The Ultimate Blog Party 2011

To my regular readers – it’s time once again to spruce things up and roll out the red carpet for guests! I’m participating in the The Ultimate Blog Hop this week which is a great opportunity to meet other bloggers. Don’t you just love a party?! And yes – there is chocolate involved!

Welcome to Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees!

Hey everybody! Come on in! My name is Melinda.

Jan, my husband of 20 years, and I live on our homestead in the middle of Amish country with our 5 kids , an assortment of critters, and a huge garden.

We moved here from the big city almost 13 years ago.

The last 10 years we’ve spent slowly renovating my dream house – a big old 1920 farmhouse that we moved on to the land.

I love old wood, thrift stores and sappy Christmas movies.

I also love dates with my husband, long walks, and cookbooks.

And I really, really love chocolate!

I don’t like critters in my garden, snow in March, and heights of any kind.

Oh – and too many numbers can make me hyperventilate.

I’ve discovered that life is never dull with teenagers in the house and that moms tend to get a little sentimental when they face their first graduation!

We like adventures, making memories, and family jokes.

Oh – and company – we like company – which is good since we have lots of it!

I love recipes and experimenting in the kitchen – especially with chocolate.

By the way – did I mention that I like chocolate? 🙂

I blog about life.

Sometimes I’m serious, sometimes I’m funny, sometimes I’m just plain silly.

But I always try to stay real.

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

Come On In!

To my regular readers – I’m interrupting my regular scheduled postings to participate in a Blog Hop today. So what’s a Blog Hop? Well – it’s kind of like an open house, or a meet and greet. Other bloggers stop by to meet me – and I hop over to other blogs to meet them. I’ve found the sweetest people on past blog hops! It’s a great way to get “out of the house” on a cold and dreary January day!

Hey everybody! Come on in – just shake the snow off! My name is Melinda and I live here with Jan, my husband of 20 years and our five kiddos ranging from 18 years down to 10.

“Here” is our homestead in the middle of nowhere in the rolling hills of southern Iowa (yes – Iowa does have hills!).

Our nearest neighbors are Amish.

We moved here from the big city 12 years ago and have been slowly making it home ever since.

We’re still renovating the big old 1920 farmhouse that we moved on to the land. It’s my “dream-come-true” home!

I love old wood furniture, thrift stores and a good book.

And I love chocolate – I mean really love chocolate – like obsessed with chocolate.

I don’t like poison ivy, laundry on the floor and slow internet.

I’ve discovered that living with teens is not for the faint of heart and that my husband gets more wonderful every year. 🙂

We like adventures, making memories, and laughing.

And food. We really like food.

We have lots of company – some for a day, some for an overnight, some for a week. 🙂

We especially love cousins!

Someday I hope to learn to take really cool pictures and find a knob that fits my bathroom door.

I collect recipes, Christmas movies, and old books.

And did I mention that I like chocolate? 🙂

I blog about life.

My life.

Sometimes it’s serious.

Sometimes it’s funny.

Sometimes it’s just plain silly.

But it’s always full of love.

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

I love company!

There’s always something cooking in the kitchen, some deep thought to ponder, or a funny story to share!

I’ve linked this post up with the Blizzard Blog Hop hosted by Household6 Diva.

Hey Ya’ll! It’s a Blizzard Blog Hop

Okay – what in the world is a Blizzard Blog Hop?

Basically it’s a way for other bloggers to get to know each other – like a meet and greet.

We all write a post introducing ourselves and link them altogether – so we can make new friends virtually.

So…from my little corner of the world…welcome!

I’m Melinda.

I’ve been married for almost 20 years to an amazing man and we have 5 great kids.

I adore chocolate – so much so that I started a separate Chocolate Blog.

I despise the taste of coffee – but could smell it all day!

I used to be a classroom teacher – but now my classroom is at home and filled with my own five kids (ages 17 down to 9).

We live in the middle of the nowhere among the hills in southern Iowa. Our nearest neighbors are Amish.

This is the view from my window – but not today. Today it is an ugly brown with patches of dirty snow with frozen mud and dreary dark skies.

You don’t want to see it – trust me – enjoy this view from June when everything is green and lush and beautiful.

Hay Bales

My husband and I moved from the city to our homestead 11 years ago. We lived in a dreary old farmhouse (the hovel) that was already here while we worked to renovate a big beautiful farmhouse (the mansion) that we moved on to the property. It took us 9 years.

We moved in a year ago. 🙂

In my spare time I want to learn how to restore the patches of native prairie we have on the property.

Oh – and I want to learn how to take great pictures – well, at least better pictures.

I love fiction books, old quilts, and Hallmark movies.

I don’t like rye bread, politics, and science fiction.

I’m a big gardener – which means I have a big garden and grow really big weeds! 🙂

I love cooking and baking.

I shop thrift stores.

I lost almost 40 pounds in the last year.

I’ve been blogging now for almost 3 years.

I blog because I love words. I love to play with words and move them around. But mostly I blog because I feel a need to create something that doesn’t immediate get eaten! 🙂

I blog about my life, my faith, and my family. Sometimes I have deep thoughts. Sometimes I’m just silly.

Thanks for stopping by!