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Welcome! I’m Susan in the Boonies, and I’m delighted to welcome you today to my Wild Life in the Woods!
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| My husband snapped this shot of me on a date night. He calls it “I Heart Sooze”. I think it’s pretty clear I heart him back. |
I couldn’t be more thrilled to be putting out my welcome mat for you. I’m delighted to see my regular readers here, whom I cherish, and I’m especially excited to welcome some new guests who are stopping by for your very first time. I hope you’ll like what you see, and come back often!
Why are so many new folks flocking to the Boonies today, you might ask?
Because today is my SITS Day!
“But why are you taking a SITS-bath in front of God and everybody?” you might ask. “Is this some sort of bizarre Boonie-Ritual?”
You’re so funny!
We do have plenty of odd rituals in the Boonies, but public SITS-baths are not among them. (Yes, I know it’s actually spelled “sitz bath”, but go along with me on this one. Puns are how I roll.) Today, I’ll be taking a virtual “SITS-bath” in Bloggy Love.
I am a member of an online community of bloggers, 15,000 strong, known as the SITS Girls, who believe that The Secret to Success is Support. My SITStahs show each other Bloggy Love on a daily basis, by visiting and commenting on each other’s blogs. I’ve learned so much by visiting the SITS Girls website each week. They have online courses that are designed to help you improve your blog, and they even sponsor a blogging conference several times each year in various locations around the country called Bloggy Boot Camp. I attended Bloggy Boot Camp in Atlanta this past October, and not only did I have a blast and learn a ton, but I also made invaluable connections with other bloggers whom I absolutely adore.
Can you tell I am a huge fan of The SITS Girls?
But enough about them.
Let’s talk About Me: 😀
I’m a wife who is deeply in love with her husband. I call him the Big Bison because that’s actually the name of his music production company. Being married to a self-employed (and Emmy nominated) musician is part of what makes our life a little wild. The out-of-the-blue heart attack he had in May only added to the wildness of our ride. We’re both grateful that he was able to survive that event, and continue making a living doing music professionally. He’s also taken quite a few of the photographs that you’ll see here, especially the food photographs. He’s a master at cooking on the grill, and even roasts our coffee beans for us. He’s truly a renaissance man.
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| He’s also not hard to look at. |
I’m a mom of two pretty fine human beings, one male, one female. It happens that I homeschool, but I worked in the public schools for seven years before I had kids. I’m crazy about my kids, but I try to keep my bragging to a minimum.
I’m a child of God, and a believer in Jesus, and my faith is at the core of who I am. I’ve studied the Bible quite a bit over the years, and I love to share the things I’m thinking about, and the things I’m still learning. so you can find quite a few posts that pertain to spiritual matters. You’ll find those posts on the tab labeled “Faith”. Here’s one that still chokes me up a bit.
Food:
I have a passion for good food: I love to cook, and I love to find the very best recipes. If I share a recipe with you, it’s because I’ve tried it and found it to be not just good, but excellent. If every calorie counts, why not make your calories completely delicious? Because I’m a teacher at heart, I love to share whatever I learn in my own research, whether it’s from my online reading, or through the mistakes I’ve made as I prepare the recipes myself. So not only will you find great recipes on my blog, you might just learn a thing or two from reading my food posts. That’s my goal, anyway. You’ll find my recipes collected and categorized under my “Food” tab.
I’m especially proud of a 4 part series I wrote that’s a Whole Wheat Bread Tutorial. This series of posts will take you from grinding your own grain, to knowing what kind of wheat berries to buy, to storing the wheat and flour, down to the very best whole wheat bread recipe I’ve ever found. (Freshly ground flour is not required to make that recipe, either.)
Another exceptionally popular post has been Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup. People love the idea of using their slow cookers, but slow cookers tend to produce food that is overcooked and bland: this soup is anything but!
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| Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup is my most popular post ever. |
For some reason, I’ve posted quite a few dessert recipes over the years. I’m pretty skilled in the pie-making department: whether apple, peach, blueberry, pumpkin or pecan, I’ve won every pie making contest I’ve entered. I’ve also won two cookie contests, and the story around those makes for a good laugh. Whenever I take one of my cheesecakes to a party, (like this bourbon pumpkin cheesecake) people try to hire me to make a cheesecake for them. I feel funny tooting my own horn, but I guess it ain’t bragging if it’s the truth.
I’m a natural born story teller, with a well developed skill at spotting the ironies of life. I love laughing at myself, and laughing in general:
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| Exhibit A of “I Love To Laugh”: Me and my pal, Chloe, yukking it up at Blissdom. |
Check out the “Fun” page to read some of my more favorite, funnier posts. Don’t miss the day I went dress shopping with my daughter for my dress for the Emmy ceremonies, especially if you enjoy a good laugh at someone else’s expense. Vanity Fair is sure to make you feel a little better about your own less happy shopping experiences.
I have two dogs, a Yellow Labrador named Deacon D. Dawg, and a German Shepherd named Pilgrim Pee Dog, who are fine sources of entertainment and amusement. Do you love a good dog tale? I don’t have any of those. All my stories are about bad dogs, whom I love anyway. Because they love ME anyway, even when I’m bad. Dogs are great like that. Mine make me laugh. And I love to share that kind of stuff with you. So there you go.
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| Deacon D. Dawg, the Paper Boy, in summer. |
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| Pilgrim Pee Dog in winter. |
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| Deacon and Pilgrim engaging in their favorite pastime: Retaliatory Peeing. Bonus points for Deacon, who is also engaged in his second favorite activity, newspaper retrieval. Deacon lifts his leg, while Pilgrim squats behind him. Pity the poor sapling pine tree that is the recipient of their rivalry! |
Thanks SO MUCH for stopping by my little corner of the Boonies. Look around as much as you’d like, and leave me a comment if you’re so inclined. Comments are like CRACK to bloggers, as most of you know very well yourselves, and I’d love to hear from you about anything you might have enjoyed!
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