TOH - Holiday Card Swap!
It's Taste of Home Christmas card time again...and I absolutely love getting all of your cards & recipes in the mail each day! I can hardly wait to start trying them. This is my 5th year to participate in this card swap, and I have been waiting anxiously for it to start.
If you have found your way here you have probably received my Christmas postcard. I send postcards because I think they are fun and an easy way to mail Christmas wishes to a lot of people (they also can be saved and used as a recipe card.). All I have to do then is direct the receiver to my blog and they can get all of my info here. So, here goes...
I still live in Yorkville, IL, which is a suburb of Chicago and is located in what they consider the Fox Valley area. I am married to a great guy named Mike and we have a 4 year old puppy named Kiki that we adopted from a shelter. We don't have kids of our own, but love spending time with our nieces and nephews. They range in age from 8 yrs. old to 26 yrs. old ~ 5 boys and 2 girls. We travel a lot to see them b/c they live in IL, IN, KS, AR and now Thailand (for awhile - we haven't been to see him...yet).
My husband & I have been truly blessed with amazing families and fabulous friends. They all bring so much happiness and joy to our lives. We are extremely lucky to have family that are also our very close friends, and friends that feel like family.
I am the General Manager of an environmental consulting firm located in Geneva, IL and enjoy my job (most of the time). It keeps me busy that's for sure. My husband of nine years was recently laid-off from his job yet again (2 years ago he was laid-off from his job of 14 years & had only been with this new company for a little over a year). So, he is on the job hunt again but has been fortunate to find a very nice part-time job to help with the bills while he is searching. We feel very blessed that I have a good job and we are able to make it until he is gainfully employed again. The right job is out there...it just the timing thing that frustrates us at times. But we are confident that it will happen when the time is right and that we will be just fine until then. Our God is a good & gracious God!
As for hobbies, the main one is cooking...everything and anything about cooking. I collect cookbooks, watch the FoodNetwork every chance I get, and love to try and develop new recipes. I have even won a couple of local contests and aspire to winning a big one one day. I have been cooking since I was little and would help my grandmother in the kitchen. She taught me so much in our 16 years together.
I was actually just notified that one of my recipes is being considered for publication in Simple & Delicious in the Summer of 2014. WooHoo...that's a big dream of mine...& it might just happen! I'll keep you all posted on that big news. ;)
If you like great community cookbooks, you need to check out the one I helped compile and publish for a local women's club that I am a member of here in Yorkville - www.yorkvillejwc.com. We had it published a few years ago, but still have some and sell them at any of our big events. They are still really popular and contain a ton of really awesome recipes. I have really enjoyed being a part of this group of amazing women all working for the betterment of our community. Even with all of the hard work we do to raise funds and give of our time we still manage to have a great time, and I have made some wonderful life-long friends.
My other hobby (like I need one more thing to do) is photography. I take pictures of everything...I'm kind of the family historian shall we say via photos. I find it so amazing to capture a moment in time and have it to look back on whenever I want to remember or relive the memory. I take literally hundreds of pictures a year and love being able to go back and relieve a year when the mood hits me.
Well, that is about it for me. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year!
Eat, pray, love,
Brigette Schroeder (TOH BB - chickluvs2cook)
