Salty's has Crabs

WAY....BACK...WHEN...Mom and I used to go to Salty's when she'd be in town. She loved their Sunday brunch buffet. They had raw oysters, and Mom would eat her weight in oysters. It made her happy. 

The Mother's Day before mom passed away she and I did our last Sunday Brunch at Salty's. Neither of us knew it then, but it would be our last one. 

Somewhere in the following years, I thought it'd be fun to go to Salty's in memory of mom. We'd go in January around the day she passed. We'd bring her photo and we'd get one oyster for her. It would sit uneaten because none of us liked them. 

Then Covid happened and Salty's stopped their buffet. We went one of the following years for lunch, but it wasn't the same. So we kinda stopped. 

Then on a whim I thought I'd check to see if it was back...and it was! They brought it back in November. So, the usual suspects and I went to celebrate Mom again. 

Their brunch is massive and you really can have just about anything you want for breakfast. 

Mom joined us again as did the crab hats. I can't believe we never thought to bring the crab hats before. This time, for some reason, we thought it'd be fun. So...Salty's had crabs for a morning. 

We're not sure who that man in the weird hat is. No not the main with the crab headband...we know him. 

The buffet is more expensive now than it was. I hope we can do this annually again, but I can understand why people may not want to. I'd go for sure. It somehow brings me closer to Mom. 

Hello Hello Fresh

I've got myself in a small financial situation that I am not happy with. I did a lot of work keeping my credit card in check and paying it off every month. It felt good. I felt like an adult. 

Recently, though, my credit card is at a limit I am unhappy with. See, Sherrie and I had to pay for our cruise and our flights and our excursions withing a couple of weeks of each other. That added an amount to the card that didn't allow me to pay it off by the end of the month. 

Now, my credit card balance is small in comparison to the average US citizens credit card balance. The average household carries around $7-$8 thousand in debt. I'm not near there, could easily get there, but my plan is to not get there.

Naturally, I start to look at my budget and find areas I can pull in the financial belt a little. The first thing that YELLED at me was my monthly grocery bill. 

See, I like cooking. And I like cooking new recipes all the time. I tend to have a goal every year of how many new recipes I can try. It's great fun and I've made some really great meals. I've made as many equally gross meals too, but that's not what's important here. The point is, cooking new recipes every night of the week costs $$. And as a single person, it's harder because when you need one ingredient, maybe a tablespoon of it, you have to buy the whole jar/can/package. AND, since I don't particularly like leftovers, it feels like a lot of $$ going to waste. 

I started thinking about where I could cut there and came to a couple conclusions: 

1. There's no need to cook a BRAND new recipe each night. I could cook some old recipes and possibly some favorite recipes. 

2. I need to use what I have. I inventoried the freezer and pantry and will focus on recipes that use up those items. 

3. Consider a service, like Hello Fresh.

I did Home Chef back in 2017 and I loved it! Mostly. It was still new and I think they were still figuring out quality. I had some terrible tasting beef a couple of times, which limited me to just getting chicken/pork/fish. And frankly, I got bored with their options. There wasn't a ton compared to now. 

So I figured I would give Hello Fresh a try. 

Here's the thing, my grocery bill was anywhere from $200-$250 per week. That's insane for a single person who doesn't like leftovers. So my goal was to drop my grocery bill to be no more than $150 per week. To do that, I felt I had to get creative. 

I was surfing the Interwebs and an offer for Hello Fresh came up. I took a gander and for three meals, for 2 people per week it's around $70. So I figured, why not give that try and supplement the other three meals by using what's in my pantry/freezer and seeing if I can get my grocery bill less than $150. 

I was not as successful as I thought I'd be today, but I can say my total bill (including hello fresh) was less than $200. That's progress to me. 

Tomorrow starts the first Hello Fresh meal. I'm excited to do this. It makes so much sense as a single person to have this type of set up. The ingredients you need are already measured out for you so I'm not buying an entire jar for just one tsp for a recipe.

The recipes will all be shared over on my cooking blog, but I may check in here to let you know how it's going. 

Scrapbooking and how it’s part of my identity

You all know the story of how I started scrapping. TLDR version: In 1998, my aunt Jean showed me one of hers and I was hooked. Now some (gets out calculator) 27 years later and I’m still going. Scrapbooking has changed tremendously in that time, and I love it more today than ever. It’s a huge part of my life and definitely part of my identity.

I started scrapping with the idea that I would somehow tell the story of my life so that one day my children could look back and see how cool their mom was. It was what scrapbooking was about then. The Mormon’s started it with the idea to document the history of the family. Makes sense.

About 15 years ago I had a moment where I realized I wasn’t going to have kids to share these with (though my niece has become the kid I’m sharing these with.  I joke with her that her inheritance is hidden in my scrapbooks and she has to look through them all to find it). I had a crisis on my hands. Who was I scrapping for then? Maybe this was all for nothing. I took a couple of months off to deal with this mental crisis. I started thinking this was a waste of time and I should just hang up my scissors and move on to another hobby.

When I finally got down to asking why I wanted to still do this? To what end? I discovered that I fell for the story the scrapbook had told us, we’re doing this for our family history. That the entire reason we do this was for someone else. But that’s not the case, at least for me. I realized that I scrap because I WANT to scrap. I took a completely different view from “having” to scrapbook to “wanting” to scrapbook. I took some time to write down the pros and cons of scrapping and realized there were some very definite reasons I still wanted to do this.

The Story of Me
Let’s face it, we all like to talk about our accomplishments and about our lives. Scrapbooking allows me to tell the important stories and the mundane stories. Frankly, I kinda like the day-to-day stories. You know, like what kind of coffee you get from Starbucks on the regular. Life isn’t about the BIG stuff, it’s about the little stuff. All the little things that come together to make us who we are. Mom’s death taught me this. I miss all the little stuff with her now.  And the best part about scrapping the mundane, day-to-day life, my older self can look back and marvel at just how far technology and life has come. The “remember when” moments is something I’m looking forward to.

The Process
It’s not surprising to anyone that the actual process of scrapbooking is on the top of my list.  And the process, for me, goes beyond selecting the layout/paper/photos etc, it’s about the actual process of putting it all together. From organizing my photos, to organizing my stash, to tracking the outcomes ( doesn’t everyone have a spreadsheet tracking their pages?), to the data that comes out in the end. I know it’s very nerdy of me and that’s a part of my personality that fits perfectly with scrapbooking.

The Creative Outlet
THIS is the key for me. Life gets stressful and knowing I can go into my scrapbook room and be creative resets my stress levels. I never think about work, or the list of chores that need to be done, or the tires for the car I need to get, or the laundry that’s piling up. No, for me, the scrapbook room is my oasis. Even if I’m not scrapping, just shuffling through my stash gets the creative juices flowing.

The Memories
Scrapbooking isn’t about just creating a layout and walking away. No, it’s about reliving all those memories again and again. It’s not just about reliving that memory as I build the layout, but when I flip through the scrapbook I relive them again. AND since I do the smaller scrapbooks, I can relive them when family and friends flip through them.

And so I decided 15 or so years ago that I would keep on keeping on with scrapbooking. I don’t care if all these books get thrown out upon my death (I do hope they at least flip through them). I’m going to keep scrapping anything I want and keep my scrappy self happy. When I’m happy, everything around me stays happy. Scrapbooking brings me joy, helps me remember the past, and allows me to pull at those creative strings and feel proud of the pages I make. My books may not ever be viewed by other people, and coming to that conclusion opened the door for me and freed me to just scrap.

Part of my identity is scrapbooking. It defines a very large part of me. I can’t just leave it. I need it. I’m going to continue to embrace this hobby and continue to scrap my heart out. Because at the end of the day, my memories, my stories, my life is really all I have. I hope someone finds joy in these albums some day. But if they don’t, I’m ok with that. They have already given me so much.

Happy Mother's Day

Photo: Mother's day 2001, Redmon WA

 

"I haven’t heard your voice in years, but my heart still has conversations with you every day. Grief hurts and nothing or no one can replace a loved one who’s gone. It’s an emptiness that doesn’t go away."

Happy Mother's Day Mom. I miss you.

Hey Mom did you get your wings

Eight years ago today we said goodbye to mom. It feels like yesterday in so many ways and yet it feels like a lifetime in others. I miss her the same today as I did that first day. 

Those first weeks I was sure I couldn't live without her and yet here I am. The grief is continuous. Some days it hits you like a ton of bricks. Some days you just smile as a memory floats across your mind. 

I thought it might be appropriate to share the Eulogy I wrote for her to be read at the Celebration of Life in Tucson. The guy reading it got the pages all mixed up so it was a disaster when he read it. Still, as I reread it tonight, I smile at her life and who she was. 

Eulogy by her daughters, Jennifer Wraspir, Billie and Melanie

Our family would like to thank you all for being here today to celebrate the life of JoEllen, our mom. For those of you that knew JoEllen, she was not only the life of the party but often the reason for the party.  She used to always say to us kids "Don't be so serious, life is too short, just have fun".

We always knew what an amazing, generous and kind woman she was, and in these last several weeks since she passed, the outpouring of love and support has proven this to be true. Hundreds, (and that is not an exaggeration), of emails, texts, calls and messages have come to us kids. She redefined the phrase “social butterfly.” She’d be humbled at the outpouring of love, and yet secretly she’d be thrilled to know we were making such a fuss over her. Our one wish is that SHE knew she was so loved.

We probably don’t have to tell you our mother was a special woman. She embodied all of the attributes of a “perfect” mom. She was caring, thoughtful, hardworking, compassionate, loving, tough on us when we needed it and so much more.  It was so difficult to think of all of the words that described mom as a person and how much she meant to us. Our mom was our best friend, our idol and we looked up to her all of our lives. We swore as teenagers we would never turn out like mom. And now we’re proud to say we are our mother.

Mom was born on Nov 5, 1947 in Grant’s Pass, Oregon. She died on January 16^th, 2017 surrounded by her family and friends. Her life, to put it mildly, was something else.

She was a career woman her entire life. She started working at the Boeing company in the late 70’s. She struggled in the “man’s world” of Boeing, but proved time and again a woman could do the job, and in some cases better than any man. She retired from the Boeing Company in upper management and was so proud of all her accomplishments during her time there. She would use her experiences there when giving advice to us as our own careers started taking off.

When mom and dad married in 1981, we added to our already large family, the even larger Wraspir family. We used to joke that we didn’t have a family tree, but a family hedge.

Mom cherished her family above all. And family to her was anyone from a real relative, to friends, to members of her community. Her house was always filled with friends and family. All of our friends called her “mom”, because she was like a mom to everyone. She would talk to anyone, and any dog, most likely she’d speak to the dog first…

She was the communicator for all of us. If you wanted to know anything about what was going on with someone in the family, you called mom. That’s not to say mom shared everyone’s secrets, but she was definitely in the know. And her family loved her back – tenfold. She was the one everyone called for advice because we knew she’d tell us how it was.  She was happy to dole it out and expected you to listen. And while we may not have followed all her advice over the years, we’ve discovered that she really did know what she was talking about.

Mom loved to cook. Together she and dad would try new recipes and taught us to be open to trying new things. Entertaining and having people to dinner was one of her favorite things. Any given weekend you could guarantee someone was coming to the house for dinner. And no one ever left hungry.

Mom and Dad loved to travel. They got the travel bug when Dad was transferred to Saudi Arabia in the late 80’s. That afforded them the opportunity to see the world. And see the world they did. Together they visited England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand – to just name a few. And they traveled to every single state in the United States by RV. While they loved exploring other countries, they especially loved exploring their country.

The list of things mom loved is extensive. She loved to read, to sew, to quilt, to cook, and to play games on her iPad. She loved her animals. And she loved her Seahawks. If the Seahawks were playing you knew not to bother calling because you could guarantee she would not answer the phone.

We feel like we could spend all day speaking about mom. She was an amazing woman who taught us a lot. The most important lessons were not verbal; they were in her actions. We know we are the people we are today because of her influence and guidance.  She always worked hard, complained when she needed to and was there when you needed her. She was our mother, but also our best friend. We will miss her every day for as long as we live.

EOY Wrap Up

That's right! 2024 is being seen in the rear view mirror. I find it very hard to believe we're in 2025. My Grandma Spaid used to say time flies faster when you're older and she was right. Man what happened?

Last year, while it sped by I kept slowing tracking all my goals for the year. Now, my goals these days, are never about saving or losing weight. I gave up on those goals awhile ago and focused instead on fun goals. I mean, saving and health should always be happening, so why put it as a goal? 

I have three areas that I was "tracking" last year; reading, cooking and scrapping. Let's take a look. 

Reading

For several years I had a goal to read 50 books. I rarely hit that goal. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get in 50 books a year. If I turned the boob tube off more I may get it, but that's not likely to happen. So, I changed my goal to 45 books. 

I hit it this year! 46 books. Some good, some bad. Here were my favorites (these are based on reviewing my books in good reads and these are the ones I didn't have to open to remember the story. That tells me I liked the book. Some of the others I had really no idea until I read the short description).

Favorites - in no particular order

• The Women - Kristin Hannah - What's not to love about this book? It was everyone's favorite this year and Kristin Hannah does such an exceptional job of telling the story of a female nurse in the Vietnam war. 
• The Paper Bracelet - Rachael English - Fascinating of a nurse's life in a Ireland Mother and Baby home. Unwed women who were pregnant were sent here to have babies, and then those babies were sent off for adoption. This woman saved the little bracelets from many and with the help of her granddaughter track down some of those babies. Such an incredible story. 
• The Guest List - Lucy Foley - My new favorite author this year. This book blew me away. It's a mystery and up until the "whodunit" was revealed I had no idea. I immediately read The Paris Apartment right after this book. And while that was a decent book, I was aware of her recipe for writing and I was a bit more a ware of whodunit. Still good, but not as good. 
• The Tattoo Artist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris - wow. This one was heavy. Like most WWII stories it has some serious stuff that as a human you just don't want to read about. It's brilliantly written and such a beautiful story of survival, but the going's ons in this camp was heartbreaking. I cried and cried reading this one. 
• The Lost Letters of Aisling - Cynthia Ellingsen - A grandmother requests to return to her home in Ireland before she dies. Letters are found and the granddaughter helps uncoil some tragic events in her grandmother's past. Gorgeous story of love. And I loved the setting in Ireland.
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows - Another WWII era book, this one post war. A writer looking for her next book topic. She receives a letter from a guy in Guernsey and it starts a correspondence with the writer and people from Guernsey. The literary club was set up as an alibi when members were breaking curfew. As the writer corresponds with residents she starts to understand and learn what they dealt with during the war. 

There you have it. My favorite books. 

Cooking

Now, let's talk food. 

In 2023 I made 166 new recipes. I thought that was pretty close to 170 so why not make 170 my goal for 2024. When I say that out loud I'm a bit shocked. That's a lot of new recipes. I've shared this with a with friends and family and I am surprised how many of them said this inspires them to cook more.

I keep it pretty consistent throughout the year with the number of recipes. May was travel month and so you see only 3 recipes. I suspect there could have been more, but prior to travel I hate cooking for some reason. 

Year over year is an interesting stat. You can tell exactly when I started tracking and having goals of higher yearly new recipes. Covid did that. 

This next year I haven't officially decided to make it a goal, but I'll be reaching for 170 again. 

Scrapbooking

And lastly the scrapbooking goal. This one I tried something new this year and wanted to focus on using some of my stash I hardly used, but had a ton of. 

I wanted to do at least 500 pages. Completely doable when this is your creative outlit and it's how you spend a lot of your after work hours. There's something about scrapping that resets me at night after work. I tried to spend at least an hour in the scrapbook room each night. Sometimes I'd scrap, sometimes I'd just go through my stash. That seems to trigger page ideas and starts the cycle of scrapping again. 

Four elements I have a ton of and wanted to use was enamel dots, washi tape, frames and stamping. I got into stamping and had a bunch of stamps, but rarely used them. I figured having it as a goal would help and it kinda did. 

Enamel dots

These little guys are added to pages as enhancements. They're usually small and are usually tucked in and around embellishments. I had a TON of these. 

My goal was to use them on at least 20% of my pages (I could get into how I track these, but suffice it to say, I'm a data nerd and I just do). I ended up at 16%. I'm going to keep this goal again this year and really focus on using those up and, preferably, not buying any new ones (its so hard).

Washi Tape

Washi tape is just decorative tape that can be added to pages as borders, setting a platform for your photo etc. I have a drawer full and really wanted to use some of it up. My goal was to use this 15% of time. My end result was 8%. Clearly need to focus more on this one. 

Frames

How I ended up with so many frames is beyond me. I mean, I know I bought them, but not until I put them all in the same drawer did I realize what a stash I had. My goal was to use them at least 5% of the time. My end result was 6%. The ONLY goal I made. I'm going to continue with this goal as well.

Stamping

I have a ton of stamps. I took a class in stamping early in the year and that motivated me to start using them more. I learned about inks and techniques and that made it less daunting. My goal was to use stamps 25% of the time. My end result was 18%. Not great, but not horrible either. 

Month over month I really scattered how many pages I did. Again, May was a travel month so it was low. July was when I did the cruise scrapbook so that made sense for it to be so high. 

So that's it! Let's see what 2025 has to offer