First, allow me to apologize for the ridiculously wrinkled paper. I finalized my November menu the other day, and one of the dogs promptly sat on while I was caring for the babies. Such is life in our house. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve updated (yes, this phrase is pretty much my theme song), but I want to let everyone know that pain-wise, I am light years better than I was a few months ago. I am no longer on painkillers, I am taking CBD oil in place of Percocet, I’m using Young Living essential oils topically, and I can actually take care of my kids, my house....seri ..read more

  I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to write a blog post before. Yesterday, I had the privilege of interviewing my (as of today) 93-year old grandma, Betty Linley. I would like to take this opportunity to say, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!!!” As well as, “Thank you so much for allowing me to pick your brain for nearly 45 minutes yesterday, during a rare moment of peace and quiet at my house.” As many of you will recall from a previous post I wrote, I’ve been learning more and more about the Great Depression this past year. What our country went through, what individual families went th ..read more

  So I know it’s been a ridiculously long time since I’ve updated my blog, but I’m going to spare you all of the “I’ve been a bad blogger, but don’t worry, I’m getting back to it” nonsense, because that’s not what I want to talk about today. I need to be honest with myself, and with all of you. I haven’t been in a good place lately, physically, mentally, or emotionally. I feel like my health is steadily going downhill, and everything-including my family-is suffering as a result. It’s time to make a change, not only for myself, but for my husband and my children. Allow me to explain (and I ..read more

  I've always been fascinated by the Great Depression. All four of my grandparents were born during it, and lived through it. Hearing their stories, reading the stories online of my grandparents' generation who survived on very little, has always made me stop and reflect on our life today. It often seems that the more information we have at our fingertips, the less capable we have become as a society. I know men and women-my own age!!-who can't even peel a clove of garlic, let alone cook a meal. My sewing and gardening skills are abysmal, at best. Will knows how to do basic mechanical ma ..read more

Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I DID have to quote The Princess Bride in the title. Why, you ask? Because today Will and I are celebrating eleven years of marriage. "What's the big deal?" You're probably thinking. "Isn't the ten year anniversary supposed to be the big to-do?" Well, yes, it is, and had Will and I actually been together for our anniversary in 2016, I'm sure we would have gone all out. Unfortunately, the Army saw fit to send Will to Fort Knox for six weeks last summer, so we once again (yes, we're used to this by now) missed the chance to celebrate the big One Oh. This year, thou ..read more

  On a steamy, muggy morning in late July, Will and I stepped off the airplane stairway into the terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. Both of us were exhausted, not having slept a wink on the flight over from Cincinnati. We were sweating, and our clothes were sticking to our bodies. I was lugging around my handbag, which was stuffed to the brim, and my violin. I also felt queasy, a result of the suspicious-smelling coffee creamer on the plane, too many emotions swirling around in my head as the plane pulled away from the gate eight hours earlier, and nerves. Will and I were 23. T ..read more

  Be honest. What comes to mind when you hear the word, "housewife?" Or "stay at home mom?" Does your mind immediately jump to the happy domestic scene in the above photo, or do you picture a Real Housewives type, dripping in diamonds, wearing nothing but the most expensive designer clothes, drinking vodka at 11am? Perhaps when you added "mom" to the mix, you thought of a chaotic household; clothes thrown all over the place, the dog eating the kids' leftover breakfast cereal, a frumpy looking woman chasing half-naked toddlers around the house, wearing stained sweatpants and a too-big t-s ..read more

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you may have noticed that I changed my profile picture last week, to the picture you see above this paragraph. Back when I was pregnant with Alessandra, I joined a group of moms who were all pregnant as well. We found each other online via a community group, and we banded together and formed a Facebook group for our 2013 babies. Even though most of us have never met face to face, we've become very close over the years. We've bonded together over sleepless nights and newborn struggles, colic, fights with our husbands, older children who wer ..read more

SSG Michael Linley, WWII     My grandpa passed away yesterday morning.    I'm 35 years old, and as unbelievable as this may seem, I've never had to say goodbye to a grandparent before. (I never met my maternal grandfather, as he died the year before I was born). My grandpa Mike had been in poor health for a while now, so this wasn't a huge surprise. He was part of "the greatest generation;" born in 1925, one of many siblings in a large Irish-American Catholic family. He lived through the Great Depression. He fought in WWII, as a soldier in General Patton's 3rd Army ..read more

  Well, it's officially been 2017 for the past 28 days, and I'm making an effort to update the blog at least twice a month. Blog topics are in short supply, due to our cross country PCS, Will starting a new job, Tony switching schools in the new year...you get the idea. Naturally, I searched Pinterest for ideas, and came up with a few blog topic posts to hold me over until I get back in the game. Admittedly, this one isn't very creative, but it was fun to write. So, without further ado...   When I was 3, I was in the living room watching Sesame Street. Itzhak Perlman (a very famous ..read more