Friday Thoughts
Hi, friends! Because I’ve been including more personal notes in my weekly emails and some updates on Instagram, I haven’t checked in on a Friday Thoughts post in a while, but I wanted to pop in today and give a little update on life…and also see how YOU are doing!
Below is a smattering of updates – everything from life updates to a few of my favorite things to a question I have for you (at the end).
If you have a second, leave a comment and let me know how life is going for you!
50th Anniversary Celebration (Not Mine 😜)
My siblings (+ spouses) and my parents all gathered last week to celebrate my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary. We rented an Airbnb and packed in a lot of fun, activities, games, and chatting.
I prepped and made most of the food, since the gathering was near where I live, and the week could not have gone better. We were all grateful for the time spent together, especially my parents.
Here are a few things we did for fun:
- My sister made a 50th anniversary “newlywed” style game where my parents had to see if they could match answers to questions like “what did dad wear on your first date” and “what was the price of your first home.” It was hilarious, and we also learned a lot of facts we didn’t know!
- We rented e-bikes from a local company and rode on the Boise greenbelt (a little chilly, but so fun – this was personally my favorite of all the activities we did).
- We did an escape room, and miraculously made it out in the time limit (yes, with a few hints). I basically just followed all my smart family members around looking like I knew what was going on.
- My brother planned a super fun bowling activity. He gave us each a cup with a roll of quarters and four 1-dollar coins. As everyone bowled, these were the rules: bowl a spare, everyone gives you a quarter; bowl a strike, everyone gives you two quarters; bowl 2+ strikes in a row, everyone gives you a dollar coin for each strike; if you are out of dollar coins, give 2 quarters for each strike; bowl a gutter ball and put a quarter in the pot (just an extra cup in the middle) – the next strike gets all the quarters in the pot. It was so fun that I’m planning to do it with my kids over spring break.
- We also went to TopGolf, played pickleball at The Flying Pickle (I need lessons!!), and played LOTS of games at the Airbnb. This game {aff. link} was the hit all week!
For the food, I made everything ahead of time and froze/refrigerated so that meals were super easy. Here are some of the things I made:
- Healthy egg bites (made and froze several batches of these to reheat in the microwave in the morning for those that wanted them)
- Overnight chia oats (this was the hit of the entire get-together – I had to make a second batch mid-week!)
- Make-ahead egg tater tot casserole (served this for breakfast but had a lot of leftovers that people ate for lunch/dinner)
- Salsa verde chicken (we served this as a build-your-own style meal with tortillas, cilantro lime rice from Costco that heats up in the microwave, cilantro lime dressing, lots of fresh topping)
- My mom’s famous freezer burritos (ate these for lunches, along with lots of stuff for making sandwiches)
- LOTS of treats in the freezer, like these peanut butter cookies (half of them dipped in chocolate), these sugar cookies made gluten-free for my sister, hot cocoa cookies, M&M cookies (made these into bars), S’mores cookies (also made these into bars)
Anti-Inflammatory/Pain Updates
If you missed it, I did a whole post about my anti-inflammatory diet here (initially did it to address hand and hip pain). I’ve had a lot of questions about if I am still eating this way and how I’m feeling.
In short, my hand and hip pain wasn’t helped by this diet (but I have been getting help from a physical therapist, and I feel hopeful). But my LDS cholesterol saw a huge improvement (60 point drop!).So, I’m continuing to eat a high-fiber diet focused on a lot of anti-inflammatory/cholesterol-lowering foods for the next six months until I get my blood drawn again. If my LDL cholesterol lowers another 20 points, that would be a miracle for me!
However, I’m much more moderate than I was the first two months. I am still eating the same anti-inflammatory recipes for breakfast and lunch that I came to rely on. But I’m being more flexible for dinner so that I don’t have to cook one meal for my family and another meal for myself. I just tend to have way more vegetables on my plate than the rest of my family members. And, of course, I eat whatever food I’m making for the blog, too.
We’ll see how things look in September! I like how my body and gut feels eating this way, so I plan to stick with it as long as I can.
Life Update
My two kids at home (8th grade and 11th grade) both started school tennis. After having a laid back winter, we’re busy with sports again. I can’t believe we have just a few months until the school year is over.
Brian is very busy continuing to grow his business, with church responsibilities, and continually getting his hopes high – and then dashed again by collegiate athletics. 💙 I have the best “job” at church ever – teaching the children ages 3 to 11 songs about Jesus. I hope they let me do it forever.
My oldest kiddo, Jackson, started classes in Utah with plans set on flight school. We love it when he comes home to visit (he turns 22 in a few weeks and already requested shrimp tacos for his birthday dinner when he comes).
Walker is in the Philippines and set to come home in June (!!). I recently got a text from a random number saying they were a family from the US traveling in the Philippines and ran across some missionaries on bikes, found out one was from Idaho, snapped a picture, and texted it to me. I was impressed my son still remembered my phone number! 🤣
Cade is serving in the very southern part of New Zealand and learning Tongan the best he can while being surrounded by English speakers. We get to talk to both of them on Sundays, and it is a highlight for me as a mom (meanwhile, their siblings at home just want to eat dinner and wonder why we have to talk to them so often, haha).
Life is busy and full, and I try to be grateful for each day. No one told me how hard it would be to parent adult kids/older teenagers. 😬 It is both challenging and rewarding. Some days I want my money back. Other days I think it is the best thing ever. A lot of the time, I’m just tired. 😜
Some Things I’m Loving Right Now
- My brother sent me this wireless charger {aff. link} – game changer! It has come in so handy, and I love how it attaches to my phone without getting in the way (so I can still use my phone for pictures/videos/whatever).
- We’ve had this game {aff. link} forever but have been playing it more recently on Sunday nights as a family, and I’m reminded how much I love it! If you’re a fan of Code Names {aff. link}, I think you’ll like this one.
- I know sweater season is nearly over, but I have loved this cable-knit sweater and get so many compliments on it (I have it in green – it’s a bit of a boxy cut, I’d suggest ordering true-to-size or sizing down). Also, still highly in love with these jeans.
- Have you had this licorice?? Oh my, it is SO GOOD. I brought some to our 50th anniversary gathering, and it was such a hit. It is a bit pricey for licorice (especially if you’re used to twizzlers) – but if you are looking for a special gift for a licorice lover in your life (or ahem, for yourself), it is perfect. I love the peach, salt and caramel, and dark chocolate.
- I bought this longer mini loaf-style pan {aff. link} because I think quick bread, like banana bread, turns out so much better in mini loaf pans, but I wanted a longer version. Less hassle of filling up all those little pans, you know? I recently used it for this sour cream banana bread recipe, and it was perfect! I doubled the recipe and filled up this longer pan + two mini loaf pans. I’m thinking a recipe that yields one 8 1/2-X4 1/2-inch pan will work in this pan (the sides are higher than a classic mini loaf pan). The little slices are so cute!
- I am still using this stovetop popcorn maker {aff. link} nonstop (brought it to the 50th anniversary party and made over six batches – we could get enough – it makes the best popcorn). This is the “recipe” I use: 2 tablespoons butter-flavored coconut oil (for no other reason than we love the flavor), 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt (I always use this salt), 1/2 cup popcorn kernels (this Amish white or purple popcorn is our fave). Add more salt (and/or butter) to taste after it pops (it’s so good, we usually don’t add anything else).
- I replaced my old, chipped, metal citrus juicer with this one {aff. link}, and wow – it’s amazing.
A Question for You
If you’ve made it this far, you are a special, special friend. Clearly I need to do these Friday Thoughts posts more often, because I have a lot to say!
Here’s my question for you: How are you backing up and storing personal pictures and videos?
I’ve been backing up our photos and videos in a not-organized combination of external hard drives and Google photos/drive. But I’m wondering if there’s a more seamless option. Any and all ideas welcome!
Those Email Updates I Mentioned
I know how quickly inboxes can fill up with needless emails. I feel an intense measure of peace when my email inbox is down to ground zero (all emails opened, read, deleted, unsubscribed, or tucked neatly away into the appropriate email folder). 🤓
That means I try really hard not to send you fluffy, unessential emails. If you’ve subscribed to my email newsletter, you already know you have a couple of options. You can subscribe to all the emails below OR you can subscribe to just the section of emails you want.
- New recipe emails (These go out whenever I post a new recipe – usually once a week on Mondays – and they are also the emails I like to include a life/personal/blog update. You can see those notes if you scroll to the bottom of the email).
- Newsletter emails (These go out once a week, usually on Wednesday or Thursday, and they highlight recipes that you may have forgotten about – I try to make them helpful and seasonal!)
- Weekly menu plans (These emails go out early, early on Saturday mornings, and they include a free weekly menu plan to use for the next week’s menu planning inspiration – lots of tips and notes on these emails to streamline dinner night.)
- Friday thoughts/Life updates (These emails go out a couple of times a year when I post a more personal update on my blog – usually in the format of these Friday Thoughts posts).
And there are NEVER any hard feelings if you want or need to unsubscribe at any time, for any reason.
Okaaaay! That does it for today. Thanks for being here! 💗 Truly, everything I do on this blog (including all the dishes 🤪), I do for YOUUUU!
Loved the update and LOVE YOU TO PIECES!!! And that licorice will change your life, I order it twice a year and make it last and it’s SO GOOD!
Mel, I love all of your newsletter and grateful you share so much of your life with us. Thanks for building up a sense of community with your readers. I so appreciate your efforts. I always rely on your recipes and cookbook; simply the best.
Amazon photos is a great place to start backing up photos. I learned that you should back those up on at least one hard drive once a year or every other year too. So you have three spots for photos. On your phone, on Amazon (or similar) and on a hard drive. You should not store on sites/apps like Shutterfly because the quality of the picture is forever changed for storage. You can also get them easily organized here. I think a blogger/business woman named Miss Freddy? was part of an organizing summit I watched and shared this hack: In your phone, do a “daily delete” to get rid of unnecessary photos. You do this by typing in today’s date without the year. It will pop up all photos taken on this date throughout the years. Delete all the bad or unnecessary photos and you will clean up your photo storage real quick before backing them up to amazon and/or an external hard drive. Do this daily if you can. I did ten “days” in about ten minutes and got rid of SO many photos. It might take you a year or two to do it this way, especially if you can’t or don’t want to do it daily, but I think this is a great hack and I try to do it quick when I think of it! Hope this helps!
You’re a blast! I’ll take all the content I can get from you!!!!! Thanks for everything!!!
Hi Mel! Years of loving you! Thank you! A couple of years ago I hired Kelly the photo librarian and she took all my photos from over the years (digital- but she can also do film too) and she put them all together/ wonderfully organized/ on Amazon photos (free unlimited storage without prime account) and an external hard drive. She even found photos I thought were lost forever on a corrupt iPhoto library. She was great. And now we love watching family movies from 20+ years ago until current all in one place on my Amazon photos ap. It’s been so great.
That’s amazing! Thanks for the recommendation!
Hey, it’s been a while – just thought I would let you know that we have an amazing grand daughter who just made it to wellington NZ for her mission. Sister Christiansen is one of the beautiful and good ones. I hope she gets to meet Elder Gunnell. Her first assignment is about 3 hours from Wellington a place called Wanganui. Greg and I are still here in Salt Lake- what a mission HUH. but we should be done and home in Idaho Falls by the end of this year. Only 7 years, but whose counting. side note: I gave all my daughters and daughters in law your cook book and they love it.
Loved hearing this!! Just sent you a personal email.
Thank you so very much for all you share! A really good place to digitally store your most precious family pics is in Family Search Memories. My understanding is they have everything backed up five times.
Thanks for that recommendation, Kathy!
Thanks for all the updates and the picture of your kitchen in real life! I agree on parenting Young Adults… So awesome and so hard at the same time. You are doing a good work that my family appreciates. Thank You!!
Thanks for being here, Becky!
I use Google and pay for the 2 T storage–seems to work well– but, I agree, when I think about paying $9/month for the REST OF MY ENTIRE LIFE??? I feel like there has to be a better way… let us know if you get any good suggestions!
Lots of interesting suggestions below! I’m reading through all of them and then will decide (I think we will end up being stuck with a lifetime plan of sorts, though, since external hard drives aren’t recommended for the longterm!)
Love these updates! I would love a link to the Easter music you were listening to if you can share it again. You’re amazing!
Hi Christine – here’s the link (I listen on Apple Music): https://music.apple.com/us/album/lamb-of-god-the-concert-film-the-motion-picture-soundtrack/1557884897
I love your emails Mel!
You mentioned that you made the M&M cookies into bars— did you make the recipe as is? And then what size pan did you bake it in? Now I want to make them as bars!
Hi Emily! Good question, I doubled the recipe and baked in a 3/4 sheet pan BUT I don’t recommend that because it was slightly too large and I had to use a tin foil strip to keep the cookie dough in place. Kind of a nightmare. I think a regular batch of those bars should bake great in a 9X13-inch pan!
Thanks for the update, Mel. Love getting all of your emails. Have a great week.
Thank you so much, Jill!
Regarding photo storage… a few random thumb drives,
external plug in hard drives but MOSTLY my husband set up an external network hard drive.. (I think that’s what it’s called?) I try to back stuff up there semi- regularly. We’ve probably been using it about 10 years? It’s been mostly reliable. I think I only had issues when I upgraded my laptop about 4 years ago and had “permission” issues. But that has resolved itself. I don’t know how. I’m not afraid of technology, but I’m also not aware of how the nerdier stuff works. My husband was the kind of guy who used to build computers (for fun, not his day job) back when that was more a thing and so is more technologically inclined. I’m a plug and play kinda gal. lol I’m not a store in the cloud person because I am never going to be loyal to a service or provider and I don’t like subscription based stuff like that. I know, I’m weird and subscriptions seem to be the way it’s going for everything. *sigh* But again- back to the loyalty of a brand of product or service (like devices and their services) I do not want to be stuck with one exclusively. If I have to download one more authorization app to remember a 2 step verification password/login whatever I might explode. lol
Haha, I hear you! All the passkeys and authenticating and subscriptions. It’s never ending!
Such a great update! Thank you for sharing your parents’ 50th anniversary trip ideas – I have some family coming to visit around Easter and am gonna steal some of your tips. (Especially that peanut butter cookie recipe, yum!!) The chia overnight oats recipe sounds great too. Your games and activities are also giving me lots of ideas.
Oh, have fun with those visitors at Easter time!
Thanks for the updates! I always enjoy these posts. I too am working to increase my fiber for cholesterol reasons… getting older sucks sometimes!
We use Microsoft OneDrive for photo storage, as we have a subscription to Microsoft 365 for Word etc for my college age kiddos and OneDrive comes with it.
Thanks for chiming in on that, Kristi!
Hey Mel, love hearing your life updates! I am in a similar time of life and it helps so much seeing other amazing people navigate this brave new world.
Honestly I am the same as you with photo backup. Google Photos. Sorry I’m not more helpful.
Ah, hang in there Emily!! Thanks for being here. 💗
I love your Friday Thoughts! Keep em comin!
Also….per usual…when you recommend something I almost always get it and I happened to go to Costco right after your post about the blueberries that are like huckleberries (you had me at huckleberry!!) and I bought a bag. And, once again, they were as good as you said they were! My son made a smoothie with them and said, “you have to get these every time you go to Costco from now on!” And I told him my good friend Mel told me about them and she is never wrong.😉
Oh my gosh, yay!! So happy those blueberries were a hit. Huckleberries have just the tiniest but more purply tartness to them, but those wild blueberries are so fantastic and worlds yummier than regular blueberries.
I do the same for backing up photos, google photos and the occasional backup to a flashdrive.
Thanks for chiming in!
Mel, I got that same church calling about 7 months ago, and I absolutely love it! I keep dropping hints to the bishopric that I hope I’m in there a loooong time! Also, I loved your anti-inflammatory post. I’ve been eating more like that for awhile for various health reasons, and you’ve given me some inspiration for more variety. Finally, I feel your emotions with the challenges of parenting adult children; sometimes it’s the best ever and sometimes it’s heartbreaking. Their problems are so much bigger and you can’t tell them what to do!! Thanks for sharing your talents and your heart with us; I’ve appreciated you since “the beginning.”
Oh I love that we have the same calling. It truly is the best. And so much solidarity on parenting adult kids. The challenges are so heart-worrying. So glad you are here, Sheree. 💗
BYU sports is my escape from life right now. Basketball has been rough though, although I’m still hopeful for a decent tournament run.
My photos are not organized/backed up at all which is stressful for me.
I always look forward to your food and other recommendations!
BYU sports is definitely a (sometimes frustrating) escape for Brian, too!
That brand of popcorn and the maker are life changing!! You recommended them another time and we are hooked! The Amish baby white is by far the best!! Thank you!
Love knowing that, Sandee!
Awesome as Always! Love the updates!
Thanks, Cheryl!
I also say go to Ms Freddy. I did her backup boot camp last summer and it has brought such peace of mind! She has the best hacks and tricks to getting all of your photos in one place, and then backed up online.
Thank you! Will do it!
Highly recommend you follow Ms. Freddy – she has been my go-to on photo storage. I have hard drive, Google Photos and Crashplan (cloud) – photos stored in 3 places.
So many people recommending this, thank you!
I do what you do with photos and videos .
Have you all ever played Avalon Hill’s Sleuth game? I’m wondering it Decrypto is at all similar.
Interesting that Cade is learning Tongan in New Zealand. My uncle and aunt lived in Tonga several different times, totaling quite a few years. He taught school there before they would allow missionaries, later he was mission president, and later than that temple president.
Whenever they would visit Utah, the Salt Lake Tongans would put on a party (at our house), and I loved it. Amazing people!
Your parents’ 50th celebration sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing that. Our daughters arranged a picnic for us and invited extended family. It’s great to be able to spend time with loved ones.
And with people who feel like friends, such as you. Thank you for your Friday Thoughts and for your wonderful recipes.
Appreciate you, Kathleen! Love this group and community, too. That’s so neat about your aunt and uncle! Cade absolutely loves the Tongan culture and people so much. (He’s also gained 45 pounds because they love to feed the missionaries and he loves to eat! 🤣) I haven’t played that game so I don’t know how similar it is to decrypto. I’ll have to check it out!
Love your updates—like a great chat with a long-time friend! Baking GF for your sis has me curious: Do you have a favorite flour substitute? How do you know which recipes convert well? I have a colleague with celiac and I want to include her in the treats I bring to the office.
Wow.
If you have amazon prime you have free photo storage… Easiest for me thus far…
Good to know!
Always love your Friday Thoughts posts! I can’t believe you have just 2 kids at home now! It’s been fun to watch them grow up via the blog 🙂 And definitely noting that bowling quarter game for the next time we go bowling. The sibling/parent get-together sounds amazing and I’m glad it went smoothly. Congrats to your parents!
As for backing up photos/videos…I use google (just having to keep buying more storage as the years go on…) and one drive. I have basically given up on external hard drives which is probably not the best. Would love to figure out what could be better too!
I can’t believe I only have two at home either! It’s wild. I know it sounds weird but it’s such a fun connection for me that so many of us have “done life” together over the last almost two decades here in this space.
Mel, I can never get enough of your Friday thoughts and life updates, so please never stop doing them! I got the citrus juicer (thanks to your rec) for my bday last month and am loving it. I’d like to add one of everything else from your list to my Amazon cart, thank you very much. Ha!
Also, I just got that same calling in church (after being with the youth for almost 5 years) and am leading for the first time this Sunday. Ahhhh, I’m terrified! I LOVED reading that you are doing that too. It made me so happy. I wish I could pick your brain about all your tips and tricks. I’m sure you’re so wonderful at it!
I wish I had insight on backing up photos and videos. I’m sorry I don’t, but would love to hear what you learn!
Also, I laughed out loud at your email comment because, hi, that’s me as well. I feel happiest when my inbox is cleaned up and emails are filed away where they should be (okay, maybe not….but I do love it!) My husband is the opposite with his and I can’t even look at it cause it drives me bananas!
Annnnnnd….a giant thank you for all the dishes you do on our behalf. That right there is true love! 😉
Hahaha, SAME LIFE. I feel the same about my husbands inbox and when I glance across at his phone and see all his unread text messages. 🤪
Angie! Ok I don’t have all the answers but feel free to email me at contact@melskitchencafe.com and I’ll share some resources that have been so helpful with the music!
For popcorn: I have a whirly pop – same idea. I will use the Flavacol flavors sometimes – they have a cinnamon one that’s delicious! And you can buy 25 lb bags of popcorn from them, including the Amish Country popcorn you like. Try the mushroom one if you are making caramel corn or popcorn balls, and the white hull-less lets me enjoy popcorn despite braces!
For backup: I use Backblaze. It backs up my whole computer, and all my external drives. I just have to plug the drives in once a year (Which you should do to make sure they haven’t gone bad.).
I keep all my photos on a hard drive (4TB is holding them all, with room for more so far). I back that up to BackBlaze, and I also have a local NAS that I keep them on. I know I have a few on older hard drives too, because I organized them all onto this hard drive. I pay for Backblaze, and that is worth my piece of mind. It was $5/month when I started in 2013, and it’s up to like $8/month now, so it’s still a cheap price to me, and hasn’t raised too much in 13 years. I have had to recover files and an entire hard drive that failed, and the process was easy. My friend also had to do that, and it worked for her too.
I do have all my photos on Google Photos – up to when they did away with free photo storage. It’s nice to have, but also Google has history of discontinuing things (RIP Picasa!) so I have alternates. Plus, I don’t want to pay a ton to store photos there.
If you are using a service as a cloud backup, especially a free one, have a second option. Some services aren’t true backups – like dropbox. If you delete a file, it will delete the cloud version too. Some services have been in the news for accidentally deleting people’s entire storage (ahem, Amazon), with no recourse for the person.
So helpful! Both the popcorn info and the detailed backup info. Thank you!
Miss Freddy has a class called Back-up Boot Camp where she walks you through backing up all your photos in multiple places, so you’re as safe as you can be. I use her system however I am behind on my external hard drive. Her website is missfreddy.com
Miss Freddy, a professional photo organizer, has a class called backup boot camp that walks you through backing things up in multiple places so your photos are safe. I follow most of her system, but I’m behind on my external hard drive. Her website is missfreddy.com
I absolutely love ALL of your emails and enjoy reading them over and over. Love all the info on your family get togethers and things you enjoyed and food. Love every recipe I have tried.
Thank you so much, Lucille!
Love these posts! My husband bought me Wavelength for Christmas (because he checked out your gift guides- smart husband!), and we love it! I even enjoy pulling it out with one kid and having some one on one chat and play time. I also have been wanting one of those lemon juicers, and this was the last nudge. It’s in my cart!
Personally, on top of normal busy life with 5 kids 6-15, I’m currently passing 2 kidney stones *sigh*. It’s been a rough go, and I’m super exhausted. The pain/tiredness has kept me from being able to really exercise, which has been so hard as that’s been an outlet I’ve been grateful for especially recently. The only plus side is I’m very hydrated lol. I’ve had 3-5 quarts of water every day this week.
Thanks for keeping things real with us and for all the wonderful recipes (and recommendations)! Good luck with your pain/cholesterol journey, and with all the life stuff for you and your family.
Miss Freddy backup bootcamp will answer all your photo questions. https://missfreddy.com/backup-bootcamp
Hi Mel, thanks for sharing your Friday thoughts! I’m glad to hear you’re doing better with your way of eating. If I may say, my mom and I both have issues with dairy, and if we have too much in one day, we both get pains in our joints (hands, etc.) that feels arthritic. So, minimizing the dairy in our diets has really helped that, and I don’t know if doing that would help you as well. Very glad to hear your family is doing so well! I so loved the 50th anniversary get-together you had. 50 years is amazing! All the food and games you had – all of it sounds fabulous!!! I’ll pray for safety for your traveling sons. May God keep them in his hands.
I appreciate your thoughtful and delish recipes, so thank you from the bottom of my heart! My husband thanks you, too. Oh, and that buttery flavor coconut oil is genius! I didn’t know it existed, but would certainly solve the issue I have cooking with butter! Seriously, anything I eat with butter in it or on it sends my stomach into knots. My husband doesn’t like ghee, which I use sometimes, but it doesn’t bother my stomach. Now I can have the best of both worlds!
Recently, my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He just had a biopsy yesterday, and should get the results soon. His bloodwork came back fantastic, and there’s no cancer in the lymph nodes or in the bones–thank God! The likely course of treatment will be radiation and hormone therapy. His son, who is a Physician’s Assistant, says more men die WITH prostate cancer than OF it. Based on what we know about his condition, this doesn’t seem to be aggressive. We are beyond grateful.
We’ll be going to a block party tomorrow and I’ll probably make one of your delicious brownies or cookies recipes to take along. Thank you!
Our Golden Retriever just turned 2 yesterday, and he is a hoot, but he gives me great joy when he’s not chewing one of my socks or something he’s not supposed to have. He dragged out one of my 5-pound ankle weights the other night…how he was able to do that, I don’t know, but he is a strong guy!
If you discover a solution for your photos, I’d love to know. I have years of scrapbooking that I’m behind on, and those photos are fairly organized, waiting to go into scrapbooks. I also have many years of digital photos that I don’t know how to organize, either, or get into scrapbooks (print them all? ugh!). The digital photos primarily live in the cloud, but are only organized by month and year. At least that’s something! I know there are apps out there, but I’m not sure what the simple solution is.
We have so much more going on that I’ll leave unspoken, but please remember us in your prayers for that. Thank you for all you do! Hug those kids every chance you get!
Love,
Debbie
Personally for backup storage I love dropbox. I mostly use it for writing so I just use the amount I get free each month. If you need a ton of storage they have more for a monthly fee. They have always been reliable and I’ve been using it for 20 or more years with no problem.
Thanks, Sara!
One day, long ago, I got my emails to zero. Then I went out of town. Now I have thousands again. Lol
Hahaha 😂
Oh that licorice! I don’t even like black licorice but I sampled many flavors of this (or something very similar to this) in Iceland last summer and it was soooooo good! I couldn’t bring myself to spend $25 for a small jar though. I did find a cheaper version at a gas station there but it was not as good. Wish I had some photo storing advice but I think we have a similar system to yours—my husband takes care of it so I don’t exactly know what we do but excited to see what others suggest! Have a great week Mel!
Thanks, Nancy! I agree that I wish that licorice was a bit more affordable!
Thank you! I’ve loved every receive tried and almost exclusively use mels kitchen cafe for our dinners. I also love reading your Friday thoughts. Thanks for sharing
Thank you, Aimee!
Love the Friday post and love your sweet family, your parents are the best, sounds like a fun reunion! I’m definitely wanting to try the new wavelength game and the bowling game, so fun! Also glad to hear your two missionaries are doing well! I had two out last year at the same time and it was great but so good to have my oldest home!
I also back up my photos on a hard drive. I currently need to clean up my Google photos space which is nearly to capacity. I organize my photos by year, month, and date and clearly label so things are easy to find. I’m also going to back up that hard drive just in case one falls. I also make a yearly photo book with blurb so In the tragic case I lose everything I always have those. I’d love to hear what you find out from others if there’s a better way.
Thanks, Lisa! I think there’s a lot of helpful info in this thread about backup options!
Laughing about LDS cholesterol. Its probably from all those funeral potatoes.😂
Wondering about your husband and collegiate athletics. What’s the story there?
Just sent our oldest child to the MTC this week. She’s headed for birmingham alabama. Taking the rest of the kids to Boston for spring break next week. Hoping to hear more definitively soon from law school that has hubby on a waitlist. Prepping for hiking in Ireland for our 20th anniversary in May. Wow, that all sounds like a lot. No wonder im tired!😝
Oh, photo organizing is on my to do list this year too. Trying to pull everything from Amazon photos, computers, phones, and external hard drive all on to Google photos in noce little albums. Realizing that I have tons of duplicates taking up way more space than necessary. Once im done with mine, my mil has requested that I help her do the same… which will include physical copies too. Not sure yet how I’ll navigate that component.
“Probably from all of those funeral potatoes.” Hahahaha — this comment wins! 🙂
Hahaha, laughing out loud at that, Sandee. Yes, I have eaten a lot of funeral potatoes in my day. Just fixed that typo.
Athletics – it’s a simple story. My husband wrestled for BYU back in college and his love for the athletics at that institution runs deep. The BYU cougars consistently get his heart and hopes up…and then dash them again and again with wins and losses. First world stresses for sure.
Love the long mini bread pan! Genius!! Same feelings here about parenting the big kids. And same question about photos! It’s the main project on my summer list.
Question: LDS cholesterol or LDL cholesterol?
Thanks for sharing so much of yourself 😘
Ha. LDL. But maybe LDS contributed, too? #iykyk
Haven’t finished reading yet, just an alert in case you read these comments – type on “LDL” cholesterol 🙂
*typo**
Hahahaha. So tempted to leave it like that. Thanks for the catch!
Thanks for sharing your perfect popcorn recipe! I bought the cooker you recommended and buy the Amish popcorn locally!
Yay!
I made it all the way through this post only to be in awe on how clean your kitchen is! Is this recipe testing, just a normal meal? How many less dishes do you have without the boys home? I mean your sink is full and I can only imagine how many items you’ve washed. WE appreciate all your dishes-LOVE your blog, LOVE your recipes. LOVE your zest, energy, and willingness to share with us. THANKS for all you do; you are such a large part of my kitchen and our family memories.
Thank you, Tiffany!! Remember you’re only getting a curated snapshot. Haha. That photo was from a day of recipe testing (I have a second smaller island in the back of my kitchen that’s more of a workspace and it’s also a disaster on those days). Even though I hate doing dishes, the recipe testing days ARE my favorite.
Hi Mel! Professional photo organizer here. Best practice is to keep 3 copies- 1 offsite and 2 in the cloud. I would start by buying a new/fresh EHD as they can go bad in 5-10 years and move a copy of everything to that hub. Then once you have everything there you can organize as much as you want. Once its organized, upload a new fresh copy to the cloud services of your choice. That’s the very simplified way of course but happy to answer any questions you have!
THANK YOU!!