Book Review: Smitten

You know those four in one books? I'm sure you've read them. They seem to be a dime a dozen. I know I have my share - especially Christmas books. They are great for when you want a quick light read - something to help you sleep at night. :) Well, Smitten is a step up from those. Yes, it is a light easy read but it is by well published authors (not beginners seeking to make a name for themselves).

The setting is a small town named, Smitten. Because of a recent mill closing, the town needs a new source of revenue in order to stay on the map. Several of the towns "leading ladies" come up with the idea of making Smitten a honeymoon destination. The stories follow each other chronologically, telling about the romances of four women who are hard at work doing their part to save the town.

I enjoyed reading this book. It's a fun little book to read - especially right before Valentine's Day. And I love the cover art, such pretty colors and a fun design. And yes, it is rather a "fluff" book, but there are times (most of the time...) when I just want something easy and enjoyable to read where I know that each story is going to have a happy ending.

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Just so you know.... I got this book free in exchange for my honest review from Thomas Nelson BookSneeze blogger book review program.

Finished Object Friday: A Castle for Two Princesses

The absolute highlight of making cakes - especially theme cakes - is the reaction! And this cake was a big hit with two little princesses, but especially Faithie! I did share a brief preview of this cake back when I made it, but I wanted to give a few more pictures... plus it's time for FOF! ;)

I found the perfect candles for this cake! I was looking for sparkler candles, but didn't find any in pastel colors, but was so excited to find these "magic wand" candles. ;)

 

I got the main idea for a castle cake from the book Creative Cakes Anyone Can Make. (A great book on cake decorating made easy!) Faithie actually looked through the book with me and when we came to the castle cake, we knew it was the one! ;)  I also got some inspiration from Pinterest, of course! I have pinned so many fun cake ideas!!


The two "birthday" girls with their big sister. (We celebrated her birthday last fall, if you remember... with her cake made to order!)

Of course the fun part was eating the castle "turrets!" :)

So what have you been crafting lately (or, like me, not so lately...) :) If you are wondering what Finished Object Friday is, this link is for you! :) Happy Linking!!

An Old Fashioned Work-bee!

Once upon a time, long ago in a land not so very far from where you are, neighbors and friends would gather together to help one another with big projects. Or just maybe it wasn't so very long ago. And just maybe it wasn't very far from where I am... in fact, something like this happened in our own backyard (and house!) just this past weekend! :)

A little back story... we have done a lot of work on our home. Not big remodeling projects, but mostly a little paint here and there has really helped spruce it up. Now we are looking at a home study soon, and we needed a "well-constructed" fence. (wonderful state regulations... you know, just in case our new baby decides to run outside... *wink*) "Well-constructed" was one thing that our fence was not.  So what started out as a kind offer from a friend, ended up in a big work day at our house! :)

First though, here is my hubby taking down the last of the old fencing the week before:

(I happen to think he's quite handsome!) ;)

Then bring on the work crew!! Of course, any crew worth it's salt must have enough "supervisors..."After all, SOMEBODY has to hold up the shovels! :) 

Ok, so maybe they all did work after all... :)

Later that afternoon, after a run for more supplies:

Meanwhile, inside, we gals tackled my pantry - unloaded the whole thing and painted it. More "nesting" than necessary home study prep... but it went a lot faster with us four working! (And I didn't get any pictures...bummer!) My dad also installed some high up latches on our exterior doors in case we get a little one with some wander lust... :) (another homestudy requirement...)

Of couse, we didn't JUST work! There was a lot of yummy food to eat!! Such as pizza...

And birthday cookie....

And cheesecake:

Of course a little nap never hurts either... :)

And of course there is always fun to be had!!!

Thanks to all that came! And the wonderful part is knowing that for every person that came there was probably three or four willing to come help! We have been blessed by such wonderful friends and family. Thank you all for your love, prayers and support for us. You all have been wonderful!

Books, Books, Books....

If you don't know about my love (or obsession...) :) for books, then you haven't been around my blog long. I have a thing for books - good books! So much so, that I don't have shelves enough for all my favorites! (oh, dear!) And I married a guy who loves them almost as much as I do. (It's just one of the interests we share - many of our dates before we were married included a bookstore - and we still love hanging out in one!)

Today is January 12th and I just finished my second book this year.  (wait, maybe there was another one...) I know I could be reading more if I spent less time online, but I still manage to fit quite a bit in. I had fun listing what I read in my "Book List" tab. I didn't list every single book from 2011 on my book list, but counting the ones I listed I read at least 40 books. (I'm going to post my 2011 list below for reference and to remember....)

So what have I finished this year? Well, yesterday I finished Radical by David Platt - highly recommend! (I think it will be a basis for a future blog post... look for it.) :) Tonight I finished Six Ways to Keep the "Little" in Your Girl by Dannah Gresh. I also started it tonight - a super quick read! And SOO good!! I think every mother of young girl(s) should read it!

Last year I had a list of books that I wanted to read. Most of them got read, one or two may have been removed. I still want to read Boundaries in Marriage. I haven't had time to think out my "to read" list for this year. I'll certainly be adding to what I didn't get to in 2011. So many books... soo little time!! :)

Do you have a reading list for 2012? Maybe you have some recommendations for me? I'm always open to suggestions for good books!!

Here's my finished list for 2011:

• Courting Miss Amsel by Kim Vogel Sawyer - Sweet story about a schoolteacher in a rural farm community. She has some "revolutionary" ideas about education and life including wanting women to have the vote! :)
• Choosing to See by MaryBeth Chapman - Excellent book! I was going to read a little bit each day, but once I got started, I couldn't put it down. That's not usually how it is with nonfiction for me! I highly recommend it! What a wonderful inspiration in spite of hardship.
• The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen - Not my favorite of her books for some reason, but it could just have been the mood I was in. Still a good story, but it did take me a while to get through it. (Usually I can NOT put her books down. )
• Grace Chapel Inn Series - A fun relaxing series to read. So far I've read: Tempest in a Teapot and Spring is in the Air
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - the classics deserve to be read and reread and reread...
• Little Men 
• Life with Father by Clarence Day (finished - wouldn't read again or recommend... watch the movie it's better - for once...) :) 
• One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp (Awesome book!! Maybe I'll post a review soon... although there is so much there, it would be hard to know what to talk about!) 
• A Distant Melody - Book One in the Wings of Glory series. Review here.
• A Memory Between Us - Book Two in Wings of Glory series
• Strawberry Girl - I decided it is the summer of children's books... I'm reading some I've either never read or haven't read in a long time! Love this story of settlers in Florida!  
• Miss Match - Eryn Mangum (rereading...there is a short review at the bottom of this post) :)
• Redeeming Romance: Delighting in God's Love by Valorie Quesenberry 
• Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Blue Skies Tomorrow - Book Three in Wings of Glory Series 
• Mr. Harrison's Confessions by Elizabeth Gaskell 
• Several "Ramona" books by Beverly Cleary. 
• The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper (Started out well, but halfway through the plot started going crazy, unbelievable, and hard to follow.)
• Reconstructing Natalie by Laura Jensen Walker - Love this author! This book was about a young woman diagnosed with breast cancer. Poignant and also light, fun reading. 

Book Reviews:

• The Revolutionary Paul Revere by Joel Miller - Very enjoyable biography about a colorful and visionary man. 
• Departures
• Max on Life
• No Place Like Holmes
• Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs 
• How to be God's Little Princess
• Spring for Susannah
• Sir Rowan and the Camerian Conquest
• Love You More  
• Thank you, God, for Loving Me
• A Whisper of Peace  
• The Christmas Singing 
• Wonderland Creek
• 50 Things Every Young Lady Should Know

Finished Object Friday

Happy New Year, All!! I guess you could say I took a little bloggy break. It wasn't really planned, but I have enjoyed having a lot of this week to focus on getting our home back in order. I've really enjoyed doing lots of "puttering" and I have most of our Christmas decor down, AND a lot of my Valentine/Winter decor up. I'll be sure to post some decor pictures, once I get everything done. :)

BUT... now I get to share some of my Christmas craftiness!! Can you guess what these are?

If you guessed pillowcases, you are correct!! Now with this stack, I did have a bit of help. Mom helped with some of the cutting out and a bit of sewing. (But I helped her with her Christmas crafts, so it was a fair trade!) :) Here they are with an actual pillow inside:

I think they turned out pretty fun... and from what I hear, each of the little recipients is enjoying them! These little gals below were the only ones I got to watch open them... all my other little people (cousins... adopted nieces and newphews...) live to far away!

Hmmm... she doesn't look to sure about this fabric thing... :)

 

Now we know what to expect... :)

 

Very excited about her patterns/colors!
It wasn't easy doing three different "pink" cases! I tried to fit them to their personalities! :)


I had a lot of fun picking fabrics. I think that the one that became my favorite, mainly because I think it turned out great for a pre-adolescent boy, is the solar system one! I just thought it was so cool!
(ETA: Oops!! Forgot to add the link to the tutorial I used! Great little tutorial - these were so easy and I love it that all the seams are enclosed! Find it here.) :)

So now you get to share some of your Christmas "craftiness!!" :) (If you had time to do any crafting. Was it just me, or did Christmas just zoom past?)