Cruff Family Chronicles

A while back, I was reading an article ( I wish I had the link to attach) that was about how social media is used to show people the best sides of you. The author had a picture of her and her daughter that looked so adorable but noted there had been a fit beforehand. She had a cute picture of her and her husband before a date night but noted they had just gotten into an argument before they took it. It really got me thinking about how we can best portray our REAL selves on social media, or more specifically Facebook. It's so true that you see 95% of only the good things that happen in people's lives, we don't know the other 5%. Maybe if we did, we could help the happy percentage increase. At the same time, when anyone posts REAL statuses about being sad or mad then they're labeled a Debbie downer (believe me, I've been every kind of annoying friend you could have). It's true, though. Why do we only want to hear the good and not the bad or REAL? I guess when to...

Hey guys! I have a lot to catch up on so bear with me here! You know you've lived in Michigan for a while when it's 50 degrees and sunny out and your windows are rolled down. You know you've lived through a Michigan winter when 70 degrees in the car feels hot! Today it was a gorgeous day outside. If you have MI friends on your friends list, you probably heard all about it. I have to sort of laugh at everyone getting excited about 60 degree weather when back in AZ that's cause for some layers! Emily and Tiffany-my best good friends here! So overall, I love living in Michigan. I've made some good friends (I miss my old ones dearly too!). With my in-laws help, I can be a stay at home mom and there's lots of things to do here. Now, winter sucked don't get me wrong but it was survivable (is that a word?) I mean you expect the cold days and the snow. With that said, I did have 2 "I HATE MICHIGAN" days. The first was February 14. We were suppose...

Hey all! I always say I want to blog more and it hasn't happened. I wanted to tell a story that was a little too long for a status update so I decided what better place to tell it than my blog! I think 2 or 3 years ago when we started doing egg hunts at home (um, hello, have you seen the crowds at some egg hunts, no thanks.), I would take change from Bri's piggy bank and fill some eggs up with that and some with some form of candy. I don't like to have too much candy around because we inevitably eat most of it so that's why we've always done half and half. She's loved it. I think last year I went to the bank and got more change instead of just using hers lol. Well, she told me this year she didn't want coin eggs so we got M&Ms and jelly beans. So this year for egg decorating I bought fake eggs because it seems like a real dozen eggs go to waste and even though they're less than $2, I still feel bad about it. I do not recommend the fake eggs bec...

Hey everyone! Wow, it's been a little too long since I've been at this blogging thing. It's really because I haven't had much to say. When I do, I pray about it in my prayer journal I started. So the post is called "The fine line" because I thought of that when I posted on FB about how great prayer journaling has been for me. I am always afraid to be "that Christian" who's obnoxious in what they post. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that but having been on the other side, I want to make sure I have a balance. I want to be aware of the fine line. I remember when I wasn't a Christian and friends would post extreme religious opinions I didn't agree with and I would unfollow them (not un-friend). It didn't make me want to know God, it just annoyed me. I don't even know why I care if some of my friends do it to me. I have 3 FB friends off the top of my head who I know are atheists (and I'm sure there...

Well, hello there! Happy New Year (22 days later...) It's almost 10:30 pm here and I should be sleeping but I was just tossing and turning and thinking about how much I've missed blogging and came up with all these things to talk to you about so prepare for a long-ish post. And run-on sentences and improper grammar and sentences that start with and and lots of annnnnnnnnndddddddddddsssssssssss. Ok I'm done. I survived the holidays! Go me! My sister-in-law and her fiance came to visit from Kansas City and my in-laws from Alaska. The holidays were wonderful, stressful, great and chaotic. That's what holidays are for. AmIRight?! Christmas day, I made a casserole in the morning and Adam made his famous cheesy potatoes. I wish I had taken pictures but here's the link to the casserole. Christmas Morning Casserole We had a great Thanks-mas with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, stuffing and enjoyed each other's company. The girls were very spoiled (you...

Hey, everyone! The 18th marked 5 official months since we moved to Michigan. I get people asking me all the time how it's going and how I'm handling it. It really hasn't been as bad as I thought but it also hasn't fully winterized here yet either. Maybe I should re-write this post in the spring. So here's how I'm surviving and I'll write in "tips for you" style: Join a Church- If religion isn't your thing, pick something you're into like hiking, geo-caching, etc. and join Meetup.com. If religion is your thing, this is one of the most important things you can do. Now, I wasn't sold on our current church because: It was too big It wasn't my last church, TMCC Sierra Vista The music wasn't as awesome as TMCC We only knew a couple people. It wasn't TMCC So in conclusion, I just had to get over the fact it wasn't my first church, my home church, the church I was baptized in, the church where we had dinner with th...

Have you ever met a mom and thought "I want to be her?". Sophia's mom Erica is super patient and encouraging and I explictly told her "I want to be you when I grow up". Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MY GIRLS MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. I could show it better, though. I will be the first to admit I can be hard on them, critical and I'm a yeller. I want my kids to be well behaved. No matter what you say about me, you'll never say my kids don't have manners. I am a work in progress and it's refreshing to see someone who can put those things I want to be, in the flesh. Obviously, we all have different parenting styles but I think we are kidding ourselves if we say there isn't room for improvement. So for every thing I need to correct, I can say 3 things that were positive. I can look them in the eye when I want something so I don't have to yell it and repeat over and over and over again. Anyway, this last weekend, Erica had us over for a playda...