Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

December 2011

WOW! Where has 2011 gone?  It seems just like yesterday it was January. Who knew 2011 would bring so many new chapters in our lives as well as milestones?  For our family and friends that may be scratching their heads, I guess we need to update some pertinent details of our lives before going on to “new chapters” and “milestones”.

In the midst of two different divorces, God reunited two old friends from high school and blessed our broken roads. Some may say it is a “fairy tale” story, but when we reconnected we both admitted having feelings for each other 28 years ago.  Neither of us would act on it back in the day.  We both valued the friendship we had and were afraid to ruin it.  Fast forward 20 plus years to a class reunion at our alma mater’s homecoming game…. we ran into each other and over the next few years we would stay in touch via email and facebook, updating each other with the current happenings in our family’s lives every so often.  When we found ourselves in the midst of our separate divorces we became sounding boards for each other.  Once everything was said and done, we started dating.  On October 20, 2011, we both said “I do”. 

We have four children between us…..Jeff has two sons; Charles, 14 and Luke, 9.  I have a daughter, Stephanie, 19 and a son, Caleb, 17.  Stephanie is engaged to a wonderful young man named Paul Vincent.  They have set a wedding date of April 28^th.  She is currently enrolled at Savannah Tech and pursuing a degree in dental hygiene.  Paul works for his dad who owns an auto body/car care shop. Caleb is in 12^th grade at a vocational school where he is in his 3^rd year of welding. After he graduates…well…we just want him to graduate at the moment.  He plans on going to the fire academy and doing welding on the side. He is still an avid sportsman, ALL YEAR LONG!  Charlie is in 9^th grade, loves to skateboard and is quite good at it. He plays on a traveling baseball team where he is a catcher and outfielder.  Luke is in 3^rd grade and eats, breathes, sleeps and talks baseball.  He always has a ball of some type in his hand.  Luke pitches and plays shortstop.  He too is on a traveling baseball team.  For approximately 7 months out of the year they play ball at least two weekends a month.

Along with bringing two families together, I am learning all I can about military life. I am completely new to it and am like a sponge, soaking up all I can.  I have A LOT to learn.  I never would have thought I would be married to a Soldier or living the military lifestyle, but I am.  I wouldn’t trade it.  During our first month of marriage he has been gone for over half of it.  Needless to say, we cherish our time together.

Jeff is the new Commander of the 218^th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company out of Charleston for the South Carolina Army National Guard. While I think this is a big deal, he is happy just to have a “big office” and not be sleeping on the back of a tank anymore.  Over the next few months he will be preparing the unit for deployment in 2012.  Jeff also plays with his band Southern Blue. They play a mix of southern rock and blues.

I am working part time as a manager of two tanning salons here in Myrtle Beach. I have 8 young ladies that work for me and at times I feel like I have 8 more daughters.  Thank goodness we won’t be paying for those weddings. 

Well, that’s about it for us.  Each one of you has a special place in our hearts.  We hope y’all have a Merry Christmas.

The Blankenships

WOW - It has been a while & A LOT has happened!

I didn't realize until I was saving a new layout design this morning how long it had been since I posted.  A LOT has happened since then!

Since my last post on October 11th, my daughter has gotten engaged, I have gotten engaged & married!  Told you a lot had happened.

On October 14th, my best friend, soul mate & love of my life asked me to marry him in front of about 100 people.

Yep, that is him and he is AWESOME!  He is a multi instrumentalist in a band and at their show on October 14th, he asked me to marry him after he sang a song he wrote for me.  He had sang the song before, so I didn't think much about it, until at the end of the song he called me on stage and went into this long heartfelt speech.  To which, he had every woman in the place in tears.  You see, Jeff & I went to high school together and were good friends there.  Fast forward 20+ years, we both had married someone else, had kids and reconnected when we were both in the midst of separations & divorces.  We found out we both liked each other immensely in high school, but neither of us would act on it because we didn't want to ruin our friendship.

I can tell you this man completes me! I have never been happier.....each day is an adventure and there is never a dull moment!  On October 20th in front of the sweetest lady you could meet in the local courthouse, we married.  It was very simple and private, but it is what we wanted.  Neither of us wanted to do anything to take away from my daughter's wedding and her engagement.

Well, that is what has transpired in a nut shell......I am hoping to do better about posting......Hope you have a great day! 

  

Have you been pinning yet?

Most everyone I know has like me become addicted to pinterest.  Oh & it didn't take long for it to happen, just a click here & a click there.....and yep, you're hooked.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this new obsession, I will do my best to give you some tidbits on it.

What is Pinterest?

In a nutshell, it is a virtual pin board with social media components.

Why use it? 

Prior to Pinterest the bookmark folders on my computer were overflowing. Even though I had everything in themed folders, it just was not very helpful or easy to find what I was looking for. Pinterest has solved this problem for me. It is the virtual version of browsing through a magazine, tearing out a picture, and pinning it to a corkboard. Exceptt way better because you can create unlimited themed boards that can be accessed from anywhere. In addition, the social media aspect allows you to see what other people find interesting or inspiring. I love that part of Pinterest, it is a essentially a collective pool of ideas. Now, they may not all be good ideas, some will be down right weird but my experience has been that most are useful or at least thought provoking. Here's a few ways I use Pinterest:

1. Meal Planning
2. Gift Giving
3. Outfit Inspiration
4. Photography Inspiration
5. Inspirations from quotes 
6. DIY Crafts

The list can go on & on.....you would not believe some of the things you can do.  I even have a board titled, "why didn't I think of that"! 

How do I join?

It is currently by invite only but invites are not that difficult to come by. You can request one through the Pinterest website or ask a friend for an invite. I have several. Leave a comment with your email or email me your info and I'll send you an invite. I am limited to six but most people have extras so reach out on Facebook and Twitter, I'm sure others would be happy to share.

I have an account, now what?

Once you receive your invite, you can create an create an account and a profile. A few things you should include or update in your profile, especially if you are a blogger:

When you click save you will be taken to your profile page with "your boards." You can also always access this page by hovering over your name in the top right menu bar, a dropdown menu will appear, click "your boards." This is also the page people will see when they visit your profile.

Your Profile Page and Your Boards

Ok, let's look at what is on this page. On the right you will see your profile picture, the number of followers and the number of people you are following (more on following in a minute). Below your photo you will see your linked accounts. As a blogger, this is a great networking tool and free advertising. 

Below your links you will find a feed of recent activity. However, it will also list when someone has repinned, liked, or commented on one of your pins as well as if you have new followers or if you were mentioned in a pin (I'll explain what that all means in the next section). Think of this like a facebook feed basically just an FYI, it doesn't necessarily require any action. However, this is a great way to interact with new people. I often find great need boards and blogs by visiting those who appear in my activity feed.

In the center are your boards. When you first open an account you are given 6 or so standard boards. These can be renamed or delete by clicking on the edit button. You can also add as many additional boards as you like.

Organizing Your Boards

The menu bar above the boards tells how many boards, pins, likes, and mentions you currently have. On the far right of that bar is a "rearrange boards" button. I like to keep mine organized by "theme." 

Following and Followers

Anyone can follow you and you can follow anyone. You can also choose to only follow certain boards of a fellow member. When you visit the profile page of a person you will see all their boards. Under each one will be a "Follow" button, click the one you want to follow. If you choose to follow all their boards, click the button under their profile. 

Pinning

Alright, you have your boards set up and you are ready to pin. There are two ways to get items on your boards. A Pin is created by you from a site on the internet and a Repin is when you pin an image you saw on someone else's board within Pinterest. 

Some people will tell you that Pinterest is additive and a total time suck. Although this may be partly true, it can also be a great organizational tool and an asset to your blog. I really hope this post helps those of you who are hesitate or unsure of the awesomeness of Pinterest.

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome to "Tidbits of Eating, Loving & Living Everyday"! Do you know how hard it is to come up with a blog name?!? I can't begin to tell you how many names I tried.  The end result is as you have read and that took a lot of trial and error.

In the upcoming blogs I want to share with you tidbits of each of category outlined in my blog name. Tidbits of eating by sharing recipes from my kitchen....I LOVE TO BAKE & COOK! It is in my soul! Tidbits of love may be from my personal life or of those around me....may not be of a person but possibly of something.  And lastly, tidbits of living......I think we all forget to take each day in stride and be thankful for even the little things....life is too short not to be happy. Life is a gift and each day we are given a brand new canvas to paint that day and make it ours. Carpe diem!