A Favorite Scripture

 This has long been one of my favorite scriptures: 

This is the Way My Life Was Meant to Be!

 
A friend that I work with at the temple recently gave me one of these delicious Werther's Caramel Apple Filled candies.  I loved it and bought some at the store.  They are so good.  When we were tending our grandchildren, we gave them each one.  Nine-year-old Gabe put it in his mouth and declared, "This is the way my life was meant to be."

They are that good!

J Dawg's Special Sauce

 We recently have had a J Dawgs open near our home.  We love their special sauce and put it on a lot of things besides hot dogs. It has become a staple condiment in our fridge.

The story behind special sauce is a good one!

“The sauce has been around even longer than J. Dawgs has,” Edwards says. “My grandma clipped a recipe out of the newspaper in the 1940s while my grandpa was away and learning to fly in the United States Army Air Corps. She fiddled with it, adjusted it to her tastes, and it became a family favorite.”

Bubblegum Hydrojug

 Ken gave me this bubblegum pink hydrojug for Christmas.  I LOVE it.  It keeps a drink cold for well over a day.  If the straw is down, it is completely spillproof.  It is my constant companion throughout the day.  It is one of my favorite things!

My Happy Place

  This is my To-Be-Read bookcase.  It is in our bedroom and it literally makes me smile every time I walk by it.  It fills me with joyous anticipation of all the wonderful books I have to look forward to reading.  It is ever evolving.  As soon as I take a book out to read it, I replace it with a book from my ever-growing stash.  It is truly one of my favorite things.

Nugget Ice Maker

 My name is Kay and I am an iceaholic.  I love ice year-round.  I love an icy cold drink.  For Christmas, Ken gave me this nugget icemaker.  I love it.  It truly is one of my favorite things.

Considering this for my epitaph

 This is so me . . .

Magic Cookie Bars

 

The decision is made!  Finally, at age 68, I know what my favorite dessert is.  For many years I said it was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  That is very good. But I think I like Magic Cookie Bars even more.  If you want the recipe for my favorite dessert, here is the link:  Hungry Hintons: Magic Cookie Bars

Cottage Cheese with Fruit (and Sugar- Sh!)

 I love cottage cheese with fruit on top. I also love to sprinkle sugar or sugar substitute on top.  It's in my genes.  I can't help it.  My Grandma Libby always put sugar on top of cottage cheese and so did my mom.  I grew up doing that and didn't know it was weird.  Try it.  It's delicious!  

Cottage cheese with fruit (and sugar.)  One of my favorite things.

Cordless Vacuum

 We love our cordless vacuum.  Ken deep cleans our carpets with a fancy vacuum cleaner regularly.  But for quick daily cleaning, we love our cordless vacuum.  It is a Dyson brand.  It works really well and is so light and easy to use.  

Our Dyson cordless vacuum: One of my favorite things.

Meat Separator Tool

 How did I live so many year without this great tool?  It is marvelous for breaking up ground meats such as ground beef and sausage as it cooks.  It is one of my fairly new favorite things.  I put the Amazon link for it below.

Amazon.com: Farberware Professional Heat Resistant Nylon Meat and Potato Masher, Safe for Non-Stick Cookware, 10-Inch, Black: Home & Kitchen

Hot Chocolate

  This is one of Ken's favorite things.  

Ken loves hot chocolate.

He drinks it most every day in the wintertime.  He goes on an early morning walk, then comes home and makes himself a cup, then takes it into the living room to enjoy it.

He has honed a delicious recipe.  He uses Stephen's brand.  He mixes it with chocolate milk, and adds a meltable piece of chocolate and mini marshmallows.

Hot chocolate is definitely one of Ken's favorite things! 

My Hymnbook

 On the fourth Friday of each month, I post one of my or one of Ken's favorite things.  This is one of my favorite things.  

My old hymnbook is one of my favorite things.

There is a story here. I love the hymns.  A few years ago, I did an intense study of the hymnbook:  I played and sang each one, I pondered the words and looked up the scriptures that relate to the words (bottom right under each hymn.)  I read about the history of each hymn, it's author and composer.  I wrote copious notes right in my hymnbook, surrounding each hymn.  In the first presidency preface in the front of the hymnbook, it says that the hymnbook should stand next to the scriptures. I came to understand that in a profound way.  Studying the hymns truly increased and strengthened my testimony of the gospel.

My friend, Marsha Burdick made the beautiful cover for my hymnbook.  It is old and worn now, but I can't bear to part with it.  The book itself is falling apart.  It is literally held together with velcro, duck tape, and prayers!

Another thing that makes my hymnbook special is that I have people that come into my home sign their favorite hymn. More than once I have passed it around at family gatherings for signatures. Sometimes I take it to church and have people sign- like when I was ward choir director I passed it around and had people sign.  Recently, when I taught the gospel doctrine lesson on the Psalms, I passed it around and had people sign it.  I love to look through the pages and see people's favorites.  It gives me insight into their souls.  

When asked what I would grab if there was a fire and I had to escape quickly, my list would definitely include my old hymnbook.  It is irreplaceable.  It is definitely one of my favorite things.

Scribd

 

Certainly one of my favorite things is the book listening and reading app, Scribd.  My sister, Joan put me onto it.  I was a member of  audible and she convinced me to give scribd a try.  On Scribd, you can listen to audio books and you can read books.  I do both.  Honestly, my favorite is to hold and read a real book, but listening and reading on a device have their place.  For a monthly fee, I can read and listen all I want. I get my money's worth with my use of this app! Scribd is one of my favorite things.

Macaroni and Cheese with Garden Tomatoes

 This simple dish has long been one of my favorite things.  You'll probably think I'm crazy, but I really look forward to eating this once or twice during the summer when the garden tomatoes are on.

I just make a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese as instructed (but undercook the pasta).  Or I heat up a Stouffer's frozen macaroni and cheese or I buy macaroni and cheese from the grocery store deli or my favorite, Popeyes.  I put chopped, fresh garden tomatoes on top and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash.  Yum!  It is one of my favorite things.

I am sure this would much more delicious with homemade macaroni and cheese.

My Camp Chair

 Several years ago I got one of these camping chairs at Costco.  I loved it.  It is sturdy and comfortable.  And I love the little side table.  I liked it so much that recently we bought a second one.   I actually leave it set up out on my deck.  I love to go out there occasionally and sit and enjoy the outdoors.  My camping chair is one of my favorite things.

Handheld Fan

 Truly one of my favorite things is my handheld rechargeable fan.  I actually have two of them.  They get me through the hot summer.  They work amazingly well.  I take one with me on every trip and use it every time: on the plane, when the room is too hot, etc.  I use it at home as well.  These little fans are my joy.

Ken's Binoculars

 I was surprised to find that I had not yet included Ken's binoculars in these favorite things posts.  They are definitely one of Ken's favorite things.  Birding brings him much joy, and binoculars are essential instruments for birding.

Ken's binoculars are among his favorite things.  

My Planner

Truly, one of my very favorite things is my Gallery Leather Large Weekly Planner.  I have used this same kind of planner for years. Kristen got me started a long time ago. I order one each fall for the next year.  It is hard to describe how much this book means to me.  I spend a lot of time setting it up just the way I like it.  I draw columns for schedule, daily to dos and weekly to dos.  This book keeps me on task and is my motivation for productivity.  I also do meal planning and write lots of notes in the back.   I carry it around the house with me.  I am seldom seen at home without it.  I know most people have converted to using their smart phones for their calendars/ to do lists.  I don't think I ever will.  I love my planner too much.

Gallery Leather Large Weekly Planner

Amazon.com : 2022 Leather Large Weekly Planner, by Gallery Leather, 9.75"x7.50", Acadia Malibu : Office Products

This shows a blank page, ready for me to fill it in.  From left on each page: Schedule, Daily to do, Weekly to do.

Clinique Happy Heart Perfume

 This is kind of a sweet story.  Several years ago, while we were on a cruise, Ken and I went into one of the lounges to hear a musical performance.  While we were waiting for it to start, I left to go to the restroom.  While I was gone, one of the cocktail waitresses walked by.  Ken was taken with her perfume.  When she walked by again, he was bold enough to stop her and ask her what scent she was wearing.  She told him it was Clinique Happy Heart.  He wrote it down.  I came back from the restroom, and he never mentioned a word of it to me.  When we got home, he went to Dillards to buy me some.  The clerk at Dillards showed it to him, but suggested he wait a couple of weeks as Clinique's free gift promotion was coming up.  So he did.  He went back a couple of weeks later and got me the perfume and free gifts.  He then surprised me with it.  I have three perfumes I really like.  This is one of them. I really do like the scent, but even more I like the thoughtful, sweet gift from my husband.  It is one of my favorite things.

Clinique Happy Heart Perfume