Fruitful Friday

We have had 6 new blogs additions to The Fruit of the Spirit Blogs this week! Please be sure to visit them and leave a comment somewhere telling them how you found their blog.
Praise and Coffee
A Touch of Grace
A Walk Through the Valley
The Flourishing Mother
Fruit In Season
A Measure of Grace (we’re still working on getting the graphic’s HTML to Stacey, but we’ll figure something out)
I’m thrilled to have so many additions to the blog list this week. Keep those nominations coming ~ this graphic is such a lovely way to give encouragement to one another. It is meant to be given away!

conference day one

I talked to Patrick just after lunch today. He had already been to 2 briefings ~ one of the briefings was given by the Deputy Assistant Director, Intelligence Directorate of the FBI. Patrick said he enjoyed that lecture. Unfortunately the guy skedaddled (no kidding, Patrick actually used that word!) right on outta there when he finished the briefing, so Patrick didn’t have a chance to meet and talk with him. Bummer.

Patrick said that after spending all day yesterday in a suit, wearing a polo and khakis feels like wearing sweats. He’s much more comfortable! LOL Good thing, because there are more lectures and leadership training all afternoon and on into this evening. So far he’s enjoying the conference.

july 4th giveaway

5 Minutes for Mom is having another of their spectacular giveaways. Click on the button above to enter!

win an adorable purse

Iris at Sting My Heart is having a giveaway. It’s for an adorable purse ~ the same type of purses that Leigh sells on her blog. Click here to enter ~ it’s free!

fruitful friday (june 29)

We have had 6 new blogs additions to The Fruit of the Spirit Blogs this week! Please be sure to visit them and leave a comment somewhere telling them how you found their blog.

Praise and Coffee

A Touch of Grace

A Walk Through the Valley

The Flourishing Mother

Fruit In Season

A Measure of Grace (we’re still working on getting the graphic’s HTML to Stacey, but we’ll figure something out)

I’m thrilled to have so many additions to the blog list this week. Keep those nominations coming ~ this graphic is such a lovely way to give encouragement to one another. It is meant to be given away!

preparing for the mission trip

This evening Roger, Sawyer and I attended a meeting about the upcoming mission trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Sawyer will be a part of. Lots of details and last minute stuff to start getting ready. We still haven’t received Sawyer’s passport, even though we applied for it over 2 months ago. I know he doesn’t need a passport to enter Canada or re-enter the US ~ Josh (the youth pastor and youth mission team leader/coordinator) just wants to be super careful and have every possible means of identification the kids can possibly have.

It sounds like while this trip will be full of hard work, it’s also going to be pretty fun. Josh is one of those adults who hasn’t quite grown up yet; that’s not a bad thing ~ it’s actually a GOOD thing in a youth pastor, since it allows him to relate to the kids a little better. One of the stops they’re making is at The Mall of America ~ I think Josh is more excited about the indoor roller coaster and water park than the kids are! LOL

all’s safe and well in d.c.

Patrick made it to D.C. just fine. His connecting flight out of Atlanta was delayed due to weather in D.C., but he got there eventually, and the LeadAmerica representative was still waiting for him on his arrival.

Patrick called tonight after a long, stressful day of flying, finding his way around the Atlanta airport (which is absolutely huge, but all in all not a bad airport), flight delays, opening ceremonies, evening briefings, getting settled into his dorm room and meeting his roommate for the next 10 days.  I have a feeling he’ll sleep like a rock tonight ~ at least I hope he will because he’s going to need all of the sleep and energy he can get!

This morning was an early one for Patrick ~ he got up, showered, dressed, made sure he had packed everything he needed, and loaded all his luggage into the Suburban by 6:45. Trust me, that’s E.A.R.L.Y. (he usually sleeps until 10:00 or 11:00am). Plus, he spent the entire day in a suit and tie. He was concerned about getting into D.C. late (good call on his part) and he wanted to be dressed in the "appropriate" clothing for the evening activities. Tomorrow will be a business dress day, so he’ll get to wear a polo and khakis all day instead of a professional suit and tie. When Roger and I talked to him tonight, he seemed pretty relieved that he wouldn’t have to wear a suit and tie again all day tomorrow ~ and who could blame him?! (To this day, I still think one of the reasons Roger became an AF pilot was so he wouldn’t have to wear suits. LOL)

We reminded Patrick to take lots of pictures. We shall see……..

another late night

It’s after 1:00am and I’m still awake. Last night I was so tired that I went to bed at 8:30pm. I don’t know what the deal is, but it’s really quite frustrating! I’ve watched everything I had TiVO’d (which was really only 2 programs, 2 episodes of each). Roger and Sawyer went to bed hours ago. I don’t feel like reading (a rarity for me), so here I am, writing a post and checking out other people’s blogs. It’s a good time to catch up on what everybody else is up to these days I guess.

pink tulips painting

This is Patrick’s current work-of-art-in-progress:

The photo doesn’t really do it justice. When it’s finished, it will hang in my dining room. It’s a decent size painting ~ about 30" x 24" ~ and it’s done in oil on a gallery-style canvas (so I don’t have to frame it).

Beautiful, isn’t it?

on his way

I snapped a quick photo of Patrick at the airport this morning before we sent him on his way to D.C.

He’s quite handsome (if I do say so myself, and I do!). And LOOK, he even shaved! His father and I threatened him within an inch of his life that he WOULD remain clean-shaven while he’s in D.C. If he wants to grow that fuzzy stuff on his upper lip and chin again after he gets home, I suppose we’ll deal with it. But he’s going to have to shave every day while at the LeadAmerica conference. Aren’t we mean parents?

more old pictures

Ok, I had so much fun with the last old photos post, I had to post more. Click on the link………

on his way to d.c.

I snapped a quick photo of Patrick at the airport this morning before we sent him on his way to D.C.

He’s quite handsome (if I do say so myself, and I do!). And LOOK, he even shaved! His father and I threatened him within an inch of his life that he WOULD remain clean-shaven while he’s in D.C. If he wants to grow that fuzzy stuff on his upper lip and chin again after he gets home, I suppose we’ll deal with it. But he’s going to have to shave every day while at the LeadAmerica conference. Aren’t we mean parents?

old pictures

While digging around through old photos, negatives and slides looking for something Maggie could use in the header, I came across a bunch of old photos of me, our family friends, and my parents. I’ve had to do a bit of maneuvering with them ~ some of them are only black & white contact sheets (what the photographer prints up of the strips of negatives and uses to choose which photos (s)he wants to make full prints of). Some of them are slides, or slide negatives that never got put into a slide cover. Others are so old they’re starting to fade; still others are pretty grainy.

I used Sawyer’s digital camera and a light box to take digital pictures of the slides and slide negatives. The photos and contact sheets I scanned into the computer. I tried to clean up the black and white photos and contact sheets with Photoshop, but I don’t have a lot of skills with Photoshop. I did my best.

Because photos tend to slow down the loading of my blog, I’ve put them on an extension of this post. Just click on the link below to see the pictures.

the excellent wife drawing

Congratulations to MamaBright ~ her name was drawn as the winner of The Excellent Wife by Marth Peace!

new blog design

Thank you, Maggie, for the fantastic new header and blog design!

Well, I think Maggie and I have finally settled on a new design for this blog. Isn’t it fabulous?! Maggie worked her tail off to get just the right design for me. Maggie ~ you rock! Thank you SO MUCH for all of your hard work on this project.

The picture in the header is actually my mom and me ~ I was 4 years old. My parents and I were on a vacation to Oregon; my dad recalls that the beach was about 10 or 15 miles south of Bandon.

I’m thrilled with this new design ~ I hope you find it as appealing and soothing as I do. Many, many thanks again to Maggie.

leavin’, on a jet plane

Not me; Patrick. Tomorrow. For D.C. For 10 days. Am I ready for this?

Patrick will go to Washington, D.C. tomorrow for a LeadAmerica conference on intelligence, security and national defense. He’ll get to attend briefings by the Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Intelligence Directorate, the Special Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice and other experts; he’ll tour the Air and Space Museum, the U.S. Naval Academy, Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon City Mall, and the Pentagon; he’ll tour the D.C. Monuments at night and watch the 4th of July fireworks from The National Mall; he may be able to meet with members of Congress from the state of Arkansas; he’ll attend meetings, simulations, briefings and exercises in leadership, intelligence, security and national defense as well as how to handle press conferences; and to top it all off, there will even be a dance (scary)!

That’s a pretty packed schedule for a 10 day conference. It sounds like it’s going to awesome. I’ll remind Patrick to take lots of pictures.

the divine appointment (cfba book review)

Click here for the CFBA Review of The Divine Appointment by Jerome Teel.

more book giveaways coming soon

Last week I received 3 brand new copies of A Shred of Truth by Eric Wilson ~ the second book in the Aramis Black Mystery series. (You’ll find my review of the first Aramis Black Mystery, The Best of Evil, here.) I’ll be reviewing A Shred of Truth in July ~ and I’ll be gving away the extra 2 copies the publisher, WaterBrook Press, has so graciously provided.

In August I’ll have at least 2 book giveaways. I will be reviewing the Notes from a Spinning Planet Series by Melody Carlson ~ Ireland, Papau New Guinea, and Mexico. Again, WaterBrook Press has graciously provided 2 extra copies of the third book of the series, Notes from a Spinning Planet: Mexico for me to give away. Also in August, I’ll be reviewing Tricia Goyer’s new book, My Life, Unscripted. There will be a teen contest, and the winner will win a copy of My Life, Unscripted. I can’t go into the details of the contest yet ~ but be looking for them in the next couple of weeks.

I have a couple of other book giveaways up my sleeve. You’ll just have to keep coming back to check and see what they are and when they’ll be held!

blogging chicks blogroll

Click here to join

ocean’s 13

While Roger was in College Station, Texas last week, I went to see Ocean’s 13. I have caught nothing but grief from dear ol’ hubby for that one! He doesn’t mind that I went to a movie ~ it’s the part about going to a movie without him that he’s not too happy with me about.

I thought I was making it up to him by going to see Ocean’s 13 again ~ with him this time ~ last week. Nope. He’ll probably never let me live down the time I went to a movie (one that he wanted to see) without him.

Anyway, Ocean’s 13 was better the second time. As is typical for me, I understood what was going on a whole lot better the second time around. There was a bit more language than I prefer, but they managed to stay away from overdoing it, and even avoided the major f-bomb word. One part was even a bit comical as the words were coming from the Korean (??) guy who doesn’t speak a lick of English, but everyone seems to understand what he’s saying. Nothing like a swear word being the only English you know!

Would I recommend this one as a family-friendly movie? No. Is it a decent movie to see for a date night? Probably. If you enjoyed Ocean’s 11 or Ocean’s 12, then you’ll probably like this one, too.

the design queen

Poor Maggie ~ I think I’ve just about worn her out with redesigning the look of my blog. She’s doing a fantastic job though, don’t you think? I’m thrilled with what she has done. She has put in much more time on this thing than I ever anticipated ~ obviously I know absolutely nothing about blog design and how much work it is!

Maggie wins the "Design Queen of the Year" award as far as I’m concerned.

confessions of a carnivore

I have a confession to make. I recently received a free copy of Vegetarian Times magazine. That’s not the confession part, though. This is: I was curious so…….I actually read it. <gasp!>

This is huge in my house, because I live with 3 very carnivorous males. The mantra around my house is, "Where the beef? Where’s the beef?" The fact that a copy of Vegetarian Times even showed up in my mailbox was cause for ridicule around my house. "You didn’t really order Vegetarian Times, did you?!"

Well, no, I didn’t order it. It came as part of a package of freebies when I ordered one of Jordan Rubin’s books. This copy isn’t the first one we’ve received, but it’s the first one I have been brave enough to open up and look through.

I have to tell ya, there are some pretty good looking recipes in the mag. Ever since Roger received his yearly flight physical blood test results, we’ve been looking for ways to add in more leafy greens, more whole grains, more fresh fruit, and less red meat (cause for another <gasp!> to be heard in my house!). I even actually made a meatless meal last week! Of course, the teenage boys thought they were going to die from lack of meat, but they didn’t. And Roger actually liked what I made.

I talked about having Meatless Mondays, but that didn’t go over so well. I am planning on making at least one meatless meal a week. Hopefully eventually I’ll be able to work that up to 2 or 3 meatless meal a week without causing my family to mutiny.

There’s no cause for alarm. I/we are NOT going vegetarian. I don’t have anything against the vegetarian way of eating, or even vegan, it’s just not something that appeals to me. I don’t eat pork ~ I lived in North Carolina where everything is pork, and there are plenty of pig farms. Gross. Pork turns my stomach. And I liked shellfish until I started reading about what crabs, lobsters and shrimp actually consume there on the floor of the ocean. I suppose if I knew more about chicken farms and beef processing plants, I wouldn’t want to eat them, either. In this case, ignorance is bliss.

I would like to find a good source for organic beef and chicken ~ I’ve been looking in to that. You can’t get it in Arkansas ~ at least not without paying an arm and a leg for it. I’m all out of arms and legs to sell, so I’ll just have to keep looking for a better (cheaper) source.

I’ve finally managed to get Roger on board the "eat organic" train. We’re buying organic whenever we can. And he’s eating more leafy greens and fruits. He even let me make him a smoothie for lunch yesterday ~ he got his entire daily servings of produce in that puppy!

If you’re looking for some good vegetarian recipes, Vegetarian Times is worth browsing. I’m going to pull out a couple of recipes and put them on the menu for this week. I’m sure there will be some grumbling from the other carnivores in the house ~ I may have to hide my Vegetarian Times magazine so it doesn’t "accidentally" end up in the garbage!

confessions of a carnivore

I have a confession to make. I recently received a free copy of Vegetarian Times magazine. That’s not the confession part, though. This is: I was curious so…….I actually read it.

This is huge in my house, because I live with 3 very carnivorous males. The mantra around my house is, “Where the beef? Where’s the beef?” The fact that a copy of Vegetarian Times even showed up in my mailbox was cause for ridicule around my house. “You didn’t really order Vegetarian Times, did you?!”

Well, no, I didn’t order it. It came as part of a package of freebies when I ordered one of Jordan Rubin’s books. This copy isn’t the first one we’ve received, but it’s the first one I have been brave enough to open up and look through.

I have to tell ya, there are some pretty good looking recipes in the mag. Ever since Roger received his yearly flight physical blood test results, we’ve been looking for ways to add in more leafy greens, more whole grains, more fresh fruit, and less red meat (cause for another <gasp!> to be heard in my house!). I even actually made a meatless meal last week! Of course, the teenage boys thought they were going to die from lack of meat, but they didn’t. And Roger actually liked what I made.

I talked about having Meatless Mondays, but that didn’t go over so well. I am planning on making at least one meatless meal a week. Hopefully eventually I’ll be able to work that up to 2 or 3 meatless meal a week without causing my family to mutiny.

There’s no cause for alarm. I/we are NOT going vegetarian. I don’t have anything against the vegetarian way of eating, or even vegan, it’s just not something that appeals to me. I don’t eat pork ~ I lived in North Carolina where everything is pork, and there are plenty of pig farms. Gross. Pork turns my stomach. And I liked shellfish until I started reading about what crabs, lobsters and shrimp actually consume there on the floor of the ocean. I suppose if I knew more about chicken farms and beef processing plants, I wouldn’t want to eat them, either. In this case, ignorance is bliss.

I would like to find a good source for organic beef and chicken ~ I’ve been looking in to that. You can’t get it in Arkansas ~ at least not without paying an arm and a leg for it. I’m all out of arms and legs to sell, so I’ll just have to keep looking for a better (cheaper) source.

I’ve finally managed to get Roger on board the “eat organic” train. We’re buying organic whenever we can. And he’s eating more leafy greens and fruits. He even let me make him a smoothie for lunch yesterday ~ he got his entire daily servings of produce in that puppy!

If you’re looking for some good vegetarian recipes, Vegetarian Times is worth browsing. I’m going to pull out a couple of recipes and put them on the menu for this week. I’m sure there will be some grumbling from the other carnivores in the house ~ I may have to hide my Vegetarian Times magazine so it doesn’t “accidentally” end up in the garbage!

redesigning

My blog alignment may look a little funky right now ~ I discovered a lovely, {talented, creative, caring, industrious} lady who is willing to figure out how to redesign a TypePad blog (there seem to be several who do Blogger, but no one who does Typepad…{because they’re all wimps}). Please just be patient ~ Maggie is working to make my blog truly unique, beautiful, {home-y, lovely, awesome, inspiring}, for me, and that’s not an easy feat! Those who know me know I’m not hard to please, but I am a bit picky {LOL}~ especially when it comes to things that are supposed to reflect me and my personality. Your patience and grace {prayers, notes of support, donations} are appreciated while Maggie and I try to figure out exactly what we want to do with the look of this blog.

Maggie, you’re a brave woman, and the work you’re doing is so appreciated {I’m enjoying the process and hope you are,too…oh, wait, what am I doing writing on your post…LOL, just couldn’t help a bit of humor today!}

~Trish {and Maggie!}

some gave all

Recently I discovered Some Gave All ~ a site dedicated to remembering our men and women military service members who have given their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. The site hadn’t had any "action" recently, but I sent in an email requesting the name of a service member for whom I could write a memorial to post on my blog. I received a name a few days ago ~ Marine Lance Corporal Thomas Jonathan Slocum. You’ll find the memorial I wrote here.

I went back to the Some Gave All site to see if there were any new posts. What I found there was a request for more people to write memorials and more people to help with the site. Being a military dependent/spouse, this project is very important to me. Whether or not you support the current administration’s view point on Iraq or not, you can’t deny that the men and women who do their job in the military every day are put in harm’s way ~ and their service, dedication and sacrifice for our country should not be forgotten or overlooked.

If you’re interested in posting a memorial for a fallen service member on your blog, please go to http://some-gave-all.com . There you can choose a name from the list ~ the sheer number of names to choose from is overwhelming to me, and breaks my heart. Once you have written a tribute and posted it, please send the permalink to some.gaveall@yahoo.com ~ the name you chose will be linked to your tribute from the Some Gave All site.

Also, you can put the Some Gave All button on your blog in your sidebar. Here’s the HTML:

<center><a href="http://some-gave-all.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s101/blogusage/
SomeGaveAllButton.jpg" border="0" alt="
Some Gave All Tribute Blog"></a></center>

It will look like this:

You will notice I have this button in my sidebar ~ underneath it you will find a button I have linked to my memorial blog. I’ve decided to set up a separate blog for the tributes I will post ~ I’ll still post them here, but I also want a place where they will all be together so people can read through them all if they like.

This is a worthy cause, and it’s something that is near and dear to me. I hope you will join me by writing a tribute and posting it on your blog. In addition, please consider volunteering to help with the administration of Some Gave All. The more administrators there are, the less time and work will be necessary for all involved. The men and women who are remembered in memorial have given their lives in the service of our country ~ in return, we can honor them by remembering each and every one of them ~ by name. Please join me in doing so. 

Fruitful Friday

This has been a wonderful week for The Fruit of the Spirit graphic! I’m so encouraged by the response this graphic has received. Let me reiterate ~ this thing isn’t about me, nor is it about the bloggers whose blogs are selected to display The Fruit of the Spirit graphic. This graphic is intended to signify the working of the Holy Spirit in a fellow/sister Christian’s life ~ it’s all about giving the glory to God.
This week we’ve had 4 new additions to The Fruit of the Spirit blogs They are:
Kathy’s blog ~ Duckabush Blog
Kelly’s blog ~ I Will Learn to Fly
Susanne’s blog ~ Truly Captivating
Leigh’s blog ~ Speaking Thru Me (and she has some MAJORLY cute bags for sale, too!)
These ladies all face different challenges in their lives, and in their walks with the Lord. Not one of them shys away from those challenges, nor are they afraid to reveal their weaknesses.
But he said to me,”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

welcome

For an explanation of this countdown, please click here.

The content on this site changes frequently ~ please come back and visit my blog often!

lyrica

This morning I received a copy of an article about a drug that has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia. First of all, let me say that I am THRILLED that fibromyalgia has been recognized by the FDA. There are a LOT of doctors out there who still deny the existence of fibromyalgia as a legitimate illness. I am blessed to have a pain management doctor who is the leading authority on fibromyalgia in my state ~ I’m thankful to have him.

You can read the article here. The drug is Lyrica ~ it was explained to me (by my pain doc) that Lyrica works by blocking neuropathy pain signals. See, with fibromyalgia, pain signals sent from nerve endings are magnified. Fibromyalgia is generally characterized by wide spread pain in the muscles and joints, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, unrefreshing sleep, and morning stiffness. There’s a lot more to it than just those few things, but when most people talk about fibromyalgia, they are referring to those main characteristics.

My pain doc had me on Lyrica for about a year. I’ll admit, it did a decent job of reducing the morning stiffness (also combined with a feeling of walking on broken glass ~ very uncomfortable, to put it mildly!). The thing is, and this is one of the side effects I didn’t see mentioned in the article, I gained 50+ pounds (yep, you read that correctly, more than fifty pounds) in the past year on the Lyrica! It was surprising to me that, given how often I see my pain doc, he didn’t seem to notice the weight gain. I mentioned it about 2 months ago, and since then we’ve been working towards getting me completely off the Lyrica and onto a different medication for the neuropathy pain. We tried one drug, Zonegran (zon-a-gran), and it made me feel so ill I was better off without it. The doc and I joked about it ~ if someone with fibromyalgia tells you they actually feel better without a certain medication than with it, you know that med is BAD! So, now we’ve switched to good old fashioned Neurontin. I’m not up to the full dose he wants me to take yet ~ these things take time, you can’t just stop an start these drugs ~ so I’m still experiencing some neuropathy pain, but it’s not as bad as it would be without the med.

I haven’t lost any weight yet, but hopefully that will start happening soon. On my frame 50 pounds is a lot, but I have a large enough bone structre that it’s not as bad as it could be. I’m only 5′ 3" ~ I notice the extra weight, but apparently it’s not as noticable to other people as it is to me.

I’m glad there has been recognition of fibromyalgia in the medical field. And I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who will benefit from Lyrica. One small step at a time ~ now we just need to work on getting broader recognition of fibromyalgia AND chronic myofascial pain, as well as work towards figuring out how to treat (if not cure) these illnesses.

(I’ll write about chronic myofascial pain another time. If you’re interested, go to Devin Starlanyl’s site ~ the link is in the side bar under the Fibromyalgia heading.)

fruitful friday (june 22)

This has been a wonderful week for The Fruit of the Spirit graphic! I’m so encouraged by the response this graphic has received. Let me reiterate ~ this thing isn’t about me, nor is it about the bloggers whose blogs are selected to display The Fruit of the Spirit graphic. This graphic is intended to signify the working of the Holy Spirit in a fellow/sister Christian’s life ~ it’s all about giving the glory to God.

This week we’ve had 4 new additions to The Fruit of the Spirit blogs They are:

Kathy’s blog ~ Duckabush Blog

Kelly’s blog ~ I Will Learn to Fly

Susanne’s blog ~ Truly Captivating

Leigh’s blog ~ Speaking Thru Me (and she has some MAJORLY cute bags for sale, too!)

These ladies all face different challenges in their lives, and in their walks with the Lord. Not one of them shys away from those challenges, nor are they afraid to reveal their weaknesses.

But he said to me,"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

i’m blue?

No, not the sad kind of blue. If I were a color, I would be blue ~ at least according to this quiz I would be.

BLUE

You give your love and friendship unconditionally. You enjoy long, thoughtful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

reluctant runaway (cfba review)

Click here for the CFBA Review of Reluctant Runaway by Jill Nelson.

the excellent wife (study)

I’m going to give away a brand new copy of The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. There are several groups doing studies through this book ~ it’s a fantastic Scripturally-based study relevant to today’s women and the issues we face.

If you would like your name entered into the drawing, please leave a comment on this post. Be sure to include a way that I can get in touch with you ~ either a blog address or email address. I’ll put all of the names into a hat and draw the winner June 27, 2007.

You don’t necessarily have to be a member of a current study group using The Excellent Wife. If you would just like a copy for yourself, or to give to a friend, throw your name in there. There are no requirements for entry other than leave a comment, and make sure I know how to get ahold of you!

If I’m not able to get ahold of the winner by June 28, I’ll draw another name and the first one will be void.

problem solved

Well, I had to switch the sidebar from the right side to the left, but that seems to have taken care of the problem. Strange ~ I have no idea why the sidebar refused to show up on the right side of the page. But, this set-up works just as well.

no sidebar!

Hmmm, well, I don’t quite know what’s going on. Right now I’m not able to get the sidebar to load when I pull up my blog. If you’re here looking for a particular link, I’m sorry the sidebar isn’t working! I have no idea WHY it’s not working, but I will try to figure out and fix the problem as soon as possible.

csff: the restorer (day 2)

I just read a great interview with Sharon Hinck, author of The Restorer, here. Jason, you did an awesome job!

There are more reviews and interviews here.

And, as always, please take the time to visit a few of the other bloggers who make the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour what it is:

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

fruitful fridays coming

I’ve decided to go ahead and start doing "Fruitful Friday" posts. Every Friday I will post names and links to the blogs that have been nominated for and accepted The Fruit of the Spirit graphic during that week. However, I will be adding links to the Fruit of the Spirit Blogs list in my sidebar all throughout each week. You can always find them listed there ~ usually just as soon as the blogger posts the graphic on their blog.

I hope you will enjoy exploring these blogs throughout the weeks to come ~ we’ve had some amazing nominations coming in, and I’m so excited to be able to share these links with you. I have been blessed beyond measure as I’ve explored the nominated blogs!

That being said, please continue to send in your nominations. This graphic isn’t meant to be held onto ~ it’s meant to be an encouragement, both to the blogger and to those who are blessed by their blog ~ and therefore it should be shared, given away, spread throughout the blogosphere!

seek first his kingdom (fruit of the spirit blog)

Seek First His Kingdom is Rachelle Gardner’s blog. Rachelle, a writer and editor, has 2 daughters and is married to a fireman. On her blog, Rachelle isn’t afraid to face her fears, questions, or doubts; but in everything she writes her heart for God is evident ~ she wrestles with her flesh, as we all do, and in the end she always comes back to the Truth. I admire her honesty as she seeks to glorify God, and seek Him first.

concert pictures

I "stole" these pictures from the Arkanbloggers site…….hope you don’t mind too much, Paige!

First is a picture of 4 of my most favorite young ladies and Pastor Eddie (after the concert, once they’d all dried their eyes, including Eddie!)

Next is a picture of 4 of the graduating seniors singing solos during the final song of the evening ~ the young lady on the far right (holding the microphone) is Catilin Arkanblogger.

concert pictures

I “stole” these pictures from the Arkanbloggers site…….hope you don’t mind too much, Paige!

First is a picture of 4 of my most favorite young ladies and Pastor Eddie (after the concert, once they’d all dried their eyes, including Eddie!)

Next is a picture of 4 of the graduating seniors singing solos during the final song of the evening ~ the young lady on the far right (holding the microphone) is Catilin Arkanblogger.

hot & humid

The concert last night was amazing. Eddie has worked so hard with those kids ~ not just Eddie alone of course, there are quite a few other adults who are section leaders (they’re the ones who really work with the kids and teach them their parts) ~ but the way the whole thing was put together was just incredible. I don’t know how many people were in attendance because I sat in the front row; I didn’t want to turn completely around to check and see how full the place was once the concert started. The youth choir and the adult choir both were tremendous, and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra did a wonderful job. I felt really sorry for everyone who was on stage because it was HOT in there, and they all had way too many clothes on. Eddie was in a full conductor’s tux, all of the men in the Symphony were in tuxes, the men in the adult choir were in suits, and the boys in the youth choir were all in long sleeve dress shirts with ties. Most of the women and girls were in lighter clothing ~ black dresses or black blouses with black skirts and black shoes ~ but some of those girls were wearing heels that I can’t even imagine trying to walk in, let alone stand on risers for over an hour in. The adult choir only sang 3 songs, but the kids sang 13 songs! There were a couple of times I thought for sure someone was going to pass out, but they all managed to make it through. And they really did a wonderful job. I did notice the performance was being video taped, so I’ll be able to get one for Roger to see. It was, after all, originally supposed to be a Father’s Day concert ~ it bloomed into an alumni reunion and benefit concert for Hope4Hannah; I’m really sorry Roger had to miss it. Hannah was able to be there, by the way, but she wasn’t able to go on stage and sing with the youth. I know she wanted to, though!

I haven’t talked with Patrick today, but I did talk with Roger. He went to the parent Q&A at Texas A&M this morning ~ he said they did a good job of answering everyone’s questions. They gave him a big packet full of information about the application process and applying for scholarships. We’ll have to start doing all of that pretty soon ~ I think Roger said the application forms (both for admittance and scholarships) will be available in September, and the final deadline is December 15. They suggested the applications be turned in by October 31 so they have time to be reviewed, and the committee can get in touch with us if there’s any other information they need before the deadline. <sigh> Thankfully, Patrick has only shown a serious interest in about 6 schools, but that’s still a LOT of paperwork to be done!

I spent the majority of the day in bed. I think yesterday was just too hot and humid for me to be out running around all day and into the evening, but it couldn’t really be helped. After church I took Sawyer shoe shopping (NOT the most enjoyable and stress-free activity!), then he ran in to Academy Sports to get some frisbees to take to camp. After that we came home for a little bit, but by then I was already worn out. Like I said, the heat and humidity just too much for me. We rode to the concert with some friends; we had to be there before 5:oo, the concert started at 7:00, and we didn’t leave until after 9:00. That’s a long day for me. I know, I’m a wimp, but what can I say?

I took Sawyer to the church at 8:00 this morning so he could go to 86 Hours Camp at JBU (they carpooled). I’m glad that when we were called last week and asked if we could drive to camp again this year Roger said no. He didn’t want me driving that far by myself. Smart man ~ after I dropped Sawyer off, I came home and went back to bed! I slept for another 3 hours, then got up to eat something. I fell asleep on the couch again for another hour or so ~ then I had to get up and get ready to take my dad to dinner. I didn’t take him yesterday because of the concert. After dinner I went to a move ~ yes, all by myself! I went to Ocean’s 13. It was ok. I had my favorite ~ movie theater popcorn and a frozen Coke. It’s just after 10pm now, and I think the only reason I’m still awake is because of the caffeine in the Coke. I avoid caffeine usually, so when I do drink something that contains caffeine it jazzes me up a bit. No worries though. I don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow, so I can sleep as long as I need to. The caffeine’s starting to wear off anyway, so I’ll probably be in bed soon!

Today was a bit cooler than yesterday. It has rained off and on all day, which has been really good for my lawn. We definitely needed the rain. Jake doesn’t like to go out in the rain ~ even though he’s supposed to be a water dog ~ he’s just goofy that way. The rain’s not so great for my hair ~ it’s getting long enough again that the curls are starting to come out, but it’s still short enough that all the curls are doing right now is making my hair stick out everywhere. LOL I think I’ll let it grow a bit longer and see if I can’t do something with the curls. My friend Kathryn recently got a perm, and it scary how much her hair now looks like mine does when it’s longer. She even has as much gray hair as I do! That’s not a bad thing ~ we actually don’t mind our gray hair. It may not be "distinguished" as it is on men (for some odd reason that I don’t really understand), but it does earn us some respect (another strange thing I don’t really understand!).

I’ll try not to sleep all day tomorrow; I still have Fruit of the Spirit posts to do, and I need to write a quick review of Love Me If You Must for my Summer Reading Challenge list. But, they can wait until tomorrow.

hot & humid

The concert last night was amazing. Eddie has worked so hard with those kids ~ not just Eddie alone of course, there are quite a few other adults who are section leaders (they’re the ones who really work with the kids and teach them their parts) ~ but the way the whole thing was put together was just incredible. I don’t know how many people were in attendance because I sat in the front row; I didn’t want to turn completely around to check and see how full the place was once the concert started. The youth choir and the adult choir both were tremendous, and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra did a wonderful job. I felt really sorry for everyone who was on stage because it was HOT in there, and they all had way too many clothes on. Eddie was in a full conductor’s tux, all of the men in the Symphony were in tuxes, the men in the adult choir were in suits, and the boys in the youth choir were all in long sleeve dress shirts with ties. Most of the women and girls were in lighter clothing ~ black dresses or black blouses with black skirts and black shoes ~ but some of those girls were wearing heels that I can’t even imagine trying to walk in, let alone stand on risers for over an hour in. The adult choir only sang 3 songs, but the kids sang 13 songs! There were a couple of times I thought for sure someone was going to pass out, but they all managed to make it through. And they really did a wonderful job. I did notice the performance was being video taped, so I’ll be able to get one for Roger to see. It was, after all, originally supposed to be a Father’s Day concert ~ it bloomed into an alumni reunion and benefit concert for Hope4Hannah; I’m really sorry Roger had to miss it. Hannah was able to be there, by the way, but she wasn’t able to go on stage and sing with the youth. I know she wanted to, though!

I haven’t talked with Patrick today, but I did talk with Roger. He went to the parent Q&A at Texas A&M this morning ~ he said they did a good job of answering everyone’s questions. They gave him a big packet full of information about the application process and applying for scholarships. We’ll have to start doing all of that pretty soon ~ I think Roger said the application forms (both for admittance and scholarships) will be available in September, and the final deadline is December 15. They suggested the applications be turned in by October 31 so they have time to be reviewed, and the committee can get in touch with us if there’s any other information they need before the deadline. <sigh> Thankfully, Patrick has only shown a serious interest in about 6 schools, but that’s still a LOT of paperwork to be done!

I spent the majority of the day in bed. I think yesterday was just too hot and humid for me to be out running around all day and into the evening, but it couldn’t really be helped. After church I took Sawyer shoe shopping (NOT the most enjoyable and stress-free activity!), then he ran in to Academy Sports to get some frisbees to take to camp. After that we came home for a little bit, but by then I was already worn out. Like I said, the heat and humidity just too much for me. We rode to the concert with some friends; we had to be there before 5:oo, the concert started at 7:00, and we didn’t leave until after 9:00. That’s a long day for me. I know, I’m a wimp, but what can I say?

I took Sawyer to the church at 8:00 this morning so he could go to 86 Hours Camp at JBU (they carpooled). I’m glad that when we were called last week and asked if we could drive to camp again this year Roger said no. He didn’t want me driving that far by myself. Smart man ~ after I dropped Sawyer off, I came home and went back to bed! I slept for another 3 hours, then got up to eat something. I fell asleep on the couch again for another hour or so ~ then I had to get up and get ready to take my dad to dinner. I didn’t take him yesterday because of the concert. After dinner I went to a move ~ yes, all by myself! I went to Ocean’s 13. It was ok. I had my favorite ~ movie theater popcorn and a frozen Coke. It’s just after 10pm now, and I think the only reason I’m still awake is because of the caffeine in the Coke. I avoid caffeine usually, so when I do drink something that contains caffeine it jazzes me up a bit. No worries though. I don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow, so I can sleep as long as I need to. The caffeine’s starting to wear off anyway, so I’ll probably be in bed soon!

Today was a bit cooler than yesterday. It has rained off and on all day, which has been really good for my lawn. We definitely needed the rain. Jake doesn’t like to go out in the rain ~ even though he’s supposed to be a water dog ~ he’s just goofy that way. The rain’s not so great for my hair ~ it’s getting long enough again that the curls are starting to come out, but it’s still short enough that all the curls are doing right now is making my hair stick out everywhere. LOL I think I’ll let it grow a bit longer and see if I can’t do something with the curls. My friend Kathryn recently got a perm, and it scary how much her hair now looks like mine does when it’s longer. She even has as much gray hair as I do! That’s not a bad thing ~ we actually don’t mind our gray hair. It may not be "distinguished" as it is on men (for some odd reason that I don’t really understand), but it does earn us some respect (another strange thing I don’t really understand!).

I’ll try not to sleep all day tomorrow; I still have Fruit of the Spirit posts to do, and I need to write a quick review of Love Me If You Must for my Summer Reading Challenge list. But, they can wait until tomorrow.

the restorer (csff blog tour)

This month, the Chistian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour features The Restorer by Sharon Hinck. It’s the story of Susan Mitchell, a stay-at-home-mom with 4 kids and a husband. Susan feels a bit overwhelmed with everything she does as a wife and mom; in order to give her a private place to relax and escape for a little while during her daily routine, her husband makes Susan her own space in the attic. Susan hears noises coming from the back of the attic, so she begins to explore. When she opens a box full of make-believe play clothes and costumes, she is transported into an alternate world where, like Deborah in the Bible, she must help save the people.

Sharon Hinck has successfully meshed the every day with the fantasy genre. The Restorer is a story for all of us ~ a well-written tale of a woman thrust into a situation where she must trust in God to see her through. Susan’s faith is the central theme of this book. Sharon Hinck’s imagination shines through as she creates a wonderfully complex alternate world, a powerful tale of faith, and a captivating fantasy read that is enjoyable, thought-provoking and compelling.

Please check out other blogs that are participating in this month’s tour of The Restorer:

Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer Karri Compton Frank Creed Lisa Cromwell CSFF Blog Tour Gene Curtis D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Jeff Draper April Erwin Linda Gilmore Beth Goddard Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Russell Griffith Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Heather R. Hunt Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Dawn King Tina Kulesa Lost Genre Guild Rachel Marks Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Robin Parrish Rachelle Cheryl Russel Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder Mirtika Schultz Steve Trower Speculative Faith Jason Waguespac Daniel I. Weaver

we’re here, we’re there…

On Friday, Patrick drove to Ft. Smith to pick up Ariel and bring her to our house. They went out to lunch before heading back this way, and Patrick left his debit card at the restaurant. He called to tell me he had left it, and wanted me to call the bank and cancel it. I called the restaurant instead ~ they had the card, locked up in the safe with the rest of the cards people have left there. I talked to the restaurant’s manager; he said Patrick could stop by and pick up his card when he takes Ariel home next week. Whew!

Roger, Ariel and Patrick left after church to head to College Station, Texas. I hope the kids have a good time at Texas A&M. It will be fun to see the pictures and hear their stories when they get back.

Tonight’s the big night for Sawyer ~ our church’s youth & adult choirs will sing in a Hope4Hannah benefit concert with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Tomorrow he’ll leave for John Brown University ~ no, he’s not touring colleges yet! 86 Hours Camp is held at JBU ~ Sawyer’s pretty psyched about 86 Hours.

I am looking forward to some time alone. I have books to read, and I have several posts I need to take care of. I’ve just been too lazy this weekend to put enough thought into them.

Our friends the L. family are here visiting. Their youngest daughter is one of our church’s youth choir "alumni" who came into town to sing in the benefit concert. It was lovely to see them at church this morning. We’ve really missed them. "Col. L" retired from the AF a few years ago, and they all moved to Colorado ~ just about the same time we moved to Alaska. Since then they’ve built a house, sold it, moved to another house, both daughters have graduated from high school, and the oldest daughter has gotten married. The youngest daughter is in college, which means Col. and Mrs. L. are diggin’ hanging out. Col. L. started a business, and Mrs. L. is teaching. I wish they lived closer ~ I wish they had stayed in the Little Rock area, but I don’t blame them one bit for moving to Colorado! Roger and I were talking about how much we’ve missed having them around ~ having them visit, seeing that they haven’t changed a bit, has made me miss having them live just down the street even more!

fruitful fridays

I’m thinking maybe I should start doing a "Fruitful Friday" post. Instead of making individual posts every time I add a blog to the Fruit of the Spirit blog list, I could combine them all into one post on Friday. That way people wouldn’t have to hunt all over my blog for every single Fruit of the Spirit graphic post ~ they’d all be right there together in one post once a week. I could still add blogs to the list all throughout the week ~ I would just wait and put together one post that would list all the new blogs once a week rather than spreading them out.

Hmmm, I’ll have to ruminate on that idea a bit………

quick catch up

Ug. Today has been a painful day for me fibro wise. I don’t know if it’s the humidity, the heat, the weather (thunderstorms moving around in the state), or a combination, but wow ~ my sciatic nerve and shoulders have been screaming all day. I’ve taken plenty of Ultram ~ probably too much ~ so I may have to move on to something a bit stronger this evening. We’ll see.

Patrick took Roger to work this morning, then took off for Ft. Smith to pick up Ariel. She’s going to stay with us for a couple of days, then she, Roger and Patrick are all going to College Station, Texas. Patrick and Ariel were each invited to a tour of the honors college at Texas A&M. Rather than fly down there, we decided to drive. Actually, Roger’s driving ~ I’m staying home.

Sawyer has the big Hope4Hannah benefit concert Sunday night, then Monday he’ll take off to 86 Hours Camp. Roger, Patrick and Ariel won’t be home until very late Tuesday/very early Wednesday, so I’ll have the house to myself for a little while. No worries though ~ Jake will be here with me, so I won’t be lonely.

I’m heartbroken that Roger won’t be here for the Hope4Hannah benefit concert. It’s on Father’s Day ~ I’m so sorry he’s going to miss it. Hopefully someone will video tape it so Roger will get to see it later. Our church’s youth and adult choirs will be singing with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra ~ that’s a pretty big deal, and it’s so cool that Pastor Eddie was able to arrange it.

Roger’s birthday is Tuesday ~ the big 4-0 ~ but he will be driving home from Texas that day. He’s really getting the short end of the stick for Father’s Day AND his birthday this year. Plus, his horrible wife has put him on a low-fat, low-cholesterol, as-much-organic-and-whole-grain-as-possible diet (even though he’ll be eating rib eye for dinner tonight in celebration of Father’s Day and his birthday)! Poor guy!

love me if you must (book review)

Love Me If You Must by Nicole Young is the first book in the Patricia Amble Mystery series. Patricia, "Tish" to her friends, is a house renovator. She buys run down houses, fixes them up, then turns around and sells them for a profit. The lifestyle fits her well ~ she prefers not to get involved in other people’s lives; staying in one place long enough to renovate a house is about as much as she can take.

Tish has a past ~ one that keeps her on the move. When she buys an old Victorian house in a small town just outside of Detroit, she’s hoping to see big dollar signs after her renovations. But something in the house isn’t right; there’s something, or someone, in the basement. Tish can feel it ~ and the whispers from her past begin once again to catch up with her.

When a dead body turns up in her basement, Tish becomes the prime suspect. But her neighbors all seem to be hiding secrets, and Tish wonders exactly what’s going on under the surface of the sleepy little town. Is David, the handsome Brit living in the magnificent Greek Revival two doors over, really as charming and caring as Tish first believes? And what about the cop, Brad, who has a knack for turning up just when Tish needs help getting out of a scrape?

Nicole Young’s first installment of the Patricia Amble Mystery series, Love Me If You Must, is an engaging read . I read it in just over a day. I had a hard time putting it down! It’s a "must read" ~ two thumbs up. 

lifesong (fruit of the spirit blogs)

Kim’s Lifesong has been added to The Fruit of the Spirit blog list. Kim’s profile reads: "I am a wife and a stay at home mother to 4,soon to be 5 children. We are in the process of adopting a baby girl from China. I am very blessed to have a husband who loves the Lord and his family. I welcome the days of much needed grace,the times of sweet victories,and the tears of trials,knowing it is all for God’s glory. I want my lifesong to sing to Him,the author and finisher of my faith. Soli Deo Gloria–To the Glory of God alone. "

To be honest, I don’t feel the need to add more…..Kim’s words say it all.

healthy hillbilly housewife

I got a kick out of The Hillbilly Housewife site. Miss Maggie is quite thrifty, and has some great down-home ideas. She also has The Healthy Hillbilly Housewife site. Check them out ~ I found some great recipes, household hints, and even a bit of history!

hannah’s church visit

Well, at LONG last (smiling at you, Damon ) I have a copy of the picture my friend Rebekah took of Hannah Garner’s visit to church last week. She’s holding one of "our" babies (the church’s, not mine). Considering the trauma Hannah went through just 4 months ago (click here for more information), and the amount and severity of her injuries and burns, she’s doing remarkably well. We were all so glad to see her, and so blessed by her presence at church last Sunday.

This coming Sunday, which is also Father’s Day, our youth and adult choirs will be performing with The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in a benefit concert. The goal is to raise $10,000 for the Hope4Hannah project. We’re praying that Hannah will be able to be there, and perhaps even sing with the youth choir if at all possible.

Pastor Eddie has outdone himself (and probably just about done himself in!) with this benefit concert. Not only are both the youth and the adult choirs singing, but he has also managed to recruit a large number of the youth choir "alumni" to come and sign as well. It should be an incredible concert.

the best of evil (book review)

In The Best of Evil by Eric Wilson, Aramis Black has left his bad boy days and moved to Nashville to live with his brother. He’s starting a new life. He opens Black’s, a coffee shop, a works hard to get it off the ground (no pun intended on my part!). But it seems that his past, and the evil he thought he had left behind in Portland, have caught up with him.

One of his customers is shot and killed right in front of his eyes in his coffee shop. As the man dies, he whispers words to Aramis that bring up the memories of his childhood and everything he thought he had left behind. Aramis is thrust into mystery he would really rather know nothing about ~ but the other players in this mystery aren’t about to leave Aramis alone.

This Christian fiction page turner is a mix of intrigue, suspense, twists and turns, history and even a reality game show! Can Aramis put all of the pieces of the puzzle together before more people are killed? Well, to answer that question, you’ll have to get the book and read it for yourself!

(Obviously, I liked this book. It was added to my list because its sequel, A Shred of Truth, will come out in July and I was asked by WaterBrook Press to review it. I will also have 2 (two) copies of A Shred of Truth to give away, so stay tuned!)

julie’s joyful journey (fruit of the spirit blog)

The newest blog on The Fruit of the Spirit blog list is A Joyful Life by Julie in Florida. I have never met Julie, and yet I feel a kindred spirit to her. She has that spunky, slightly sarcastic (in a good way), slighty satirical/"Duh" factor to her writing, and I chuckle at her posts. Julie has had quite a time of it lately; she had shoulder surgery, then her husband promptly became sick and had to have gallbladder surgery! Yet through it all she has been able to maintain a sense of humor, showing in her way her joy in the Lord (and probably thanking Him every minute of the latest ordeals for dark chocolate and ice cream ~ He is rather good to us that way, isn’t He?!)

as i have loved you (cfba book review)

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

As I Have Loved You by Nikki Arana

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

As I Have Loved You(Revell June 1, 2007)
by

Nikki Arana

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nikki Arana is an award-winning author of highly-acclaimed inspirational women’s fiction who weaves today’s social, political, and spiritual issues into her novels. She has received numerous awards, including the Excellence in Media 2007 Silver Angel Award for The Winds of Sonoma.

The book was based on the true love story of how Nikki met her future husband Antonio as he was cleaning the stalls of her parents’ Arabian horses. Nikki and Antonio have been married for over thirty years, have two grown sons, and live in Idaho.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Contemporary Struggles…
…A Single Mom and College-Ages Son.

Leigh Scott is a widowed, single mother who wants the best for her son Jeff. She would like him to graduate from college, land a secure job, and start a family. However, Jeff, who was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) at a young age, has a God-given compassion for people. And his non-judgemental acceptance of all has unintended consequences.

Jeff starts dating Jessica, a girl with a questionable past and seemingly non-existent future. Soon, Jeff’s grades drop as quickly as his sober determination to achieve the goals he’s worked toward all his life, and Leigh finds herself caught ina relational tornado

To complicate matters further, Leigh is an author with a looming book deadline, a father battling cancer, and her former boyfriend and first love, a strong Christian Native American, coming back in her life.

Arana weaves a multi-layered, emotional family saga that brings the peril of judgement, the need for forgiveness and the gift of love to light

"Nikki Arana wrings the heart and exalts the soul."

—Romantic Times

healthy meal planning

Roger and I have decided that we really need to start eating better. Healthier. Definitely.

I would buy all organic everything if I could afford it, and I would probably make meatless meals a couple of time a week if I thought I could get away with it. Alas, I live with 2 teenage boys, which means going completely organic just isn’t feasible (since they eat me out of house and home), and meatless meals more than once a week is probably pushing it (“Where’s the beef?!” my sons would cry, even though they’re WAY too young to remember those commercials!).

Part of the problem is that Roger is a good old-fashioned beef and potatoes man, raised on a ranch as a youngster. SO, my sons have grown up whole-heartedly believing that food does NOT consist of leafy green vegetables, grains, legumes, and chicken. FOOD is made of red meat, red meat, and MORE red meat. It’s something I tried fighting for a long time, but when my husband rebelled and refused to eat another bite of chicken, I had to give in.

Now that we’re getting older, with the big 4-0 looming just a week away for Roger now, and flight physical blood test results that prompted the nurse in flight medicine to call Roger at home, things are going to have to change. I hate that we waited until we got to this point.

With the fibromyalgia, it has been SO easy and SO tempting to say, “You know, I’m tired and I’m in pain. I really don’t feel like cooking ~ how about fast food tonight?” I’ve found myself saying that much too often ~ and now I’m back-peddling. I’m attempting to convince my family that I really do know how to cook. I do ~ honest. I just haven’t felt like cooking in so long that the other members of my household are a bit skeptical that I know what I’m doing!

One of the biggest helps I have found is Healthy Menu Mailer. The founders, Susanne and Christine, have done the menu planning work for me! I get an email every week, with an entire week’s worth of dinner recipes, and I have access to a wealth of healthy recipes for side dishes, breakfasts, lunches, snacks and drinks. Also included are weekly grocery lists ~ Healthy Menu Mailer has everything planned out and listed for me so when I go to the grocery store I know exactly what I’ll need for the coming week’s meals.

I dread meal planning. It’s one area of homemaking at which I have never been able to really excel ~ not that I excel in all the other areas of homemaking, but menu planning was a serious thorn in my side. I’ve always felt that I SHOULD be able to do it, but could never bring myself to plan out an entire week’s worth of meals, make up a shopping list and actually stick to it. Healthy Menu Mailer has made my life so much easier! Now I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to make for dinner; I don’t find myself looking at the clock, realizing it’s 5pm and I have no dinner plans, nothing thawed, and nothing to cook to feed my family.

Even though I receive a menu each week, I’m not required to follow it to the letter. It’s a tool; I use it to make my life easier, not more difficult! If one of the week’s meals is a pork dish (which I absolutely despise), I can simply logon to the Healthy Menu Mailer website, look through the recipes section, and find a recipe to replace it. Quick and easy ~ no pulling out 5 or 6 different recipe books in search of something that my family might like.

If you’re interested in seeing this Healthy Menu Mailer that has made my life so much easier, just click on the picture at the top of this page or that same picture in the sidebar. It will take you to the Healthy Menu Mailer site. You can even sign up for a free sample mailer!

Now if only I could get the hang of clipping coupons………

blogs, blogs and more blogs

Wow ~ the emails I have been receiving about The Fruit of the Spirit graphic have been much more than I expected! I’m slowly working my way through them ~ thanks so much for sending me so many lovely blogs to consider!

There’s always room for more, so please keep them coming. I’ll be adding to the list of Fruit of the Spirit Blogs in my sidebar regularly. I’m trying to space them out a bit and not flood the blogosphere with them or overload myself with too much work/time spent on the computer. But I WILL be adding to the list, so keep checking!

healthy meal planning

Roger and I have decided that we really need to start eating better. Healthier. Definitely.

I would buy all organic everything if I could afford it, and I would probably make meatless meals a couple of time a week if I thought I could get away with it. Alas, I live with 2 teenage boys, which means going completely organic just isn’t feasible (since they eat me out of house and home), and meatless meals more than once a week is probably pushing it ("Where’s the beef?!" my sons would cry, even though they’re WAY too young to remember those commercials!).

Part of the problem is that Roger is a good old-fashioned beef and potatoes man, raised on a ranch as a youngster. SO, my sons have grown up whole-heartedly believing that food does NOT consist of leafy green vegetables, grains, legumes, and chicken. FOOD is made of red meat, red meat, and MORE red meat. It’s something I tried fighting for a long time, but when my husband rebelled and refused to eat another bite of chicken, I had to give in.

Now that we’re getting older, with the big 4-0 looming just a week away for Roger now, and flight physical blood test results that prompted the nurse in flight medicine to call Roger at home, things are going to have to change. I hate that we waited until we got to this point.

With the fibromyalgia, it has been SO easy and SO tempting to say, "You know, I’m tired and I’m in pain. I really don’t feel like cooking ~ how about fast food tonight?" I’ve found myself saying that much too often ~ and now I’m back-peddling. I’m attempting to convince my family that I really do know how to cook. I do ~ honest. I just haven’t felt like cooking in so long that the other members of my household are a bit skeptical that I know what I’m doing!

One of the biggest helps I have found is Healthy Menu Mailer. The founders, Susanne and Christine, have done the menu planning work for me! I get an email every week, with an entire week’s worth of dinner recipes, and I have access to a wealth of healthy recipes for side dishes, breakfasts, lunches, snacks and drinks. Also included are weekly grocery lists ~ Healthy Menu Mailer has everything planned out and listed for me so when I go to the grocery store I know exactly what I’ll need for the coming week’s meals.

I dread meal planning. It’s one area of homemaking at which I have never been able to really excel ~ not that I excel in all the other areas of homemaking, but menu planning was a serious thorn in my side. I’ve always felt that I SHOULD be able to do it, but could never bring myself to plan out an entire week’s worth of meals, make up a shopping list and actually stick to it. Healthy Menu Mailer has made my life so much easier! Now I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to make for dinner; I don’t find myself looking at the clock, realizing it’s 5pm and I have no dinner plans, nothing thawed, and nothing to cook to feed my family.

Even though I receive a menu each week, I’m not required to follow it to the letter. It’s a tool; I use it to make my life easier, not more difficult! If one of the week’s meals is a pork dish (which I absolutely despise), I can simply logon to the Healthy Menu Mailer website, look through the recipes section, and find a recipe to replace it. Quick and easy ~ no pulling out 5 or 6 different recipe books in search of something that my family might like.

If you’re interested in seeing this Healthy Menu Mailer that has made my life so much easier, just click on the picture at the top of this page or that same picture in the sidebar. It will take you to the Healthy Menu Mailer site. You can even sign up for a free sample mailer!

Now if only I could get the hang of clipping coupons………

another view

My poor doggy longingly gazing out our front window on a very rainy day…..

of noble character (the fruit of the spirit graphic)

Another blog has been added to The Fruit of the Spirit graphic blog list! Of Noble Character is written by Tamara from Texas.

First of all, I love the title of her blog. "A wife/woman of noble character" is referred to in the Book of Proverbs 3 times ~ Proverbs 12:4; 31:10 and 31:29. It’s a lovely thing to aspire to. And her profile makes me chuckle: "Wife of one, mother of four, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, lover, baker, teacher, chef, gardener, libertarian, superhero in disguise, southern-belle-in-training, and sometimes partner in crime." Don’t we all, in aspiring to reach the goal of woman of noble character, have to put on the superhero suit at times, get lots of training, and even be a partner in crime at times? <the "partner in crime" reference is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek, playful thing, I’m sure!>

Her heart for children and homeschooling is evident in her posts. Tamara is very aware of the political happenings in our country, and while I won’t touch that issue with a ten foot pole here, I admire her spunk and desire to express her views unabashedly. Her posts about her family, especially her sister, make me chuckle ~ her love for her sister is played out in exactly the kind of sense of humor I would display towards my siblings (if I had any). Her love and enjoyment of her husband and children shine through, and her posts give me much to think about.

Tamara has shown her heart for the Lord, and as I’ve read through her posts and archives, I’ve seen evidence of the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control the Holy Spirit produces. We’re all works in progress ~ walking with God, aiming towards being a woman of noble character, and faithfully loving God, our family, and hospitality are certainly worthy of being recognized as springing forth from the Holy Spirit within us. Thanks, Tamara!

diva nash vegas (cfba book review)

Monday, June 11, 2007

Diva NashVegas by Rachel Hauck

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

DIVA NASHVEGAS
(Thomas Nelson May 8, 2007)
by

Rachel Hauck

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rachel is the author of many books. Her current release, Viva NashVegas is the second in a series which began with Lost in NashVegas. She is also a Blogger and a CFBA member! She lives in Florida with her husband. Visit her great profile and learn more.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Even if you are not a lover of country music, you can enjoy this fun look at the Nashville entertainment industry.

What do you do when the past you’ve been skirting shows up at your door with cameras rolling?

Aubrey James ruled the charts as the queen of country for over a decade. She’d rocketed to fame in the shadow of her parents’ death-both of them pioneers in Gospel music. But while her public life, high profile romances, and fights with Music Row execs made for juicy tabloid headlines, the real and private Aubrey has remained a media mystery.

When a former band member betrays Aubrey’s trust and sells an "exclusive" to a tabloid, the star knows she must go public with her story. But Aubrey’s private world is rocked when the Inside NashVegas interviewer is someone from her past-someone she’d hoped to forget.

All the moxie in the world won’t let this Diva run any longer.

"Hauck once again takes us into the country music world, this time through the experiences of mega-star Aubrey James. Aubrey’s life journey is filled with flaws, as well as a great deal of joy, and real life locales makes this highly original story authentic. The extra tidbits – from Aubrey’s liner notes to quotes from the "media" at the beginning of the chapters – add extra sparkle to the plot."

- 4 Stars, Melissa Parcel, Romantic Times Book Club

new suits

After church yesterday we took Patrick clothes shopping. I know…….most moms with teenage boys would groan just at the thought of having to take their son clothes shopping ~ especially shopping for SUITS, dress shirts and TIES. But Patrick is actually a relatively good clothes shopper ~ as long as the clothes are for him and his brother isn’t around. Sawyer had a headache yesterday and didn’t go to church with us, so it was a good time for us to take Patrick shopping.

We purchased the first installment of the clothes he’ll need when he goes to D.C. at the end of this month for the LeadAmerica conference (I posted about it here). I say "first installment" because you would not believe how many sets of clothing the kids attending the different LeadAmerica conferences are supposed to have! We only bought "Professional Attire" yesterday ~ but for an average 10-day conference the young men are supposed to have enough clothes to cover the following: 4 to 5 professional attire events (suit, dress shirt and tie), 6 to 8 business attire events (collared shirt (polo or button down ~ polos must be "tasteful" with little to no logos, no prints or graphics), slacks/khakis, and dress shoes), and 3-5 casual attire events (tasteful t-shirts, jeans, pants or shorts with no holes, clean tennis shoes). In the handbook they sent Patrick, it says there won’t really be any time to do laundry, even if laundry facilities are provided, so bring enough clothing for the entire conference.

We bought Patrick 2 suits, six dress shirts and six ties. Thankfully everything we bought was at least 40% off the regular price, some were half price, and a couple of things were 60% off. But STILL!! We spent $400 yesterday, just on suits! Ug.

I understand that men’s suits are expensive, and quite honestly I know we got that much men’s clothing at a steal ~ I’m just astounded that LeadAmerica expects the kids to have this much clothing. We still have to go back and buy the polos and khakis, shoes, belts and whatever else he may need, but we’ll wait a little bit. Mom and Dad both need some time to recover from the sticker shock! LOL

I’m excited for Patrick that he has the opportunity to go to this conference. He has been interested in intelligence, defense and national security for a while. And he’ll get to spend the 4th of July in D.C. ~ I think that will be pretty cool.

This is the kind of experience he’ll remember for the rest of his life. (Hopefully he won’t outgrow the clothes we’re buying for a year or so, either!).

view in alaska

When we lived in Alaska, this is the view we had all summer long at the baseball park…….

view through the mesh

A new blog challenge was posted on the Support4HomeSchool Yahoo! Group I belong to ~ the challenge is "Show Me Your World View" (meaning your view of the world from say your kitchen window ~ not "worldview" as in Christian vs secular)…….I’ll have more pictures to add, but I wanted to start with this one…….

de’etta’s summer reading challenge link

Here’s the link for De’Etta’s Summer Reading Challenge ~ no corrections necessary:

<a href=http://not2many.blogspot.com/2007/05/summer-reading-challenge-official-info.html><img src="http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g148/trishanderson/summerreadingchallenge.jpg">

Just copy and paste this into your sidebar or HTML editor ~ it should give you the picture with a direct link….. be sure you get the whole thing, or it won’t work!

ransomed dreams (book review 2)

I just finished reading Ransomed Dreams by Amy Wallace. You’ll find the CFBA review I published here.

I enjoyed this first installment of the Defenders of Hope series. I’m still getting used to the Christian fiction genre, and I’ve promised myself I won’t be too hard in my reviews of the books I’ve chosen for my summer reading list. But so far I haven’t needed to temper my thoughts before I put them out there for the world to see.

In the past I have NOT been a fan of Christian fiction. I’m just not one who enjoys books that try too hard to pull on the heart string and elicit some sort of emotion (usually crying). And while the horrifying scene that faces Gracie Lang at the beginning of Ransomed Dreams certainly did make the tears well up ( Amy Wallace’s writing style made it very easy to put myself into Gracie’s postion), the author is not intent on making me cry at every turn of the page. She throws some pretty good human interaction into the mix of mystery and tragedy, secrets and plain old everyday life.

Ransomed Dreams was a good read ~ I recommend it, especially if you enjoy Christian fiction and are looking for a new series to invest some time into. The second book in the series is due to be released in 2008.

hannah’s afghan

Last Sunday Hannah Garner was able to leave the hospital for a few hours and come to church with her family. It was such a joy to see her out of the hospital! They haven’t released her to go home yet ~ I’m not sure when they will ~ but they’re letting her take short trips out with her family. (To read Hannah’s story, click on the Hope4Hannah graphic above or click here.)

My friend Rebekah took a picture of Hannah with one of our newest church members (baby Katie), and Damon (Rebekah’s husband) PROMISED to send me a copy of the picture, but he hasn’t done that yet. So, I’m going to have to BUG Damon ~ I would like to post the pic of Hannah here on my blog.

Anyway, back to the topic of this post ~ Hannah’s afghan. Through the tireless efforts of Barry Schnaitman and Matt Mosler, and many, many donations of time and materials, our community is going to build the Garners a new home that will meet the needs they will encounter once Hannah is allowed to come home from the hospital. As I talked to Hannah on Sunday, she told me her new bedroom was going to be painted blue. She’s very excited about it.

A while ago, several young ladies at church approached me about making an afghan for Hannah. They want to involve as many people as they can in this project. The idea is to have people crochet granny squares which we will piece together as an afghan for Hannah’s new bedroom. I’m still working on the specifics, but I think this is going to be a great project.

As I have more information, I’ll post the details ~ right now the ideas are still percolating. I’ll be instructing some crochet classes for those who don’t already know how to crochet granny squares (and for those who just need a refresher course).

I’ll also be looking for help with getting the yarn. I would like to be able to pick a yarn that isn’t too expensive, but that will hold up and not fall apart or go all fuzzy after a couple of washes. Even better would be if I could get some (if not all) of the yarn donated.

If you would like to volunteer to help with Hannah’s afghan project, please send me an email. Learning to crochet granny squares is easy ~ if you don’t know how to crochet, I can teach you in about 2 hours.

Please let me know if you can help in any way ~ your help would be most appreciated!

….and all my “fruity friends”

::snort:: (De’Etta, I get such a kick out of your ::snort:: I just had to use it! LOL)

Thanks so much to all of you who have sent emails regarding sites to consider for The Fruit of the Spirit graphic. I’m wading through them, and I’ll start contacting blog owners soon.

If you haven’t sent me an email with a site link yet, please do so. I’m really enjoying all of the different sites ~ there are SO many wonderful Christian bloggers out there; I had no idea how many there are, and I have been so blessed with reading through all of the different sites.

I’m really excited to start sharing all of these lovely bloggers and their sites with you through The Fruit of the Spirit graphic!

kingdomality

According to Kingdomality, I’m a White Knight (interesting, no?) Give it a try here.

in the c-130

Last month Roger got to go on a rare trip to Montana. He was asked to fly one of the C-130s up to Laurel, Montana, where they had an airshow of sorts. I haven’t had a picture of Roger in his flight gear, headphones and mic in a LONG time ~ one of the other guys on the flight snapped this one:

Diggin’ those shades, dude…….

more fruit info

I’ve had several people email me with suggestions for future displayers of The Fruit of the Spirit graphic. But I KNOW there are a lot more sites out there that should be considered. SO, if you know of a site that should display The Fruit of the Spirit graphic, please send me an email, or you can leave a comment on any of the posts which refer to The Fruit of the Spirit graphic.

I’m really looking forward to seeing this graphic spread throughout the blogosphere. I can’t do this alone; I have several partners in this endeavor, but I would really like a lot more. Please send your sugestions ~ they’re always welcome!

congrats to…..

the Anaheim Ducks for winning the Stanley Cup last night.

the goalie should NOT….

….put the puck into his OWN GOAL!!!

Sorry Ray (that would be Ray Emery, the Ottawa Senators goal tender), but duh……….

ambivalent about the Cup

What could very well be the final game of the Stanley Cup finals began just a little bit ago. I’m watching the game and TiVOing it for Roger (he’s flying tonight, and the boys are at youth group, so I’m actually watching hockey by myself!).

To be honest, this year’s play-offs ceased to be interesting to me when Buffalo lost to Ottawa. I did a post about Ryan Miller (Buffalo’s goaltender) attending the games between Anaheim and Ottawa to watch his brother play, but other than that I haven’t had a whole lot to say about this year’s Stanley Cup Finals. That’s mainly because I’m ambivalent about who wins. I don’t really care. I SHOULD care ~ what kind of hockey fan AM I that I don’t care who wins the most coveted trophy in all of hockey??!! Umm, well, apparently not a very good one!

I’m watching the game tonight, just as I’ve watched all the other Stanley Cup games from quarter finals to finals. But whether or not Anaheim wins tonight or they go back to Ottawa to play a game #5 just doesn’t hold all that much appeal to me.

You know what? I take it back. I am a GREAT hockey fan ~ I’m watching games that I don’t really care who wins~ that makes me a stellar hockey fan. I’m watching hockey simply for the sake of watching hockey!

new flooring

Today there were workmen in my house tearing up the floor and sub-floor of my sunroom/office/craft room. We spent a good couple of hours moving everything out of there yesterday. Seeing as how it’s where we keep the computer (my and Roger’s computer, anyway), we had to figure out a way to hook up our internet access once we got the desk and computer moved out of the office. You’d think that would be simple, wouldn’t you? Well, let’s just say that we weren’t able to access the internet until after 4pm when the workmen all left. Then I ran the DSL line across the living room where we had set up the desk and computer, and plugged it back in to the DSL jack in the office. I imagine they’ll have to unplug it again tomorrow when they come back to install the vinyl (they only got the under flooring stuff done today).

The shocking part was how many emails I had when I finally got the DSL line plugged in and the internet up and running. I didn’t realize how many emails I answer or send, and how many online groups (mostly Yahoo! Groups) I belong to that I read and or post on every day. Wow! It has taken me almost 2 hours to get all of that accomplished. I had no idea I spent that much time on the computer just with email every day!

Now I have to go and wrap up a bunch of books that people have requested from my Paperback Swap account. I’ve decided that Mondays and Thursdays will be the days I ship things, whether they’re books, felted purses, presents or whatever. That way I can do my errands I need to do here in my little town ~ including going to the post office, picking up prescriptions from the drug store (yes, I know, we’re military, and we should be getting our "drugs" at the base pharmacy, but there are a LOT of fibromyalgia related meds the base doesn’t carry), I can go to the bank the homeschool co-op uses and make deposits (I’m still the treasurer), and I can make the dreaded trip to "The Gates of Hell" as my friend De’Etta refers to Wal-Mart. And trust me, a brand new, huge Wal-Mart in an itty bitty Arkansan town of 22,000 people can be obnoxiously busy after about 9am, thus resembling the Gates of Hell!

Making my in-town errands trips on Mondays and Thursdays leaves Tuesdays open for homeschool co-op (starting in August) and any errands I need to run in Jacksonville (at the base) or North Little Rock, Wednesdays open for doctor’s appointments, and Fridays free to just do whatever (hopefully veg around the house with a good book ~ especially now that I’m participating in the Summer Reading Challenge!).

I’m trying to be a little more organized with my errands, especially since it seems like I just run around like a chicken with its head cut off most of the time. With gas prices hitting upwards of $3.00 a gallon, I have to plan a little better (but no, I’m still not giving up my Suburban). Plus, my family really does appreciate it when I’m home long enough to cook dinner before they have to run off to whatever event it is they have on any given evening………

Anyway, so I’m off to wrap books now……..

fruit of the spirit graphic

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote about the fruit of the Spirit ~ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The Fruit of the Spirit graphic was developed in an effort to recognize bloggers whose writings and postings in the blogosphere give us a glimpse of this fruit in their lives.***

This project is not simply my own. There are many blogger and non-bloggers alike who have agreed to partner with me in recognizing and honoring those whose writings, postings and lives exemplify how God works in and through His people. When we recognize Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit resides within us. It is the Holy Spirit who produces fruit in our lives ~ but He has also given us the honor and the duty of recognizing the fruit in other believers.

The "rules" are simple. When selected to receive this graphic, the blog owner (writer) will be notified, most likely by email. If that blogger would like to participate, they should respond to the email indicating their desire to display The Fruit of the Spirit graphic on their blog. Instructions for adding the Fruit of the Spirit Blogs blogroll will then be sent to them. The blogroll is able to be displayed in an expandable/collapsable box, so that the entire blogroll really only takes up about the same space as the graphic alone. However, other options are available if the blogger does not care to display the blogroll at all.

Once the blogger has posted the graphic in their sidebar, a link to their blog will be added to the Fruit of the Spirit Blogs blogroll. Every Friday I will post about the blogs that have been nominated and accepted the display of The Fruit of the Spirit graphic that week ("Fruitful Fridays" posts) (Hebrews 10:24; 1Thess 5:5-11).

The selected blog owner is encouraged to write a post about The Fruit of the Spirit graphic.

I do ask that you not mess with or change the HTML code embedded in the graphic. It contains a link back to this post, so that once the graphic is posted on your blog others can click on it and find out what The Fruit of the Spirit graphic is about.

I welcome your help in spreading this "blessing" thoughout the blogosphere. If there’s a particular blog you believe reflects the fruit of the Spirit, please send me an email containing a link to that blog. Also, please include a sentence or two regarding your thoughts as to why/how that particular blog reflects the fruit of the Spirit.

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24

***This graphic is very much a group effort. I do not personally know everyone on this list. Inclusion in The Fruit of the Spirit graphic blog list does not necessarily mean I agree with the doctrine, political views, or other personal views held by that blogger. I can not vouch for each blogger personally ~ I can only post those blogs which are brought to my attention through nominations and fill the basic premise of The Fruit of the Spirit graphic. ***

these boots weren’t made for walking (book review)

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking by Melody Carlson

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking

(WATERBROOK Press June 19, 2007)

by

Melody Carlson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melody Carlson has published over 100 books for adults, children, and teens, including On This Day, Finding Alice, the Notes from a Spinning Planet series, and Homeward, which won the Rita Award from Romance Writers of America. She and her husband, the parents of two grown sons, make their home near the Cascade Mountains in Central Oregon. Melody is a full-time writer as well as an avid gardener, biker, skier, and hiker.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Willing to make the necessary sacrifices–even skipping the occasional latte–to ensure career success, 31-year-old Cassidy Cantrell "invests" in a chic pair of boots, certain they’ll make a spectacular impression and help seal the deal on a long-anticipated promotion from her Seattle employer.

But reality tromps all over her expectations. Cassie’s job is abruptly eliminated–and her love life obliterated, when her longtime boyfriend dumps her for a "friend." Her self-esteem in tatters, Cassie limps home to the resort town she once so eagerly fled–only to find her recently divorced mother transformed into a gorgeous fifty-something babe with a thriving social life. Cassie wrestles with envy and apathy as she considers the dismal shape of her own physique and romantic prospects. What will it take for her to jump back into life and regain her stride?

This sassy and hilarious novel leads readers on a romp through the wilds of relationships, romance, career, and spirituality, revealing that, while God’s plans may look drastically different than our own, it’ll always be a perfect fit.

choosing joy (re: fruit of the spirit graphic)

De’Etta’s blog, Choosing Joy, has been selected to receive The Fruit of the Spirit graphic. De’Etta has shown such grace and perserverence during trials, and she continues to encourage and inspire others through her blog, no matter what the circumstances of her life may be. She is a gifted teacher, a student of the Word, a Titus 2 woman, and like David she is a (wo)man after God’s own heart. Her daily life reflects her efforts as a Proverbs 31 woman, and I know from personal experience with her family that "her children arise and call her blessed: her husband also, and he praises her."

De’Etta will probably be embarrassed by what I’ve written here ~ she’ll get over it (you know I love ya, girl!). She’s one of the most humble women I know, and her life is entirely devoted to giving all glory to God. I am continually astounded and amazed by her. She is a blessing to the rest of us.

fruit of the spirit graphic

For a while now it has been on my heart to develop some kind of "award" that can be given out to other bloggers who inspire, encourage, give hope, perservere, and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit Paul writes about in his letter to the Galatians.

I had in my head this idea of making a graphic for others to display on their blogs. The graphic is not meant to be in any way boastful or prideful ~ actually, quite the opposite. The Fruit of the Spirit graphic is given to bloggers in recognition of their desire to live a life pleasing to God. All the glory is given to God ~ the graphic is an effort to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24; 1Thess 5:5-11).

I’ve posted a page regarding The Fruit of the Spirit graphic here.

giveaways starting soon!

Remember I wrote about receiving an invitation from WaterBrook Press/Multnomah Books to become an online reviewer for them? Well, after I accepted the invitation, I received an email back letting me know what book they’ll be sending me for a July review, AND they’re going to send me two extra copies to give away. How cool is that?!

So, after I’ve received the books, I’ll do a post. If you want to be entered into the drawing to win one of the two extra copies the publisher is sending me, all you’ll have to do is leave a comment on that post. After a couple of days I’ll do two random name drawings from the people who left comments, and those two people will each win a copy of the book.

I want to say thanks to WaterBrook Press and Multnomah Books for giving me the opportunity to review their books, and for providing prizes for giveaways. You guys rock!

relentless (book review)

I finished Relentless by Robin Parrish last night. It’s a big book, about 435 pages. I LOVE big books ~ that usually tells me there’s a story worth reading. Relentless is definitely a story worth reading.

It’s the first book of The Dominion Trilogy by Robin Parrish. The second book is set to be released Summer 2007 ~ the title is Fearless, and it’s on my CFBA reviewer list for July. I’m really looking forward to receiving the book so I can get on with reading it and posting a review!

Relentless opens with Collin Boyd stepping off a bus, only to see himself walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. The book had me right from the start. I love a story full of plot twists, action, conspiracies, mystery, secret organizations ~ even a sword fight or two. Yep, you read that correctly ~ sword fighting, in a story set in modern-day L.A.

When "Collin" looks in the mirror, the face staring back at him is not who he expects to see. And so, the mystery begins. The search for the truth takes "Collin" ~ whose name is now Grant Borrows ~ on a wild ride. Along the way he is reunited with his sister, and he meets a host of interesting people (remember the sword fighting I referred to? VERY interesting people!)

I really don’t want to give too much of the story, or the mysteries, away (besides, Robin would probably be pretty upset with me if I did that! Not that he knows who I am, but still……)

Add Relentless to your summer reading list (especially if you’re participating in The Summer Reading Challenge). You won’t be disappointed with this book!

paperback swap

I joined Paperback Swap today. I had about 40 books to list ~ I haven’t been able to post any titles that I want yet, though. I still have stacks and stacks of Patrick and Sawyer’s old Star Wars books to list, but I may wait a while first.

How this works is: you have a book you are willing to part with, so you list it on Paperback Swap. If there’s someone out there who has that particular book on their wish list, they’re notified that it’s available. If they still want the book, they let the system know they want it, then you (the book’s current owner) are notified by the system that a new owner is waiting for that book. You wrap the book up, take it to the post office, and ship it off to its new owner.

In compensation for shipping your book off to a new owner, you earn a point on Paperback Swap. You come up with a list of books you would like to read and post it on your Paperback Swap account. When someone else is ready to part with a book on your list, you’re notified, and the roles are reversed. Each book "costs" a point ~ so you earn a point for shipping a book to a new owner, and you give up a point in order to acquire a new book to read. That’s pretty simple, huh?

end-of-year grades

We received Patrick’s final junior year report card today. His second semester GPA is a 4.0, with an overall GPA of 3.9744!

He got a 95 in Spanish II, 95 in Speech, 93 in General Chemistry, 93 in Junior English Composition, 94 in PreCalculus, 92 in World Studies, and a 93 on his junior/senior FIRM project (basically a thesis he’s writing that began the middle of his junior year and will be due the middle of his senior year).

Obviously, we’re thrilled with his grades and the effort he has put forth to attain them at ASMSA. To have these grades as a junior in high school, working at college level with college texts ~ quite an accomplishment!

As we were driving up the driveway after grabbing the mail when we returned from our errands this morning, Patrick opened the envelope from ASMSA because he wanted to see his grades. He told me what they were, then said, "Mom, I want you to make a copy of this for me." I asked why, and he said, "Because I want to post it in my room over my drafting desk. And at the bottom, with marker and in really big letters I’m going to write, ‘Low A’s? YOU CAN DO BETTER!’ " LOL

(You have to understand the family dynamics here ~ Roger teases Patrick about getting "low A’s" ~ this is just Patrick’s way of taking it all in stride!)

another sawyerism

Oh gracious! How in the WORLD did Roger and I manage to produce a child who can come up with the most hilarious statements, deliver them with a straight face, and not even laugh when everyone else around him is rolling on the floor? It’s beyond me.

Tonight’s example, at the dinner table: we’re all seated at the table, Patrick has said the blessing, and we’re starting to eat the lovely dinner (if I do say do myself) I spent an hour or so preparing. Roger has covered his (homemade whole wheat) bread with butter and honey. So much honey, in fact, that it starts running off the bread down the sides onto the table.

As Roger’s scrambling to lick up the honey that’s flowing over the sides of his bread, Sawyer says, "Smooth, Dad. I don’t even know how you ever managed to actually get Mom to marry you you’re so smoooottthhhhh!"

Aahhhh, I just love that child! <VBG>

here’s to you……

Mr. Plumber Guy from Jimmy Seale Plumbing. You’re the restorer of hot water to my master bath, and for that I THANK YOU!!!

prints charming (first blog tour)

It is JUNE 1st, time for the FIRST Day Blog Tour! (Join our alliance! Click the button!) The FIRST day of every month we will feature an author and his/her latest book’s FIRST chapter!

This month’s feature is:

Rebeca Seitz

and her book:

PRINTS CHARMING

(Thomas Nelson Publishers, March 15, 2007)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebeca Seitz is Founder and President of Glass Road Public Relations. An author for several years, Rebeca cut her publicity teeth as the first dedicated publicist for the fiction division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. In 2005, Rebeca resigned from WestBow and opened the doors of GRPR, the only publicity firm of its kind in the country dedicated solely to representing novelists writing from a Christian worldview. Rebeca has worked with such esteemed authors as Robin Jones Gunn, Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti, Walter Wangerin, Jr., DiAnn Mills, Brandilyn Collins, Colleen Coble, Melody Carlson, and numerous others. She has secured coverage for novelists in a variety of media outlets, including The Today Show, USA Today, Chicago Sun-Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Publishers Weekly, Christian Retailing, Aspiring Retail, Southern Living, Daystar Television, HarvestTV, WAY-FM, K-LOVE, and others. Rebeca makes her home in Kentucky with her husband, Charles, and their son, Anderson.

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Chapter One "Girl, where are you?" Lydia tightened her grip on the cell phone as she wondered anew how any woman could be late to every single thing in her life. She had thought Jane might’ve changed in the two years they’d been apart, but Jane was evidently still living up to her old high school nickname of Late Jane. The woman would get to her own funeral about an hour after they started the music. "I’m coming, I’m coming." Jane kept one hand on the steering wheel while frantically sifting through the things in the passenger seat of her Blazer. There was a brush somewhere, she just knew it, but finding anything at seven in the morning was difficult at best. Why in the world she’d allowed herself to be talked into attending a sale that started at seven a.m. was beyond her ability to fathom. Finding her shoes had been a reason for cheering. A brush might just be asking too much. "Do I need to grab anything for you? This stuff is going fast." Lydia watched a woman stretch for the last package of Times-style foam alphabet letters and readjusted her own heavy shopping basket. In the five minutes she’d been in the store, it had already begun biting into the skin on her arm. "Nope, I don’t think so. I’ll be there in about two minutes," Jane said, still searching for the brush while trying not to drop the cell phone from her shoulder. "Okay, but hurry. I’ll be over in the baby girl section. I need to find something for Olivia’s first bath pages and get ribbon for Mac." "Got it. Baby girl. Be there in a flash." *** Jane snapped the phone together and slammed to a stop at the red light. Turning her attention to her still searching hand, she finally grasped the elusive hairbrush and quickly raked it through her long black hair. She had been looking forward to this sale all week but, of course, Mr. Wonderful had chosen to make his appearance a mere thirty minutes before she walked out the door. They had fought over Wilson. Again. When would the man get it through his head that Wilson was in her life forever? She pushed thoughts of her soon-to-be ex-husband out of her mind as the green arrow finally appeared. Squealing her tires, she tore into the parking lot of The Savvy Scrapper. Tossing the hairbrush back into the passenger seat, she threw the car into Park, grabbed her purse, and flung open the door. "Ouch!" Jane looked up just as her door collided with the midsection of one very tall man. "Ohmigosh. I am so, so sorry. I’m just in a rush. The sale is happening and I’m late and—" "It’s okay." Mr. Tall held his hands up as if to ward off any other car doors she might be hiding somewhere and she noticed the coffee cup in one hand and bagel bag in the other. Bagels would be so heavenly right now. "I’m fine, really." He set the bag down on the ground and brushed the dust off of his olive-green sweater, then looked at her. "I know how women can be when there’s a sale involved." He grinned as he knelt to pick the bag back up. She tried hard to ignore his sexist statement and not remind him of how many guys camp out at golf stores before a sale or sleep in the parking lot to get tickets to a concert. "Are you sure you’re okay? I mean, I have insurance and we can call somebody." Jane forcefully tucked her hair behind her ears, willing herself to focus on the problem at hand rather than the sale happening about ten yards away or the way her stomach was now grumbling for coffee and a bagel. "Really, go ahead. I’m fine." "Okay, thanks." She turned and made her way around the back of the car. "Really, I appreciate this. It’s just that this only happens once a year and my friend is waiting . . ." She stopped on the far side of the car and looked at him. He could sue if he was really hurt and her luck with men right now meant he would definitely sue and she would surely lose. "You’re absolutely fine?" "Go." He made a shooing motion with the bag. "Happy shopping." Her mother always said to never look a gift horse in the mouth and this was one time Jane would be obeying Elizabeth rather than giving in to her own desire to argue. She practically sprinted to the front door of The Savvy Scrapper, yanked it open, and burst inside. *** "Jane!" Lydia was in the front corner of the store, surrounded by pink, yellow, blue, lilac, and pale green. She waved a die-cut of a bathtub and bubbles above her head. "I found the perfect stuff for Olivia and Oliver’s First Bath page." "Great." Jane joined her, looking a bit frazzled but otherwise okay. "Okay, here’s the deal." Lydia turned toward the back of the store and pointed. "All the Times letters are gone, the vellum is quickly going, and the dog section is getting riffled through as we speak. Where do you want to start?" "Dog section, definitely." Jane stuffed her keys into her purse. "I took great pictures of the ex this morning picking up Wilson’s poop while stepping in another pile." "You are so gross. What was he doing there?" "Trying to get me to give him Wilson again." Jane scanned the rest of the store, making a quick plan to get the most stuff. "He’ll get the picture one day, just not today. He’s insane if he thinks I’m letting my puppy come live with him while he’s spending all hours online with his e-mistress." "Okay, that still sounds so weird." Lydia’s eyebrows rose as she gave Jane a disbelieving look. "E-mistress? Really? That’s what we’re calling her?" "E-mistress is the only thing I could think of that’s fit for public consumption." Jane grimaced. "Anyway, forget her and him. I’m here to shop, honey." "Right. Go on over to the dog section. I’ll come over there when I’m finished here. Can you grab me that new paper with the red stripes and dark-brown bones? I’ve got some pictures of Otis with Olivia and Oliver from last week." "Dale let that pug get near his precious twins? I thought you said the only thing he cared more about than SportsCenter was those babies." "Dale hasn’t seen the pictures yet. He never comes in my scrapbook studio. Says it’s my workspace and that I spend too much money on all this junk as it is." Lydia waved her hand to encompass the store. "He’s probably right." "Oh, please. Men are never right," Jane said and turned toward the dog section. "Dogs, on the other hand, are absolutely wonderful companions who never cheat and can’t even turn a computer on." Lydia laughed and turned back to the wall of baby-themed paper in front of her, leaving Jane to take care of the dog paper. Stripes or flowers? She didn’t want to make the scrapbook too babyish, but she also didn’t want it to look too grownup. The papers were all on sale, so maybe she would just get both. Dale would never know since he didn’t come into her studio anyway, and she could give some of it to Mac for Kesa’s baby book. She took two sheets of the pink-and-lime-green-striped paper, then two of the blue rosebud ones. "Men are never right," she muttered under her breath. Maybe Jane had a good point.

Prints CharmingRebeca SeitzCopyright © 2006 by Rebeca Seitz. 

silence

Aaahhhhh ~ blessed silence.

We were in a bit of a bustle this morning. Both boys were home (Sawyer and I picked Patrick up at ASMSA yesterday after CL training was finished  ~ he’s done with school now), and Jake wanted to play in his pool. After doggie pool time the plumber showed up ~ you’ll hear no complaining from me about the plumber showing up, since it means I should have hot water in my master bath today! Roger came home from work to talk to the plumber and watch his work; Patrick and I ran to the library in Jacksonville where several of the books I had put on hold were available; Patrick and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items needed for tonight’s dinner, then we drove home. Two minutes after we got home, the plumber was done, packed up his truck and left, and Patrick and Sawyer decided they wanted to go bowling. They’re on their way back to the base with Roger ~ he’ll drop them off at the bowling alley, then pick them up on his way home from work around 4:30. Oh, and I had to pull a tick off of Patrick’s knee before they left ~ how that child attracts the ticks I’ll never know. Is there a flea and tick medicine for people like the one we use on Jake once a month? Maybe that would help……..

Anyway, I’m here, by myself (if you don’t count the needy dog) ~ it’s QUIET, which is something I truly enjoy. I think I’ll get some reading done so I can get at least one of those books on my reading list transfered to the Accomplished list!

things are heatin’ up

Last night Roger showed me AccuWeather’s extended forecast for our area ~ up near 100 degrees towards the end of next week. Ugh. I guess I’ll be inside with the shades drawn trying to keep the house cool without putting the electric bill into overload!

Speaking of "heating" ~ we’re SUPPOSED to have a plumber show up sometime before noon today to install a new water heater for our master bathroom. Won’t that be nice?! I’ll be glad to have my shower back. The boys have been kind enough to let Roger and me take our turns in their shower, but really, my shower is so much better than theirs ~ I really want it back….now! LOL We’ll spend the weekend clearing out the sunroom/office/craft room. I have no idea where we’re going to put everything this time. Last time we did this Sawyer’s bedroom was still the smallest of the 4 bedroms, but since then we’ve moved Sawyer into a larger bedroom, and the smallest bedroom in the house is now the boys’ TV room. There isn’t nearly as much free space in there to put stuff from the craft room as there was in the other room. And we’ll have to move the desk, computer, printer, etc., etc. this time, too. I’m sure we’ll figure it all out. I just hope it won’t take as long to get the flooring in the sunroom replaced as it did to get the ceiling fixed!

For now, I’m just concentrating on the fact that I may actually have my SHOWER back by this afternoon. Yippee!