We have created a fun campaign for November: Living In The Season!

The holiday season is here and the bustle of parties and gifts and food preparations and music and shopping and...is ready to take over, so how can we truly LIVE and savor the holidays?

We'd love you to dive in! Join us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/fromthelivingroom

Here are some of my favorite questions and answers so far:

November 13: Think of something in nature that you are thankful for and talk about it.

 I am thankful for the waves and the sand at the beach. Growing up just a stones throw from the water, I found solace then, and now, in the smell and sound of the waves, and the way the sand feels between my toes. Right before I moved away from the beach, I went down one day and filled a glass bottle with sand from the beach that I grew up playing on. It is the same beach that we now take ou...r children too every year. Every once in a while I open that jar and quietly hold a handful in my palm. It is as if I can smell the salt in the air and feel the humidity on my skin. And although home is and always will be where my family is, when I am at the ocean, that is when I feel truly alive. My soul can breath and my spirit soars. It amazes me that my Heavenly Father would make something so powerful as waves and then allow me to tap into that power. That I can play in the same water that covers the earth and has power beyond measure. - Heather

Flowers. I adore flowers—the aromas, varieties, playfulness, and joyful feelings they bring! It wasn’t until this year that I realized where it came from. My mother loves flowers too, but she shared that her mother also loved flowers. To the point that when she took my mother to her house cleaning job, she passed by flowers so beautiful that she used their bus fare home and had to walk many, many blocks (my mom’s version of the story!) to get back home. - Connie

One of my favorite qu...otes related to flowers is taped to the wall by my bedside.

“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” Anonymous

‪#‎livingintheseason‬
‪#‎livingroomwithconnie

November 12: Share a gratitude tip.

I have a gratitude journal I keep on my iPad. You can download it for free from the iTunes store (just like the Living Room shows!). I like to take a few minutes before bed to jot down at least five things I am grateful for that day. I should qualify not just things but an awareness of goodness and blessings in my life constitute these items I list. I find that taking time to list five is essential…the first two are usually easy and obvious. But after that I usually have to think a little harder about my day and what to celebrate. By the time I list five I am usually immersed in an “attitude of gratitude,” where I could continue to list almost endlessly. But I usually stop at just five. - Jana

‪#‎seasonofliving‬
‪#‎livingroomwithjana

November 11: Share your favorite recipe. I love to cook traditional Thanksgiving Fare. When Thanksgiving is at my house I have "narrowed it down" to seventeen essential dishes. I love them all and can't sacrifice any of them. It reminds me of Thanksgiving surrounded by my immediate family, as well as aunts and cuncles, cousins and my grandmother. When I smell these recipes I can hear my grandma, mom and aunts laughing as they cook in the kitchen. These recipes are the aromas of nostalgia.

This recipe is for a non-traditional Green Bean Casserole. It's creamy and cheesy and delicious.

Live your beautiful life,
Christie
‪#‎livingroomwithchristie‬
‪#‎livingintheseason‬

Green Bean Casserole

1 qt beans
1 cube butter
¼ cup flour (or more)
1 C cream
1 C milk
½ C water Chestnuts sliced
½ lb sharp cheddar cheese- grated

Prepare a white sauce, (melt butter, add flour, when smooth add milk and cream. This will take awhile, up to 20 minutes for right thickness), melt cheese into white sauce, add vegetables, Bake at 325 for 45 min- 1 hour.

*I also add garlic powder, dry mustard and black pepper to the sauce, although these are not in the original recipe.

 

November 10: What smell are you most grateful for?

What smell are you most grateful for?

That is a tough question. I am going to cheat and say, “holiday smells.” I can’t just pick one. There is nothing better than waking up on Thanksgiving and smelling a turkey in the oven or Christmas morning and smelling hot chocolate, wassail, cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole. I love that those things represent so much more than food to me. They are my memories.
-Kate
‪#‎livingroomwithkate‬
‪#‎livingintheseason

Please join us on facebook and share your favorite recipes, gratitude tips and they way YOU are choosing to LIVE in the season!

- Michelle

#livingroomwithmichelle

Michelle McCullough is a speaker, strategist, success coach, serial entrepreneur and show host. In addition to The Living Room, Michelle also has a solo show called Make It Happen.  She's the managing director for Startup Princess, an international organization for women entrepreneurs.  She loves God, is married, has two kids and her secret love is sugar cereals.