From Mr. Handsome… Well we can cross that off the list–we have officially seen the world’s largest cast iron skillet. I hope everyone can appreciate this monumental occasion. I know Little Buddy was impressed. He has decided he wants to be the biggest and strongest kid in the world, so naturally he should see the biggest skillet. We stopped at the Lodge Museum of Cast Iron in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, to witness this triumph of human ingenuity. The skillet measures 18 feet across, weighs 14,360 pounds, and could hypothetically cook about 650 eggs at a time. With the price of eggs right now ..read more

Until a couple weeks before Christmas, Mr. Handsome admitted that he didn’t have any Christmas present ideas for me. We had decided not to get each other anything big, but we each still wanted to put something under the tree for the other person. Mr. Handsome knows that I like gifts that are thoughtful, useful, sentimental, or homemade. I’m not one to get super excited over something big and shiny unless it’s in one of those four categories. With that in mind, he came up with a wonderful present. Somehow, without me knowing it, he managed to smuggle a tree stump home from Bible study. We had ..read more

Have you ever tried Shawarma? It’s a Middle Eastern dish made with thinly sliced meat (usually chicken, lamb, or beef) that is deliciously seasoned. My family ate it multiple times when I was growing up because we had close friends who were from the Middle East. Mr. Handsome and I recently visited Assembly Food Hall in the new 5th + Broadway building and were pleased to find a unique restaurant that quickly become a favorite, Istanbul Shawarma. Located in the heart of Downtown Nashville, across the street from both the Ryman Auditorium and Bridgestone Arena (home of Nashville’s NHL team, the ..read more

From Mr. Handsome: Last winter went down in family history as our first year making maple syrup from the trees on our property. You may remember our blog post about it. We had much success and even more fun that we decided to give it another try this year. The first weekend gave us our purest and tastiest syrup yet. We upped our game in a few different ways. First, we actually bought equipment from an authentic maple syrup supply company, instead of using metal pipe and plastic tubing from Home Depot. We were able to get a tighter seal all the way from the tree to collection bucket so no bugs ..read more

As many of you know, Mr. Handsome enjoys painting. In general, he likes activities that allow him to work with his hands and use his creative and artistic gifts. Over the weekend, he and Little Buddy sat down for a full hour to make valentines. Little Buddy loved it, and Mr. Handsome got into it, too. They made a few varieties, including the one above. Happy Valentine’s Day! The post Love You to the MOOOOON! appeared first on Nashville Wife ..read more

Tomorrow is a big day in the United States….Super Bowl Sunday. Millions of Americans will gather in front of their flat screens with family and friends to watch the Chiefs play the Eagles. There will be plenty of greasy snacks to go around, and perhaps a lot of shouting, depending on how intense the football fans are at your party. What are your plans for the Super Bowl? Will you watch the game? The commercials? The Halftime Show? Or will you skip the entire event altogether? The post What Are Your Super Bowl Plans? appeared first on Nashville Wife ..read more

Yesterday, Little Buddy came to me and said, “I want to go to my room to read my Bible.” He recently learned how to sound out three-letter words, so I was thrilled to see him so excited about reading (and about the Bible). He grabbed a pocket-sized Bible that he calls his and headed to his room. He sat on his bed, opened the Bible, and tried to read it as best he could. After a few minutes, he sat back, folded his hands, and prayed. It’s hard to know exactly what was going on in Little Buddy’s head, and I doubt he has a full understanding of God and prayer, but there is nothing so encoura ..read more

Our winters are short in Tennessee, but the small amount of harsh weather that we get causes everything to shut down. Readers from colder areas probably think it’s ridiculous when the Southeastern United States closes schools and businesses for an inch of snow, and we used to think that, too. But it makes sense when you realize that cities and towns have very few snow plows and salt trucks. In fact, some of the less traveled roads are never plowed or salted. Ice storms are infrequent in the North. But here, with our temperatures going well above freezing on most winter days, rain can turn int ..read more

It’s hard to believe that February is already upon us. Am I the only one who thinks 2023 is moving by at lightning speed? I know we have discussed our favorite books before, but I’m also really curious to find out what your preferred method of reading is. Until recent years, a question would have been quite confusing. If you had asked someone what their preferred method of reading was even just twenty years ago, they probably would have replied, with a puzzled look, “I pick up a book and read it.” But today, we have a lot of options, my favorite of which are audiobooks. As a busy mom, I rarely ..read more

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Mr. Handsome was sick over Christmas, but we were able to spend time with family after he recovered. One of the highlights of the season for Little Buddy was ice skating. It was his first time, and he picked it up surprisingly quickly. Daddy held onto him most of the time, but by the end, he was eager to break away and try it on his own (with help from an ice walker). How did you celebrate the holidays? The post Ice Skating with Little Buddy appeared first on Nashville Wife ..read more