In 2021, the average American family paid at least 14% more for Thanksgiving festivities. In 2022, celebratory costs are estimated to rise by 20%. The US Farm Bureau noted that the average American family paid $46.90 in 2020 for Thanksgiving, which rose to $53.31 in 2021 before soaring to $64.05 in 2022. This is a drastic underrepresentation of costs, as absolutely no one I know can afford to create a Thanksgiving meal for a family with such a small amount of money.
The survey was based on a shopping list of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk. If the survey were to include ham, frozen green beans, and Russet potatoes, the cost would rise to $81.30.
Turkey costs alone rose 21% from last year at an additional cost of $1.81 per pound. Every food item costs significantly more down to a gallon of whole milk that now costs 16% more compared to last year. Stuffing mix rose 69% this year at around $3.88. Pumpkin pie canned mix is up 18%, pie crusts rose 26%, and whipped cream is up 26%. Sweet potatoes (11%), veggie trays (8%), and misc. ingredients (20%) all cost notably more. Those on the West coast will pay the most ($71.37), followed by the Midwest ($64.26, Northeast ($64.02), and South ($58.42).
This is simply the cost of the bare essentials to prepare a meal. Most will spend more traveling to their destination due to energy costs. Alcoholic beverages will drastically add to the budget, as will any specialty foods. Then American consumers will be bombarded with Black Friday deals the following day, and don’t forget Cyber Monday! Friday also happens to be Native American Heritage Day, and perhaps we will have a day to honor the fallen US as we know it today.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 18, 2022 | Sundance
It might, heck, -check that- it does seem overwhelming at times. But that is the nature of this collectivist strategy. That is the purpose of this bombardment. We must hold strong and push back against the lies and manipulations. If you look closely at the attack, it is weak and much of it is psychological bait. Do not fall into the trap of despair.
When I share the message “live your best life”, it is not without purpose. Every moment that we allow the onslaught to deter us from living our dreams, is a moment those who oppose our nation view as us taking a knee. Do not allow this effort to succeed. You might ask yourself how I can, one person, a flea looking into a furnace, retain an optimistic disposition while all around me seems chaotic and mad.
Simple answer, it’s your choice. Two wolves fight – one filled with despondency, isolation, despair and dark imaginings; the other filled with faith, something bigger, unrelenting hope, focus and driven to remain connected. Which wolf will win? The one you feed.
Shake it off. “Get up, get back on your feet, you are the one they can’t beat, and you know it.” WATCH:
The point? It ‘seems’ chaotic and mad because it has been created to appear that way. There are more of us than them; they just control the systems that allow us to connect, share messages and recognize the scale of our assembly.
And here we are… divided by a network of seemingly intoxicating systems; many purposefully driven by the modern dynamic of social media, steering a tribal outcome we are only now just beginning to fathom.
Ultimately the collective weight of progressive leftism is putting us is isolation. There are many historic references to this disconcerting sentiment to review with hindsight. However, ultimately the feeling of isolation first begins with a rejection of God. Defeat it by embracing Him.
In/around July 2020 it was obvious in my travels we were on the precipice of a disconnect from human interaction that would numb our psyche to what ultimately matters, fellowship.
Not only are various governmental agencies forcing the separation of people from their community networks, we were also seeing faith-based organizations, churches, buying into the fear.
Even in areas where churches were not forcibly shut down, we saw a structural shift where some faith leaders were willingly ostracizing their community under the guise of various medical, social and cultural alarms.
This is not good…. not good at all.
Fellowship is the essential ingredient to a purposeful life. How and why we interact with each-other is how and why we recharge our core humanity.
To see faith leaders willing to separate from the function of fellowship was alarming. However, as individuals we must not allow this foreboding sense to become the normal expectation.
Our nation needs more people like you, right now. Don’t wait… engage life, get optimistic however you need to do it. Then let that part of you shine right now… This is how we fight. Hold up that flag; give the starter smile… rally to the standard you create and spread fellowship again.
Throughout history large armies have been defeated through the process of division. It is not a leap to see the same strategic objectives being deployed against social assemblies including congregations. It is puzzling how many in leadership cannot see the danger in social and spiritual distance when the bond of fellowship is needed more than ever.
Each of us has a different connection to our community. Each of us has a different level of internal strength… such is the nature of living. However, the distance between people is manifestly not a good outcome when combined with the lack of food for the soul.
The influence of social media is already troublesome, physically distancing from human engagement only worsens the impact. There is no digital replacement for the true fellowship of humanity on a personal level.
Ultimately it is the currency of human connection that is the true value in our lives.
We have each felt how our positive influence upon the lives of others nourishes our own sense of purpose and fulfillment… Do not lose that. Do not think you can compensate for that through other arbitrary measures; you cannot.
With local, state and federal leaders moving increasingly toward self-interest; with disconnected workplaces creating social distance; with faith-based leaders unfocused on the value of fellowship; and now government entering your home to tell you the importance of separating yourself from your family we must dispatch these arbitrary decrees very deliberately.
Perhaps we are in this position today because we didn’t sit still enough and contemplate the real priorities in our lives. Fellowship is the essential ingredient to a purposeful life.
I will not divide my humanity, nor concede my core view of fellowship, simply to comply with the demand of another that I consider my brother or sister of greater or less value than myself. Any system that seeks to steer my path will not benefit from my participation. I choose freedom!
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 17, 2022 | Sundance
Incoming House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), along with lawmakers from the legislative committee, held a press conference today declaring an investigation shall commence into the Biden family’s influence peddling, the Hunter Biden laptop, and the Biden scheme to enrich themselves. WATCH:
Genuine investigations do not need to be announced. Take office, start working. This announcement is not needed, unless the announcement itself serves a purpose. That purpose is what we have previously called “chaff and countermeasures.”
Understanding the DC game of Chaff and Countermeasures…. A “Countermeasure” is a measure or action taken to counter or offset a preceding one.
Politically speaking, the deployment of countermeasures is a well-used tactic by professional politicians in Washington DC to counter incoming public inquiry and protect themselves from anger expressed by the electorate. The republican leadership are very skilled in the management of “chaff” (outrage), and “countermeasures” (the distraction).
Weaponized government serves its own interests. The countermeasures are DC politicians assigned a role to control the incoming righteous inquiry from voters who find out about the weaponized or corrupt governmental action. In the republican wing of the UniParty, it looks like this:
There seems to be a willful blindness on the part of the American people, a chosen refusal to acknowledge the implications of the unAmerican and unConstititional behaviors, actions and outcomes we are being served on a daily basis.
It can no longer be presumed to be a matter of “I can’t see what’s happening” because a whole lot of normal Americans really are clean and articulate.
“I can’t see it” just doesn’t cut it.
NONSENSE! Most people can see it. Most are just choosing to reconcile the irreconcilable because it is more comforting to ignore the truth of it. Just be honest, for many people avoidance has become a survival mechanism.
It’s more along the lines of “I see what’s happening, but it’s scary and complicated and confusing, and if I admit that I see it, I will become responsible in a way that I am not if I keep pretending I can’t see it or hear it or maybe I don’t understand it.”
Lucy has unlimited footballs.
Admit, or keep pretending.
The choices are ours.
Personally, I will not pretend.
If we all stop pretending, eventually the DC house of cards collapses. We collapse it one wing at a time.
Veterans Day is on opportunity for all to reflect on & appreciate the founding principles of this country, the freedoms we hold dear, & the servicemen & women who for generations have served & sacrificed to protect those freedoms. Honor those who serve by honoring WHY we serve.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 7, 2022 | Sundance
Through the years one of the things CTH has always emphasized is the accuracy of your election ‘sense’ ground reports when contrast against the national media narrative.
So, this thread is for you to share what the sense is around your community. How motivated are the people in your neighborhood? What is the sense of this election cycle? If you have voted already, how was the turnout for early voting in/around your area?
Use this thread to share your own sense of how things look from your perspective. If comfortable include the general region you are describing so that others can get a feel for your impression of the midterm election this year.
CTH will host several election day update and ground reports tomorrow as election day voting gets underway. However, in the interim, what do you see and hear in the conversations around your town, hamlet, community or precinct?
Historically the sense of the election you share has been remarkably consistent with the outcome. Are the people in your circle enthusiastic about removing Democrats from their seats?
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 7, 2022 | sundance
At 10:22am today, billionaire businessman and new Owner/CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk, has recommended that voters choose republican candidates for congress this midterm election cycle. [Source]
Democrats and left-wing political activist groups are going bananas.
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 7, 2022 | sundance
Interestingly, after visiting Washington State, Arizona and Nevada to campaign in support of 2022 republican senate candidates, Senator Tom Cotton – a previous Sea Island conference attendee – has announced a decision not to run for higher office in 2024.
Is it possible Senator Cotton’s visits gave him more exposure him to the MAGA base and provided additional insight into what & who voters support?
Arkansas – U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, who has been considering a run for president in 2024, will not seek higher office in the next election cycle, according to reports on Sunday.
A source close to the senator confirmed to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Sunday that the Dardanelle Republican will not run for president in 2024. Politico first broke the story.
A leading factor behind Cotton’s decision was his two sons, who are 5 and 7. Both were born after Cotton joined the Senate in January 2015. Cotton served in the House of Representatives for one term before defeating U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., in the 2014 election.
Cotton will not be up for reelection to the Senate until November 2026. (read more)
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on November 4, 2022 | Sundance
Fox News host Tucker Carlson doesn’t always align the granular details in a way that I will always agree with; however, in this monologue he accurately and brilliantly deconstructs the “Democracy at Stake” narrative. Tucker Carlson simply nails this.
This big picture monologue on the distinct difference between what authoritarian minded Democrats and media call “democracy”, and what true democracy actually is meant to represent, is brilliantly presented. WATCH:
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on October 24, 2022 | Sundance
Newsmax is no longer a good MAGA outlet. However, that said, Alina Habba, Esq, attorney to Donald Trump and spokesperson for the MAGA, Inc. Super PAC provides information on the recent $9 million midterm election spend to support senate candidates.
I find it a little funny how the RNC insiders gripe and complain that Donald Trump and the MAGA vote base do not spend more money on RNC approved candidates. Actually, I cannot remember a time before when an individual politician was required to fund the party slate, simultaneous to the party insiders supporting candidates who attack the individual candidate and MAGA base voters. Then again, it’s all part of the internal MAGA fight for control over the RNC apparatus. WATCH:
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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