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Sandra over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom is calling all old time bloggers to come by and say hello as well as join in with her old fashioned Q&A in an effort to reconnect with everyone.

I know that for me personally I find it frustrating that most of my favorite bloggers have abandoned their blogs or downright deleted them all together. I’m still friends with many of my favorites via email, Facebook or even Instagram, but miss the days of day to day posting of blog posts. Sandra is one of the very first bloggers I found way back in 2007 when I first began blogging,

I began as 3 SIDES OF CRAZY when hubby and I were back east rehabbing our Queen Anne Victorian which quickly became the Chronicles of a Bungled Real Estate Deal. During that time I also met Martha who ultimately became Seaside Simplicity, but has once again gone quiet. But together Martha and I created OUR KRAZY KITCHEN, a food blog with multiple creators. Unfortunately, many went their separate ways and after a few years we were floundering.

Around that same time hubby and I returned to the west coast to care for his parents and I began filling my time with contributing to the Motivation Station, a blog Martha was passionate about, but also now defunct. From caring for his parents we went to care for my aunt long term and while we were in Texas they found my cancer. It was the Erma Bombeck poem that inspired me to begin ALWAYS EAT ON THE GOOD CHINA. After I went into remission and we once again landed on the west coast to help my mom I changed it to SAVORY KITCHEN TABLE.

Eventually we ended up back in Texas to rehab my grandparent’s home that my cousin had destroyed, but nobody realized until after her untimely death. As we were finishing that project was when I once again had life altering surgery and they took my stomach. Long story short I needed a FRESH start and combined all the above blogs into this one, CHASING MY LIFE!

Happy Homemaker Monday is something I have done religiously since the beginning and before that was the Simple Woman’s Daybook (or at least I think that’s what the title was).

HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN BLOGGING AND WHY DID I START THIS BLOG? I began my blog at the urgings of my cousin back in 2007 at the height of the MAJOR remodel of our home as a way to document everything. I quickly found friends and fun too with joining swaps, exchanging recipes and learning about each others lives, homemaking styles and cultural differences. The BLOG world has changed drastically with so many things becoming monetized and full of ads, but I’m so glad there are a few of us die hards left.

HOW DID I CHOOSE THE NAME OF MY BLOG? I laughed when I got to this question because I answered it in my intro. So, can I just say, see above please 😀

WHAT IS MY BLOG ABOUT? WOW this is simple and yet so hard. My blog is truly about a little bit of everything from care taking for family, recipes, home remodeling, quilting, antiquing, crafting and so much more.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY. Hubby is retired military which is one of the commonalities that Sandra and I found between us from the start. When he retired I became a full time homemaker again and am loving it.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ~ COLLECTIONS, THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY… I collect old and unique crosses for my cross wall, refrigerator magnets, antique recipe boxes (with antique recipes) and cookbooks (I read them like novels) 😀

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME ~ HOBBIES AND SUCH? I love to read, and I adore quilting – something I began many years ago during hubby’s last long deployment, cooking and volunteering for worthwhile projects.

WHAT DOES YOUR DREAM HOUSE LOOK LIKE? More important to me is what the next one will look like as we were planning on returning to Texas and then COVID hit. While I know we’ll end up in a house, I have always dreamed of converting an open air loft or old church, train station or country school house into a home. You know with exposed brick walls, very few walls and room to move and create whatever my heart desires.

IF YOU COULD VISIT ANYWHERE, ANYTIME WHERE WOULD IT BE AND WHY? This one is kind of a toss up for me – there are so many places I’d like to see. LOL If you asked hubby he’d say Norway in a heartbeat! For me if I was FORCED to narrow it down I’d have to say Italy. Specifically the rolling countryside with all the vineyards or maybe the German country side or the Greek Isles – see I told you I would have trouble borrowing it down.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOMEMAKING/ORGANIZING TIP or RECIPE? There are way too many, but recently I was able to teach an old trick to a bunch of new friends.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE MAY NOT ALREADY KNOW FROM YOUR BLOG. I have never been diagnosed, but am pretty sure I have OCD. I can’t NOT make a bed, straighten a picture or towel, etc…

TELL US A WAY GOD HAS BLESSED YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. I have always believed that we are where we are meant to be at any given time. The perfect example of this is how God has blessed me and my family. We had been living in a teeny tiny town in the middle of nowhere rehabbing that Queen Anne Victorian I mentioned when we were called to help caretake for hubby’s folks. From there we were asked to care take for my aunt in Texas with advanced Parkinsons. It was while we were there that I went in for a well woman exam and ultimately found out I had cancer. I was referred to MD Anderson who went the extra miles to not only save my life, but make me whole again. From there we went to the Pacific Northwest to help my mom and before we knew it landed back in Texas to rehab my grandparent’s house and while we were there I once again needed life altering surgery and I was referred to Dr. Morris at Methodist who saved my life and helped me make the changes to live a whole life again. Each and every time God had placed us where we needed to be in order that I received the care I needed (the oncologist flat out told us I would have died had I not been treated when I was and health care in our teeny tiny town was almost non-existent), blessing me and my family with my life.

SHARE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM OR A FAVORITE QUOTE. There are so many things to be said here, but I’ll leave you with this thought of my favorite positive affirmation and Erma Bombeck’s poem, If I Had My Life to Live Over.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER Erma Bombeck, EAT LESS COTTAGE CHEESE AND MORE ICE CREAM: THOUGHTS ON LIFE FROM ERMA BOMBECK
Someone asked me the other day if I had my life to live over would I change anything.
My answer was no, but then I thought about it and changed my mind.
If I had my life to live over again I would have waxed less and listened more.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I’d have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten popcorn in the “good” living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.
I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television … and more while watching real life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.
I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for a day.
I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn’t show soil/guaranteed to last a lifetime.
When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner.”
There would have been more I love yous … more I’m sorrys … more I’m listenings … but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it … look at it and really see it … try it on … live it … exhaust it … and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it.