SpoonFullofJelly

This gift giving holiday will be quite interesting this year. My son will be 14 months old. He may not understand all the rituals and festivities that take place during this time for a while, but he will understand receiving. This past summer when he was only 9 months old, he quickly caught on that when someone stood in my parent's kitchen at the butcher's block, he was going to get fed. There were times when we were there just to prep dinner, but he came running because he was expecting to receiving something. So with the holiday season upon us, Hubby and I began to reevaluate how we wanted to deal with this massive gift giving season. We wondered if too many gifts would make a difference at this age or if we need to set the tone now for the future. We needed to make a decision on quantity and type of gifts and hope this would trickle down to other holidays and birthdays.  I don't buy into all marketing schemes that our child needs a certain type of toy or electroni...

All I wanted for Christmas has finally arrived. I couldn't be happier than I am right now! Glory be to Him! Merry Christmas you you and your family and friends! Love, The Maruki Family

Happy Anniversary  to the Man of My Dreams! Thank you for being strong, weak, funny, serious, happy, sad and  down right there every moment of the past  5 years! May we continue on this wonderful path together!

Christmas can damage anyone's budget if it wasn't carefully planned. Hubby and I refused to damage our budget for one day worth of gift giving. We wouldn't do it for a birthday nor would we do it for a holiday. This year hubby and I took on the $100 challenge. This year hubby and I had to get as much as we can for each other and not spend more than $100. Some people spend way more and even way less than that for their spouses. Our main focus is to make sure we get each other things that mean the most to the person. We try to fix our gifts is the 4 categories: Something they Want, Something they Need, Something to Wear and Something to Read Here is a sample break down: Shirt on Super Clearance from Old Navy.......$10 Pants on Sale from JcPenny............................$20 Favorite Game.................................................$12 Cool Body Wash and Spray............................$18 Funky Wild Socks...........................................$5 Resta...

Enjoy Your Day Full of Sugar!

Thanksgiving lends to fun jokes and expressions such as: "Gobble Until you Wobble" "Sweatpants Meal" "Tis' the Season to Overeat" Lots of weight loss companies and blogs will remind you of the dangers of eating too much this time of the year. That's not what I'm referencing. I'm talking about the work and stress in making a huge meal. But I say: "Tis' the season to cook less, but eat more!" My first year to host Thanksgiving was in 2007. I had just moved to Chicago 3 months prior and I invited my parents and boyfriend. Turkey scared the crap out of me. It was its size and cooking time that made me head toward duck and ham. With careful precision, and the skill of cooking a crispy chicken, I made a whole duck with an orange dipping sauce. Ever since then, I have done duck many times for Thanksgiving. When it comes to this eating holiday, the problem is all the side dishes that adorn the table. How many do you need? Ho...

What I resolve this year: 1. Finish my 30 While 30 List- #14 Items Left 2. Obtain Employment, Full-Time or Part-Time 3. Secure SpoonFull of Jelly as a business in DC area 4. Run a 5K & 10K (unless pregnant) 5.  See Family at the beach house 6. Read lots of Books 7. Become a Positive Person What is on your checklist?

I spent countless hours exploring all things baby for nearly a year. I flipped through websites, explored store shelves and my favorite, read tons of blogs. I watched videos of the best strollers, cloth diapers, and carrying slings. Mr. Mind and I weren't trying for a baby at the time, but I just wanted to be informed, be ready and it mostly feed my desire to start a family. Once my mental struggle of having a family resulted in a "let's give it a try", I thought it wouldn't be difficult. How little did I know! Almost four months have gone by and to my surprise my womb is empty. How could this be? I thought pregnancy issues were for older women, sick women, or women of poor health. Was I naive enough to believe that coitus was enough? Sure I did, that was why we spent a while preventing it. But here I am wondering what to do next. I read countless stories of women who were miscarrying often and praying for a sticky baby every month. Was I too to fall into th...

I thought of a million things that I am thankful for this year and I wanted to write a post about it. But then I thought, who would want to read that?! After all, my husband and I have our health which is wonderful after his 5 day hospital visit. We also are safe and happy after moving to a new state and receiving jobs in our career. It is perhaps the act of being thankful is the lesson for this time of the year. Being thankful is to not concentrate on what we do not have, but to find great meaning and enjoyment in what we have. I learned this year more than any year of my adult life, so far, that my path might be the same as others, but my outcome is far different. Since I have understood that meaning, I have been able to enjoy what I am going through. I can see the flowers through the trees. Yes, I still have moments of jealousy, envy, anger and other human emotions, but I can recognize them and fight them. Being thankful is also to apprecia...

As September comes to a close, I think about the holidays that are approaching. I still have summer veggies to can and apples to pick, but the weather is pushing everything along quickly. In an effort to continue to give to others, this holiday season I will being giveing shoe boxes for Christmas . Wouldn't you want a shoe box?  Operation Christmas Child   will make sure that children around the world will receive just that. Operations Christmas Child is apart of Samaritan's Purse. With the help of fortunate people, they are able to send shoe boxes STUFFED with goodies to children in over 100 countries! Our family has committed to fill a minimum of 3 shoe boxes plus cover the $7 shipping donation for each box. I want to challenge everyone to reach out and do the same! If your family, friends, homeschool group, Church/Sunday school group, knitting group etc. would like to fill some of the boxes and cover the shipping costs, please post your commitment below.   Drop-...