Youth Trip/Camp

Wow!  There has been a ton going on since I last put a post on here!  My daughter left for Youth Trip/Camp on Saturday morning this past weekend!  

First stop was St. Louis.  They went to the arch for lunch and a tour and then the St. Louis zoo. 

 My daughter took this amazing picture of the arch before going up in it.  She said she was scared to go up.

The view from her trip to the top of the arch.

The next morning they got up and went to the Cardinals baseball field for a private tour.

After a tour of the field, they headed to Chicago for a "mystery event".  The youth pastor would not tell any of them what they were going to be doing.  How fun!!

I don't have any pics of that event because they wound up going on a pirate ship super duper late at night!!  They were so worn out and her phone had died that she didn't have access to get pics to me yet.  Will post those at a later time!!

Now they are officially in Wisconsin at camp.  Phones and iPods have been taken away for the week!   I will have to update you all about her trip when she returns.

Book Review - Shades of Morning

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Summary:


Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way away from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that’s nobody else’s business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church—they all think she’s the very model of compassion and kindness.

Then Marnie’s past creeps into her present when her estranged sister dies and makes Marnie guardian of her fifteen-year-old son—a boy Marnie never knew existed. And when Emmit arrives, she discovers he has Down syndrome—and that she’s woefully unprepared to care for him. What’s worse, she has to deal with Taylor Cole, her sister’s attorney, a man Marnie once loved—and abandoned. As Emmit (and Taylor) work their way into her heart, Marnie begins to heal. But when pieces of her dismal past surface again, she must at last face the scripts of paper in her box, all the regrets and sorrows. Can she do it? Or will she run again?

Author Bio:

Marlo Schalesky is the author of several books, including Beyond the Night and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University , Marlo also has a masters of theology with an emphasis in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Married over twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their five children in California .

My Thoughts:

What an unbelievably great book!!  Heart-wrenching - to say the least!!  I was hesitant that this book was going to be very good.  Guess that proves you don't judge a book by its cover.  This is such a beautiful story about a young woman out on her own finding her way after having many hurts in her life.  As the story unfolds you will find yourself wanting to call Marnie up and tell her what she should do.  For Marnie, a quiet life in a peaceful neighborhood is the perfect life for her.  Then her world turns upside down as she finds out her sister has passed away and has left her (Marnie) the guardian of her teenage down syndrome child.  What a huge step for this single woman!  The sweetness of this child will utterly bring you to tears.  Watching the daily struggles in this life is so overwhelming!  Along with this, she is reconnected with her past love that she abandoned.  She wants desperately to get away from him and move on but this story keeps her hanging on in one way or the other. 

I highly recommend anyone to read this book!!  It is definitely a keeper!!

Workout/Weight Update

I am a little late on reporting on my monthly weigh in.  Because of the holiday (July 4th) my weigh in was actually late.  Here's what happened:

When I weighed in on July 6th, I was actually not looking forward to it AT ALL!!  I had just come off of a 4 day holiday weekend with parties every single day and good food!!  I woke up the morning of the 6th dreading the weigh in & actually asked the good Lord for help on my weight issue.  (haha) 

Going into the gym with a defeated attitude, I hesitantly stepped onto the scale and watched the numbers as my trainer was standing by.  Would you know.......to the surprise of me and my trainer.....I had lost 7 LBS!!!!!  woohoo!!!  AND within the next week I had lost 3 MORE!!!!!!!  I have lost a total of 10 LBS!!!  I am floating on cloud 9 about now!!  Hopefully it is still gone!

I had even gone to my monthly Dr's check up and he was very impressed with my weight loss and asked me what I had been doing! 

I must admit, I truly believe that the MAIN reason I am losing is because I cut out ALL pop!!  I know it's in combination with working out and watching what I eat but the main push happened when I decided to cut out the pop.  What an exciting day!!!!!  I am so pumped every morning to get up and go work out now!  I actually tend to miss it on the weekends.  How wierd!!

Can't wait to see what my weight is come August!!!  Good luck to everyone else out there working at this, also!

Blog Hop

I've recently been introduced (by my friend Loren) to a new book blog hop!  You can see all about it here!!

Jennifer (from Crazy-for-Books.com) has asked us to share who our favorite authors are and why they are our favorites.  I truly do not have a "favorite" author.  I tend to read so many different books that I haven't found the "one" that I HAVE to read everytime a book comes out.  I have though, enjoyed reading Liz Curtis Higgins, Francine Rivers and Stephanie Meyers.  Along with many, many others!!  These are the ones that have just stood out to me in the past and I have continued to read a lot of the books they have written.

Now it's time for me to "HOP" along & find some new book/blog friends!!  ENJOY!

Summertime Farming

Well, last week I put out a teaser about where I had been for a while.  Here's the details:

Every summer, we go up to the family's farm in Kansas and harvest wheat!!  Yes, city girl gone country!!  Kinda feel like Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman...Lol!!

We helped harvest 1800 acres of wheat this year.  My husband drives a combine and I help with the cooking and taking food (lunch and dinner) to the field to feed the guys!  It's a lot of work but a lot of fun!  Definitely gives you a new appreciation for the farmer and how we get our food!!  24/7 work that never ever stops!!!

Here are some pics to show you our adventure!  My 13 year old daughter went with us this year for the first time ever!!  She liked being a country girl for a limited amount of time!!  You'll see in the pics that you can't take the city out of the girl!!  EVER!

My hubby driving the combine.  If you look close you can see his little body inside the cab and my daughter sitting beside him.

The grain cart unloading wheat onto the semi and the combine unloading onto the graincart!!  haha

Bottle feeding the baby calves!!  They were so funny!!

Hannah was sooooo excited because she got to drive the 4 wheeler by herself for the first time ever!  She thought she had died and gone to heaven!

Getting the cattle up so we can feed them their cake (we call it their "crack").  They literally try to get into the back of the truck because they go crazy for the cake!!

Feeding time!!

The line for food!!

Two of the cows would eat right out of your hand.  Hannah thought that was kinda gross!!

Eating in the field!!

And eating!

And eating!!

Remember:  You can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl!!  Looking for signal in the wheat fields!  haha!!!

Beautiful!

Downtime in the field!

My handsome farmer hubby enjoying a meal in the field! 

Our last dinner in the field!! 

Until next year!!!!

Book Review: The Daniel Fast

This book was provided for review by Tyndale and this review expresses my honest opinion.

I have had this book for a while (too long really).  I'm more of a fan of the fiction novels than I am of informational books.  That's probably why it took every fiber in my body to read this book and complete it.  I must say that it is eye opening!

The author, Susan Gregory, wrote The Daniel Fast based on scripture that is found in Daniel 1 and 10.  The Daniel Fast is what I would call a "partial fast".  It focuses on eating only pulse foods and vegetables and fruits that come from seeds (reference Daniel 1:12) and staying away from meat, sweets (oh no!!) and wine (reference Daniel 10:3).  In the scriptures you will find that it is for 21 days, and the book gives a plan for 21 days also, but obviously you can do this for as long as you feel like.

She teaches you how to fast in a healthy way, follow a 21 day plan (or longer), create healthy meals, participate in a group and learn how to listen to God.  There are hows and whys listed all through the book with great scripture references and she also shares menu plans with a ton of recipes to help you along with this fast. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that would like to grow deeper and find their purpose in life.  You can read the first chapter HERE.  You can also go to THE DANIEL FAST WEBSITE  to find out more.

Where Have I Been You Ask??

I just realized it has been a while since I have written a post on my blog!  Shame on me!!

This is a hint as to what I have been up to:

MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW!!!!!!!!!!

Book Review - Indivisible

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Summary:
An inseparable bond.

An insatiable force.

Battling his own personal demons, Police Chief Jonah Westfall knows the dark side of life and has committed himself to eradicating it. When a pair of raccoons are found mutilated in Redford, Colorado, Jonah investigates the gruesome act, knowing the strange event could escalate and destroy the tranquility of his small mountain town. With a rising drug threat and never-ending conflict with Tia Manning, a formidable childhood friend with whom he has more than a passing history, Jonah fights for answers—and his fragile sobriety.

But he can’t penetrate every wound or secret—especially one fueled by a love and guilt teetering on madness.

 

My Thoughts:

This book was not my favorite book to read.  I really struggled with trying to get through it.  The storyline was really confusing and there was so much going on that I just couldn't seem to keep it all straight and caught up.  Too many questions left unanswered.  I hate doing a negative review but I do want to be honest.  I personally would not recommend this book.  So sorry.

If you would like to read an excerpt of the book go here.

Workout/Weigh-In Update!!

Well, it has officially been a month (actually a few days over) since I started working out with a personal trainer at a local gym.  I must say when I did the weigh-in and measurements on June 1, I wasn't very happy!!! 

May 1 - weigh in & measurements
June 1 - measurements - lost fat
             weigh in - gained 5 lbs!!!  WHAT!!!!!!!???????

Yes, you read that right!   No typo!!  I know when you work out you're going to gain muscle but 5 lbs worth?!?!?!  What in the world?!

Don't be down!!   I have good news to report today!!!  When I saw the 5 lb weight gain, I put my lifestyle into hyper drive!!  I decided I couldn't stand the number on the scale so, I revamped my diet to an EXTREME!!  AND I went to the nutrition store and bought things they suggested.  Soooo, without further ado...

Monday - Friday, I am eating EXTREMELY different than usual:
Breakfast - Protein shake (after workout) and a banana
Lunch - Salad with grilled chicken and light dressing
Supper - Grilled chicken breast, a vegetable (broccoli usually) and a small salad with light dressing
Snacks - Include:  peanut butter crackers, sugar-free jello pudding and/or peaches with cottage cheese
AND, I cut out ALL pop & caffeinated drinks!!!  BOO!

I decided that I was going to do this M-F and on the weekends, I would do whatever.  I'm definitely not going to gorge on the weekends but I'm just not gonna worry so much about keeping with the menu.  Along with all of this, I am drinking a pre-workout energy drink and taking a pill that was suggested by my nutrition store.

I am happy to announce today that after 3 days on this program, I lost 4 LBS!!!!!!  YES, YES, YES!!!  3 days...4 lbs!!  That gave me the boost I needed to continue my new gameplan!

How is your weight loss/workout plan going?  Would love to hear some other successful ideas.

Memorial Day Weekend

This is how we spent our Memorial Day Weekend!!  HOW MUCH FUN IS THAT!!!  We have such a wonderful group of friends!

How did you spend your holiday weekend?

Thank you to all of the those who have served or are serving to keep freedom ringing!!