People are asking – What made us want to do a Blog and Facebook page and why did we name it “Preserving the Good Life”?  Preserving – Canning – Good Life is a pretty good summary of who we are – or at least a start!  Preserving / Canning is one of our many hobbies and it’s something that John and I enjoy doing together.  He’s the idea man, the one that says – “we’re canning strawberry rhubarb pie filling tonight” and I’m the one that puts the legs to it, the one that writes down the recipes, takes pictures and tries to explain it to where anyone can follow it.  Side by side, elbow to elbow we’re in this together.  We’ve canned for years and we love it!  Something you won’t see on here much is my hand written recipes.  I hand write every recipe in hopes my children will appreciate them one day as much as I appreciate the hand written recipes that I have had handed down to me.

We’ve had friends to ask us to teach canning classes; especially since it is a dying art.  We’ve even had friends show up on our door step with beans and jars in hand asking if we’d help get them started.  And that’s what we’re here for – to help and love each other, right?

As for the “Good Life” part, we truly do try to live a good life and that’s something that we want to hand down to our children.  A dear friend told me once, teach your children to love the Lord and the rest will come naturally.  I took those words to heart….now let’s try to teach them the lost art of canning, how to live better and make wiser decisions.  We’ll be sharing canning recipes as we can and we’ll be sharing family favorite recipes along the way.  If you’ve ever had the opportunity to eat any of John’s cooking – you’re in for a treat, he’s finally agreed to share some recipes!

“Good Life” covers many areas….I made a huge lifestyle change the 1st of the year.  And it’s paying off!  I have people ask me weekly – “How are you doing it?”, “What changes have you made?”, “What’s your secret?”.  I tell them all the same – there’s no secrets, no gimmicks or magic potions.  Simply eat what God gave you!  Natural not processed, water not sodas, limited dairy and limited sugar..  Know what you’re eating!  So to me the two go hand in hand, if I’m canning and preserving my own food – I know what’s going into it.  I know what sodium, preservatives and additives are in it.  I know the hands that’s prepared it and the cleanliness of the kitchen.  And most importantly I know what my family is eating!  It’s been a journey for sure, but if just one person can learn something from this, it’s well worth the effort!

So when it came to a name, I picked several brains, looking for the perfect name to describe the combination of ideas I wanted to share.  One friend came back almost immediately “Preserving the Good Life”….I hope you all love it as much as we do!