This Christmas was hard. I was really sick with the flu and I had to rely on my husband and daughters to do the lion’s share of holiday preparations.  When you are so sick you can do little more than take medicine, rest and accept the loving help your family is providing; you have a lot of time to pray and reflect on your life and the year coming to an end. One of the greatest sorrows of 2017 was losing my mother in law. Not having her sweet presence with us this Christmas was a challenge.  She was missed!  I feel like I honor her by sharing today's tips. They come from personal experience of helping my family navigate the stresses and challenges of family caregiving while we helped care for my mother in law before her passing earlier this year.

Happy belated National Cookie Day! I hope you enjoyed baking and eating a variety of cookies yesterday, just like I did. Since we are in the beginning of the holiday baking season, I thought I’d try my hand at making some gluten-free cookies for my family and friends who need this option. While these cookies are semi-homemade; I was delighted with the way they turned out and so was my family. They couldn’t wait to try them when they got home since the heavenly scent of fresh baked treats greeted them at the door. 

Hello my friends and happy November! It is a rainy day here in middle Tennessee and all this grey has me looking for ways to cheer up my home and blog, so even though it is a little early for me, I'm going to share Avon's holiday gift guide now because it is full of happy colors and savings! I hope you enjoy looking at all the pretty and useful products Avon offers.

Such happy#sharewonder mail today. Thank you so much @lionsgate for the gift of the WONDER book and #choosekind tee. Can't wait to read it before the movie on 11/17.

A post shared by Linda Kinsman (@ismilefirst) on Jun 30, 2017 at 5:09pm PDT

Scary movies abound this time of year with Halloween rapidly approaching. I'm not much for gore and guts, preferring a more Hocus Pocus style of movie and I know I'm not alone in my desire to laugh more and scream less. I think laughing truly is one of life's best medicine's and that's what makes Tyler Perry's Boo! movies such a hit. I'm excited to partner with today's sponsor to offer up this fun Boo 2!A Madea Halloween  movie swag prize pack for those of us who love to laugh!

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