Some Things

Greetings, faithful readers!   I know I've said it before, but I'm so sorry we've been completely lazy with blogging as of late.  The latter part of 2011 was a bit...well, overwhelming for me personally.  Since it's my blog and you're reading it (thank you!), I'm throwing out some updates and some things that I'm hoping to do with this bloggy (and otherwise) in the near future.

 

In July of 2011, I started working part-time in addition to my full-time job.   Kind of threw me out of my usual routine a bit, and I definitely let some things go by the wayside.   Including this poor bloggy!  Sad, but true.  Unlike before, I am going to try to blog on weekends now (Fri/Sat/Sun) instead of weekdays.  I love writing this little blog with Rose - it's very special to me!

 

In late summer 2011, I went home to visit my family for vacation.  My dear Gram (who is responsible for a lot of the recipes on this blog) went to the hospital that week.  She had been battling lung cancer and kept doing so until early December when we lost her.    We were very blessed to have her for as long as we did - I have so many wonderful memories of her.  I spent weeks at her house in the summer with my sister, took train rides with her to visit my family in Harrisburg, and spent countless Sunday evenings at her house for family dinner.  She even got on a plane and came down to visit me here in NC.    I miss her terribly and I can't believe that I can't pick up the phone to call her anymore.  I know she is with my grandpa (Pa Joe as well call him) in Heaven, but I have to admit that it's really difficult to imagine my life without her in it.

[caption id="attachment_800" align="aligncenter" width="483" caption="Me, Pa Joe, Gina & Gram - camping at Deep Creek Lake."][/caption]

My plan is to collect as many of her recipes as I can and post some of my other favorites on here.  Gram and I emailed a lot and she encouraged me in everything I did - writing (briefly) for an online newspaper, my photography aspirations, and even in this blog.  I sent her the link to this blog in an email once, and she responded at the end of her email with this:  "By the way, the double toilet in your blog was a riot, and the recipes divine.  Ciao."  

 

The point of all this, I suppose, is to let you know what's been going on in my life.  Blogging is fun, but it can also be extremely therapeutic (especially to those of us who struggle to say these things out loud!).   I think that I speak for Rose as well when I say "THANK YOU" to those of you who take the precious time out of your day to read this tiny little piece of the internet.  We are going to make you (and Gram) proud in 2012!