The Saturday Six

One.

When I was in high school, one of my English teachers gave us an assignment to write our own obituary. (The point was not to be morbid; it was intended to make us think about what we hoped to accomplish with our lives that we'd be remembered for.) A few days ago, I came upon this post with a similar feel: what would it be like to write your own eulogy? Are you living with "the end" in mind? What people will say about you when you're gone?

Two.

I don't know him personally, but Austin is a student at the high school Ryan and I went to. (We went to school with his mom, but we're not going to talk about how old that makes us...you know...since Austin is about to be a senior.) He battled cancer last year and just found out it's back again. He's decided to document this round of his battle to help other teens (and their parents) understand what it's really like. Riley Hospital featured him in this article, so I thought I'd share it!

Three.

If you like to entertain, check out this "epic" chip and salsa board. (I always feel like the word epic is overused, but I will concede that this is the most epic chip board I've ever seen.) Ryan would probably find this appropriate for, you know, like a Tuesday night. :)

Four.

I adore the decorating in this little cottage. SO many great ideas if you're looking to make over something in your house. (Or just if you like to be house-nosy.)

Five.

It's been a while since I had a tiny house fix. This post took care of that! Some super cute ones in here!

Six.

Source

Well this was such fun! One of my birthday gifts was this Magnolia Table cookbook by (of course) Joanna Gaines. What a great gift!

I know, I know. Probably all of you have your own copy by now, but if you don't, I'll tell you a little about it, because I finally had time to just sit and savor it this week. I will start by saying you don't have to be a Fixer Upper fanatic to enjoy this book. This is a cozy book of home, family, and food, so if you like any or all of those things, you'll enjoy it! But if you are a fan, this gives you a chance to learn little things you may not have known!

Here's what I loved:

* Joanna says right out loud that this cookbook is about sharing a love of recipes and not about pretending to be some gourmet chef. She shares her heart for food she loves, and that makes me happy. I love to do the same!

* She shares glimpses into what she loves about cooking and creating for her family, and she shares a bit about why she chose the recipes she did. The stories are not long and belabored, but they're long enough to show you a bit of a peek into her world.

* Many of the recipes are normal things that I'd be likely to make. I always hate it when I'm looking through a cookbook and the recipes call for really weird ingredients and things I can't pronounce. The majority of these are good home-cooking comfort food that I would enjoy.

* Pictures! I do love to drool over pictures, and there were many to enjoy!

* She's marked the recipes that are featured at their restaurant in Waco. (That way if you want to feel like you're cooking restaurant food, you can know when you are!)

Basically I loved the great mix of practical, usable recipes and stories that are enjoyable to read.

Since I just now had the chance to sit down and look it over thoroughly, I've not made anything from it yet, but I have some friends who have made a goal to try one recipe from it every week (or two weeks) and I think that sounds like a great goal! A chance to try something new without trying everything at once!

(PS: Reminder: this makes a great gift!)