Sinfully Simple Queso

This is my absolute favorite cheese dip! It is delicious and so incredibly easy to make!

Start by browning off your sausage. I used sage sausage to add a bit of flavor, but regular sausage is absolutely fine. It won't change the flavor much.

While that's going on chop up some high quality, expensive, well-aged cheese. HA! You can use whatever kind of Velveeta you want. Here I used two blocks of the Queso Blanco. You can use plain, spicy, one of each. Whatever you want! It's all delicious.

Throw it in your crockpot and let it all melt together, stirring occasionally. Serve with tortilla chips, and that, my friends, is Sinfully Simple Queso.

Here's the recipe.

Sinfully Simple Queso 
Ingredients: 
2 lbs. of ground sausage 
2 blocks of Velveeta Cheese 

Directions: 

1- In a large skillet, brown sausage. 

2- Cut up your choice of Velveeta Cheese into small rectangles. 

3- Add the cheese and the drained sausage to a crockpot. 

4- Turn the crockpot on low-medium and allow the cheese to melt, stirring occasionally. 

5- Add 2% milk if needed to thin dip. 

6- Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy! 

Review: "Charlie and the Christmas Kitty" by Ree Drummond

Ree Drummond, or The Pioneer Woman, is best known for her fabulous blog, wonderful cookbooks, and fantastic television show. If you can't tell from that sentence, I'm slightly (ready incredibly) obsessed with her. In addition to all the things she does to help grownups to cook well and eat yummy food, she is also the author of several children's books. Because I am an actual child my lovely parents got me Charlie and the Christmas Kitty for Christmas.

If you're a fan of The Pioneer Woman you know that Charlie is Ree's beloved basset hound given to her by her husband for Christmas. Charlie often makes appearances on her blog, television show, and even in her cookware line. So it's only natural that the main character of her children's book series would be none other than Charlie himself.

Ree combines her trademark humor that we've come to love from her blog with a storyline that children will love. When a kitty suddenly shows up under the Christmas Tree Charlie has a difficult time adjusting to the change. Needless to say, hilarity ensues until Charlie finally comes to terms with the new kitty in his life.

Not only this book hilariously cute, it's also beautiful. The book is illustrated by Dianne deGroat, who crafts lovely pictures throughout the book that match the story perfectly. You can tell that this truly was a collaboration.

And in true Ree fashion, the book ends with a recipe for Christmas Cookies.

Bottom Line: Charlie and the Christmas Kitty is an adorably little book that kids of all ages will love.

Love and Happy Reading,

Gayle

xoxo

Merry Christmas!!

The Christmas season is my absolute favorite time of year. I love the beauty, the quietness, the appreciation that comes from the holiday. Nothing beats it, except for maybe Easter. This Christmas season has been a busy one and one full of firsts. It is the first Christmas that I've "come home for" and the first that I've actually bought presents for. Needless to say, I can feel my childhood slipping away. So here's some of the things we've been up to in the recent weeks.

1) Frat Boy Santa

I try to meet Santa at least once every Christmas because, whatever your feelings on Santa are, it's just plain ole fun. This year, I had to settle for frat boy Santa with a selfie stick. 

2) Morehead Christmas Parade 

Morehead seems to do Christmas well. There were numerous Christmas events in Morehead that I went to, but this was by far the most fun. I love the little town I get to go to college in. 

3) Family Christmas Tree

This is my favorite family Christmas tradition. My mom still has all the ornaments that I made as a small child that have ceased to look like an ornament. Unfortunately, since I was school I didn't get to go with my parents to the Christmas Tree Farm to cut the tree. Even so, I love decorating the tree. 

4) Lights Under Louisville 

We drove up to Louisville to see the light display. Several years ago, we went to the light display at the Kentucky Horse Park and, I must say, Lights Under Louisville is by far superior.

5) Baking up a storm 

I spent all day Christmas Eve baking. I made some "scrumptious bakes" in the words of Mary Berry (If you haven't seen the Great British Baking Show YOU NEED TO!! It's on Netflix right now and it's life changing.) I've got lots of recipe posts coming! Keep an eye out! 

6) Spending time with friends 

We spent Christmas Eve with our dear, dear friends eating, laughing, talking. While we were there, I snapped this photo of my mom reading to their three little girls. This is the most adorable photo I think I've ever taken. 

7) Christmas Day 

Christmas Day at our house is very laid back. We stay in our pjs, watch Christmas movies, open presents, and eat seafood. It's one of those rare days in which we're all home, relaxing, and just being together. And it's one of my favorite days of the year. 

So, Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours! I hope that your Christmas was as fantastic as mine. 

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." 

~Isaiah 9:6-7

Love and Happy Reading,

Gayle 

xoxo

Why Homeschooling is Freaking Awesome: The Perspective of a Former Homeschool Student

The summer between fifth and sixth grade, my parents decided to pull me out of the county school system and homeschool me. Their reasons were varied and don't apply to this post, but I am glad they did. Homeschooling was extremely, extremely beneficial to me as a person and my education. As I look back on it, deciding to homeschool me was one of the best things my parents ever did for me and here's why.

1) Homeschooling allowed me to work at my own pace. 

It's pretty much a universally accepted fact that all children learn at different paces; not only that, but people learn different subjects at different paces. Homeschooling allowed me to have the freedom to do just that. It allowed me to do two years of math in one, and then spend four hours a day trudging through Algebra II in my sophomore year. It allowed me to spend less time on English, a topic that I took naturally to but had no interest in, and more time on Chemistry and History. It let me spend my summer doing General Science II, something that isn't required in high school, so that I could better understand Biology.

If I had been in public school, I would have been forced to keep up with the rest of the class. That means, I would have been forced to sit through my classes bored because I already understood all the material, and in others be forced to struggle through, a step behind everyone else. Homeschooling gave me the freedom to learn as quickly or as slowly as I needed so that I could thoroughly understand the content.

2) Homeschooling taught me that everyone has their strong suit, and that's OKAY. 

The reality of homeschooling is that sooner or later the student is going to reach material that the parents just simply can't help with for whatever reason. When I needed it, my dad could help with Biology and General Science and my mom could help with most math and basic English, but there were other things I needed help with. At that point, they sent me to people who they knew could help me. For Chemistry and science labs, it was a wonderful lady at my homeschool co-op and when it came to writing college-level papers they sent me to a family friend who just so happens to be a brilliant instructor.
Homeschooling allowed me to realize that the phrase "A jack of all trades is a master of none" is very true, and that's a wonderful thing. We all have things that we are better at than others. The important thing is to know what those things are, and use that knowledge to help you learn the other subjects as well.

3) Homeschooling let me focus on the things that interested me. 

The great thing about homeschooling is that it looks different for every family and every child. So that means that I was also able to focus on the things that really interested me. I'm really interested in Agriculture, so I got to spend time with my goats and chickens and at the Experimental Farm at Kentucky State University. We were also able to work my love of classic literature in to my curriculum. Let's just say that, I got to the point where I was on first name basis with the librarians.

(Obligatory photo of my goats)

4)  Homeschooling taught me to appreciate diversity. 

People have this silly idea that the homeschool world is a world free of diversity. For some reason, people think that every homeschool family is characterized by a sixteen passenger van with pro-life bumper stickers on the back. When I hear that I want to laugh out loud. Yes, there are some families like that, but  every homeschool family is different. Every family has a different method of homeschooling, and some have different methods for each child. Not only that, but each family has a different belief set, a different family dynamic, and a different set of opinions. This is a wonderful, wonderful thing! Differences are something to be appreciated not feared. Homeschooling helped me realize this.

5) Homeschooling taught me personal responsibility, self-discipline, and accountability. 

Everyone homeschools differently because everyone has different learning styles (see #1). For me, my parents decided that the way I learned best was on my own. Every week they gave me a syllabus with everything that I need to get done on it. It was my responsibility to get my work done. My parents didn't hold my hand, and they didn't except excuses. I had one job and that was to get my work done during that week. Obviously, you can see how this would quickly teach me responsibility, self-discipline, and accountability. I can't say that I was perfect at getting all my schoolwork done every week, but I can say it definitely helped build my character.

6) Homeschooling taught me to make friendships that last. 

While my parents were deciding to homeschool me people kept asking the same question: "What are you going to do about socialization?" I HATE this question with a burning passion. Dogs are socialized. Children are taught to make friends. Also, why do people just assume that "socialization" just naturally occurs in public school. As if being forced to spend eight hours of every day with people who are your own age creates lasting friendships.

I won't lie to you and say that it's easy for me to fall in to friendships; instead, I have had to work for my friendships. Friendships that are worked for are better, in my opinion, than friendships that develop by default. Truth be told, all a person really needs in life is a good homeschool co-op and a wonderful youth group.

7) Homeschooling prepared me for college. 

During my first semester of college, I've seen my public school counterparts struggle to adapt to college life. They can't handle the freedom, the self-discipline, and the lack of hand holding. These are all things with which I'm very used to dealing. My friends have had to deal with what I call "academic shock" and I really haven't. I attribute this to homeschooling. Going in I was prepared to deal with the syllabi, the freedom, and self-discipline. Because of this I've had almost no problems in college so far. In all honesty, I've found college to be just like homeschool except with more people.

8) Homeschooling gave me freedom to do unusual things. 

Since I wasn't sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day, I had the freedom to pretty much do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted (as long as I was able to get my schoolwork done, of course). That meant that I had the freedom to take a 6:30 am Bible Study class, babysit on Wednesday afternoons, go hunting with my dad, get a job to earn money to go to Mexico, and countless other things. Very rarely did I ever sit at home and just "do school". In fact, I was almost never home.

(That job earning money to go to Mexico was very, very worth it.)

9) Homeschooling taught me to think outside the box. 

All that freedom gave me a unique perspective on the world and because of that I was able think in a different way. Not only that, but avoiding standardized tests and not having to compare myself to my classmates really contributed as well. I learned that sometimes the best way to find the best solution to a problem was to come at it in an unconventional manner.

10) Homeschooling helped me find something after "The Wall". 

"The Wall", as I term it, is the thing all homeschool parents dread. It is the moment they realize that their children have gone as far as they are going to be able to go at home. For some parents, they find harder, more video based curriculum, or they put them in public or private schools, or they look for dual credit programs at local universities. All of these things are wonderful options, but for me they just weren't right. Homeschooling gave me confidence to find something after I hit "The Wall" in tenth grade. Thanks to all the skills I gained through homeschooling I was able to be accepted into the Craft Academy at Morehead State, a dual credit residential high school program. All in all, homeschooling has helped propel me further than I have thought that I would go.

Love and Happy Reading,

Gayle

xoxo 

What I Learned in my First Semester of College

Yesterday I finished my very first semester of college. I am 1/4 of the way through my Craft Academy experience, and in another year and a half I will be half way through my Undergraduate degree. WOW. That really is something, isn't it? Honestly, this past semester has flown by so fast that I can't believe it's over. I've learned so many things, met so many people, and discovered so much about myself these past months. Here's just some of them:

1) Everyone is as terrified as you are. 

I guess when I started college I thought that everyone would have their life together and know what they were doing. I was SO wrong. There are a few upperclassmen and graduate students who know what they are doing, but everyone else is just "winging it". The important thing is to remember that there's nothing wrong with not knowing how to do something. Just be willing to admit it and ask for help. That's a sign of maturity.

2) You will make friends. 

My biggest fear going it to this program was that I would not be able to make friends. Honestly, I thought that I was going to that weird person that just kind of exists, but that's not what happened. I have an amazing friend group that I love dearly. I've found that in college, you make friends fast. One day, you know no one and the next you come home to this on your door:

That's just how it goes!

3) Every day is different. 

When I was home, every day was pretty much the same. Now, I wake up, I get dressed and hold on for the amazing ride. Every day is different. Every day is exciting. Every day I'm reminded of just how much I love the place I'm at.

4) Just have fun. 

College is definitely first and foremost about getting an education. That's the most important thing about going to school, but having fun is really important too. Sometimes you just have to cut loose and have good, safe fun.

(Sometimes good, safe fun is crashing the children's section of the Tree-Lighting and taking a photo with Frat-boy Santa)

5) Still.... study hard. 

I studied hard, so hard this semester, and I'm proud to say I will most likely end up with a 4,0 (not all my grades are in yet). At the beginning of the semester, I would have never thought that I would be madly in love with math, let alone tutoring it. I would have never thought I'd be looking forward to taking Calculus or that I'd be willingly taking on the trifecta of doom (Calculus, Biology 171, and Chemistry 111). Honestly, I fully expected to get into this program and completely fail, but I didn't.

Not too bad for my first college level paper.

6) Don't forget your old friends. 

I am so lucky not only to have amazing friends at Craft, but also to have the most incredible support group here. They are my oldest friends. We have grown up together: traversing the cute, awkward, and "attitud-inal" phases. They are amazing, and I love them. I am so thankful that they still keep in touch with me, and invite me to all their gatherings while I'm at home. I never thought that I'd be the first one of us to leave home, but I'm glad that I still get their support.

6) Always, always go home. 

Now I don't mean spend every weekend at home because you hate school so much. No, I think it's important that college students make their own lives outside of their hometowns and parents, but it is extremely, extremely important to stay connected to your family. You're parents are the most important people in your lives, and it is important that you go home. If you can't go home, call home. Call your mama, she worries about you. Call your daddy, he loves you. Just whatever you do, don't ever take your parents for granted.

Love and Happy Reading, 

Gayle 

xoxo 

A List of Several Things

1) It is the end of the first semester of Craft. I honestly can't believe that it's over because it has simply just flown by so fast. There have been so many wonderful things that have happened over the course of this semester, that I can't even begin to go through them all. All in all, it has been an amazing semester, and I'm proud to say that I will most likely end with a 4.0! 

2) You'll notice that I've taken a hiatus from blogging. That was so I could get my feet under me at school and figure out what in the world is going on (I've yet to do that). I'm hopeful that next semester I can keep the content coming as often as possible (but don't count on it). 

3) You will also notice that things are looking a little differently here on DC. I've polished the formatting up a bit and moved some things around. I am not a computer genius, so if you have any helpful hints about how to make this better that will be greatly appreciated. You can leave those hints in the comments or email me at Gayle's email address

4) Keep an eye out for new content coming here soon. I've got several posts in the works (including a book review!). 

5) I'M GOING TO GERMANY!! That's right, y'all. I am going to Germany over the summer. I'll be there for ten days studying renewable energy with my classmates. It is going to be a wonderful experience but a very expensive one. If you want to help me out, you can by donating at Gayle's Germany Fund . Any and all donations are helpful. 

6) I'm so glad to be back! We're going to have a lot of fun through this Holiday Season and the New Year. 

Love and Happy Reading, 

Gayle 

xoxo