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a slice of life

a slice of life

sitrep

Those who have followed my blog for a long time know that I don’t ever just fall off the map when it comes it putting up blog posts.  It’s even rare for me to take planned time off from my usual 5-day posting schedule.  But, last week, I fell off the map. A few hours after I posted about recliners and shared that worst with my shoulder was behind me, Jeff was driving me to the ER because of a fever.  I had a cortisone shot and a procedure done to break up and remove calcium in my shoulder tendons and I was concerned the fever was a sign of infection. Fortunately, it was a light night for the ER, so they were able to get me straight to a bed and started assessing my shoulder, ruling out any other potential source of the fever.  Blood work indicated that my

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a slice of life

December & January Favorites

I have to confess that I was a little too grouchy yesterday to write any kind of a blog post that would’ve been even marginally inspirational or interesting to read.  So, I saved you from that and left my writing for this morning when I had a fresh perspective!  And, I was having such a great morning that it got me in the perfect mood to share my favorites from December and January.  Those two ended up getting lumped together because of the holidays, so here you go… Montana Trip I went to Whitefish, Montana to tour the HGTV dream home in early December and it was such an enriching trip.  I didn’t know anyone attending the event, so it pulled me out of my typical sphere of home decor bloggers.  I got to hang out with an awesome group of creative, business-savvy women and it was a blast.  The location wasn’t too

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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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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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