A week and a half ago when we were home for my grandma’s funeral, we left Nutmeg with my mom for two whole weeks. Since I’m the type of puppy parent who hated the idea of leaving my dog at a kennel while we vacationed with Joe’s family in Arizona, I figured leaving her with my mom would be the best option. Of course, my mom has loved taking care of Nut and having her around. Me on the other … Read More
The Hofmeyers Take Scottsdale
The ‘craziness’ I’ve been talking about has actually been a good sort of craziness. Last Friday night, Joe and I hopped a plane and headed down to Arizona for a little spring break vacation with Joe’s family. We rented a house in Scottsdale for the week, and although the weather was unseasonably cool for Arizona, we managed to have a wonderful time despite the cooler temps and rain. And yesterday finally cooperated with us by providing temps in the upper … Read More
No Fat Talk Tuesday: True Beauty from Natalie
We’re going to mix things up for today’s No Fat Talk Tuesday! Regular posts will resume next week, but for this week my blog-friend Natalie of Thoughts by Natalie is guest posting. I’ve talked about Natalie’s blog before, but I can’t say enough great things about it and Natalie’s perspective on true beauty. She brings an uplifting, unique perspective to the topic that I think all of us following No Fat Talk Tuesday can appreciate. – Madison I read a blog … Read More
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cupcakes with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Happy Sunday, friends! How have your weekends gone thus far? Besides watching my March Madness bracket get torn to shreds, our weekend has been pretty relaxing and blissful. I’m gearing up for a pretty crazy week, which I’ll fill you in about later. So before things get busy, let’s finish the weekend up with cupcakes, shall we? Most of the time I avoid doing any serious baking unless I know that I’ll have a place to bring the baked goods … Read More
Inside My Fridge
Good morning and happy Friday, everyone! Do any of you have fun plans for this weekend? One of my favorite parts of the weekend is grocery shopping. Call me strange, but I could spend forever at the grocery store, browsing the isles and checking out the new and quirky products. I also love seeing inside the fridges of strangers. Maybe it’s a bit nosy on my part, but I can’t help but love it! Today, I’m spreading the fridge-peaking love … Read More
Maple Glazed Grilled Chicken
Before Joe and I got married, one of my greatest stressors was what we were going to do career-wise. I was working (very happily I might add) in my current job in Des Moines and Joe was searching for a job back in Iowa (he was working in Illinois at the time). Knowing how much we both loved our jobs, I was worried about one of us having to sacrifice a career we loved. Thankfully, Joe’s company ended up giving … Read More
No Fat Talk Tuesday: Amanda’s Story
Today’s No Fat Talk Tuesday post comes to us from Amanda of the ever-informative food and fashion blog, Slow Like Honey. I’ve been following Amanda’s blog for over a year now and am constantly amazed with how she manages to blog while working her full-time job in fashion. This girl is superwoman or something. Thanks, Amanda, for being willing to share your story! -Madison Looking back, I can pinpoint the minute I started fixating on my weight and it was … Read More
Tamale Casserole
Being someone who loves to cook, I didn’t anticipate the stress that would come from having to prepare a meal for our little family every night. Before Joey and I got married, dinner used to be the meal I used to round out my day. If I had eaten a lot of fruit for breakfast and lunch, I would choose whole grains and veggies for dinner. And if I was low on protein earlier in the day, dinner would … Read More
{Cupcakes from our pastor’s wife, Karen. They were amazing!} {Our nephew, Baylen, hanging out with Nutmeg.} {Nutmeg went on a lot of long, muddy walks, meaning she also took a lot of baths.} {Dedicated dog washer: Joe!} {Self-portrait, camera-style.} Although our weekend was, undoubtedly, a sad occasion, we did have some wonderful time with family over the past four days. We took countless walks with Nutmeg and my mom around the golf course, ate a lot of wonderful meals with … Read More
Broccoli Beef
Before I say anything else, I want to thank all of you for your kindness and support during this bittersweet time for our family. Although I knew the community found though blogging was supportive, I can’t begin to describe how supported I felt by the community created on this site. Through Tweets, Facebook messages, e-mails and blog comments, you made your support known. Thank you! Funerals and visitations aren’t really picture-taking affairs, so I only have a couple photos from … Read More
Saying Goodbye
On Monday morning after almost 91 years of life, my Grandma Dorothy passed away after suffering a stroke the week before. To say she was an amazing woman would be an understatement. An educated woman and teacher by trade, my grandma devoted much of her life to being a wife, raising her five children and managing life on the farm – which from what I’ve been told was packed with hard, physical work. Dorothy’s greatest joy was, without a doubt, … Read More
No Fat Talk Tuesday: Laura’s Story
{The day I felt the most beautiful I ever have in my entire life. Although I must confess, I had one flair up where secretly I was grateful wedding dresses are traditionally long. Doh!} I have been looking forward to sharing Laura’s story with you ever since she offered be a part of No Fat Talk Tuesday. Laura was a dear friend of mine in college, and when I first met her I was blown away by her joyful spirit … Read More