Antelope Canyon, AZ
Hello and Welcome!
My Quintessential Life is a lifestyle magazine/blog. It’s a place to share recipes, meal plans, crafting, crochet, and travel. Most importantly, it’s a place to share about faith, family, friends, and the book(s) I’ve written.
Faith:
Without faith and believing in the one and only true God, the rest of life falls short. While I live a life far from perfect, I have a firm belief in God, the Holy Trinity, and without Christ’s sacrificial gift, we live separated.
Romans 10:9-10
9: If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10: For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
Family & Friends:
Family and friends make life complete, whole, and fulfilling. They double the joy because it’s a joy shared. They help shoulder our burdens and divide our trials. They’re ones that we can laugh with, share our thoughts with, or uphold us in trying times.
Décor
I love everything about home and enjoy decorating. Creating a home from a house entails many things, but most importantly, it creates a haven where we can relax and enjoy life with those we love. It includes organization, décor, cleaning, and arranging. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, I love it when Amazon or Wayfair arrives – something new to make my home, even better!
Books:
Who doesn’t love books? There is something special about holding a book in your hands, admiring the cover, turning the pages, and finding a story to unfold and immerse yourself in. But there is so much more. Find intrigue, romance, history, or fantasy and one can plunge yourself into the depth of a novel leaving behind the real world for a short time.
As a novice author, I’m still proud of my first book, (Guilty Until Proven Innocent), available for a short time on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (find it using my name, Cylinda Mathews). Learning the ins and outs of having a manuscript published, I went with a vanity publisher. Little did I realize I should have gone with a literary agent who would have had a personal interest in getting my book published.
I’m currently working on a romantic comedy, In For a Penny, In For 110 Pounds (possibly a name change). I’ve had so much fun working on this manuscript. I’m in the process of finding a literary agent once I have all my ducks in a row!
Recipes:
I’m addicted! Yes, every morning I pour through recipe blogs, cookbooks, and shared recipes to plan my weekly menu. I have more cookbooks than I know what to do with and even more recipes I keep on my recipe program. And with so many at my disposal, there’s never a question asking, “What’s for dinner tonight?” And seldom do I have the same meal twice. There are favs, but it’s not like they’re on repeat often.
Menu Plans:
I enjoy sharing my menu plans because they are twofold: first, I just blogged to the world about what I’ll be cooking-so now I am committed, and second, maybe it’s a recipe you’ll love and make for your family. I love to cook, and it’s fun to include recipes from other countries. From Indian to Mexican and from Asian to Italian; finding recipes using other cuisines and ingredients you may not have considered before is fun!
Crochet:
Not so long ago, my world was immersed in crochet because that’s what I did for a living. I designed crochet patterns and have hundreds of patterns available on (Ravelry). Between my business site and the blog, it kept me designing. I confess, after almost 40 years of designing and crocheting, I’ve somewhat retired the hook – which was given to my Mom by a neighbor who taught her to crochet. The hook handle is almost black from use – my fav hook and almost the only one I used unless I was designing with yarn.
Crafts:
I enjoy crafting when I have the supplies necessary! That’s not always the case though, and hopefully with blogging again, I’ll have a great excuse to get what’s needed so I can share those ideas with you. When I think crafts, I think wreaths foremost, but there’s so much more and it’ll be fun learning new techniques, right along with you!
Gardening:
I love herbs, which fits right into my love of cooking, and when we had our home in Southern California, I had an herb garden that was my joy and delight. I hope once we start landscaping our new home here, that I will plant a new garden. It’s fun digging in the soil, planting, and watching new growth take place. Using fresh herbs will enhance your dishes.
Travel:
I think I saved this for last because many years of our life entailed a lot of travel. When we sold our home in Southern California, we decided we’d travel around this great country of ours with our two furbabies and the 5th wheel, our home away from home. There is so much the United States offers from natural formations like majestic mountains to caverns deep in the earth. Waterfalls, forests, beaches, seas, lakes, and rivers. And that doesn’t include man-made wonders like theme parks and lighthouses. We traveled for four years getting to see these wonders without the responsibility of owning a brick-and-mortar home.
We visited over 30 states and enjoyed many national parks. We saw beautiful landscapes that only God could create with the stroke of His brush. From Yellowstone to the Devil’s Tower, I can’t get over the wonders and beauty of it all.
I will be creating a journal as we travel the Northeast and see even more exciting and awesome places. And, post about past travels, too!