Author: bkbailey2016

Well Merry Merry Christmas to all of you. I just love this time of the year. October – December are just lovely for me. I look forward to them all year long. The time with my family, the cooler weather, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and food. Don’t forget the food. For most of us this season is a time of cheer. For most I said. I think of all of the joy but in my heart I can’t help but think of those who are alone and sad. I am lucky enough to say that I have never had to endure a holiday, or any day for that matter, alone or without joy. Most of us I believe can say that. Aren’t we just truly blessed? Don’t we take that for granted?

The older I get, the time with my family and memories mean more than any material thing that I could possibly buy. I can remember as a child just wishing for a new stereo, some cool boots, and a cabbage patch doll (I told y’all I’m an 80’s gal). Today my wishes are quiet a bit different. I think this year we all just wish for health and for this horrible pandemic to just go away. What’s your “grown up” Christmas wish? When you sit at home today and spend it with your family, look around and think to yourself what your true wish is. I guarantee that is isn’t something material. If it is well, Lordy Lou I hope you got it lol.

I have two wishes for this Christmas season. First, I want to tell you a little story. A couple of times each week I go to visit my momma. She lives downtown in the middle of the city. Now when I say city, understand that we live in little ole northeast Tennessee. So its not a big city. Each time that I drive to her house I pass a an area that is consumed with our local homeless community. Let me just tell you that it truly breaks my heart. Thankfully I have never had to experience being without a place to live. I’m assuming most of you haven’t. Friends, if you do not have a heart for our homeless people, in my opinion, you need to examine yourself a little. Aren’t we all just a few paychecks away from being in their shoes? Aren’t we all so blessed with mental stability? I will admit, for many years, it was so uncomfortable for me that I would find myself looking the other way. I think it is for most of us. Over the last few yearsI began looking. I began to try to look at the faces of these precious souls. Can I just say, it’s not what you think. Some of these people are very young. They’ve been dealt a hard hand. They may have even fought for your freedom. I can promise you that they are someone’s CHILD. As a parent I truly cant imagine my son being homeless and that alone. It completely breaks my heart. So, my number one Christmas wish is that we (and I mean you and me), look at these the homeless in our community through the eyes of a parent. I wish that there was so much more that we could do. If you cant financially do something, then at the very least pray for them. And if you don’t believe in that then try to at least ask yourself what you can do to show kindness to them. You don’t have to be a Christian to be kind. You really don’t.

My second Christmas wish came true. As I said, we live in northeast Tennessee. We haven’t had a white Christmas in 10 years. They are typically cold but not snow. Well it came this year. I got my white Christmas. Isn’t that wonderful. Earlier in the week I saw the Bethlehem star and last evening everything was covered in beautiful snow. Now I know that second wish is a little selfish but, oh how I love it. My heart is truly happy.

I hope that this blog has made you think a little today. I hope that your Christmas Day is filled with many blessings, a huge amount of time with your loved ones, and that all of your grown up Christmas wishes come true. Love from my little family right here in northeast Tennessee to each of you.

“For unto us a child is born. A savior is given.” Oh how thankful I am for that. Merry Christmas. ❤️Always

What do you look most forward to during the holiday/Christmas season? Is it the lights? Do you love the food? Is it celebrating the birth of Christ? Is it jolly old Saint Nick? Can I just say YES to all of this. I just love it all. You know what else I love about it? The movies. There are just so many. I remember as a little girl my younger sister Amanda and I watching “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Santa Clause Is Coming To Town” in our living room after our daddy built a fire that was so hot our long, straggly hair was just soaked with sweat. Oh, the man could build a wild fire in that fire place. I’m not certain how the house never burned down but, that’s another story for a different blog.

After I matured to an adult and became a mother, the Christmas movie tradition continued. Y’all those babies will remember watching Christmas movies with you. Mine is 18 and just last night we watched one together. I could make a list of 40 of those wonderful movies that I love but, I narrowed it down to the two that I watch all year around. Yes, I said all year round. Why? Well because what else makes you feel more happiness inside than a good ole Christmas movie.

Now, some of y’all like Hallmark channel during the holiday season and they are fine love stories but, I prefer more classic. My number two favorite Christmas movie is “A Christmas Story”!!!! When my son Walker was a little fella he called it “the Christmas of the boy” lol. He loved it. I think it was because little Ralphie wanted and got his BB gun. I just love the entire story but, my heart is overjoyed at the daddy. He reminds me so much of mine. Hard working hateful codger that does everything for his family and just loved his major award. We bought a leg lamp for my daddy a long time ago as a gift for Christmas, it is now in my sons bedroom. Deep down I just love the fact the Ralphie finally got to give Scott Farkas a good beat down. I’m sure there are a few folks you might like to give a good whack to…. did I say that out loud? Yes, yes I did. So, now that I’ve jogged that Parker family memory go to Netflix and watch it. Watch it with your babies, or loved one, or the cat, or by yourself. Who cares, just watch it!

My number one! Drum roll please!!!! “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”!!! Not the animated old or new version but, the 2000 version with Jim Carrey. Oh my goodness. I just squeal thinking about it. I mean so many lessons and so much love coming out of that movie. The hateful old Grinch getting his heart reconditioned by precious Cindy Lou Who. Proving to him that Christmas is so much more! Talk about a lesson for the bullies and to teach your children to love everyone, especially those who are different. Everyone should strive to have the heart of Cindy Lou Who. Truly, If my headstone says Brooke Bailey aka Cindy Lou Who I will have completed my task in life lol. P. S. This is the movie that Walker and I watched last night. Go watch it. It’s on Netflix as well. Run, don’t walk, to the controller and turn it on!

What about you? What are your favorite Christmas movies? I mean “Miracle on 34th Street”, “Mr. Scrooge”, and “It’s a Wonderful Life “ is right up there with my faves..We’ve had to stay at home a lot this season so what movies are you watching? Grab your loves and go watch some Christmas movies. You are making memories and it’s completely okay to snuggle up and rest. Leave your favorites in the comments so that we can see what everyone loves. It may remind us of a few to watch. Have a blessed Monday night and happy dreams! ❤️Always

This past week I made a little goodie for my fellas. They loved it so much that I thought I would share it with you tonight. It’s simple and easy and delicious and would be perfect to have for your Christmas festivities. I saw a ton of folks post it on Facebook and of course I had to Pinterest it. Well because you know, Pinterest is life.

Christmas Tree Cake Dip. Now I used 2 boxes of Little Debbie vanilla Christmas tree cakes, one container of whipped topping and an 8 ounce block of softened cream cheese. I just threw it all in my mixer and let it do its loving. Some of the recipes call for cream and vanilla but, I felt like it was just fine without it. I served mine with vanilla wafers, sugar wafers, and graham crackers. My husband and son liked the sugar wafers and graham crackers best.

I think we should start adding all kinds of snack cakes to whipped topping and cream cheese and see what happens lol. After all who doesn’t love snack cakes? I have posted a photo of the recipe from Pinterest below in case you want to give it a whirl. You could actually roll this in crushed graham crackers and serve it as a “cheese ball” per say. I hope you enjoy it as much as my fellas did.

Do you know of any quick dips/cheese balls that you would like to share with us? If so just comment them. I love trying new recipes. I love them even more when they are easy and delicious. Happy cooking and have a wonderful night. ❤️Always

At the beginning of my blog page introduction I said this blog would be a little of everything. So this evening here are a couple of little tips/hacks. I wanted to talk about these two because I use them almost every day. I am all about making things easier and saving money where I can. My time is valuable to me so anything to make me have more of it I am all for. I hope that these little tricks will work for you as well. If you know of any little tips that you would like to share with the rest of us, just leave in the comments.

Confession, I use WAY too much hairspray. I am a true 80’s gal with the big hair to prove it. Well ya know if you are gonna get the hair fluffy you gotta spray it. For me its instant freeze hairspray only. It works perfectly for that all day hold of my big mess lol. But, it’s not pretty on my bathroom floors. Do you know that feeling? Hairspray is not the only thing that gets your floors sticky and ugly. My floors are tile so this works perfectly. Here is your trick. Glass cleaner people. Yes, I said that. Glass cleaner. And it doesn’t have to be the expensive kind. Just spray your floors with the glass cleaner. I use the kind with ammonia. Cover it really well I mean soak it and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then just wipe away with a damp cloth or mop. Y’all it gets everything off of your floors. The glass cleaner works very well cleaning your sink as well. It will shine like a diamond. Give it a whirl.

Here’s my other tip. Gals, we’ve all gotta shave our legs right? I know I wish we didn’t have to but I guess the only other option would be to look like Sasquatch. My entire teenage life I used shaving cream to shave my legs. I mean the kind that I picked up from my local drug store that smelled like dead flowers and foamed all pink. I thought I was something lol. The problem is I had the worst razor burn and my legs were just dry. Once I got past the girly foam I realized that there was something that I use every day that would be so much better. People (gals and guys) USE CONDITIONER! Yes the kind you use on your hair. And I mean it works perfectly. I don’t use my expensive conditioner either, (yes, I have to use expensive conditioner on my big hair. with all the hairspray I have to do something to keep it from falling out). Go buy the 1 or 2 dollar kind. Get the coconut scented it smells so lovely and you can dream of the beach while you are using it. Fellas use conditioner to shave your face. It is so much better for your skin. My husband and I do not buy shaving cream any more.

That’s all I got for tonight as far as useful knowledge. I hope you found these little tips helpful. They sure are for me. Don’t forget to comment if you think there are more tricks to help us folks out that value our time. We all want to work smarter, not harder. So let’s hear your tips. Have a wonderfully blessed evening and thank you for reading. ❤️Always

Well I guess you know that this blog post is about. Wrong!! It’s not to complain about how long a delivery service took to get my items to me or how the contents were damaged. To be real honest with you I’ve seen so many of those posts on social media that I’ve almost had to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything. No darlings, this blog post is to make it real for you and to praise these folks who are out delivering our mound of packages that we waited entirely to late to order however; demand they are here in plenty of time for Christmas morning. I know you are all thinking, how dare you say that but deep down you know it’s the truth. I’m guilty of this too. Haven’t we all become the “I want what I want and I want it now” type person? Hmmmm.

Here’s my story. I am married to one of those “delivery guy’s”. In fact this is my wonderful husband’s 26th year delivering Christmas packages with your favorite delivery service. (No I won’t say which one, those that know my sweet man will know). This year more than ever they are slammed. Let me just put it into perspective for you. Normal day deliveries, pre-covid is about 70 stops a day. Fast forward to today, post covid combined with Christmas time, they are at an average of 105 stops per day. That is 35 more stops per day. Per route, not per station. In other words per delivery person. On top of this they hire temporary delivery personnel during this time. 10 extra persons to be exact and the part time folks are working full time hours. So to us, non-delivery workers this doesn’t sound like much. Let me tell ya, I see it. Maybe, this next story will help you see it as well.

My husband is no spring chicken. He’s 50 years old to be exact. A lot of the delivery drivers that you see will not be extremely young. Why is this? Because the company that they work for is a great place to work. They take care of their employees and these men and woman can make a comfortable living. They have long term employees. They aren’t lazy and their work ethic is huge. Believe me when I say there is no room for laziness for the delivery folks. They work very hard. A lot harder than most of us could ever imagine working. And we are the ones demanding our packages. It’s long hours, rain or shine, cold or hot, daylight or dark.

This week alone my husband has fallen asleep after work sitting in his chair well before bedtime. His feet hurt. His back hurts. He snores the moment his head hits the pillow. I see it. I watch it. It is true. But, guess what? Instead of complaining, he gets up bright and early the next morning to make sure your beloved packages are on your porch. It’s tough people. It’s tough on these guys. I see it first hand.

Here’s what I’m trying to get across to everyone. Appreciate these folks. All of them. They are tired and they are trying. We are the ones that waited too late to order our packages and are expecting them here very quickly. Before you get ready to blast your delivery guy because your package is a day or an hour late, take a deep breath. They are individuals. They are trying. They are out there pushing as hard as they can. Before you blast them maybe say thank you? Think about it. That’s someone’s husband, wife, son or daughter. What if it were yours?

Let me get the kindness started. Thank you thank you delivery drivers. Thank you for putting up with my bad attitude because I decided to procrastinate. Thank you for the long hours and delivering to me always with a smile. You are a blessing to us and we are so thankful. Merry Christmas and I hope that you will have ample time with your families during this wonderful season.

Remember, you are exactly the words that come out of your mouth. Choose kindness. Choose love. ❤️Always.

Something that is very difficult for me is telling people no. Anyone else have a hard time with that? Some of you know that along with my normal 40 hour per week job, I also work part time for a local dental society, I sell Tastefully Simple, and I make cakes and cupcakes. To say I am spread thin is an understatement. Now please don’t get me wrong, I love all that I do. I am by no means complaining and I am certainly blessed. I am a person that thrives on staying busy. I function better that way. But, sometimes I get tired.

Over the last year I have gotten so overwhelmed with the amount of items on my plate that at times I just cried. Finally I had to step back and ask myself “is this taking your peace?”. I believe that we all get ourselves in situations where we just feel overwhelmed. We just aren’t certain that there are going to be enough hours in the day to complete what is on our to do list. Why did I allow myself to schedule this much to do today? Why did I tell him/her I could do this? Why did I think I would have enough time to complete this? Hmmmm. Does this sound familiar? I am right there with you sisters and brothers. I just want to say something to you that I have learned to say to myself. I promise my life has gotten so much better by living by this one sentence……If It Takes My Peace, It’s Not My Path. Can I get and AMEN????!!! Now say it to yourself, “If this takes my peace, its not my path”. No don’t you feel better already?

Learning to say “I’m sorry but, no” does not make you a bad person. It isn’t easy to say but necessary. Honestly we shouldn’t even be saying the “sorry” part but, I try to be a nice person. Here’s an example of what I mean. I post on my cupcake social media page when I have openings to take orders. These dates are posted obviously, because I am booked the other days of the month or I have other plans that will not allow me to bake. At least weekly, I get a message from someone asking “can you make a cake for tomorrow, this weekend, two days from now”. At first I would always say sure. I would get up at 2 am if needed to meet the needs of others. I never said no, when in all honesty I wanted to say “excuse me but do you read?”. I know that isn’t nice but its true. After a year of working myself to exhaustion I had to pause and say to myself “if it takes my peace its not my path”. You know it’s just not acceptable to me to stop baking. It is my therapy. It is what I love to do. So I either learned to say “I’m sorry but, no” or I give up my passion. I completely learned to say no.

Saying No is a way to take care of yourself. It’s called self care. Putting yourself above others, especially when you are completely exhausted, is NEVER wrong. It is okay to rest. It is okay to have a day for yourself. It is completely okay to say no. If you don’t take care of your temple (body, mind, and spirit), you can’t be your best you. It is okay to say no. On that same note, when someone tells you no remember this discussion. Maybe that person is stretched too thin. Maybe they are under too much pressure. Don’t take the “NO” to heart. They could just be tired.

I guess if you take anything away from this evenings blog just take this….. If it takes your peace it’s not your path and it is completely fine to say I’m sorry but, no. Have a wonderfully blessed evening. Count your blessings and love on one another. ❤️ Always

One thing that I wanted to make sure and add to my blog is honest product reviews. My hope is that someone will comment their thoughts on each product and even tell us about others that they feel work better. After all we are all here to help each other right? I figured I would start with something that I feel is useful. For years, and I mean about ten, I have suffered with insomnia. And let me tell you for those of you that have no trouble sleeping for hours on end, insomnia sucks!!! I live with a precious man who can crawl in to bed and within 5 minutes he’s in lala land and snoring like a giant grizzly. I’m so jealous of his sleeping ability. You’ve probably noticed that a lot of my blogs are posted at night. Well my darlings, this is because I can’t sleep. It’s my best time to work.

So here is where those of you who aren’t use to my “weird” will start shaking your heads. I don’t necessarily agree with taking “medication”. And before you go nuts, I do take over the counter medications if I absolutely need it but, I would prefer to try to “fix” health issues by eating correctly, exercising, and using the correct vitamins and herbs. I keep Tylenol, Benadryl, and Ibuprofen in my cabinet just in case.

Insomnia had decided to become my little best friend. After realizing that not getting sleep was making me so sluggish, causing horrible brain fog, and killing my immune system, I decided to try to take something to help. First I tried a magnesium supplement. Sorry but this did absolutely nothing. It is very good for your heart and nervous system so I continued to take it but, no help with the insomnia. Next I tried valerian root (have you ever smelled that stuff? It smells like dirty feet! GAG). Now this seemed to help me “get sleepy” so maybe for others it would work well. I however; had a side effect. Not only were my dreams completely nuts (whew let’s not talk about those) but, it gave me a terrible headache. I then resorted to taking a Benadryl every night for a very long time. This works fine except I sometimes need that Benadryl for true allergies. If you continue to take it every day it will not work as well when you really do need it. Also, taking it for a long period of time can cause your heart to flutter. Mine did! Not to mention the hang over every morning.

Now to my product review. A few weeks ago I broke down and bought something after receiving advise from a pharmacist whom knows that I do not “like medication”. The product is called “Sleep” by OLLY. It is a mixture of melatonin (3 mg), L-Theanine (100 mg) and chamomile, passionflower, and lemon balm extract. They are gummies and you can eat one or two. I eat two. Y’all, it works! I usually eat the gummies about 40 minutes before I am ready to go to bed. It helps my mind to stop turning like a hamster in its wheel. Now, I still only stay asleep for 5 – 6 hours but, it is good solid sleep. I do not feel hung over the next morning. In fact I feel so much more rested in the mornings that I have been able to get up before work to get in a spin class.

Now before you go grab a bottle make sure it is okay with your doctor or pharmacist. I take no other medications so there is no chance of it mixing badly with anything else. All I know is that it is working for me. Hope that helps someone. Have a wonderful evening and happy sleeping. ❤️ Always

Just wondering how many of you have been around someone who always has something negative to say? I mean everything that comes out of their mouth is negative or depressing or just plain sad. Have you ever noticed how long it takes for you to go from happy to “let me the hell out of here” while you are around them? Sorry, yes I said hell but I don’t really consider that as a “bad” word. That type of attitude rubs off so quickly. If you put a positive, upbeat person in a home with one other person who is nothing but negative I wonder how many days it would take before they both become miserably depressed? I would almost bet less than 2 days. Or would they both become positive and upbeat? Don’t you think it would take many more days for the positive to rub off? It’s something to ponder really.

I consider myself to be a positive person. I believe in kindness and showering folks with the care they need to infuse good vibes. Do you know how much more difficult building a person up is than beating them down? That beat down that was just given is a sign of weakness. A sign to me that the one giving the “beat down” probably has a few little issues of their own. I take it as a personal challenge, and yes I am a very prideful, goal oriented person, to take that high road. The task of lifting others up, or as I say “being the light”, isn’t for the weak or lazy. It is a constant pressure that is there pushing you to try to bring out the best in others.

So here is a little story. In the past I had someone whom I was in contact with who never had anything positive to say. He was like little pigpen on Charlie Brown except the cloud of dust that he carried around with him was a huge ball of depression and lack of self worth. Every day while we were working together I vowed to make his day something worth while. Something small to get maybe a smile out of him or to just see a glint of positive hope. Every morning I would say my usual “good morning, how are you” with the biggest smile I could muster, just to get an “I’m here I guess” or “Barely making it” or “still living”. Every day I prayed harder and tried to come up with something that I could say or do to just “be the light” for this dwindling soul. Day after day nothing. No change. Until finally I began to feel myself getting a little depressed. What I’m trying to say here is it takes no time for bad vibes to rub off on others. So, for goodness sake, be the light.

I bet you were expecting to hear a happy ending to that story? Well the answer to that question is yes and no. No I never got through to this wonderful person who never accepted his value. He soon went to another job and I haven’t seen him since. Here’s the yes, the happy ending. A while after, I was told that he shared how positive I was with him to his new coworkers. He told them that just having someone that would be nice to him and seemed to care got him through some tough trials. BE THE LIGHT. No matter how hard the work is, be the light.

Here is what I would like for you to leave today’s blog with. It’s a challenge. Starting tomorrow (or oh my goodness start today), do not say anything negative. Nothing. That means for some of us we are going to have to think a little before we speak. Wow that’s a new concept lol. Smile and talk to those that you come in contact with like you would want someone to speak to your sweet child or your precious momma or daddy. Even when you are on the phone. Do this for an entire week. I promise you will see how much brighter your outlook is on life. It will make you feel unstoppable. Now a little warning, it’s not gonna be easy. The devil’s gonna try to get you but, you just have to be strong. Remember you may be the only person in this world that has cared enough to be courteous to that wandering soul in a very log time. So let’s hear it. Challenge accepted and BE THE LIGHT! ❤️ Always

“Memories, light the corner of my mind. Misty water-colored memories”…. okay enough of that. But, don’t you just love the sound of Barbara Streisand’s voice? Oh memories. Folks that know me can truly say I try to OD myself in nostalgia. Doesn’t it just make you feel good all over? What is Christmas time without memories. This time of the year is so tough for so many people. Here we are in this beautiful season of joy but, some of us are missing loved ones, or we feel like we can’t provide for our children the Christmas’ that their more fortunate friends have, or we are alone, or we are just plain Mr. Scrooge (kidding, no not really) and the list goes on and on. For my siblings and I it is difficult because we lost our daddy at the young age of 69 right after Christmas. So, for those of you struggling through just know that you are so important to so many people and you are so loved.

During this time my hope to keep from being “sad” is abundant. I find myself redirecting those feeling by making new “memories” for my little family. Especially for my son, yes, I have an 18 year old strapping young boy. i hope that he appreciates the fact that at 18 years old he still gets a stocking filled with gifts from the jolly old elf and his very own Christmas tree. I know, I know, I’m a bit weird. My hope is that as he becomes even more of an adult, he will remember “home” at Christmas time. Full of good food, warm and inviting, 13 Christmas trees (yes I said that and yes they are all full sized. No, I do not live in a mansion), and the love that my husband and I show to him.

What makes your house “home” for the holidays? I want to tell you a little tid bit about what makes my Christmas bright. Of course my time with my family is the most important. I have a pretty great brother and two sisters that are truly more like my best friends. But the one who holds this crazy train together and is our rock is our momma. She is a living Saint if ever there was one. Here’s my “home”. Walking in to her house around Christmas time. Every year she puts up a Christmas Village and it is sprawled out all over the living room. These little tiny houses that she places so perfectly in their little spots. Oh, I could cry just thinking about it. And good tears, not sad. That my precious friends are what memories are made of.

Now that all I can think about is momma’s village, I want to encourage you to take some time to remember some of your favorite holiday memories. This year especially, the feeling of joy and love is so much needed. If you are a parent what little memories can you make for your babies big or small? And if you are alone at Christmas time think about maybe volunteering in a food bank or at a church to help those that are in need. Because, no one should be alone for Christmas. I want to think that tonight’s blog has maybe caused a beautiful memory to sneak for you. So Merry Christmas, or happy holidays whichever you choose. Love and blessings from me to you.

P.S. Of course I had to show you a photo of momma’s village. And this is just one section. ❤️Always

What a great title to start my blog. It makes me want to say, “In the beginning there was dark and there was light”…… just kidding lol. Everything has to begin somewhere. So let’s start by me explaining to you why I decided to create a blog. In this amazing beautiful world that we live in which seems to be completely upside down right now, I just wanted to do something positive. Nothing political, nothing negative, nothing scary, just a time of positive, inspiring, motivational moments.

My hope is for these posts to make your day brighter. Maybe, jog a precious memory. Give you a little trick or hack that might help make tackling a project a little simpler. Suggest a product that I use or love. Or even give you a review on a restaurant or show you what new recipes I am giving a whirl. In other words this blog is sort of a little of everything.

Finally, I wanted to explain the name of my blog webpage. I thought and thought about what I wanted to title my page. It came down to two names. Obviously the one that I chose and “Wildflowers” (wildflowers are everywhere and this blog will be just that, all over the place). I decided on “The Greatest Oak” because if the following saying which I completely love: “The greatest oak in the forest was once a tiny seed”. Think about that. That tiny little seed had to push its way through tough dirt to sprout and grow into a beautiful mighty oak tree. Isn’t that how we are? For most of us isn’t there so much that we have to push through in this wonderful life? Those struggles my sweet friends, are what makes us strong. Just like the greatest oak, we continue to grow and survive. We thrive. Because that’s how God made us. To persevere, to live, to be happy. So go and live. And more than anything keep being wonderfully YOU! Because life is too short to be anything else. Have a blessed evening. ❤️ Always.