Old Soul, Young Heart

  Monster Cookies Recipe from: Lori Leake (my mom's friend from work) Ingredients: 6 eggs 2 cups brown sugar 2 cups white sugar 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla 1 ½ teaspoons Karo syrup 4 teaspoons baking soda 1 cup softened butter 24 ounces peanut butter 9 cups oatmeal 8 ounces chocolate chips 8 ounces m&ms Directions: Mix above in a very large bowl in order given Place about 6 large scoops of dough on each cookie sheet and flatten Bake at 350° for 12 minutes (no flour; do not overbake) Monster cookies were such a treat when we were kids. These were the cookies we would request when we were able to take birthday treats to school. They are definitely a crowd pleaser. The combo of peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and m&ms... you can't really go wrong. And the size of the cookie is impressive, especially to a kid. Of course I had to decorate the cookies like my mom did--it was always three m&ms on top, spaced evenly, and preferably three different colors. Do I get my p...

  I definitely wanted my second recipe to be a treat like the first one I posted since this girl's got herself such a sweet tooth, but I realize I should have a good mixture of items here. So here we go with... Chicken & Rice Bake Ingredients: 2 cans chicken soup 1 cup water ¾ cup rice seasoning salt 6-8 boneless chicken breasts Directions: Spray glass dish with Pam Mix soup, water, and rice in dish Place chicken breasts on top of rice mixture Sprinkle with seasoning salt Cover Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until done The chicken looks pink, but I promise it was done! This was a Scheffert household dinner staple. I had never made it before, but I can see why it was a popular one because the ingredient list is short, the prep work is as about as simple and quick as it gets, and it uses only one dish. About halfway through baking, the house started to smell like it and it was such a familiar smell which was interesting. 😊 I've never purchased "chicken soup" before, so...

This time of year has become increasingly difficult for me. The couple of weeks leading up to Mother's Day and then the actual day on Sunday--it's a lot. Advertisements for gift ideas in my email, on tv, in the stores, on social media. The card aisle lined with glittery pink and purple designs filled with words I wish I could say to my mom. The posts on social media from friends and companies. I dread it and just want the day to be over. You'd think it would get easier as time goes on, but grief is a funny thing. Hilarious , in fact. The past two years on the Saturday before Mother's Day I've participated in a Zoom call for motherless daughters, hosted by Hope Edelman who authored a book many years ago by that name. I was so moved last year to be in the company of hundreds of women who get what it is to lose their mom, whether it was 60 years ago or just a few weeks ago. In the call this year, Hope suggested that we think about a characteristic of our mom that we...

It's my annual blog post on the anniversary of my mom's death. Today it is the 13th anniversary. A couple of times today I've had to check that it's been 13 years. Is my math correct? It is. Thirteen. I was at my dad's about a week ago and looked through the family photo albums, as I usually do when I get over to his house. I took a photo of my mom and I. I was probably 5 and I could tell it was around Thanksgiving by the pilgrim girl window cling. I was on her lap and we were smiling at the camera. Her arms were on my arms, her hands holding my hands. I looked into her eyes in that photo and wondered what she was thinking. Was she actually happy? Was she fulfilled? Was her life what she wanted and thought it would be? What dreams did my mom have? This is the question that made me keep looking into her eyes, wishing she was here to share the answer with me. What have you done in your life, Mom, that you are most proud of? What do you regret not doing? What h...

Yesterday's List (Day 19): Dear _____, You Can Make Me Happy In The Following Ways... Dear Tonight's Sleep... (I'm getting ready to go to sleep and I can't think of anything, so sorry! P.S. This list is pretty lame, anyway.) By not being that hot : It's summer already in central Illinois on the first day of spring (surprise surprise) and it's flippin' hot up here. I finally broke down and turned on the air conditioner, even though it's loud. Which brings me to my next point... By not waking me up, even though the air conditioner is really loud when it kicks on. By being super comfy and not causing me to toss and turn as per the norm the past couple of weeks. Today's List (Day 20): Favorite Memories I have a lot of memories; they are some of my favorite things. I am a very reflective person, so memories are important to me. It's hard to pick out specific memories since a lot of mine are just experiences rather than certain momen...

"What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul." Jewish Proverb I think it's really interesting that as I get older I see how I am more and more similar to my mother. I'm not sure if this is because of how I'm growing up or if I've always been this way, but I bet it's probably a combination of the two. What I do know is that how she was and how I remember her will always be a part of me, and I will continue to see aspects of her in me throughout my life. One thing that I've really noticed is how emotional I've become. I never understood why I would always find my mom crying at songs and movies and stories on the news. I would often make fun of her for it, actually. Not in a mean way--I would just kind of giggle at the fact that I always felt like she was crying about something that was totally removed from us and our little life here in central Illinois. Yes, it was sad, but it never really effected me the way it seemed to effect her. ...