas in our home in many years. If you’ve been around a while or follow me on Social Media, you know I love Jesus and celebrating Christmas for two big reasons- First, for the miraculous birth of Jesus and the humbleness that it brings my heart, and Second for the beautiful twinkling lights all over the place. I love me some glitz.

Each year we explain to our kids how it isn’t about the gifts, and we focus fully on celebrating God and talking scripture. They’ve never begged for a gift or whined about it even once, they’ve just known that’s how we do it.

Personally, I’ve truly hated the way the stores commercialize and capitalize on this holiday.

Then I prayed for a change of heart, because every shopping trip since Halloween has left me bitter. I wanted to enjoy this Christmas the way everyone else seemed to.

So we still talked scripture, we still explained what this day was about, but to be honest, I kind of felt like I was screwing my kids out of the kind of Christmas morning I remember as a kid. I remember waiting for Santa, being fully surprised by my gifts, and playing with whatever I got all year long. There’s just something extra special about the gifts that were opened on Christmas morning versus gifts opened any other time of year.

My top 3 thoughts after opening gifts.

1. Everyone needs a 3 year old in their house on Christmas morning. There were SO many great big bear hugs, so many THANK YOUs shouted, and so much excitement. The gratitude was genuine, folks.

2. 8 year old boys LOVE toys from the dollar store. Although I cringed as a mama because I was buying cheap toys knowing they wouldn’t last long, the excitement as he opened the gifts and the hours of play afterwards made it so worth it. Cheap dress up armor has been his favorite thing for years. He is the son of a warrior after all.

3. Once you have a teen in your house it is totally acceptable to hang prepaid phone cards from the tree as an ornament. It makes for the most practical gift and you can visibly see the burden lifted off their shoulders as they realize it’s another 3 months of cell phone charges they won’t have to pay for themselves. My teen’s second favorite gift may have been cotton candy. Don’t worry, she got many other amazing gifts, she’s just a simple girl like her mama and loves the ‘little things’.

You wouldn’t believe the things I bought in the name of Christmas this year. From homeschooling manipulatives to toys, to electronics, to skateboards, and more, I did alright. This year I didn’t feel like I ripped my kids off, OR Jesus. This year, I feel like I finally found some Christmas-season balance as a Christian wife and mom.

This year, I am grateful for the simple things like always, but now I am even able to be grateful for the big things too. All because I asked God to change my heart, and He did.

Giving materialistic things on Christmas can feel good, even as a Christian. In fact I think especially as a Christian. We are blessed so that we may be a blessing.

I’m beginning to understand a tad of the commercialism (only just a tad though).

I’m praying that you too are finding a balance this Christmas season.

Ps. We didn’t make our traditional sugar cookies for the first time in over 10 years, and I don’t even feel guilty about wiping that off my slate. We all survived just fine! My SIL brought some to Christmas at my father-in-law’s house, so that did help fill the void a little bit.

Too Many Words Wednesday: Christmas 2015

December 16, 2015 by Quin Leave a Comment

I know the holidays are beautiful and fun and meaningful, as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Christmas. I’m seeing “It” everywhere; the modern day Christmas cheer. My social media feeds show me perfectly decorated homes, happy moms baking with their kids, husbands buying their wives jewelry, big families gathered around the immaculately adorned tables, friends buying expensive and thoughtful gifts for each other, and the list goes on.

I’m not denying that this cheer is real. I’m just saying we may play it up to be a little bit more ‘perfect’ than it really is.

When I think of the mom snapping a picture of her magazine worthy Christmas tree with matching ornaments and garland (not a sentimental childhood ornament to be found), I have to wonder how many times she hollered at her little children to not touch her masterpiece. I’m not sure, the posts never say, and I don’t dare ask!

Full disclaimer: If I “nail it” with something this Christmas, whether it be perfect cookies, well dressed kids, whatever, I am going to post it. I’m sorry. Please don’t think that whatever I post is the whole story.

Example: Last weekend as we were getting ready for the Christmas program, my youngest insisted she was going to wear a puffy white tutu and her black yoga pants. I insisted she wasn’t. After some tears we compromised and she was able to wear it under her dress that I picked out. You can’t tell it in the pictures we snapped, but I promise you it’s there.

The internet doesn’t always tell you the whole story. I know you moms already know this, I just think it’s worth being reminded of.

That doesn’t mean everyone is a fraud, it just means they aren’t as prefect as you’re imagining them to be, so don’t be so down on yourself!

I decided not to put up my BIG Christmas tree this year. I told my husband it was just too much for me right now. We have a pre-lit 5 foot tree that is taking its place, and although it isn’t as big and beautiful as our original tree, it’s doing the trick. I feel joy when I look at it, and that’s what I’m searching for this Christmas; for JOY.

It’s just that other tree is SO BIG. There’s no denying that it’s beautiful, but I feel like it’s all for show. It takes SO much work to set it up, it takes up so much space, and when two different people asked if I was going to put it in my window again, I knew I just couldn’t do it. That’s not what this season is about to me. It’s about Jesus, and I get the way other people are honoring Him with their amazing trees and perfect homes, but that’s not how I’m doing it.

That doesn’t mean I’m right, or they’re right. It’s just how it is.

I know it’s easy to feel sad and depressed this time of year over absolutely anything and the reasons aren’t silly or unjustified; the loss of a loved one, family quarrels, money, too many people to buy for, no one to buy for, etc.

That first Christmas after my MIL passed away was R.O.U.G.H. It’s gotten easier, but my heart still breaks a little each time I see my husband missing his mom and her traditions.

Each gathering as we peel potatoes we laugh about his mom shoving 20 lbs of potato peels down the garbage disposal and needing to send a couple guys to go buy a clean plunger to unplug the sink. The house was full of about 20 people waiting to eat. Oh we laugh and laugh about it, and then we go silent and tear up.

To each of you who are hurting at Christmas, I want you to know that I’m praying you find a way to experience a cheerful heart. I am praying that God shows you JOY. I’m praying for a renewed spirit around what this season is all about. I’m praying you don’t feel alone, especially when you’re surrounded by people.

Please don’t feel like you have to out do anyone, or even yourself. If you need to take a time out, do it. If you need to buy your cookies rather than bake them, do it. If you don’t love doing crafts with your kids, don’t do it.

Do what works for you, and know that may not work for everyone.

Love,

Quincey B.

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