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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Book Review: Saving Alessandra

I was given the opportunity to review a book for a lady that I work with.  I must be honest, at first I was very excited...I love reading and I am rather opinionated, then I was nervous.  I have read and reviewed books before and had no problem offering my opinion.  As those of you who know me personally are aware, I very rarely sugar coat anything.  I got nervous because I was afraid the book was going to be boring, or hard to follow, or hard to get into, and I really didn't want to hurt her feelings. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about that. 

Saving Alessandra by Christine Maria Jahn

There are three main characters in the book, and because of the time period in which it was written (1800s) and the cultural status of the characters it was an adjustment to keep them apart.  I learned so much about a time period that I had never given a thought to before as far as fiction is concerned.  It is classified as a romance novel on Amazon, it is not a "typical" romance novel.  It is a love story  and is a very tastefully appealing book to those that enjoy that genre. 
My ultimate recommendation is that I would recommend this book to my fellow bloggers, it was a good read for me.  
This is the first in a set of three books that she has written and her first published book.  If you follow the above link, you can purchase your own straight from the Amazon site.  If you are a local friend and are interested in purchasing this book, let me know and I will get you connected with the author. 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Who I Am

It is time for me to be honest, I have not been inspired to write in a long time.  My home life has been turned upside down and I have not been mood to write and pretend all is well.  I am not that kind of girl.  I am real, I am not the kind of girl to tell you I am "fine" when all is really far, far, away from being fine.  I am not going to go into details as to what my life looks like...it would be boring and probably really sad for many of you to read.  I will tell you that even in the midst of all of my chaos, my God is bigger and more amazing that I ever realized.  Sure, there are days when I really want to doubt that he cares, that I would rather stay in bed than get up and continue in my "new" life.  I will tell you that I am working part-time at Chic-Fil-A and, honestly it has been an adjustment, in my own version of my life plan I never had any desire or need to go back to work.  In God's plan for my life, apparently he wanted me to go that route.
We are still homeschooling, it looks nothing like the traditional homeschool schedule, we do school in the evenings, some days it is a struggle, some days it runs great (ok, that part never changed).  In so many ways I do not feel that I fit into the typical homeschool circles anymore.  That has been a hard pill to swallow.  I am having to redefine who I am and what that means.  (The song "Who I Am To You" means more and more to me each day).
I took yesterday and today off from work so that we could participate in a field trip and it has been awesome to pretend I still lived in the SAHM world.  But, I know that on Monday I have to go back to the working world.  I am concentrating on enjoying every minute I have with the girls these few days.
On facebook I am participating in the what are you thankful for status updates for the month.  At first I had no desire to do that because honestly there are some days it is hard for me to focus on those.  I didn't want to even challenge myself to do it but, in the end it will probably help me more to "force" myself to focus on it even when I would rather not.  Don't get me wrong, I have lots to be thankful for, and I truly am thankful.  But I also feel very judged and would rather not subject myself to that.  It all comes down to who am I doing this challenge for?  And, that answer is myself.  I am challenging myself to look for things that I am thankful for for a whole month.  Focusing on the positive amidst the negative will surely help me grow even more.
If you are still reading this post, thanks for sticking it out.  I am sorry it isn't more pleasant or actually, no I am not sorry because I know that God is using even my unpleasantness to turn me, and my family into whatever awesomeness he has in store for us.  In the end, His plan is all that matters to me!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Back in action

I am finally back in the swing of things...sadly it has been over 9 months since I last blogged.  Since that time so many things have changed in my life.  To say I have been busy, stressed, overbooked, and crazy (at times) would be an understatement.  Through it all I know that God has amazing plans for me and my family.  Jeremiah 29:11 has never meant more to me than it does these days. 
Our school year is moving along as good as can be expected.  Unfortunately I do not have any pictures to post for this blog.  I will slowly begin posting again (I have no plans of waiting 9 months in between posts again). 
Some of the activities that have kept me on my toes lately are clogging, soccer, school, COOP, and did I mention I have picked up a job at Chic-Fil-A? 
I am so excited that fall is finally here.  I cannot wait to go apple picking.  I have some awesome outfits that have been tucked away waiting patiently to be pulled out again!  Stay tuned as I will be pulling out the camera and posting a recap of what exactly has been keeping my littles busy over the past few months!