Link Party #44

Tips and Tricks Link Party is LIVE!

There really are some super creative people out there!  Here's just a little snap shot of all the links that were shared last week.  Take a little time to check out the Most Clicked and all the Host Favorites.

Features:

Most Clicked: Mrs Claus Upcycle Tray by Coconut Heads Survival Guide

1. Heather (Frugal Mom of 8) - Rockin' Cardinal by Crafty Journal

2. Jessica (My Life By Jess) - Mini Gingerbread Baking Ornament by Tikkido

3. Patti (Garden Matter) - Deep Dish Cherry Pie by Pint Sized Baker

4. Kathleen (Fearlessly Creative Mammas) - Felt Lined Fabric Bags by Keeping it Real

5. Krysta (KrystaSteen.com) - Maple Banana Baked Oatmeal by Cooking with Carlee

6. Gabby (Not 2 Shabby Gabby) - Chocolate Chipties by Chris Sweet Mornings

7. Heather (Stringtown Home) - Mrs Claus Upcycle Tray by Coconut Heads Survival Guide

8. Lisa (Drugstore Divas) - Sushi Baby Shower Gift by Made in a Day

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If you were featured, brag about it! Grab the button below!

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<a href="http://fearlesslycreativemammas.com" title="Fearlessly Creative Mammas"><img src="http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/heatherfillyawgraham/i%20was%20featured%20on%20tips%20amp%20tricks%20button_zpshsrgakv6.jpg" alt="Fearlessly Creative Mammas" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
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Now it's time to link up for this weeks party!  Even if you don't have a blog post to share, take a look at all the ones others are sharing.  You could come across a really great gift idea, favorite new recipe or just make someones day by letting them know how much you enjoyed the work they put into their blog.

Happy Looking!!

An InLinkz Link-up

It's WHAT day?! And Some FB Drawings Coming Your Way!

Can you believe it's already the LAST day of November?! I mean.... where has the time gone?!

Before I go any farther I want to make sure you know about this.  My Cyber Monday gift to you!  This is a great opportunity to get a few things on you gift list taken care of and pamper yourself at the same time.  If you are one of my members, just simply go to your myshaklee site and shop.  If you don't have a membership, go to my site and start shopping.  Want to save on membership?  Contact me and I can help you - I know lots of ways to get your membership FREE.  This offer ends TONIGHT, though.

As you know, tomorrow is the first day of December.  I hadn't planned on doing much for the holidays since we were planning to be out of our home no later than the 10th.  I hadn't even planned on doing any decorating.  Well..... that's not how things are working out. {bummer}

Since plans have changed, I got the Christmas tree out and put up today.  The kids and I will work on getting it decorated one evening this week.  {I'll share when it's finished.} Little by little, I'll work on getting a few holiday items set up around the house, too.  It can be a little odd working out a balance of holiday decorating and keeping a 'show ready house' - but, I'm sure I'll manage.

I also decided to have some fun on my Facebook page and I wanted to give a little heads up from the blog.  Hopefully, the fun will help bring on the Christmas cheer.  Right now it's more like the Grinch is in residency around here.

So...

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to have drawings for freebies - products, a book or two, maybe even a gift card.   The more participation, the more days this can be done.  If you want to be able to participate, make sure you go on my Facebook page and like it.  Make sure you also set it up to get notifications or else Facebook won't let my posts show up for you to see.  Very important step!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this little experiment goes.  I love sharing with you all and have enjoyed getting to 'meet' more an more people through my work and time online.  This is going to be just a little way for me to say 'Merry Christmas' and 'Thank You' for following me and letting me share just a little part of your life.

Cheers!

**I'll be posting our Link Party #44 a little later tonight when it goes live at 8 o'clock.  

Link Party #43

Here's this week's party info!  Keep all the links coming - so much fun seeing what everyone is doing.  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week and we'll see you back here next week for our next party!

Features:

Most Clicked: Holiday Gift Guide from Logan Can

1. Jessica (My Life By Jess) - Baked Apple Cheesecake from Lou Lou Girls

2. Krysta (KrystaSteen.com) - The Most Popular Party Appetizer from Crazy Organized

3. Kathleen & Heather (Fearlessly Creative Mammas) - DIY Double Sided Holiday Blocks from Home Crafts by Ali

4. Patti (Garden Matter) - Plaid Holiday FREE Printable Gift Tags from Made in a Day

5. Heather (Stringtown Home) - Cottage Style Coffee Table Makeover from Sweet Pea

6. Gabby (Not 2 Shabby Gabby) - Homemade Toffee Candy from Pint Sized Baker

7. Lisa (Drugstore Divas) - Easy Holiday Gift Clips from FrugElegance

8. Heather (Frugal Mom of 8) - 10 Minute Tidy Tuesday: Messy Kitchen from Arm Chair Decorator

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<a href="http://fearlesslycreativemammas.com" title="Fearlessly Creative Mammas"><img src="http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/heatherfillyawgraham/tips%20amp%20tricks%20linky%20party%20button_zps2bfzy3mb.jpg" alt="Fearlessly Creative Mammas" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

If you were featured brag about it! Grab the button below! 

<div align="center">
<a href="http://fearlesslycreativemammas.com" title="Fearlessly Creative Mammas"><img src="http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/heatherfillyawgraham/i%20was%20featured%20on%20tips%20amp%20tricks%20button_zpshsrgakv6.jpg" alt="Fearlessly Creative Mammas" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

Link Party #42

Features: 

Most Clicked: 

DIY Coasters from The Crazy Organized Blog 

2:Heather G. (Stringtown Home): Rag Ruffle Pillow Cover From Redo it Yourself Inspirations  

3: Krysta (Krysta Steen): Super Soft Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies From Sweet Little Ones Blog 

4: Heather D (Frugal Mom of 8): Take Note Music is Great for your Health from The Health Minded

5: Patti (Garden Matter): DIY White Christmas House from Momcrieff 

6: Lisa (Drugstore Divas): Ice Cream Cone Cake Pops from Pint Sized Baker

7:  Jessica (My Life by Jessica Wise): Easy Buckeye Candies from Pint Sized Baker

8: Heather and Kathleen (Fearlessly Creative Mammas): 9 Mason Jar Dessert Recipes from Dreaming of Leaving  

9: Gabby (Not 2 Shabby Gabby): 35+ Holiday Swap Worthy Cookie Recipes from Dreaming of Leaving 

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<a href="http://fearlesslycreativemammas.com" title="Fearlessly Creative Mammas"><img src="http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/heatherfillyawgraham/tips%20amp%20tricks%20linky%20party%20button_zps2bfzy3mb.jpg" alt="Fearlessly Creative Mammas" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

If you were featured brag about it! Grab the button below! 

<div align="center">
<a href="http://fearlesslycreativemammas.com" title="Fearlessly Creative Mammas"><img src="http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/heatherfillyawgraham/i%20was%20featured%20on%20tips%20amp%20tricks%20button_zpshsrgakv6.jpg" alt="Fearlessly Creative Mammas" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

Veteran's Day

A HUGE 'Thank You' to all our service men and women past, present and future.

Link Party 41

It's that time again! While I'm out traveling and turning my brain to mush, there's a link party going on here on the blog.

 Last week was a lot of fun with a lot of diverse posts.  Here's a quick recap for you!

Most Clicked:

Fall Home Tour from Intelligent Domestications

Features:

Heather and Kathleen (Fearlessly Creative Mammas): Pumpkin Sin Dip from Lambert's Lately

Krysta (Krysta Steen) : Bacon Balsamic Asparagus Pot Pie from Melissa Kaylene

Heather G. (Stringtown Home): Mason Jar Candle Box from Karen's Upon the Hill

Gabby (Not 2 Shabby Gabby): Cheesy Italian Meatballs from Fearlessly Creative Mammas

Jessica (My Life by Jessica Wise): Paul's Pumpkin Bars from Momcrieff

Lisa (Drugstore Divas): Dutch Apple Pie Cupcakes from Lou Lou Girls

Heather D (Frugal Mom of 8): 10 Gifts for Health Minded Hostesses from The Health Minded

Patti (Garden Matter): Fall Printable Coloring Pages from Flower Patch Farm House

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<a href="http://fearlesslycreativemammas.com" title="Fearlessly Creative Mammas"><img src="http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/heatherfillyawgraham/tips%20amp%20tricks%20linky%20party%20button_zps2bfzy3mb.jpg" alt="Fearlessly Creative Mammas" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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<a href="http://fearlesslycreativemammas.com" title="Fearlessly Creative Mammas"><img src="http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh572/heatherfillyawgraham/i%20was%20featured%20on%20tips%20amp%20tricks%20button_zpshsrgakv6.jpg" alt="Fearlessly Creative Mammas" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 Go ahead and look at all the great shares and enjoy some really creative, yummy and interesting blog post shares.  Make sure you let others know you visited and enjoyed what you saw.  (We all like to have a nice pat on the back every so often.)  Enjoy!  I'll see you back here next week to tell you all the favorites and most clicked.

An InLinkz Link-up

Have You Heard the News?!

Things have been mighty crazy around here the past couple of months. Wanna know why......?

Our family is headed to Texas at the end of the year!!

It's a crazy, bittersweet feeling for us.  We have absolutely LOVED our time here in Saint Louis (even with all the medical stuff we had to deal with).  Great friends have been made, fun has been had, and wonderful memories abound.

Right now is just another point in our lives for change - and that's okay.

This all started about two months ago.  Kevin has been doing a lot of flying back and forth trying to hand over his current position and learning what is expected of him in the new.  I've been busy getting junk treasure cleared out of the basement, excess trash thrown away, and readying our house to put up for sale.

Thankfully, all the hard work has paid off and our home sold in 3 days!  Such a blessing!

Now we are moving quickly to get our new home lined up and ready for us to settle in just before Christmas.  We've looked at a lot (okay, that should be highly emphasized) of homes online.  Soon we will be able to see them in person and hopefully find one that will work well for our family.  A lower mortgage payment would be nice, too.

I won't lie - this will be one of the hardest moves for us.  Being in one place for seven years allowed us to grow some roots and make some really deep connections with friends.  The kids being older is also a huge factor, too.  Change is harder when you are 12 and 10 years old as oppose to 5 and 3.  They will adjust, though.  And, thankfully, there is FaceTime, texting and Facebook available to keep connected.

So...... that just a bit about sums it up.

I'll let you know how things go!

Creamy Potato Soup

Yesterday was just rainy and dreary and plain yuck!  All I want on days like these is a bowl of something warm and comforting.  I found this potato soup recipe a couple years ago and really enjoyed it.  Since then I have tweaked it to fit my cooking and our tastes.  Several of my friends have asked me to get the recipe on the blog, so here it is.

Creamy Potato Soup 

1 T + 1 tsp Bacon grease *

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 tsp minced garlic

3 T all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 14.5 oz cans chicken broth

3 or 4 Yukon Gold Potatoes, cubed**

1 C half-and-half cream


Extras

Hot Sauce

Shredded Cheese

Crumbled Bacon



Directions:

1.  Combine flour, salt, basil and pepper in small bowl and set to the side.

2.  Saute onion and garlic in bacon grease in large pan until onions are tender and almost translucent.

3.  Add flour mixture and stir well.  Let this cook for just a short amount of time until you have almost a 'nutty' aroma.

4.  Gradually add chicken broth stirring well to keep flour from clumping.

5.  Add cubed potatoes.

6.  Bring to a low boil.  Cover and boil for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are fork tender.

7.  Stir in half-and-half.

Top with shredded cheese and crumbled bacon for extra yummy flavor.  (Yeah, added fat, too.)  Serve it up and enjoy the warm, happy feeling in each bite.  My husband also likes to add some hot sauce to his bowl for an added 'kick'.

*Every time I cook bacon I save the drippings in a storage container and put it in the fridge.  It will keep forever and comes in handy when needed.  If you don't have some on reserve, just cook up about 3 or 4 slices and keep some of the grease.

** Peeled or un-peeled - it doesn't matter.  It depends on personal preference.  I usually leave mine un-peeled, but my potatoes weren't very pretty today.

If you fix this up for your family, let me know how you like it.  It's become a staple for us during the cooler months - hopefully, it will for you too.

Link Party #39

Last week's party was a lot of fun.  Now it's time to move on to all things Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Hard to believe that time of year is already upon us!!

Take a look at the recap from last week and then feel free to link up to this weeks party.

Most Clicked:

Pumpkin Custard for 2

Host Favorites:

1) Kathleen and Heather (Fearlessly Creative Mammas): Italian Cheesy Bread

2) Heather (Stringtown Home): Pottery Barn Inspired Dresser  

3) Krysta (KrystaSteen.com): Apple Pie Cake

4) Gabby (Not So Shabby Gabby): Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Bread

5) Patti (Garden Matter): How To Make Toy Bats

6) Lisa (Drugstore Divas): 10 Things Organized People do Regularly

7) Jessica (My Life With Jess): Pumpkin Custard for 2

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An InLinkz Link-up