Scan and Test results.

 I haven't really written about my health issues since it all began but will be backtracking and adding in posts and hope to be able to have them in some kind of order if you would like to go back and read from the beginning. If the latter is true then just keep your eyes open for that post. 

 When this all began I wanted to keep an online journal here on my blog but things went so quickly even though at the time it didn't seem quick at all. I thought so many things would happen or I would have time for this or that but to my surprise, it didn't go quite like I would have liked it to. 

 For anyone just hoping on this rollercoaster, I call my life, Welcome, grab something to drink maybe even a snack. My name is Pamela, I have been married to my husband for 32 years and dating him for 33 years. We have 6 children. My son is 31, my daughter Samantha is 28, Bryan is 25, Nesie is 25, Deanna is 19, and Dorothy is 14. We also have 4 grandchildren 2 grandsons and 2 granddaughters. 

 I was adopted by my paternal Uncle and his wife. They are who I take about whenever I write about my parents if I talk about my biological then that will be the term I use while talking about them. My parents received me when I was two weeks old. 

 I hadn't been feeling well for quite some time (although to be honest I have been getting sick from the very day I was born). I kept losing strength and sleep was taking up most of my days and nights leaving me feeling even more tired. I knew something was wrong and when I found out I had diverticulitis we thought that was the answer but during a colonoscopy to check on my diverticulitis and at the time seeking a surgeon to remove my sigmoid from my colon they found a mass which they cut and removed which showed Cancer. 

 They were pretty sure they had it all and that I was at most stage 1 Colon Cancer but once they were able to do the Cancer Removal Surgery my results came back Stage 3 Colon Cancer. It had spread to my lymph nodes. As I said I am working on getting my notes from the last year or so together and adding them here so we are now going to take a big jump to now. 

 I finished my chemotherapy on July 21st. I had a few appointments after that date that will be added as I go along but we are going to keep our attention on my first set of scans and tests since then. 

 I had my colonoscopy in mid-September 2022. I have hemorrhoids, and my diverticulitis is still there, but where they did my surgery has healed well, and looks beautiful they said. My mammogram came back clean, but I am still waiting on the ultrasound they took of my ovaries. No news is good news, right? I see that Dr. later this month.

 I had my cat scans last Thursday. My Oncologists office called today to go over them with me. There is something on my thyroid (I already have hypothyroidism, and growth in the same area but not attached to the thyroid) that I didn't get the name of but will be confirming what action is needed next with my Primary Doctor who was given a copy of the scans. Called today but he had already left for the day so hope to hear from him by tomorrow. My oncologist is monitoring a few nodules on or in my lungs. Do forgive me I will update you when I know which it is. Instead of having a clear scan and being able to go another 6 months till my next scan I will be getting more scans in three months to check on my lungs.

 I had hoped to give everyone the all-clear for the next 6 months but it just isn't the case. I guess once you get Cancer you are always waiting for it to strike again. I didn't worry about it till I had it and now I can't shake the feeling of dread every time there is a test no matter how positive I try to be. I have a hard time sleeping and want to spend as much time with my family as I can. There is just never enough time to do it all. 

Today was a good day

 Today was a good day, I had breakfast, and a snack, and looking forward to dinner and dessert. Stuffed peppers, spaghetti, and Waldorf salad.

The mirage of an Oasis

 

Finally, they are letting me have clear liquids. Apple juice, water, and ginger ale.

Update: Shortly after they gave me liquids they took them back away someone made a mistake. So I am back to no solids or liquids only iv fluids, antibiotics, and the small sips of water to take any of the pill forms of medications that I am on. I can’t even chew gum because it stimulates my belly and colon. My mouth and throat are so dry.

At least I have lip balm to keep my lips moist. I had a very uncomfortable night but did get a few hours of sleep. The team and my Drs checked on me this morning they want the antibiotics to get a good hold before reintroducing liquids or solids so not sure how long this stay will be. Thank you to everyone for the calls, texts, comments, and prayers. They mean so much. Hugs

At a standstill

    Between homeschooling, family day, Narnia Night, and having my granddaughter over for the weekend, we have been super busy. Also, we were hit with a lot of information and are still sorting things out.

    First of all, when they find cancer they like to come up with a plan within the first 30 days. Because of my other health issues, it will take a bit more time to sort out. I have to get my Gynecologist to contact my Surgeon to see what his plan for the growth on my ovaries will be.

    When and if they cut me they want it to be once. My biopsies have been sent to a second pathologist for more testing. Also, I have to have more tests to make sure my cancer has not spread. They don't want to do anything with my diverticulitis right now unless it is an emergency and I was told I could eat anything as the seeds, nuts, etc are only a myth (so many doctors and patients disagree with this).

    We talked about weight loss surgery but we have kept food diaries in the past and I eat less than most people so my weight gain doesn't match my intake, so maybe more movement is needed which has gotten seriously less over the last 13 years due to pain from my fibromyalgia, back, and of course more weight gain from not moving as much. There just isn't an easy answer to all of this.

    To be quite honest it seems like we don't have all of the information we need yet. So until the doctor's talk, the results from the pathology come back, and I get more testing we are at a standstill. I am sorry I don't have any better news, my health issues just make it extremely hard for the doctors to come up with a plan to treat or medicate me.

    I hope to have more of an update in the coming weeks. I am scared, this isn't easy on me or my family. We are just praying and taking one day at a time, enjoying the time we have together, and finding joy in each day, until we can take the next step. Thank you to everyone who keeps asking how we are doing and for updates. Keep the prayers coming. Hugs.

Narnia Night

 This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Some of you might remember that we started family reading. Kind of like a book club for our family so we could read the same book at the same time.  We usually have discussions on it and when there is a movie we would also celebrate the ending of the book with the movie and then critique it to see which parts we liked best. Spoiler for our family it is usually the book that wins. 

Our first book was "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" written by C.S. Lewis. You can read all about why we started family reading here. We just finished reading it this last week and set Friday as our movie night to enjoy the book we read in movie form. We chose the 2005 version. We also ordered Turkish delight to have as a treat during the movie as a surprise for my daughter. 

We bought both the fruit and nut versions of Turkish Delight because we couldn't decide. 

My daughter called earlier asking us to watch my grand daughter for the weekend we call her Beaner. Of course we said yes. We enjoy almost all of the time we have with our grand daughter. My hsuabnd and I had decided earlier in the week as we were nearing the end of the book that we would make it a themed night so we served buttered toast with Sardines, cut up boiled eggs, and tea as well,  before we pulled out the Turkish Delight just as Edmund was about to bite into his piece. 

My grand daughter really was excited about everything and wished she had read with us over the summer. We told her she could still read the next book we pick out with us. We now have really neat gadgets and apps like facebook messenger, zoom, etc to be able to do everything in real time together. This whole thing really got my daughter excited about reading more books as well. 

We are going to go back and read book one in the series since for some reason I didn't know that this wasn't the first book. That is OK though, sometimes that is just how you find a new author to read, and then go back and read all or most of their books. I can't count how many authors and book series I started in the wrong order and have gone back and read them in order, and then picked up other series they have written and read those as well. 

Was Family Reading worth it? For us it really was and I hope to enjoy many more books with my family in the years to come. Here is to a new family tradition. Are there any new tradtions you have added over the last year? 

Family Reading

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Over the years I have read many books to my children, the children I have cared for, my grandchildren, and even to myself. My husband and myself have read many books together and also shared our own genre of books with each other. I have a long time love of reading books. The love of reading books comes from my father who took the time each night to read to me till 4th grade when my reading level was college level and my father wasn't sure what to do so the Dr. told him to just read anything to me and he started to read medical journals, Life jornalism books, National Geographic, and the old Readers digest books, pretty much anything he could think of. 

We were not rich by any means but I know there were always books for me to read, magazines like Highlights, Ladybug, Cricket, Jack and Jill, Spider, and Humpty Dumpty. Book sets delivered to our home that I devoured some with help, most without. 

Years later when I would have my own children I just expected them to read like I did. At three years old my parent thought I had memorized the books I was reading and the Dr. told them that I knew how to read and wanted to know who taught me. They hadn't, they had just been reading to me and somehow I just picked it up. So when my children struggled with reading I didn't really know how to teach them because it had just come naturally to me, but thankfully my husband had learned to read the good old fashioned way so between us we did OK until the kids went off to school and let them take over. 

Now forward past my first 4 children to my last two girls and I knew something just wasn't clicking for them and thought that the school had it all covered. In steps Covid-19, remote learning and the thrown in my face fact that the school had let me and most of all my chidren down. Not to say my kids haven't had great teachers because they have but the teachers can only do so much with the time they have when the government or state gives them a timeline to adhere to even if the kids are left behind (No child left behind is far from the truth of things). The truth is if the child falls behind they are usually left there to fail with little or no support to help them. 

So our family after my 18 year old and 5th child graduated 12th grade by the skin of her teeth and my now 13 year old were done with school this year, we decided we would homeschool our youngest through High School. We want her to learn to read better, to understand what she is reading, and actually hold on to some of that knowledge before being rushed on to something she doesn't even understand (like algebra when she doesn't know her times tables). 

Back to reading before I get going off to far in the wrong direction. This summer we decided to start family reading, where we all read the same book together at the same time. To make sure our daughter is staying up with us we all take turns reading passages so that we can help her with words she doesn't know while modeling what to do while reading. Such as pausing for commas, showing emphasis,  how words look or sound the same but are very different from each other, and how to find out which to use in a sentence. We just want her to be better prepared for the future then her sister is at this time. We have just lost too much time trusting that the school would do the work for us. 

So here we are on our first book The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe written by C.S. Lewis, which by the way I thought was the first book in the series The Chronicles of Narnia not the second so we will be going back to book one The Magician's Nephew at some time in the future. Learning never ceases even as an adult. If you are interested in The Chronicles of Narnia check it out below. 

A year in the life of Marksville

I won't paint a pretty picture for you because this year was not full of happy stories in the least. We lost 10 friends and family this year. such a large amount to lose in a years time. Sadly most were from overdoses which just floors me that the epidemic has hit so close to home. A few died of old age or accidents. So many lives lost and I know some did not have a relationship with the Lord which makes it all that much heartbreaking.

For our family even though we feel blessed for what we have, we lost so much over the last year. My faith was really tested. Some of my readers who know a few years after my husband's accident when all of our savings had been depleted  and before his disability kicked in, (which took forever) we ended up separated and homeless for just shy of two years combined. After all of that we just found out in October after paying on our storage unit that it had been sold for 300.00. It had our personal papers, pictures, lifelong objects, etc. We had been paying on it for more then a year we have been in our apartment. They wouldn't let us take anything out till it was paid off so we were making monthly payments and extra for the overdue amount. The numbers seemed to never end. We went without in many areas trying to make these payments as what my husband gets for disability hardly covers the bills. A few times we had car repairs or upkeep that kept us from paying so that didn't help either. Then our van broke down and there it sits in our yard useless till we can get it fixed. Not sure how long that will take.

This may sound gloom and some days it is. I am often reminded of an item or more that we really need or used to have and I get angered. It doesn't last long but it hurts. I feel for those who have fires I do, but with this our stuff is somewhere so I know it is out there being used. We just pray that no one steals our identities with the information that was in the storage unit. I ask my readers that if they know someone is going to become homeless to offer a safe place for their belongings till they get back on their feet.

Don't get me wrong, some days I feel relieved to not have to worry about the things that were in storage we didn't need that were just taking up space. I know most of the things can be replaced, but for the items that have sentimental value, worth, or personal. They can't be replaced, and those hurt the most. When my husband got his disability the state took most of it because they were housing our family in motels which we understand but because they took so much we had just enough to get a used vehicle and a down payment on our apartment. There wasn't enough left over to get both storage units open. I even borrowed money to be able to just get our furniture out of storage and a few other things.

Sometimes people don't understand what others are going through or just how hard things can be. What is sad is there are many people who don't even have what we have and that is scary. This is why when we can we try to help others out even if it makes things hard on our family.

So yes a few bad and sad things happened in the last year but there were also great moments. We have a church family that cares for us. Our older children visit when they can. We have our grand daughter Lilly over a few times a month, and had her most of the summer too. We became grandparents to another grandson this last summer so we now have two grand daughters and two grandsons to love.

We were able to take part in a few outings with our family which was much needed. Our children took part in many opportunities in our town and with their friends families which kept them pretty busy throughout the year. They are also doing well in school. Dorothy loves to swim and even though she had to give up swim club due to our van breaking down looks forward to swimming again as soon as she can. Deanna is over half way through her Criminal Justice classes this year and loves the classes she takes and has a clear goal for what she wants in the future. My son has become Deacon of our Home Church, Samantha is still struggling but making strides in her life path, Bryan got into some trouble last year and we have yet to be able to track him down or hear from him so we have been keeping him in our prayers, last but certainly not least Nesie is doing well, has a job she loves and enjoys going to each day as well as a volunteer job she does in between everything.

Besides our health issues my husband and I are doing well, making the best out of each day. I was able to read many books this year and even joined a book club. Check out my reading log here. I don't get there every month but I do read the books and keep up with what they are doing. One of our favorite things to do is play Call of Duty together. We would love to play games like Apex and Fornite together but we only have one TV and game system, so my husband plays those. I am yet to learn. I know that sounds silly but it has become one of the things we do for fun.

I want to thank all of our readers, friends, family, subscribers, and of course all of the companies I have had the pleasure of reviewing products for, for all of your support. A heartfelt thank you for the last year and for the year ahead. May everyone find something to be thankful for even in the darkest of times.

Menopause or Pregnancy

Menopause or Pregnancy that is the question. With my current age it seems to lean more towards Menopause but I have never missed a menstrual cycle other then when I was pregnant or breastfeeding so our next move it to visit the Dr. for a prognosis. I am currently 3 weeks and counting late. Just the odds of getting pregnant naturally at my age is huge.

Being a born learner I wanted to become aware of all of the good and bad for either. The similarities between Menopause and Pregnancy are so close. Leave it up to God to make it so hard to tell the difference. Now I know why older women go into labor and never knew they were pregnant, they probably just thought they were going through Menopause. 

Pregnancy at my age will be hard.  The medication I am on has to come to stop for the healthiest pregnancy. Since I vomit everything up lets just say my body is rejecting the medication anyways. The chances of going full term or even better getting past the first trimester will be a miracle, but I have seen more then one in my day so I will go with whatever God has planned for us. 

Have we been trying to have another child? We were but gave up as we grew older and my weight went through the roof. We have posed the question to most of our children about having another sibling. Remember we now have 4 grand children of our own. Most of them are supportive but worry about our health and growing age which is understandable. My husband and I have been through all of these questions ourselves, knowing the risks, but also know that if we are blessed with another child it will be the will of God. 

Update soon. Let me know what you think below. If you have been through Menopause or have been pregnant at age 45 or above please give me some advice below. 

Family Wall Art

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We have had this idea forever and it seems like others had the same idea as well. We wanted something for our walls that was personal and customized to just our family. What I wanted was to make our family names into a Scrabble like look on our walls. We couldn't find anything at the time to do this. My husband didn't want anything too heavy for the walls, and wanted to be able to re- position if ever we had to add a name in the future. He did a layout on Graph paper years ago, of course we had added quite a few names (we are now grand parents) since then so we are still a work in progress.

A company asked me if I wanted to review their product and I took one look and knew this is exactly what we need to do our project. I went with rounded corners as you can see above but they do have square corners and they have completely round tiles to choose from.  Each tile is 4 by 4 inches which is the right size we were looking for. They come with a sanding block and you can stain or paint them which ever way you would like too. These tiles are versatile, think coaster, art projects, ect. We are currently looking for the templates for the letters and numbers and we found a few options for hanging them on the wall. I have links to the tiles which will take you to all and to the options we came up for hanging tiles. 

We decided on 3 inch letters and 1/2 inch numbers, found them while putting this blog together for you. We have to order more tiles to  get all of our names done and work it out on our walls. We went from smooth walls to wood paneling. We rent so we have to deal with the walls we have at the moment. We live on a small income so we are still getting the supplies together to complete this but hope to get it up soon. Until then there are some inspirational pictures below to see just about how we would like to do ours. I hope you like this and hope to show you ours as we get it up. I am sure it will be years in the making for all of the extra bits around the letters but I am so excited we can finally make this happen.

Making Babies

I was recently able to view Making Babies thanks to Huber Bros. Productions so that I could give my honest opinion of the movie. Both my husband and myself are avid movie viewers. We loved them growing up, our first date was at a movie theater, our children grew up going to movie theaters as a family, and us for date nights, we even worked for a movie theater before, we enjoy seeing movies as often as we can, we even quote movie scenes in daily life when they fit the part.



I viewed this movie on my own and I went through a roller coaster of emotions. It could be my age I happen to be 46 going on 47 but I hit happiness, hope, joy, sadness, excitement, and utter amusement to name a few. This movie deals with real issues of struggling to have a baby before your time runs out and making choices with health insurance, finances, dreams, all while family, friends, and everyone in between is giving you advice on how to do it.




There is humor. I didn't find it gut breaking humor but it is there in a sweet way and sometimes strange way at least to me. I encourage those who are struggling to have a baby to watch this movie as well as those who aren't struggling so they know the other side and what their friends, neighbors, and not so good friends might be going through.





Coming from someone who had an easy time having children it really opened my eyes and I hope it will for you too. It isn't always easy to have children. Sometimes it is a struggle from the very beginning, but can be so worth it.


Is it a chick flick? Yes I guess it is, but if you are trying to get pregnant it is also a couples flick, so fellas give it a chance. By the way you would want to miss the funny scenes with guys in it anyways so go along just for that if not for anything else. See ladies I had you covered. wink wink So I hope you enjoy it as much as I did check out the trailer below and let me know what you think.




Distribution Company: Huber Bros. Productions
In Theaters: March 29th
Directed & Written by: Josh Huber
Starring: Eliza Coupe, Steve Howey, Bob Stephenson, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Ed Begley Jr, and
the late Glenne Headly
Running Time: 86 minutes

Katie and John Kelly (Eliza Coupe and Steve Howey) are ready to settle down and have kids but
five years later, all they have to show for their efforts is a mountain of negative pregnancy tests
and an increasingly elaborate home micro-brewing rig, which John hopes will launch his
company.  As they run out of traditional options and their window closing, the couple explores
the daunting world of medical, spiritual, and homeopathic methods to conceive a child. With an
ensemble cast that also includes Bob Stephenson, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Ed Begley Jr., Jon Daly,
and the late Glenne Headly, MAKING BABIES puts a couple through the ringer of modern
infertility treatments and questions whether their marriage will withstand the ultimate test.

Press Contacts:
MPRM Communications 323-933-3399
Katie Jo Ash / kash@mprm.com
Grace Cartwright / gcartwright@mprm.com

More about Making Babies on:

Facebook

Twitter

Disclosure:  MarksvilleandMe received one or more of the products mentioned above as part of a promotion. Regardless, MarksvilleandMe only recommends products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive compensation.  If you would like MarksvilleandMe to review or promote a product or service please contact us at marksvilleandme@gmail.com.

52 Weeks of Cookies Marksville Style Week 3 Chocolate Chip Cookies

52 Weeks of Cookies 

Marksville Style

I have been under the weather so my husband took over and made his favorite cookie which is Chocolate Chip cookies with Milk Chocolate Chips. I tell him all of the time he needs to enter a contest. He really just follows the directions but he must just put in extra love because his cookies always come out different then any other cookie I have had from anyone else even from myself when I make the cookies from the batter he has made. It just doesn't make any sense. 

So here is the recipe he follows from the back of the package. The only difference he says he does is that he pats each cookie down with what we call his big sausage fingers. So maybe that is the secret. 

Our changes are in Bold 

1 cup butter softened we used butter Crisco

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs 

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups of milk chocolate chips

preheat oven to 375

1. Beat butter, granulate sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs continue to beat. 

2. In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. add flour mixture to butter mixture until well blended 

4. stir in chocolate chips 

5. drop by teaspoon onto silicone lined cookie sheets  and bake for 10 minutes for a crunchy cookie 8 minutes for chewy cookie.

Make sure to bookmark 52 Weeks of Cookies Marksville Style where you can go each week to see each new addition. 

MarksvilleandMe may have received one or more of the products mentioned above as part of a promotion. Regardless, MarksvilleandMe only recommends products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive compensation.  If you would like MarksvilleandMe to review or promote a product or service please contact us at marksvilleandme@gmail.com.

52 Weeks of Cookies Marksville Style Week 2 Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

52 Weeks of Cookies 

Marksville Style

Recipe below is from Just So Tasty 

Notes in Bold are from MarksvilleandMe

                                            Ingredients

• 1 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon ,to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter ,melted and cooled to room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 2 and 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 and 1/4 cup chocolate chips , your favorite kind
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts , optional but recommended

 Directions

1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda & salt. 
2. In a separate bowl beat together the melted butter and sugars using an electric mixer. Add in the honey, vanilla and egg and continue beating until combined. 
3. Turn the mixer down to low and beat in the flour mixer until almost combined.
4. Add in the oats and beat on medium speed until combined. 
5. Then turn off the mixer and stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips and the chopped walnuts.
6. Form the dough into balls of about 1/4 cup . Flatten slightly, set on a plate and cover with clingfilm. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I found cookies too large for my family so changed them up  and I made them by tablespoon size
7. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and place the cookies at least 2 inches apart. 
8. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the tops of the cookies look almost set. I baked for 12 minutes
9. Remove from the oven and dot the tops of the cookies with the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
10. Allow to cool on the cookie tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Even with using Just So Tasty's tips and following directions my cookies were chewy but still fell apart easily so I am still looking for the perfect cookie for our family.

Directions in Grey are from Just So Tasty 

Make sure to bookmark 52 Weeks of Cookies Marksville Style where you can go each week to see each new addition. 

MarksvilleandMe may have received one or more of the products mentioned above as part of a promotion. Regardless, MarksvilleandMe only recommends products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive compensation.  If you would like MarksvilleandMe to review or promote a product or service please contact us at marksvilleandme@gmail.com.

52 Weeks of Cookies Marksville Style Week 1 Milk Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Chip Cookies

52 Weeks

of Cookies 

Marksville Style

Milk Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Chip Cookies 

Ingredients 

1 cup of butter flavored Crisco 

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

3/4 cup of packed brown sugar 

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 eggs

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of milk chocolate chips I used one whole package of Hershey's chips

1 10oz package of Hershey's Sea Salt Caramel Baking chips or 1-2/3 cups of another seas salt caramel baking chip if you can find them. 

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees

2. Beat Butter, granulated, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs, beat well. In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well blended, then stir in chips.  I scoop out with a a 1/2 tablespoon into balls onto baking sheets

3.Bake for 9 minutes for crunchy cookies and 8 minutes for chewy cookies. My batch made just shy of 6 dozen cookies. 

I hope you enjoyed our first batch of cookies for 2019 and will join us each week as we make a new batch. This cookie took a milk chocolate cookie mix my husband loves and added in Sea Salt Caramel Baking Chips to take it to another level. You can play with the Crisco and change it to butter of course omitting the salt or use unsalted and keep the salt, you can also add nuts if you like. 

We had 7 taste testers for this recipe and we had thumbs up all around and of course empty glasses of milk too. Let me know below if you will try this or have tried it and how it worked for you. Also if you have any cookie recipe suggestions please send me some ideas my email is at the bottom of the page. 

Make sure to bookmark 52 Weeks of Cookies Marksville Style where you can go each week to see each new addition. 

MarksvilleandMe may have received one or more of the products mentioned above as part of a promotion. Regardless, MarksvilleandMe only recommends products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive compensation.  If you would like MarksvilleandMe to review or promote a product or service please contact us at marksvilleandme@gmail.com.

52 Weeks of Cookies Marksville Style

52 Weeks of Cookies 

Marksville Style

We have decided to do something a little different in 2019. OK a big something since it will take the whole year. We are going to take on making a different cookie each week for a whole year. We will be making or in most cases baking a different cookie each week. We will have the recipe available, pictures during, after, and if they are new or an old favorite to our family, as well as any changes we have made to it to make it our own. You can check back on this very link to see each weeks addition below.

Please feel free to share, pin, etc and comment below with anything you might like us to try as we will be adding recipes along the way to get to that 52 cookie mark. Stay tuned for our first cookie the week of January 1-7.

Week 1 January 1-7 2019  Milk Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Chip Cookies 

Week 2 January 8-14 2019 Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Week 3 January 9-21 Chocolate Chip Cookies












MarksvilleandMe may have received one or more of the products mentioned above as part of a promotion. Regardless, MarksvilleandMe only recommends products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive compensation.  If you would like MarksvilleandMe to review or promote a product or service please contact us at marksvilleandme@gmail.com.

LG Twin Wash System with LG SideKick pedestal

We are personally in the market for a new washer and dryer. While shopping we stopped to look at the LG Twin Wash System. My husband has had a love for LG products ever since our cell phones of years past to current. He fell in love with the tiny wash machine as he said it or the LG SideKick pedestal washer as it is formally known at first site and I didn't even tell him this is the one I would be writing about. He instantly came up with tons of things it would be useful for.  

Having a family there is always something happening. Yucky, nasty, stinky things. Things you don't always want to wash with the rest of your laundry. This little washer is perfect for these sorts of things. Other uses which we came up with and always seems to happen is needing an outfit, or uniform that needs to be ready for later in the day or in the morning. This is perfect and you don't have to search the house to make a full load or waste water on a full load if all the wash is done. 

Not only do these washers have mega capacity to tackle any size load, they are energy efficient which we love, while giving you the best cleaning performance. No wonder more households have chosen LG laundry over any other brand!

We love that it can be used independently or at the same time as the larger washer over top.  Alas we didn't settle on a washer and dryer because my husband wants to save a bit more to get this set. Am I excited? I sure am. My husband is the one who usually goes with the middle model but with us aging, down from six to, two children at home with grand children already sprouting he wants me to have a great set. Hoping to catch the sale for an extra $500 off with the deal below.

From 1/11-4/25 receive up to $500 off a LG laundry solution for your home.Check out this special offer here.  

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Disclosure:  MarksvilleandMe has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free as part of a promotion with Best Buy and LG. Regardless, MarksvilleandMe only recommends products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive compensation.  If you would like MarksvilleandMe to review or promote a product or service please contact us at marksvilleandme@gmail.com.