Book Review: Captivating

Well it took me awhile to get here.

I love to read... love, love, love it. But somewhere between running a business, being a wife and mommy and all the other day to day stuff,... reading was more of a wish than a reality in the last year or so.

Having a baby always changes that for me. In the quiet of the night or around the time of afternoon naps, I can always find time for a good book.

Matt knows this of course, so he got me a Kindle for Christmas and I take that thing with me everywhere!! But even better, I hooked up with a great site for bloggers & readers alike, called BookSneeze. Free books for writing honest reviews - nothing wrong with that!

I recently had the opportunity to read Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul by John Eldredge & Stasi Eldredge and today I am posting my thoughts on this book.

After hearing many wonderful reviews about this book, Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul by John Eldredge & Stasi Eldredge, I was excited to get my hands on a copy! My excitement was short lived as I was quickly disappointed that it did not live up to all of the hype. The general goal of this book is to encourage and teach women how to set their heart free. Through the demands of life, women seem to lose sight of their childhood desires to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a grand adventure, and to unveil beauty and the authors of this book try to encourage women back to a place of accepting that they were created in the image of God.

In the first few chapters, I thought that maybe this book could go somewhere, but sadly after that I felt as though the authors, John Eldredge & Stasi Eldredge, became a little repetitive and in between the main points was a lot of fluff. My other issue with this book was that I had expected it to be much more biblical in nature and that it would use scripture to support its ideas, but the use of scripture paled in comparison to the use of movie references and when scripture was used, it was not always used in its proper context.

Overall, this book took a long time to get through and in the end, I felt like I had gotten very little out of it.

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

Dyson Review

A few weeks ago my fourth vacuum bit the dust. Why I have so much trouble with vacuums, I'll never know. The day the vacuum started spitting out random bits of stuff at me, I began researching for a new one, because I knew it's days were numbered.

I was right - they were.

Even better - all of my research pointed to Dyson. I had been saving my pretty pennies for one, but the old vacuum died a little early and I was sure I was going to have to settle for another less then good brand... but to my surprise, Best Buy had their Dyson's on sale that very week. Yay for me!!!! How was I so lucky?!?!

I was a bit skeptical to spend $350 on a vacuum of all things, but the salesman at Best Buy had a pretty easy sale.

#1. Best Buy gives 100% money back on vacuums if you return them within 30 days of purchase if you aren't satisfied.
#2. Dyson has an 8 YEAR warranty on their vacuums - yep, 8 years. If something goes wrong with it, they will either send someone to fix it, have you come to one of their service centers, or send you a box with postage to send it to them. And the warranty covers everything for 8 years!
#3. It was on SALE! hehe... need I say more?

Well, I made a deal with my husband that we were going to test this thing for the full 30 days and return it if we weren't 100% in love with it. I'm telling you - we have made some big messes - some accidental and some not so accidental - and I couldn't be happier with my Dyson! So far it has stood up against everything my kids have thrown at it.

Here are a few things I love about my Dyson:

#1. The suction power of this vacuum far exceeds every Dirt Devil, Hoover & Bissell we have ever owned.
#2. It is fairly light weight to carry and while vacuuming, it glides very easily along both carpeted and wood floors.
#3. It has handles in all the right places - making carrying this vacuum up and down the stairs much easier then most vacuums.
#4. The power cord on this vacuum is VERY long. In fact, I can can vacuum the whole floor of my house without moving the cord to a different outlet. With other vacuums, I have always had to plug the vacuum in the room I was working in.
#5. The hose on this vacuum has an extra long reach, (I believe it is 17 feet) I live in a house with high ceilings, so this feature is wonderful for me!
#6. It really vacuums on bare floors. Every other vacuum we have ever owned, spits stuff back out on bare floors but this vacuum gets everything!
#7. It is quieter then other vacuums we have owned - in fact - it is quieter then my kids... no really - I can still hear my kids talking - even when it's running.

I'm not going to lie - I was pretty sure this Dyson was going to find it's way back to the store before I tried it, but I am in love with it! I honestly cannot say enough good about this product!!! If you are in the market for a new vacuum, I would highly recommend spending the extra money and getting yourself a Dyson. Mine has been thoroughly kid tested and mother approved!

What is that I just heard?... Oh - the sound of peace and quiet! Well, spring break is over for the kids, so with them off and on their way to school, Brayden can FINALLY have his morning nap back and me - well, I can get back to my blog,... which was something I definitely couldn't fit into the schedule last week.

I know that today is Monday, but I'm hoping to sneak a few blog entries in today, including the memory verse for this week. The verse I have chosen for this week is one that I already have memorized, but after a trying few weeks, this verse is one that gives me great comfort.

This week's verse is: 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Each of us is sure to face many trials in our life - some greater then others, but we need to stay focused on the King. This world is but a temporary place - Don't lose heart!

Playing the Cards

Blogger world,... where have you been? Oh yes - the back of my mind is where it seems. I've been slightly preoccupied the past few weeks... all leading up to today, March 25, 2010. But before I can get to today, let's go back a few years... 12 years to be exact...

(This is my official disclaimer to family...and possibly to strangers too - This post will make you cry - it will bring back memories, both happy and tragic - but it's the life we were given and there are some things that we simply are unable to change.)

This June will be 12 years since my dad took our family to Las Vegas for a two week vacation. I was 17 years old and still to this day it is one of my very favorite memories growing up. Actually, I celebrated my 17th birthday while we were there... my sister however, she got the short end of that deal. We got back the day before her birthday and we spent her birthday at the laundromat - washing 2 weeks worth of laundry. Just ask her and she'll tell you all about it.

This picture was taken on June 29, 1998, my Dad's 43 birthday, on our way to dinner at the Mirage Hotel. Little did any of us know that this was the last birthday my dad would have.

Yes, that is me in the green dress... I like to think that I am like my dad when it comes to parenting styles, a bit overprotective, often laying with my kids till they drift off to sleep, strict with grades, often spoiling them, there for everything that's important to them... however - I am very certain that my dad was crazy to let my sister and I wear dresses that were that short... I am also very certain that Kirsten will never have a dress like either of those in her closet.

That summer was one of the best summers of my entire life - or maybe it was just the timing of it. I went to live with my dad that summer and there are a few things I can recall...

1. A home renovation like no other. I'm serious - the whole "living area" of the house was being redone - the kitchen, living room and a bedroom... For weeks,... yes, weeks, we ate dinner on the porch. I remember the day my dad was sanding the spackling on the sheet rock and how silly he looked when he took off his goggles. haha... He was head to toe dust - except where his goggles had been.
   


2. I also remember that I spent most of that summer working on college applications. I took the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) with full intent on going into the National Guard. Both my grandfather and my dad had been in the military and I wanted to join... My dad did everything to talk me out of it - though I know he would have supported my decision had I decided to join.
   


3. Finally, I spent my summer learning how to drive in my dad's red Chevy pickup. You want to know how to make me cry instantly...? Well, there are a few ways, but one of them... Just play the song "When Daddy Let Me Drive," by Alan Jackson...
   
   

   "A young girl, two hands on the wheel, I can't replace the way it, made me feel, And he'd say, turn it left now, and steer it right, Straighten up girl now, you're doin' just fine, Just a lil' valley by the river where we'd ride, But I was high on a mountain, when daddy let me drive"
   

   
   

   Are you singing it yet? Well, that's exactly how I remember learning how to drive.

That fall, November 1, 1998, my dad was killed in a work accident. To make a long story short - he was an electrician, and while testing some wires, one short circuited and he was gone.

That was, hands down, the hardest day of my entire life.

For 10 years I dealt with the grief of losing my dad and on the 10 year anniversary of his death, I realized that I needed to live my life and not let the grief consume me anymore. See, I had convinced myself that when I stopped hurting, when I moved on, he would be gone, and I would forget. And that was my biggest fear.

But somehow, I managed to get past the grief - and I felt good - and I quickly learned that getting past that grief didn't mean that I had forgotten. I'll never forget, but now I am able to focus on more then just his death.

On March 24, 2009, 5 months after the 10 year anniversary of my father's death, I bought a book while out running errands. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. How do I remember that - well, I used the receipt as a bookmark - that's how. I started reading it the next day when I was at the bus stop, waiting for Kirsten's school bus.

You might think I am exaggerating at this next part but I swear to you it's the truth - pg 17, "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand," and then my phone rang. My brother had been in an accident, critical condition, they were looking for my stepmom. I was frantic - trying to get everything straight. The minutes flew by as I tried to figure out what was going on, trying to get in touch with people,....

And then my phone rang again - He was gone.

To make another long story short - my brother had been working on a dump truck, when the bed of the truck fell - killing him.

This one year anniversary has hit me rather hard. Perhaps it's the fact that this is the second person in my immediate family to die - but not just die - die in a tragic accident. Maybe I just don't deal with grief well. Maybe it's because I never dealt with it to begin with since I found out I was pregnant a few days later and I had to push my grief aside because I was too scared of losing a baby too. It's probably a little of all of it.

But I do have some comfort. My family is not a "religious" family. (Yet somehow I fell in love with and married a pastor's kid) I started going to church around 9th grade or so, but my family didn't come. Yet that Sunday before March 25, 2009, my brother went to church - for the first time that I know of... but not just any church - my father-n-law's church. And my father-n-law gave an invitation that Sunday and AJ accepted. That was three days before he died.

I can't tell you this side of Heaven why certain people have to die when they do. As I sit here today on this 1st anniversary of AJ's death - I might cry my eyes out all day long - and I have - because I know he is gone and I miss him - But I know where he is and I know I will get to see him again. Yes - I have seen tragedy in my life, but I've also been blessed way beyond what I have ever deserved!

But I take comfort in the promise of Jesus, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die." John 11:25-26

My God is great & He keeps His promises.

Someday I'll see you again AJ...

I'll see you again.

Moments They'll Remember

This post was supposed to be ready for yesterday.... however, the time change finally got the best of me and I fell asleep early - very early. So early in fact, that I was up well before the alarm even thought to go off this morning, so enjoy yesterday's post & hopefully - despite the gorgeous weather and beautiful sunshine - I'll get my post for today up too!

Yes - I'm one of those overly sappy mothers that get a little too emotional when I realize how quickly my kids are growing up. I let them climb in my bed when they have nightmares, I pick them up and carry them up the stairs at night, I let them climb up on my lap when we read a story, because I know that this time is limited - that soon they will be grown and I won't be able to carry them anymore.

Not to say that I wouldn't have been a sappy mother regardless, but it probably doesn't help that my father died very suddenly in a work accident when I was a senior in high school - or the fact that a year ago this month, my little brother was killed in an accident while working on a dump truck. Both very sudden - both without saying good-bye - both leaving me clinging to all those precious family memories from when I was a kid.

Sure I can recall lots of different memories from growing up, but some of my favorite memories come from simple, precious moments, spent as a family. Fortunately for me - there are many - and I hold them very dear to my heart.

One Saturday several weeks ago, I woke up and decided out of nowhere that I was going to cook a big breakfast for the family. It was a few weeks after Brayden was born, and I was finally starting to feel like a normal person again. (For those of you who don't know, I had some really bad hip issues following Brayden's birth and had some problems walking, moving, etc. for a little over a month) We aren't big breakfast people - mainly because Matt hates breakfast food. How is that possible you ask? I don't know! - but we had all slept in that day, it was past time for breakfast, but not time for lunch and we had lots of errands to run - so I thought maybe a big breakfast sounded good.

So anyway, I got up, dusted off the griddle and got busy mixing pancake batter, cooking sausage and scrambling eggs. The kids loved it - and I think Matt even enjoyed it too.

Then the next week I decided to do it again and before I knew it, I was cooking a big breakfast every Saturday morning. What started off as a virtuous mission one Saturday morning, had quickly turned into one of my families favorite times of the week.

When we do our meal planning for the next week, my kids love deciding what will be on our Saturday morning breakfast menu - blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, french toast and the list goes on and on. There is nothing better then family time on a lazy Saturday morning and I love that over the past several weeks, my kids have come to look forward to our Saturday morning "tradition."

Our Saturday morning "tradition" may seem a little silly to some, but I love that it's something special for our family and that it brings us a little closer. In the busy hustle and bustle of our lives, it's so nice to have a time to enjoy each other that isn't rushed... and I hope that several years down the road, when my kids are all grown - and maybe have kids of their own - that our silly little tradition might bring back warm moments they'll remember and cherish.

How do you and your family find ways to spend time with one another? Feel free to share in the comments section... Don't have a family "tradition" of your own - it's not too late to start one today.

Here we are at week #2! Hopefully you didn't have too much trouble getting up this morning with losing an hour of sleep. I know I always hate losing the hour, but I can't complain too much!! For at least the next week or so, the kids won't be waking up at 6am because the sun is streaming through their windows... and I love that we'll have sunshine for an extra hour in the evening! Though the thought of having Brayden's finely tuned nursing schedule disrupted might be a hassle to fix!

I hope that last week's verse - Proverbs 16:3, was able to encourage your spirit! This week I will be memorizing another verse and I hope that you will join me!

This weeks I have chosen Hebrews 11:6 - "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Use whatever method you like to memorize this verse and I hope that you have a wonderful week. I would love to hear your comments on my first full week of blogging and if there are any topics you might be interested in, please let me know.

As Long As It Takes

Maybe it's just me, but isn't it funny how some people get so crazy, excited, even a little protective, when it comes to their alma mater? Of course, I'm not referring to myself at all... Ok, so maybe a little.

I'm a very proud graduate from Liberty University and I feel so very blessed to have been able to spend 4 years of my life as a student there. In fact, if I could have my own way, I would live so much closer to Lynchburg, VA then I do right now! I get a little excited when I hear news about the growth of the school and all the changes that are taking place there. I get protective when I hear people talk about Liberty in a negative way - especially in regards to Dr. Falwell. And I'll admit, I do get a little crazy (In a good way of course!) when I know that I am going to be able to go back for a visit - even if it's only for a day or two... and I get very emotional when it's time to leave.

Liberty University represents so much more to me then just a university built on the side of a mountain - It is the place where I learned more about myself in 4 years then I had in 18 years of my life to that point... it is the place where God found me and picked up the pieces of my very broken heart following the sudden death of my dad just months before... it is the place where he knocked on the door of my heart - and where I would answer. Yes - I do love my alma mater.

I am now 481 miles away from Lynchburg, VA, and I always find it rather exciting when I am out and see someone in my area that went to LU. It happens much more often then you would expect. It always catches me off guard - like the night I was in Wegmans and some guy stopped me and asked me if I actually went to LU... and we chatted for a few minutes about what years we graduated, majors, etc. Or the 3 separate times I have been stopped in Walmart by 2 different graduates and a guy who has a daughter in school there right now.

When we started looking for a church in our area, one of the first one's that we looked at was one that my father-in-law had worked at many years ago as a youth leader. To our surprise, as we were checking out the church we found out that our Senior Pastor went to Liberty as well. I know, I know - there are lots of pastors out there who went to LU, but I still think it's cool. (I guess I'm just proving my point about alma mater's,... hehe).

So anyway, getting to the real point of this blog, I remember it was either my sophomore or junior year in college that I took a FACS class and one of my classmates names was Meredith Andrews. Yep - recording artist - Meredith Andrews... Now, I'm in no way claiming that I was best friends with her or anything like that at all. If I recall correctly, we had two or three classes together and that was about it. But I do remember her singing at convocation and church from time to time and that I loved her voice. So, when she came out with her first CD a few years ago, I was super excited to get my copy - and listened to it ALL the time! If you listen to Christian radio at all, you've heard several of the songs on that album titled The Invitation - You Invite Me In, You're Not Alone, just to name a few.

Well, on March 2, 2010, Meredith released her sophomore album titled "As Long As It Takes." Of course I bought it when it came out and have listened to it everyday since and well - here's what I have to say about it: If there is any CD that you decide to buy in the near future - this is the CD!! I love a lot of Christian music, but if I had to compare it to another artist, my first thought when I listened to it was Natalie Grant, (another artist I love). Meredith has an amazing voice and a heart for Jesus that shines through every song on this album. Every song will both encourage you and challenge you to live for Jesus.

Here is a video link from Meredith Andrews about this newest album:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid35374378001?bctid=69545340001

If you would like to get your copy of Meredith Andrews, As Long As It Takes, you can visit her website - http://www.meredithandrews.com/. Even better - if you purchase your CD by tomorrow, 3/14/10 you can get a second CD free. Keep one in the house and one in the car OR you can pass that second CD along to someone you know in need of a little encouragement!