This is the time of year when Starbucks is peddling pumpkin spice lattes, and caramel apple cider drinks piled high with whipped topping. Everyone is paging through cookbooks looking for the perfect apple crisp or pie, and every ad, commercial and store poster sign is telling you that there is just one more thing you need to make this the autumn perfect and filled to overflowing with stuff and happiness.

Speaking of apple crisp, make sure to scroll to the bottom and get our “patented” recipe for the perfect buttery, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth recipe to fill your autumn to overflowing with happiness. 

Slow down, take time to breath, eat an apple. Who needs “things” anyway?

But… slowing down, and definitely stopping is almost never an option, and life marches on. Things are inevitable, you won’t be able to get away from needing cars, housing, pots, kettles, clothes, dishes linens, car supplies, toilet paper, lawn supplies, groceries, dentists visits and a few thousand other things that go into a life, home and family.

Question is how can that be juggled efficiently, so that when you hit 80 and are sitting on the front porch wrapped in granny-squares, no longer able to eat apples, and looking back over your life, you feel it was lived? Successful business deals, taking your kids to soccer or dance class on time, advancing your career, or even keeping your house clean and cooking healthy, nutritious meals every day will go into a life of quality, but is that what will keep us from having regrets about how life swallowed us up?

• Working
• Eating
• Spouse, kids and family
• House
• Nice car
• Exercise
• World Traveling
• Pinterest
• Friends
• Sports
• Vacations
• Spirituality & Faith

It all Comes down to Time Value

I’m willing to guess that the quality time we put into others lives, and the time spent serving other people is what will be the glue that makes the rest of life hold together. This probably goes without saying, but family is really one of the most important parts of life. If we mess up there, almost nothing else in life is going to count. An old man, when asked, simply wished he would’ve held hands more with his wife, and many, many others wish they’d taken more time for their kids. “I wish I had spend those hours with them before they left.”

It’s the cycle of life, people build lives and tend to build in those lives that invested quality time in them. What you value is what you prioritize, every single time, until the times add up and there aren’t many left. Life will inevitably happen, whether or not you focus on it, but remembering to spend quality time with those you love, that we have to make happen. Quantity is always there, so make the moments count and count those moments together. It might be as simple as making bath time for your kids a fun, special time with mom, or babysitting your grand kids and doing things with them, even if they exhaust the daylights out of you, or choosing to get up a half hour early to have coffee with your husband. Those evenings and half hours will add up at an exponential rate of speed, and relationships will be built.

Ever checked into how much a $4 latte a day will cost in increments of 365 days? About $1,344. Think about those half hours that way, because they add up like that, and in a year of time life will have become that much richer.

The highest value in life is counted in people most important to you, not money.

The buttery, melt-in-your-mouth Apple Crisp

No, we haven’t forgotten.