A happier way to live

 

Today I was thinking about how free I am now.  It doesn't really matter to me anymore if the way I live my life bothers anyone else.  This is a much happier way to live.

I've added more layers of clothing as the day has progressed.  Tonight I will get under the blanket and stay there for more hours than usual.  That is a day in the life of a Floridian with no heater on a cold night that doesn't happen that often.  I love being a Floridian when I realize how grateful I am I don't live in a cold part of the country.  I hate the cold!  So far it has been a pretty decent winter in my area and I can handle a day or two of cold weather, but I don't have to like it.

It has been another couple of days that I've put together many new posts and updated some old ones.  My mind has been freed of those awful thoughts grief brings and I'm enjoying beautiful memories that make me happy.

My new blog posts are listed below.  Hopefully you will enjoy them as I have enjoyed creating them.

Happy new weekend coming up my friends . . . stay warm.

NEW BLOG POSTS

Gina's Italian Kitchen

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bubble Up

Chicken Alfredo ~ lighter version

Coconut Cream Cheese Brownies

Chicken Burrito Skillet

Baked Creamed Corn

Penne Pimento Cheese

Air Fryer Frozen Food Cooking Guides

How To Make the Flakiest Pie Crust

Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet

Shrimp Scampi with Linguini

Frittata

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

Orange Pound Cake

Subtropical Gardening

Prayer Plant Care for Beginners

Proven Tips for Feeding Birds with Suet

Birds That Can Benefit Your Yard Or Garden With Their Friendly Visits 

Smart Tips for Buying Garden Seeds

The Best Seed Catalogs to Request in 2026

How To Grow Geraniums From Seed

Simple Ways To Get Rid Of Aphids On Houseplants

Indoor Plants You Can Easily Propagate This Winter (Plus 5 to Skip)

How To Eliminate Flowerbed Weeds With Cardboard

Spider Plant Care

LaBelladiva

Make a DIY Spice Rack with Dollar General

Stressed About Clutter?

What Cleaning Experts Actually Use to Get Their Bathrooms Sparkling Clean

22 Organizing Shortcuts to Declutter in Less Time

Peace Love Happiness

The bridge that carried me over

The anger of grief is gone

Are You Ready For Christmas?

 

All I can say is that I don't have to watch television commercials anymore since I cut the cord.  My main channel is You Tube Premium.  I pay to not have to watch commercials and I love it.  Thinking back to my cable television days, the Christmas commercial bombardment started around Halloween.  They tortured me and I hated them so much.

No, I don't hate Christmas.  It was just my choice to not celebrate it anymore since my first husband JR passed away.  For he and I, the Christmas/Thanksgiving holidays were as special as it gets.  We had huge parties for both days.  We decorated to the max.  A week after he passed away, a huge tree fell on the storage shed where all the decorations were and destroyed them.  For me, it was a sign from God.  Christmas is about the birth of Christ for me anymore.  JR passed away in October as the commercials started.  Anyway, when The Captain and I got together, it was a relief to find out he felt the same way about Christmas.  Another sign from God.

I'm all good with it now, but no commercials or celebrations.  It does bring me joy to see other people celebrating the holidays as I once did.  That is why I am focusing on Christmas posts, to help others enjoy the holidays to the max as JR and I did.

Speaking of the Christmas posts, I've posted a lot of them from recipes, cooking and Christmas decorating tips/ideas.  Below is a list of all the new blog posts.  I sincerely hope they touch even one person's life.  This is the time before Christmas that I always enjoyed the most.  

Happy Holidays to everyone!  May God bless you all . . .

NEW BLOG POSTS

LaBelladiva

Unique Christmas Tree Ideas for Every Decorating Style

Is It OK to Leave Your Christmas Tree Lights on All Night?

Subtropical Gardening

How To Water Poinsettias – Why You Should Be Misting Your Poinsettia Plants!

Peace Love Happiness

Live For The Moment

Gina's Italian Kitchen

How to Freeze Cookies and Cookie Dough

Secret To Silky Smooth Melted Chocolate

How to Quickly and Safely Bring Butter to Room Temperature - And Only Way to Store Butter

Leftovers That Spoil Faster Than You Think

White Chocolate Bark

Copycat Texas Roadhouse Smothered Chicken

Pecan Pie Coffee Cake

Foods You Didn't Know You Could Cook in an Air Fryer

Baked Two-Cheese & Bacon Grits

Fried Potatoes And Onions

Raspberry Crumble Bars

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Butter Pecan Cheesecake

Deep-Dish Apple Pie

Roasted Pork Shoulder (Italian-Style)

Basic Thumbprint Cookies

White Chocolate-Cherry Shortbread Cookie

Hot and Spicy Hush Puppies from the Neelys

Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Cherry Fudge Truffle Coconut Cheesecake

Ground Beef Taco Dip

Cheesy Crab Poppers

Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Homemade Corn Tortillas

Collection of Ham Posts from Baking to Leftover Ham Recipes - UPDATED

Ribs - Informative Info and Recipes

Thankful They Were In My Life

 

What I am grateful for this year is that I was so blessed to have The Captain and Miss Kiki in my life.  They were so precious to me and I miss them so much.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  Give thanks for all those you love.

New blog posts follow . . .

New Blog Posts

Gina's Italian Kitchen

Magic Chicken Pie

Buffalo Chicken Potato Casserole

Thanksgiving Ideas and Tips

Crockpot Stuffing

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

Bobby's Goulash

Creamy Chicken Tortellini

Peace Love Happiness

We all have choices

Babyboomer Flashback

Vintage Items Designers Say You Should Get Rid Of

LaBelladiva

Most Popular Holiday Decorating Trends Of 2025

Happy Autumn Update

 

Autumn hit Tampa three days last week.  It was quite a surprise to get down to 38 degrees one night.  I hate the cold and would like to enjoy a mild autumn that brings cooler temps and less humidity.  Not an early winter!

Yes, I know I am spoiled with awesome Tampa weather and some of you guys are dealing with snow already.  Some people like the snow, but I can't relate at all.  I wouldn't know what to do living in a snowy climate.

I've been obsessed with posts to my food blog.  Honestly, I miss cooking and am slowly getting back to preparing meals for one, but it is not fun.  I'm working on it and hope to learn to love it.

My workaholic nature has brought me to being behind the computer way too many hours and loving it again.  I'm grateful I have found something that makes me happy again and I'm like a kid with a new toy.

I'm extremely active on x/Twitter joining others in retweeting each others posts.  If you are interested in joining me and bring more people to your website, blog, online store, events, promotions, etc., go to https://x.com/GinaAlfani and simply retreat one or more of my posts and I will retweet yours.  You will automatically be picked up by other retweeters after I retweet yours.  

New updates to my blogs follow . . .

Yes, I'd like to go back in time.

NEW BLOG POSTS

Gina's Italian Kitchen

Puff Pastry Cream Horns

Drop Dumplings for Soup

Pecan Pie Bars With Shortbread Crust

Ten smart kitchen storage ideas and DIY projects

Hot and Spicy Hush Puppies

Southern Sausage Balls

Sandy's Tasty Pasta Meal

The Ultimate Shrimp and Grits

Red Lobster Crab Alfredo

Chocolate Walnut Strudel

Subtropical Gardening

Late fall is the most important time to mulch your flowerbeds

Grow Ginger As A Houseplant – And Have Fresh Ginger All Year Long

Why is my poinsettia losing leaves?

Overwintering perennials and shrubs in containers

LaBelladiva

Drawstring 8-Pocket Jewelry Pouch

Craft Room Organization

Refashioned Flip Flops

My Florida Paradise

Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse

Fabulous Frugalista

Holiday Shopping Mistakes to Avoid This Season

How To Save Money on Black Friday

Peace Love Happiness

Renewed sense of aliveness through gratefulness

Humor and Laughs

New Seatbelt Design

Blogging again

 

It has made me happy to return to blogging about all kinds of stuff.  I guess I could say it is good therapy to keep busy doing something I love on my path to getting "normal" again.  My blogs are listed on the right side of this blog.  Some of them are still closed for now.

My life has reached the point where the heavy grief of losing The Captain and Kiki is a passing phase of grieving.  Instead of crying all the time, I am thinking of all the happy memories that are bringing a smile to my face.  The grief now feels lighter even though it will never go away, manifesting itself into different phases.  I know the coming holidays will be rough again.

The road to online selling has been on my mind and so has the desire to make jewelry and be creative.  A huge part of my life has been creating stuff and I miss that so much. 

As in the past, I will be listing my latest and updated blog posts on this blog.  Here they are for November:

Gina's Italian Kitchen

Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

Turtle Brownies

Crab au Gratin Pizza

Shrimp Creole

Mexican Sweet Corn Cake

Picadillo

Pimento Cheese

Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti

Stuffed Pizza Bread

Fabulous Frugalista

Avoid Christmas Debt When Cash Is Tight

The Frugal Mindset

Replacing Your Washer or Dryer

Thoughts From A Frugalista

New beginnings

 

There are not enough hours in the day!  I'm getting things ready to reopen a new and improved Crow's Nest Jewels.  My mind never shuts down with all the new ideas.  So . . . sometimes I just have to let out a bit of a scream.

We haven't gotten the house in order since the hurricane and it is so frustrating!  Hurricanes are the only thing I hate about living in Florida.  You never know when you will be the one to get hit.  All of that had gotten to me with depression and anxiety, just wanting to give up.  Then there was Covid . . . but I am in a different frame of mind since I decided that no matter what, I'm getting Crow's Nest Jewels open and doing what I love.  

Creating new jewelry and working with the vintage jewelry is what I love most and I have put it aside way too long.  Moving in another direction has really made a change in my mental attitude.

My Etsy shop will reopen soon, but I will also diversify and sell from my Crow's Nest Jewels Facebook page as well as You Tube for doing auctions and buy it now sales.  So I have lots of work cut out for me, but I am really enjoying the process of creating and making these changes.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy, making it through the craziness of this world we live in.

 

Some Thoughts From May 2014

ORIGINALLY POSTED MAY 2014

IN LABELLADIVA.COM

Seems like since I was hit by that nasty flu or virus, whatever you want to call it, I have not been able to pick myself back up.  I've heard from others who were hit by the virus that it was a nasty one, but to last this long?  All I want to do is sleep!

My intentions are always positive that "today will be the day I can get up and go" . . . but it is not happening!  Human nature makes us so impatient!

As usual, my food blog remains active since I'm always looking for great recipes . . . since I've been spending a lot of time resting in bed, the Food Network and the Cooking Channel have been what interests me and I am finding more great recipes than I haven't had time to post!

This week at Gina's Italian Kitchen, I have featured Oven Baked Breakfast Tacos that look delicious, easy and the variation possibilities are endless . . . also freezable! Kelsey Nixon's Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Creamy Mac and Cheese is one of the first new meals I'm going to try since Mac and Cheese is a popular item in our kitchen! Can't wait to try out Guy Fieri's Spicy Polenta Cakes to put my stomach on fire with the jalapeno peppers :)

The Captain and I missed the Cinco de Mayo festivities, but we are gearing up for some spicy happenings in the kitchen when we are feeling better!  Lots more Tex-Mex type of recipes coming!

Something I found for the crafters who love to design their own jewelry will love the DIY Rhinestone Statement Necklace . . . I can't wait to get back into creating! 

While Peace, Love and Happiness has been sapped by not feeling well, this time has been one of self-reflection and being so grateful and blessed for where I am compared to one of the lowest points of my life when my first husband JR passed away.  It is so easy to get caught up in our day to day irritations that momentarily rob us of our joy and happiness, but it takes looking back at desperate times to appreciate these little things that usually pass quickly, making way for the next catastrophe, right?  The post "Picking Up the Pieces . . . Putting Them Away" ponders those thoughts.