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    I originally wrote this post about 3 years ago.  Now my mother is 97, still with us and will be for quite a while longer! Unlike her, many of the original suggestions for affordable gifts have fizzled out!  So, I felt it was time for an update!  Remember, if you click to these products through my links, you will be helping us out at no cost to you.  I hope you are inspired by my suggestions.  I read a funny meme that reminded dads that there won't be any handmade gifts or cards coming home from school this year, so you'd better get on it!  Mom's, if you see something on this list that you would love, maybe you should share this post with your husbands! 

    About a week and a half ago, we did a Friday Fave about influential women throughout history.  If I had to pick the woman who has influenced me the most throughout my life, it would be my own mother.  I have talked about her and referred to her in so many of my posts that I couldn't possibly link to all of them.  But here is one that I did when I took her handwriting and transferred it to a picture frame.  She has influenced my life for the better in so many ways and I love her so much.  I can't imagine having a mother better than she has been to me and my siblings.  This past month, she turned 97!  The photos above are pictures from her Christmas card last Christmas.  As you can see, she is still going strong and has a bright mind and a love of life.  I hope that I can be like her when I grow up.  If you read the print that I found on Etsy, that you can see in the collage, it will tell you how her children feel about her.  As soon as I saw it, I purchased it (only $5.00) and printed it to frame to send to her as a gift for this Mother's Day!  (Shh, don't tell her!)

    So, with all of the good ways that my mom has influenced me throughout my life, she has also influenced this week's post because, let me tell you, giving gifts to a 97 year old woman is not easy.  What does she need?  Not a lot!  What does she want?  Intangible things! What is she doing?  Giving things away and weeding out things!  But we want to find ways to show our love to her.
   Does anyone else have a mother in their life that seems to have all that she needs and wants when it comes to THINGS?  If so, I have compiled a list of SOME UNUSUAL THINGS and IDEAS that are budget friendly ways to show that you care.

                 Mom has had bouts with skin cancer on her face.  Whenever she goes out it is very important that she wear a large brim hat to shade her face and neck.  An addition to her hat collection would be a nice gift, and hats are becoming very trendy!  They would be a good addition to anyone's wardrobe, plus a protection from the sun in the coming summer months.  Lulu's has many to choose from! This link will take you to their hat page so you can see all of the chic styles.  If it is your first time to shop Lulu's, you can sign up for 15% off of your order, and if you spend $50, you get free shipping! 

    This Mother's Day give your Mom a beautiful, reusable gift that the planet will appreciate. The Other Straw is letting me try out their reusable bamboo straws. They are ethically handcrafted, made from sustainably grown, organic bamboo. 50% of their profits are donated towards ocean clean-up projects; it's a gift that gives back. I think it would be a fabulous idea to give your mom her favorite soft drink or other beverage, (my mom loves Dr. Pepper in moderation), these straws and perhaps a pretty tumbler to sip from! 

     While sipping her favorite beverage through her bamboo straw, your mom could be reading her favorite book!  My mom has always loved to read and in fact inspired a love of reading in me from a very young age.  So, books have always been good gifts for her, (and for me!)  She loves a good mystery. I recently read my first Lady Hardcastle Mystery by T. E. Kinsey. I found it fun and entertaining.  Her housekeeper, Flo, who tells the story, is a crack-up. I am sure my mom will love this book and others in the series! 

     Better yet, a Kindle would be a great gift so that she could always have something to read and often for free.  They can be more pricey, but you save a lot of money in the long run because there are many free books available, or less expensive ones. My mom had a Kindle, but I believe she has lost it!  It is too bad because she said it was much lighter than a book, so it was easier on arthritic hands.  So, a new one may be in order! There are many kinds at various prices.  Here are a couple of choices.

  If your mom already has a Kindle, a gift card for more books would be a perfect gift!  (And the time to read would also be awesome!)

                     So, thank you to my special mother! I know that a couple of these ideas are going to come in handy for me this year as I prepare a way to show her how much she means to me.  I hope you have found some new ideas as well! 

This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support

With Mother's Day coming up and most of us still being stuck in quarantine (California is still Shelter in Place until June 1st), it's time to start thinking about what to get our Mom's to make them feel extra loved when we can't be there with them. I've rounded up some of my favorite things from Etsy that will be sure to give your mom (or grandma) that extra shot of love they deserve.

I especially like ordering from Etsy right now because it's a way to support small businesses across the globe.

This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support!

It's no secret, we like blueberries here. We have a whole category devoted to them. You can peruse all of our blueberry recipes, which does include a couple blueberry muffin recipes which are delicious! However, I still like to try new recipes every now and again.

On Saturday PH went to Costco. There was no toilet paper there, but there were blueberries. Our daughter loves blueberries so he bought a case. We have a lot of fruit in the house and I didn't want them to go bad, so I decided to make some blueberry muffins. I found this recipe from Paula Deen.

Who isn't a fan of butter?

So, I decided to try the recipe out with the few tweaks below.

1. ​Gluten free flour: as you know by now, PH can't have gluten. It's been about a year or so now since he went off gluten and he feels so much better. My baking hasn't really caught up yet, but I decided to give it the old college try.

So, to make these blueberry muffins gluten free I just swapped out the regular flour for Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour with Xanthan Gum. This is my favorite in baking so far. It's a one to one swap, and hardly affects the texture at all!

2. Flax egg:  we have a lot of eggs in the house, but since I'm pregnant I decided to swap out the egg for flax egg. I like being able to have a little taste of the batter when baking, and when there are no eggs I can still test the batter out. For you. To make flax egg take 1 tablespoon flax seed meal and mix with 2.5 tablespoons water. Stir and let sit for a few minutes before adding it to your recipe. You'll need two flax eggs for this one, so just double it.

3. Brown sugar: We ran out of granulated sugar when making this recipe. I just finished out the measurements using brown sugar. I'm not even sorry because I usually like brown sugar better in baking anyway. I feel like it gives my baked goods a nice depth of flavor that you don't get from regular granulated sugar.

4. Almond milk:  Or any other plant based milk you like.  I swap it out in recipes all the time and have never noticed a difference. Honestly, if you wanted to make the recipe totally vegan just swap out the butter for these Earth Balance buttery sticks and you've got yourself a vegan blueberry muffin!

5. Quantity: Paula's recipe says it makes 12 muffins. Don't believe her. My muffin tins were so full and I had to bake them a little longer to get them to cook all the way. I'd say shoot for 18-24. Or do what I had considered doing in the first place and make extra large muffins. They will still have to cook for a few minutes longer than she says. I just had way too much batter for 12 muffins. I don't know what kind of muffin tins she uses, but this recipe definitely makes more than 12.

And that's it! Follow Paula's recipe exactly, or go off of my tweaks to make them gluten free, and vegetarian (with a vegan option) to change it up a little. These muffins were delicious and I'm happy to add them to our blueberry repertoire!

This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own.

Hi Everyone, Lindsey here. The above picture is one of my hot husband from one of the first times we went shooting together. My husband is really into guns. He has... a lot of them. With all of the craziness going on with corona virus there has been a run on guns and ammo in the stores as well. He asked if he could do a post on the blog to give first time gun buyers a starter to help navigate the world of guns.

All the links in his post are to gun buying accessories. You can't buy guns on the internet. But he gives you some tips on what to look for with your first gun, and what type of price point to be in for your first gun.

​So, without further ado, here is his post!

Hello PH here.
To say that there are problems with society currently is an understatement.  We can see that we’ve had to be personally responsible for our health by washing hands and social distancing.   These two things are personal things we need to do, no one else is going to do it for you.  We have also seen that being prepared with grocery items and toilet paper have been a big issue.  There are a lot of desperate people out there now.  I am writing the following blog post about carrying a gun yourself.  This is a polarizing subject and there are some strong feelings.  I don’t want this post to take anything away from this wonderful blog, so if you disagree with the premise, please just stop reading now, but read all the posts after this one.   
    It’s a scary thing to carry a gun around, and I want to be able to help you get over these fears.  I want you to be prepared for any personal or societal calamity.  I want to talk about 4 different points about carrying a gun and gun ownership.  

1.  Holster 

This post is a very rudimentary introduction to firearms so there is a lot I won’t cover.  I want to show you 3 popular types of holster.  Pocket Holster, “Inside the Waistband” holster and belly band.  
Pocket Holster,  
This is very simply a cover for your gun where you can have it in your pocket or purse. I've linked an example for you below.

​Inside the waistband holster 
Something Kydex or Leather that clips on your belt and because its inside the waistband its hidden from the public eye.

Belly Band
Elastic band that can be adjusted anywhere and keep a holstered gun secure.  I just bought a holster like this and I love it. I like to joke with Lindsey that I bought it so we can wear belly bands together since she is wearing her pregnancy belly band.

2.  Caliber
I am going to go about this as simply as possible.  There is no wrong caliber, any bullet is something that will scare away an attacker.  Don’t listen to someone that tells you that you have to have a certain sized bullet.  Some bullet sizes that you should google are .22LR, .380, 9mm, 38 Special.  These 4 are very soft shooting and great for people starting to get into personal protection.  







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 3. Range Time
In order to get over the fear of shooting, I would find a shooting range and start shooting.  Gun rentals are very inexpensive.  You need to find a gun that is comfortable for you, it fits your hand and doesn’t scare you while you shoot it.  Even after a gun purchase you need to keep going to the range to keep your skills up.  Decisions you need to make there are “how big of a gun do I want? What caliber do I like? Do I want a Semi Automatic or Revolver?” 

 4. Purchase
To purchase a gun you need to be aware of the following things:

1. You need to fill out a “4473” a government form that will ask you questions about your background
2. You need a driver's license with your current address on it
3. The gun shop will run a background check on your criminal background.

There are a lot of gun shops out there and the more educated you are the better price and deal you will get.  Research online “Carry Guns” and there will be reviews and there are online retailers that will give you an idea of how expensive the gun is.  I would say for your first gun, don’t spend more than 400 dollars.  As well as I would say, don’t spend less than 150 dollars.  Guns less than 150 dollars tend to be unreliable and questionable as far as safety goes.  But I really want to hit home that you don’t need to spend more than 400 dollars on your new gun.  Used guns are fine to purchase but if this is your first I would go new to be on the safe side.  I will name 4 carry guns that are very popular that you might look at.  Smith and Wesson Shield EZ ,  Ruger LCR, Taurus G2C, Glock 42.  I in now way am endorsing these firearms, but I just wanted to give you guys a start and something to look at.

I hope this guide helps you get started as you enter the world of being a gun owner. Gun's can be a great tool to have for people that want to get into hunting. They can be helpful for personal and family protection. They can also just be fun to go try out at a shooting range. As long as you know what you're doing with a gun, it doesn't need to be scary.