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a slice of life

a slice of life

easy chicken and dumplings recipe

Today was another snow day for the boys and they’ve already canceled school through Wednesday due to the cold.   (The high on Wednesday will be -20 degrees F!)  So, it’ll be a bit of a tough work week for me!  I need an empty house to really focus and reach my maximum level of productivity. But, while we’re socked in with the snow and cold, I decided to make chicken & dumplings.  I made them last week to use up a rotisserie chicken that was on its last day and many people asked for the recipe, so I thought I would share.  I also wanted to show how easy it is.  I think chicken and dumplings has the reputation for being complicated to make, but it’s pretty easy!  At least, this version is. When I made it last week, I started with a rotisserie chicken, so that sped things up

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a slice of life

easy chicken & dumplings recipe

Today was another snow day for the boys and they’ve already canceled school through Wednesday due to the cold.   (The high on Wednesday will be -20 degrees F!)  So, it’ll be a bit of a tough work week for me!  I need an empty house to really focus and reach my maximum level of productivity. But, while we’re socked in with the snow and cold, I decided to make chicken & dumplings.  I made them last week to use up a rotisserie chicken that was on its last day and many people asked for the recipe, so I thought I would share.  I also wanted to show how easy it is.  I think chicken & dumpings has the reputation for being complicated to make, but it’s pretty easy!  At least, this version is. When I made it last week, I started with a rotisserie chicken, so that sped things up

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a slice of life

contentment boundaries

I wrote earlier this month that my two focus areas of 2019 are contentment and health.  These are two areas I’m working on, so anything I share with you is like the blind leading the blind, but sometimes there is comfort in that.  Sometimes it’s nice to be at the same point on the same journey together, right?  And really, that’s what the heart of blogging is about…just an average person sharing what they are up to. Soooo…  let’s talk about contentment and some boundaries I needed to set up to help me on that journey. Years and years ago, when I was a newlywed and just starting to develop a love for all things home, I became a shelter magazine and decorating book junkie.  I subscribed to all of them and I joined the book clubs… you remember the ones that you would pick 8-12 books for $.99/each when

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a slice of life

creamy potato soup | simple weeknight meal

Both Jeff and I are big soup fans. I discovered my love of soups when our family went on winter retreats to Beatenberg, Switzerland and they would serve the most delicious pureed soups with dinner every night. (This sounds fancy, but I grew up in Germany when my dad was stationed there in the military.) Now that we’re in the thick of winter and I’m working on eating healthier, soup makes a great dinner as well as leftovers for lunches and busy evenings. We’ve been pairing it with a salad, skipping the crackers and bread. Here’s how I make grab & go salad jars for easy weeknights. One of our favorites (and Marshall loves it, too) is this creamy potato soup.  I found the basic recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (the red checkered one), but we all found it to be a bit bland, so I added

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a slice of life

creamy weeknight potato soup

Both Jeff and I are big soup fans.  I discovered my love of soups when our family went on winter retreats to Beatenberg, Switzerland and they would serve the most delicious pureed soups with dinner every night.  (This sounds fancy, but I grew up in Germany when my dad was stationed there in the military.) Now that we’re in the thick of winter and I’m working on eating healthier, soup makes a great dinner as well as leftovers for lunches and busy evenings.  We’ve been pairing it with a salad, skipping the crackers and bread. One of our favorites (and Marshall loves it, too) is this creamy potato soup.  I found the basic recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (the red checkered one), but we all found it to be a bit bland, so I added some white wine, celery, garlic, and other seasonings.  It’s still a mild

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a slice of life

curiosity killed the cat…

…but I am not a cat.  And neither are you. When I was on my creative retreat last March, there were a few themes that kept coming up.  They were from different authors and podcasters and, if I heard them more than once, it really made me take notice.  Enthusiasm, showing up, schedule, and routine were some of those themes.  Another one was curiosity. Since then, I’ve heard curiosity brought up in many creative business podcasts. Follow your curiosity.  Be curious.  Stay curious. I even heard it in a sermon about cynicism.  One way to combat cynicism is to be curious…to not assume the outcome, but to approach life with a sort of wonder.  “What would happen if…” It’s the triumph of hope over experience. (Does anyone recognize that period drama reference?) I realized, as I’ve been listening to all of this talk about curiosity, that I meander through my creative

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a slice of life

favorite home projects of 2018

As I’ve been looking back over the past year and the projects we completed, I realized we have done a lot!  2017 was about getting settled, listening to our house, getting to know its style, and learning the way it functioned best.  It was also about tackling the immediate issues, like an aging water heater, broken garage doors, and turning the sunroom into a finished studio. This year has been about making the homes ours…or at least parts of it!  Even working at a pretty good pace, we’re not going to get the entire house done in a year.  We focused primarily on the main floor since that’s where we spend most of our time. Here are my favorite projects we completed in 2018… Installing Hardwood Floors I knew I wanted to do this before we even bought the house.  There was 13-year-old, beige wall-to-wall carpet in the dining room

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a slice of life

tale of two throws

I’ve bought two throws in my adult life that have taught me lessons. The first one was a blue knit throw I bought shortly after Jeff and I were married.  I had spotted it at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and was determined we needed it for our apartment.  He was not convinced.  I vividly remember us driving to the store, my heels dug in, trying to assert my independence and him fuming, not knowing how to handle this head-strong 20-year-old he just married.  I walked through the aisles, grabbed the throw, and clutched it tightly as I took it up to the checkout to pay for it.  Jeff protested and I only clutched the throw tighter, insistent that I was going to “win”. It was our first real fight and a strong dose of reality, forcing us to confront the fact that life lived with someone else was going to be

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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