Review of The Last Bride by Beverly Lewis

The Last Bride is book 5 in the Home to Hickory Hollow series.  It's a familiar place with some new characters and some old friends.

Tessie Miller has seen her sisters marry and has been secretly courting Marcus King.  Secretly, because her father has forbade them to court for reasons unknown to anyone and has picked a different man for Tessie to marry.  It appears that her father did the same thing to Tessie's sister.

Tessie and Marcus go behind her father's back, to the English world, to elope.  They come back to the Amish to live separately and sneak to be with each other.  Then tragedy strikes and Tessie has hard choices to make.  

I loved this book.  I liked that it wasn't the usual Amish book.  It was more than two Amish people courting.  It was about the genetics of an almost closed Amish culture and how secrets can hurt people and relationships.  It was as always an excellent book from Beverly Lewis.

I received a complimentary copy from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

Review of A Shining Light by Judith Miller

Synopsis of A Shining Light by Judith Miller:

Andrea Wilson is a young wife and mother living in Baltimore.  She lives in a small apartment with her young son and husband, when he's not at sea.  The book begins with Andrea receiving the news that her husband has been lost at sea, although no body has been found.  With the little "pension" she receives she decides to move with her son to her father's farm in Iowa.

Once there she discovers that he perished in a fire that also burned the house down.  To make matters even more desperate she learns that her father had sold his farm to the Amana Colonies before his death but she is unable to locate the money he received from the sale.  Because her father didn't believe in banks she believes the money perished in the fire with him. 

With no money and no place to go, the people at the Amana Colonies invite her to live with them until she is able to make a decision about her future.  She is put to work in one of the kitchens and lives above it with the kitchen boss.  Her son makes friends with the tinsmith, Dirk Knefler, and soon a romance develops between Andrea and Dirk.

Then the unthinkable happens that turns Andrea's world upside down. 

Review:  I loved this book.  I am a fan of books about the Amana Colonies and books by Judith Miller.  The characters are well-developed and the plot is full of twists and turns.  I like that the two main characters acknowledge their interest in each other early on and don't have miscommunications about it. 

One thing I didn't care for was it was written in first person and broken up into different characters' viewpoints.  I got confused a few times about who was writing even though the sections are labeled.  I just get into a book and it's hard to reframe my thinking when somethings different.

I received a complimentary copy of A Shining Light by Judith Miller from Bethany House.  All opinions are my own.

Review: Where Courage Calls by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan

Where Courage Calls is a novel written by mother/daughter team Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan. 

Beth Thatcher has spent her life so far living in wealth.  She decides to follow in her namesake Aunt's footsteps and move west to be a teacher.  When she arrives in the mining town of Coal Valley she is shocked to discover poverty beyond belief.  Coal Valley recently experienced the death of many miners after an explosion leaving widows and children struggling to survive on the meager pension given out by the mining company.  How Beth handles the hardships she finds is the heart of the story.  Even though Beth comes as a seemingly spoiled rich girl she learns quickly how to befriend and help the people in Coal Valley. 

I love all books by Janette Oke and this one did not disappoint me.  I like that the main character (Beth) was able to quickly make decisions about how to help the people or if she just needed to live with the way things are.  There is romance and suspense.  The book kind of resolved things in the end but left some hanging.  I hope there's a sequel.

I was given a complimentary copy to review by Bethany House Publishers.  I was not required to write a positive review.  My opinion is my own.

A Match Made in Texas review

This is a review for A Match Made in Texas, four novellas in one by authors Karen Witemeyer, Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings and Carol Cox.

I don’t normally read novellas because they are too short.  I like to get involved in my books and not have them end right when I’m getting comfortable.  And that’s the way I felt with this book.  I struggled to want to finish it because I didn’t get invested in the characters.  There were also some typos that made it difficult to read at times.  I felt like there wasn’t much development with plots and characters.

If you like novellas you might like this book.

I received a complimentary copy from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

Time4learning Review

On November 7, I wrote that I was reviewing a homeschool program by Time4learning.  Well, our free month has ended and I wanted to tell you how it went.

The site was easy to register with and log in to.  Our daughter is 5 so I started her at the Kindergarten level.  The site was easily navigated by her on our laptop.  She loved "doing school."  In one month's time she actually progressed to first grade level in all three areas:  math, language arts and science.  She would remember the characters as she saw them in different lessons.  A few lessons didn't seem to load completely and so we had to skip them.  Later on I figured out that I hadn't given it enough time to load.

One negative:  one of the science lessons was about the life cycle and how living creatures begin.  The question was asked which came first, the chicken or the egg.  As a Christian I know the answer is the chicken because God made all the animals but this program took the view that we don't know which came first.  I realize it's not intended to be a Christian based program but to even tackle that question seemed inappropriate.

All in all, I liked the program for my daughter at the Kindergarten level.  I have already registered her with an online school which will start towards the end of January.  Time4learning has offered us another free month with a month paid.  I am considering that option as we need something to fill in until the online school starts.  Since this is familiar to her, it would probably be easiest to do.  If it were completely free I would continue to use it.

Even though Time4learning.com has compensated us with a free month of lessons, they did not require a positive review, only our honest opinions.

Time4Learning Review

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid curriculum review. Time4Learning offers an online curriculum for prek-12th, information about homeschool portfolio reviews and tools like the How to Homeschool Guide. Be sure to come back and read about my experience.

The Garden -- August 5, 2013

I finally had my phone on me to take some pictures of the garden.  

 My bush of 3 tomato plants that are doing the best.  I didn't get them staked so they're sprawling all over.

 This is the tomato plant that had the first tomato.  It's finally growing.

 I think this is a cucumber that I planted late. 

I have a bunch of tomatoes getting big.

 Kohlrabi.  I picked one and Dan ate it. 

 The pumpkin plant that has taken over the back fence.  The is just one plant.

 And here's one of my little pumpkins.

So it

 I think this is zucchini.

So it hasn't been a huge success but not a total failure either.

Book review: "A Siimple Change" by Judith Miller

I am a huge fan of historical fiction.  I long for a simpler life and community and I love the idea of the Amana colonies.  I read anything about that subject on which I can get my hands.  "A Simple Change" was not disappointing.

"A Simple Change" is about Jancey Rhoder and her family who move to the Amana colonies in 1881.  Jancey's parents grew up and met in the colonies but moved away to avoid the one year waiting period for them to get married.  Jancey was born and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri the daughter of a successful business owner.  Her parents want to move back to the colonies so her ill mother can live out the rest of her life in a more peaceful place.  Jancey, a volunteer teacher at an orphanage in Kansas City, chooses to move with to stay close to her mother.

What ensues is a less sedate life than Jancey expected.  She immediately obtains a suitor, gets caught up in a mystery and has her former suitor travel to rescue her.  Along with all that Jancey has to decide if she's going to remain in the colonies after her mother passes.  She is educated and longs to be a teacher again but her job in the colonies is cleaning and laundry. 

"A Simple Change" was full of drama and intrigue.  I finished it well before I expected to considering it is over 350 pages.  I loved it.  There are some editing tasks that still need to be done but that didn't deter me.  It is written in first person which is not my usual preference but I barely noticed it.  If you have an interest in historical fiction, particularly the Amana colonies, I would highly recommend this book as it gives factual information about the colonies included with the dramatic fiction.

*I received a complimentary copy of "A Simple Change" from Baker Publishing for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

July 2, 2013: How does my garden grow?

Today is July 2, 2013 and time for an update on the garden.  

 I have three tomato plants doing well ....

 and two kind of smallish.

 One tomato plant did not survive.

 I have four kohlrabi plants in two different sizes.

 Looking good!

 Here are two of the four pumpkin plants.  The other two are on the sides.

And two pathetic looking zucchini.  There's a third equally pathetic on the other side.

 

Cucumbers and lettuce did not survive.

I think, because I want to cast blame somewhere other than me, that our rainy season has had something to do with the poor growth we've had.  For almost two weeks it seemed like it rained every day.  Up until this week every field around us had a lake and most of the fields around here are drain tiled.  We even had our own LaLake that Lilyana was able to use as a waterpark for two days.

And don't get me started on the fly-sized mosquitoes.  My new not-so-favorite perfume is called Deet.  I can't decide what's worse:  the chemicals in deet or the diseases from mosquitoes.

 Hopefully by August we'll be eating something from this garden ... definitely the kohlrabi.

Does she need glasses?

On May 30 we took Lilyana  for her 5 year well  check.  The nurse did a basic eye exam with one of those spoonlike things (hereinafter known as "the spoon").  As Lilyana had her right eye covered we noticed that she was trying to peek around the spoon.  The nurse declared her vision 20/30 and suggested we could take her to an eye doctor.

So I finally made the appointment and we took her in today.  The doctor was very patient with her.  He did her right first and she did well.  Then came the left.  After one or two lines she definitely had some problems.  He then suggested that we dilate her eyes.  He actually wanted us to take her home for a few days, get her used to drops and bring her back but I didn't want to do that.  I just don't have time to be running back and forth.  So he examined her eyes again after dilation and confirmed his original diagnosis.  She is slightly farsighted in her right eye and much more farsighted in her left to the point he feels the left eye is not working as much as the right.  He explained that if left alone the left eye might possibly become lazy and the right become nearsighted.  Or the left would just stop working.  Dan's mother had one of each.  He explained it had most likely been that way since birth.  When we told him she was premature he said it was a risk factor.

So the bottom line is she will get glasses to gradually bring the left in balance with the right.  She'll go back in 8 weeks and before six months to be evaluated and possibly have the power adjusted.  She may not have to wear glasses forever; just until the eyes are working equally together.  We tried to pick the best looking glasses from the ones insurance pays for.  Fortunately insurance should pay for all of it because she doesn't need complicated lenses like Dan and me.

It's 9 days after June 1st when I was going to update you on my garden.  Nothing has been going on since I planted it ... except watering.  In Minnesota we have barely seen the sun or 70 degrees so the plants aren't growing.

However, yesterday when I went out to water I found this ....

Yes, that is a tiny tomato.  

On my two early girl plants.  

I'm not sure it will amount to much considering the plant is this tall ...

When I bought my tomato plants, two of them already had one or two blossoms.  Thus the tomatoes.  I probably should have plucked the flowers but I didn't think it would take this long for the plants to grow.

Praying for warmth and sun.  

Too bad my brother didn't pack some on his way here from Las Vegas where I heard it's 110 degrees.

Hopefully July 1 will be full of tall plants and growing fruits and vegetables.

Today is Saturday, May 25, 2013.  I braved the cold and mist to plant my garden today.  Here are the plants.

 3 tomato plants in this bale

 3 tomato plants in this bale

 1 cucumber on top of this bale

 1 cucumber on the inside edge of the same bale

 1 cucumber on the outside of the same bale

 4 kohlrabi in a 4th bale

 1 pumpkin on the outside edge of a 5th bale

 2 pumpkins on the top of the same bale

 1 pumpkin on the outside corner of a 6th bale

 6 "red sails" lettuce on top of the 6th bale

 1 zucchini on the outside edge of 7th bale

 1 zucchini on the top of 7th bale

 1 zucchini on the end of 7th bale

 1 zucchini on the inside edge of 7th bale

The idea with the vines/crawling plants (cucumbers, pumpkins and zucchini) is that we will train them to cover all the bales.  Instead of trailing out into the grass they will climb up and around the bales.

 These two pictures are the whole layout with tomatoes on the left and zucchini on the right.

I had originally planned only to put stakes and wire on one side of the tomatoes.  But Dan thought that enclosing the whole thing might be better to keep the critters (including Cinder) from eating things.  We got two sides secure (the far side and the end with the bales).  We ran out of time for the other two sides.  Now that we've had enough rain for a little bit, I'll be anxiously waiting for the sun to warm things up more.

Wow!  It's been exactly ten months since I've written anything on here.  It isn't because nothing is going on.  I've been very busy with adding jobs and leaving jobs.  I am now working 50+ hours a week between my own business, a full-time pca job and three bookkeeping jobs.  We've decided to homeschool Lilyana and I've begun a straw bale garden.

For the rest of the summer I will be updating this as my garden progresses.  I'll post any day that I do something and around the first of every month I'll post a picture of how the garden looks.  I hope to keep track of how much I've spent and how much yield I get.  But for now enjoy the beginnings of my garden.

Early in May I was bemoaning the fact that having a “normal” garden is too hard for me.  Our soil is full of clay which makes it very hard to till and weed.  I have a lot of pain from various disorders and just cannot do the stooping or sitting or kneeling required to maintain the garden.  I work more than full time so I knew I wouldn't have the time to commit to a traditional garden.  In addition, a group of people came and cut wood for us in March and about five dump truck loads of wood are on top of my garden area right now. 

We didn’t have one last year (2012) and I was resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t have one this year (2013) either. Then a friend of mine posted about her straw bale garden.  So I did a little research and posted on FB that I was thinking about doing it.  Then another friend pointed me to her friend's site.  This friend of hers has been doing a straw bale garden since 2009.  So I read and reread and reread her site.  So much good information.  I emailed her and she has given me so much more and answered all my questions.

And now I thought I’d record, as a sort of journal, in detail what I’ve done this year so I can go back and remember for next year.  I’ll know how to change things if I need to.  I’m going to keep track of each day that I do something and take pictures on the first of each month (or close to it as we will be gone the first three weekends in June).

It all began by us contacting a local farmer in May to get some bales.  He charged us $3 each and we got 7 bales.  I decided smaller is better for my first year.  I chose to use all blood meal as my main conditioning fertilizer and after researching on Amazon and other sources on the internet decided to go to the local feed mill in Gaylord.  They had 50 lb bags of blood meal for $41.  It slightly beat Amazon’s price, I supported a local business and was assured that it could be kept from year to year.

With bales, blood meal and water in hand we put out the bales and started the conditioning.  These pictures are of the bales after we set them out and before we started conditioning.  We put some old carpeting in the center to keep the grass/weeds down.  Next year I'll probably spread the bales from this year as a weed free bedding.

The recipe I followed is the same as Carrie’s.

Day one (May 11):  ½ cup blood meal and water – I also ordered my fertilizer for day ten (Dr. Earth 5-7-3 and Dr. Earth 6-4-6). 

Day two (May 12):  water

Day three (May 13):  ½ cup blood meal and water

(May 14):  we were gone all day and didn’t get back until late so I skipped this day

Day four (May 15):  water

Day five (May 16):  ½ cup blood meal and water

Day six (May 17):  water

Day seven, eight and nine (May 18, 19, 20):  ¼ cup blood meal and water each day

(May 21 and 22):  I was super busy and it rained for 1 ½ days.  On Tuesday, May 22 I got the package from Amazon which had been damaged in transit and it was one box of fertilizer short.  I chatted online with Amazon and they next day shipped me the item at no charge.

Day ten (May 23):  1 cup 10-10-10 fertilizer and water – I combined four cups of each of the Dr. Earth fertilizers and put one cup on each bale. 

And these are the pictures after I finished day ten.   

Now any day I’m ready to put up stakes and wire and plant.  I plan to take pictures after I’m done with the planting and will post it at that time.

Stay tuned to see how this first time garden experiment goes...

Homeschool

One Year. 

That's how much time we have to decide what Lilyana will do for schooling.  I am torn between homeschooling and the local charter school.

I want to homeschool because I want her to have the time she needs each day to do her school work.  If she needs more time than is allowed in "regular" school, then she should have it.  If she works fast (like I do) and gets her school work done, I want her to be free to do what she wants.  No sitting around in class bored while other kids finish their work.  I also want to be her first teacher and see her learn and discover.

The advantage to sending her to the local charter public school is that she will be able to interact with other kids, be in classes that include older kids and get a chance to learn how to behave in a classroom -- taking turns, listening to the teacher, no talking unless given permission.  So really this option is more for social interaction and social learning than academic learning.

Since we can't afford preschool, the academic learning she'd receive there is being done at home.  I plan to work on printing, more math and reading this year.  Preschool would also be good for the social learning which she doesn't get at home.

In either case, I am always on the look out for homeschool material, just in case or as an addition to learning at away from home school, should we choose that option.  While doing this I recently came across a huge giveaway of homeschool material for all ages, $700 worth.  Imagine how giddy I would be if I were to win this.  I might even share it with other homeschool moms I know.

I welcome comments to give me food for thought as we make this decision.

Summer

My senses came alive as I laid on the trampoline with my baby girl.

The sounds of birds singing, guns shooting, traffic moving.

The smells of canvas, wood smoke

The sights of blue sky, yellow sun, white clouds, green grass

The feel of cool grass, hard rocks

The taste of juicy, messy watermelon.

We'll ignore anything that's not to love about summer.  Today is all about summer fun.

The Relaxing Swing

I have a swing outside where I can put up my feet, tip back my head, close my eyes and relax the stress away.  I call it my relaxing swing.  I also have two companions on my relaxing swing.

One companion likes to relax with me, laying on my lap, sleeping and playing me music.
The other companion likes to move, crawl, kick off people and animals and just generally be the boss of the swing.

I put it off for as long as I can but eventually, even though I crave the stillness, the perpetually in motion four-year-old trumps the still, calm, purring furrball.

May 1

I bet you're all wondering what I was doing 4 years ago today.  I know, you've been waiting and waiting for me to tell you.  Okay, maybe not.

Well, I can tell you I was not leaving little gifts on my neighbors' doorsteps.

I was climbing in and out of the back of a semi at 33 weeks pregnant getting ready for a church garage sale.

I was also getting two ultrasounds and being told by my doctor that we (we?) are cutting at 5:00.

And at 5:10 pm this is what I was doing (they unstrapped my arm so I could touch her).

Yes, four years ago today our surprise miracle blessing was born.  If you don't already know ALL the details because we've told you so many times, just ask me.  I love to tell the story (sounds like a song).

Thank you God for this gift.  I am humbled at trust you have placed in me to raise her.  Because I trust you I know you have great things in store for her life.  May I be faithful in telling her of your love for her so that she may know the joy of knowing you personally.

I love you, my girl.  You make me happy and you are the reason I get out of bed in the morning, literally and figuratively.

Nugget from Proverbs 31

Recently I purchased this Bible study series which was very inexpensive.  I had never heard of Beth Jones but from what I saw on the website it sounded like it would be a good study.

I just listened to the second session last night and wanted to share a nugget with you that jumped out at me.  Now, there were a lot of things that she said that were great.  This one just seemed applicable to me. 

Proverbs 31:10 says "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies."  The worth of something is determined by how much someone will pay for that item.  How much am I worth?  How much did someone pay for me?  Jesus paid for me with his life.  What is worth more than that? 

So when I get down and feel like I am a lousy mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, employee, etc. it is with disrespect for the One who paid the ultimate price for me.  If Jesus thinks I'm worth enough to die for then I need to believe it myself.  That is so hard when the pressures of this world make me feel inadequate.

Here's a challenge:  the next time you hear someone, including yourself, feeling unworthy remind them who paid for them and how much He paid.  We need to take back our worth and invest it in the lives of young women today who feel unworthy.

There is so much more I could share about what I watched last night.  I'm a very black and white, concrete person that when I read about the Proverbs 31 woman I read it literally and wonder how I can do all that and be the kind of person she is.  But Beth shared some examples of how else to view this passage and some tangible ways to try to be that kind of person.  It was very powerful and thought-provoking. 

This is one of the best Bible studies I've gone through and am looking forward to finishing the series.  If you'd like to go through it with me,  please let me know.  It would be fun to share it.

God's Presence

Have you seen this quote floating around Facebook and the internet?

"Dear God: Why is there so much violence in schools? 
-A Concerned Student Dear Concerned Student: I'm not allowed in school. -God-"

I can't count the number of times I've seen it and every single time I've been offended but not said anything, just let it go.

I believe that God is --
--omniscient (all knowing)
--omnipotent (all powerful)
--omnipresent (everywhere present) 

If God is everywhere present how can we as mere humans keep God out of school?  It seems that everywhere present means just that ... God is present everywhere including in our schools.

The correct answer to the question of why there is so much violence in our schools is because evil exists in this world and it's the same reason there is tragedy anywhere, anytime in the world.  Remember back in Genesis when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden?  Sin entered the world at that moment and the free will God had given us from the beginning became open to choosing sin.  

Generational sin began at that moment and we need to stop it.  How do we do that?  PRAY.  As parents we need to ask forgiveness for the sins of our fathers and the fathers before them.  We then need to turn from our sin and show our children the path of righteousness.


We also need to PRAY for healing for our nation.  2 Chronicles 7:14 says "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."  How many of us think that our land DOESN'T need some drastic healing right now?  Our planet is so far away from God that it's no wonder our kids are lost and have no hope.  What is God's promise?  If we fall on our faces, prostrate before God humbly turning away from our sin then he will hear us and forgive our sin and heal our land.  I think we all want that. 

So here's a challenge.  Starting at home, in front of your spouse and children, brothers and sisters and parents, get down in a humble position before God and pray, pray, pray for our kids, teens and young adults after you have turned from your own sin.  They are the ones who are having the hardest time navigating this fallen world.  Then pray for the lost, those who don't know Jesus.  That could be someone in your own home.  Then pray for our leaders.  I think we can all agree that our president and all our government officials need prayer and need God.  There are plenty of people to pray for and plenty of people to pray for them that if we do what 2 Chronicles 7:14 says I think God would keep his promise.

And stop passing the above quote around.  It's offensive to the students and teachers who do pray for God's presence in school to assume that God would listen to those who don't want him there.  I think He's listening to His children.  He is present in our schools.  He allows freedom of will which can perpetrate evil.  But it can also perpetrate good.

Imagination

We have a lot of imagining going on in our house, from Lilyana at least.  My imagination has long since left the building.

A little less than 20 years ago I obtained a handcrafted wooden train engine and two cars.  I imagined nieces and nephews having fun playing with it.  They did during the little time they spent at my house.  Fast forward almost 20 years and 4 or 5 moves.  Lilyana now has an obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine or Thomas and Friends.  She has also found this train set.  She takes it everywhere and I do literally mean everywhere.  To the bathroom.  To bed.  Carries it from room to room with her. She reenacts or makes up stories about Thomas and James and Misty Island and Sodor Island.  And tonight we took some Lincoln Logs and made them Jobi Wood so that she could carry them around and really play the Misty Island episode. 

The only place in the house that it doesn't go is the bathtub.  But never fear the bathtub has it's own characters that she reenacts and makes up stories with.  These creatures are one blue fish and two orange fish.  Anyone care to guess their names?

It is so fun to see her play alone and be imaginative and be able to take a story that she's heard or seen and expand upon it or retell it in her own way.