Getting By With A Little Help From My Friends

Book Review: You Changed My Life by Max Lucado

2010-09-02T16:29:00.000-04:00

I recently received an advance copy of the book You Changed My Life: Stories of Real People with Remarkable Hearts by Max Lucado from BookSneeze.com. This is a precious gift book that I would enjoy receiving or giving! The beginning of the book has a "to" and "from" section where you also include the reason why you are giving the book and what it is that the recipient has done to touch the "giver's" heart. The rest of the book includes short stories of different people who have done great things to help others throughout their lives. Beautiful pictures accompany each story. I was surprised to have such a great gift book like this from the same author that I just got a children's book from. Kudos to Max Lucado for being such a well-rounded author!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

The Falling Away- Book Review

2010-08-20T23:47:00.000-04:00

Before I begin this book review, I should note that I have not previously read anything by this author before. And I did not know what I was getting myself into either!! I received The Falling Away by T.L. Hines free from the publisher Thomas Nelson. The overall story line is interesting but I did not realize I was reading a Christian book. The Christian essence is not too heavy, for those of you out there who do not enjoy reading that type of book. For me, it was more a surprise than anything else because the storyline that I thought I was reading seemed very different from that of any other Christian based storyline that I have seen or read before. It is a surreal book with a good storyline. Knowing a little more of the genre would have helped me enjoy this more.

One Hand, Two Hands- Book Review

2010-08-19T12:24:00.000-04:00

One Hand, Two Hands by Max Lucado is an adorable children's book that shows your child all the things that he or she can do with their hands. It is a religious oriented book that brings in God by letting your children know that God created them, and their hands. It then goes over many of the ways that your child can use their hands, like petting a dog, washing the dishes with their parents, and scratching. It ends with a cute little prayer that you can read with your child thanking God for our hands and asking that we continue to use them.

Book Sneeze- New Book Review

2010-08-17T19:24:00.001-04:00

Have you heard about Book Sneeze yet? It is a website that gives away free books to bloggers, and all you have to do in return is agree to post a review about it! They don’t care if you liked the book or not—they want your honest feedback. Needless to say, the good books generally go very quickly and when I saw the children’s book 100 Prayers God Loves to Hear, 100 Praise Songs by Stpehen Elkins I jumped on it quick! When it arrived in the mail I was even happier with it than I even thought I would be. The book has a soft cover so it isn’t too hard for my eight month old to love (i.e. bite, drool, try to tear) and the pages are full of colorful pictures telling biblical stories. Each page has a biblical story along with a prayer appropriate for a child. There are two CD’s included with the book that have songs that correspond to each page, and the pages indicate which song you can play to go along with that page’s lesson. It is so cute and adorable and not too “preachy” either!

Just a small reason not to blog...

2010-06-30T02:45:00.000-04:00

So my little one is 6 months old now... can you believe that? Seems like I'll be able to start up with the blogging a little more often now that we are getting in more of a routine. My mom is up for the next few weeks to help out since I have some weird medical things going on, but all is well and a visit is just what was needed! We are also in the process of painting the nursery. Six months old and just getting around to the nursery - seems a little late, I know. But here is the short part of our story: We are in the process of adopting an adorable little boy and we received less than 24 hours notice that we would be getting him. Since we were going through the local foster care system for the adoption, we had no inclination that it would be a newborn that we were getting and so did not stock up on ANYTHING related to babies. It could have just as easily been a four year old, and how well would onesies have been for him/her? So not only did we not have any warning or prior planning, I did not want to start a nursery and then have him taken away from us and stare at an empty baby nursery every day. I am more confident now and we are much farther along in the process so I think things are going to work out just fine! We have gone with yellow walls and a deeper red, sort of brick color, for the trim. We are also doing the ceiling a deep blue with the intention that as he gets a little older we can paint stars and constellations on the ceiling. Yes, we are going to be pretty cool parents if I do say so myself!

As the little one came, that meant I went part time and money has been much tighter around our household. Couponing has been much more important and stretching a dollar is a must. I will share my insight on how to do this through the blogsphere. Gnight to all!

Love this new giveaway!

2010-04-03T17:31:00.000-04:00

Need a stroller? Why not join the giveaway here for a super cool one?!?

Rough Day- But another giveaway!

2010-02-17T02:38:00.002-05:00

Today was a pretty rough day with little man... we had lots of errands to run and mommy was running on only two hours of sleep! One thing that makes the day a little nicer is this giveaway that Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls is doing!

Giveaways!

2010-02-16T01:14:00.004-05:00

Found a few pretty cool giveaways over at Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls. The first one is a $20.00 gift certificate to Stitcheroos (ends 2/24), and the second is an assortment of Mayfair Lane products (ends 2/25). Another two that are ending a bit sooner: she is also giving away two $20.00 gift certificates to Affordable Scarves by 2/21 and something from The Trendy Tadpole. Check out Frugal Mommy's blog to get in on these great prizes!

New Blog Spot

2009-06-27T23:52:00.003-04:00

It's been quite a while since I've blogged but I'm starting a new one here about the whole adoption process and everything we go through. Check it out!

Let's Get It On

2009-01-04T16:47:00.000-05:00

Back to work tomorrow... working in education is exhausting and doesn't pay enough, but there's one awesome perk: two weeks off at Christmas!! I get two weeks of paid vacation each year and it doesn't even touch my normal vacation days. But, alas, tomorrow the break is over. Back to the grindstone. I have not been sleeping well, and it is most likely because I haven't been on a good schedule. This week signals the start to my New Year's Resolutions beginning as well.

I planned out the meals for this week and Mike went on a marathon grocery shopping spree (we had NO food in our house after being gone for so long). So we are stocked up, the plan is set, and there is absolutely no reason for us not to follow it. I even have two back-up dinners in case that "I don't feel like having this tonight" creeps in. The more difficult challenges are going to be waking up on time since I haven't gone to sleep before 4am in over a week and a half now, and walking before work since I severely sprained my ankle on Friday. But I am going to chug some NyQuil tonight to aid in the sleep department, and put off the walking for later this week when my ankle is stronger. Hopefully that will help.

My sister moves in on Wednesday and then Mike and I start adoption classes on Thursday. This is going to be quite a busy busy week for us!!! I'm excited for this year to get going!

grumble grumble

2009-01-02T04:28:00.000-05:00

so I just wrote a very long, elaborate, thoughtful, and provoking blog... and then my internet crashed for five minutes and when I tried to post it was lost.

I'm done for the night, it's 4:30 and I'm going to try this thing other people have told me about - sleep.

New Years Resolutions

2008-12-29T03:14:00.000-05:00

It's about that time... to pick some resolutions that we "resolve", we "promise" we will do this year! I am tired of saying the same lame things every year: "I will lose weight", "I will exercise every day", yadda yadda yadda... Come on, you know it & I know it-- putting it in a New Year's Resolutions hasn't made it happen for the last ten years! The past two years I "resolved" to do away with resolutions. I decided I wasn't going to be tied to fake promises that I know I'm not going to keep.

Well it's another year, and I'm a changed woman! I've decided to try my hand at the good ole fashioned New Year's Resolutions once more, with a more natural spin. I am resolving to do some very real and measurable things that I can do. And I should do. And I can keep track of myself here as well as real life.... so here goes. I decided to choose five: that way it isn't too many not to keep track of, and any less just wouldn't be that nice round number :)

1. Plan dinner meals for the week.
2. Cook dinner at least three times a week.
3. Leave work between 5:30-6:00 every day.
4. Walk in the mornings before work on a regular basis.
5. Wake up between 6:00-7:00 in the morning.

And on top of it all, I have one year-end goal: it may not seem like a lot to some people, but I am so out of shape and not in great medical condition, but I think that I should be able to do it by the end of the year:

Walk to the top of the mountain where my cabin is without having to stop to catch my breath.

This is a big one, that I feel like I will definitely have to work towards, and many of my other resolutions will help towards it. I'm going to be running up past Mike by the end of the year! No more huffing and puffing and begging to drive up the fire trail for me!

I've got lots of recipes that I want to try, and I they will help Mike and I be healthier and I will get in shape faster by cooking at home instead of eating out so much (not to mention it will be much cheaper too!) I just need to make sure to stick with it all!