Pass the Cookbook Club, Month 1

Facebook has become just a fun way for me to stay connected..I can keep up with my friends, my family, the latest coupons, and now I can have a virtual bookclub that ties together my two favorite things..Reading and cooking.. I follow along Pass the Sushi, and she recently decided that she wanted to dust off some of her old cookbooks and get cooking..Luckily, she picked Pioneer Woman first..I cook out of both her cookbooks a lot..In fact, I have been following her blog for years and probably wouldn't be able to cook at all if not for her.. I decided on Potatoes Au Gratin..I had made them once before.. I went back and baked the potatoes about 20 minutes longer, because they just weren't soft enough for me..

A Year in Review: 2012

2013, here you are...2012 has been good to us...James's practice continues to grow and we became homeowners.  Kylie went into the gifted program this year and just turned 9 years old on Dec. 4th. We celebrated with a dance party at The Pub with 9 school friends, her sister, grandmother, and dad. We all had a good time other than I was terribly sick with yet diagnosed pneumonia. The holidays were wonderful, but bittersweet since my step-dad had recently been diagnosed with cancer. He waited until after the holidays to let me know that he has decided to stop treatment.

2012 also brought us a baby boom. A trio of unexpected babies and one expected. Kylie became a big sister again. My cousin Brett and his wife had baby number two, and my cousin Jason welcomed his first child with Ally who has become a dear friend. Brett's baby sister celebrated 5 years of marriage and learned she would be welcoming a baby this month. We are beyond blessed with bouncing baby cousins.

We celebrated New Year's with two parties at friend's houses. It was a fun and intimate New Year's with lots of music and laughter.

I am hopeful that 2013 will be as happy as 2012. I am going to try and be more sociable this year. I would like to work on getting this weight off this year, and I think I want to learn to sew and maybe take up quilting.

Love and blessings to all.