Joy Leanne

This is one of those blog posts that has been rolling around in my head all day. It has taken on many forms and types of content. My original post was about the fun and relaxing things I did on Saturday. And then things went horrible wrong. I was tempted to go ahead with the happy go lucky post, but then I paused. I was having a conversation earlier this week with some friends about the pitfall of blogging or really having any online presence It is so easy to present just a slice of life. The part that we choose for others to see. Because of that it is so very easy to project a the idea that we have it all together. That everything in our life is perfect and we have it all together. I don't think most bloggers do this intentional I think it's a byproduct of choices we make. I personally chose to share the positive things in my life. I do this for two reasons. 1) No one wants to read a blog, follow some one on facebook, or subscribe to a twitter feed of a cranky person. 2) I hav...

Josh and I love to eat. Probably a bit to much to be honest. We have a few favorite chain restaurants but what we really love is local places. On our recent trip to Williamsburg we staid at a nice hotel walking distance from down town Williamsburg. Our first night there we decided to walk to dinner despite the rain. We took the big umbrella and at first it wasn't that bad. As the rain picked up and the hour got later we got desperate though so we ducked into the closest place. One look at the menu was enough to send me running. Non of the food looked familiar and frankly the prices scared me. But Josh talked me into stay and we had some amazing food!! Our yummy bread platter with cornbread, pretzel bread and herb bread paired with three dipping sauces. So yummy! Duck breast with mushroom bread pudding and some other stuff. (Real descriptive I know!) I hate mushrooms and even I had to admit the the bread pudding was amazing.  My pork shank ossobucco  with whipped p...

Last week after getting home from my parents house I was feel the desperate need to be creative.  Since the house was a mess and my to-do list was a mile long I opted for a very simple project and whipped up some sugar scrub.  My original plan was to make lemonade sugar scrub but a few things got in the way. First off I bought organic raw sugar because I love the texture. However that mixed with the olive oil and it was impossible to get a white or yellow mixture. I ended up with brown. I also really wanted to use the lemon rind but since my blender and food processor are broken I couldn't pulverize the whole rind and was only able to use the zest I got with my fine grater. The scent wasn't quite strong enough for my liking so I added almond and vanilla extract and ended up with...... Lemon Short Bread Sugar Scrub! I finally tried it out today and loved it. Just the right about of scrub and left my skin smooth and not oily. Perfect!! If any one is interested in trying here is ...

We got back in town from vacation late Sunday night and jumped back into life first thing Monday morning. Yesterday was actually my first day back into regular routine since the miscarriage. It actually went smoother than I expected. I spent the morning do laundry, grocery shopping, and dealing with FAMIS and Medicaid over the phone and through faxes. Surprisingly it went rather smoothly and every one I talked to was very kind and helpful. In the afternoon I engaged in some serious kitchen therapy. Cooking, baking, bread making, even decorating my Kitchen aide mixer! Nothing soothes me quite like the kitchen. One of the things I made was buffalo chicken hot pockets. I normally use this as a left over re-purpose, but Josh asked for them so I went a head and made the dip and bread solely for this purpose. I've had a couple people ask about it so I thought I would share the recipie here. Filling Ingredients: 1 can chicken (large size) (This is the first place you can use left overs. ...