Have a Seat~ CSN Review

Yesterday while here at home building an even bigger donation pile to go to Disabled Vets I took a break to house hunt.

I have seen all kinds of Kitchens but the ones that pop out and hold my attention are the ones with either a built in Kitchen Island or Bar, I have loved our built in Island that adds more serving space and seating for extra. Search my posts to see my kitchen, LOVE IT!!

Even though I love our Kitchen I have not been in love with our bar stools, Enter CSN!!

  modern bar stools, great selection and sleek designs!

LOVE this Bar Stool!!

What do you think? Can it fit into my Country decorating?

Country Mouse and City Mouse~ Moving Announcement

That's how we feel right now, I waited till we were truly positive that this was going to happen and it Really is!!

We are moving to the Washington D.C. area!!!

Richard has received an offer for a big company that we simply can not pass up due to the Awesome Health Insurance, Full time work NOT contract and relocation package, pay aint to shabby either!

We have lived here on our almost 6 acres for about 4 years and even though I do love it, Richards health is not what it used to be and its alot of mowing and fence upkeep and the Winters are so hard.

We have found a great rescue for Hoss and he will be leaving within the next couple of weeks, We hope to find a rental that will allow the 2 dogs, even if we have to pay extra. My Mom wants to move along with us, She really hasn't been doing well either Health wise since my Dad passed away. She will follow about 2 months after we get settled. The kids are getting excited but sad to leave friends and school. The slow going friendly country is all they've known.

We are in for some huge changes and hopefully we will adjust to City living in time...I'm not used to close neighbors but it will be so nice to be close to the grocery store. We will be working with the Realtor to find a nice house around Washington DC and not in the busy part, Richard can ride the metro into work!

I am excited to decorate a new house again and might mix things up in the new house...I've been looking thru tons of magazines for ideas....What kind of decorating do they do up that way? I'm just a bundle of nerves....

Richard will be leaving first and then we will follow in about a month.

Wanna see pics of me packing?  lol 

~Lady in Waiting~ Book Review

Love is a choice you make every day.
Content in her comfortable marriage of twenty-two years, Jane Lindsay had never expected to watch her husband,  rad, pack his belongings and walk out the door of their Manhattan home. But when it happens, she feels powerless to stop him and the course of events that follow Brad’s departure.

Jane finds an old ring in a box of relics from a British jumble sale and discovers a Latin inscription in the band along with just one recognizable word: Jane. Feeling an instant connection to the mysterious ring bearing her namesake, Jane begins a journey to learn more about the ring—and perhaps about herself.

~

In the sixteenth-century, Lucy Day becomes the dressmaker to Lady Jane Grey, an innocent young woman whose fate seems to be controlled by a dangerous political and religious climate, one threatening to deny her true love and pursuit of her own interests.

As the stories of both Janes dovetail through the journey of one ring, it becomes clear that each woman has far more infl uence over her life than she once imagined. It all comes down to the choices each makes despite the realities they face.

* I really enjoyed reading this storyline even though it has nothing to do with the Amish and some parts are even in a different time period. From the moment Jane finds the ring you are drawn in and wondering if it truly belongs to Lady Jane. The details are so clear that you feel like you are standing in the room along with Jane or even Lady Jane. I was sorry to see this book end and I wish the author had expanded on the healing relationship between Jane and her Husband.*

This book was given to me to read and review by the kind waterbrookmultomah group. All opinions are my own.

Movies and Tooth Pain from Hell

So today while Hubby was in Toothpain Hell we snuggled on the couch and caught up with some Netflicks..our first choice to watch while all 3 kids were in School was the movie "Shutter Island"....Have you seen this movie? It left me gasping for air and a headache as I couldn't get the ending straight in my head....Great movie that left both of us guessing till the end!

Tomorrow Hubby goes in for a Root Canal so please send Prayers that all goes smoothly, he is in quit a bit of pain.

I have lost my decorating mojo since Christmas and I'd love to pick up my Stitching again soon but something here always happens when the idea pops in my head...Hopefully next month will be calmer.

I'm looking for some more good movies to add to our Netflicks list, Have any to share?

The Search~Book Review and Blog Tour

Fifteen years ago, Lainey O'Toole made a split-second decision. She couldn't have known that her choice would impact so many.

 

Now in her mid-twenties, she is poised to go to culinary school when her car breaks down in Stoney Ridge, the very Amish town in which her long-reaching decision was made, forcing her to face the shadowed past.

 

Bess Reihl is less than thrilled to be spending the summer at Rose Hill Farm with her large and intimidating grandmother, Bertha. It quickly becomes clear that she is there to work the farm--and work hard. The labor is made slightly more tolerable by the time it affords Bess to spend with the handsome hired hand, Billy Lapp. But he only has eyes for a flirty and curvaceous older girl.

 

Lainey's and Bess's worlds are about to collide and the secrets that come to light will shock them both.

 

"Beautifully written, 'The Search' is a skillfully woven story that takes readers through unexpected twists and turns on the long country road toward truth. Fans both old and new will find themselves immersed in this heartwarming--and surprising--tale of young love, forgiveness, and coming to grips with the past."

  

*I enjoyed this book simply as a good Winter evening read. It's not too heavy of a read that you have to keep characters straight and it is a "clean" story. Simply Good Reading!! I did feel like the ending had me hanging though as I would have loved to see Bess accept her marriage proposal.*

I was given this book by LitFuse to read and review, all opinions are my own.

The Search is available now in stores everywhere and to celebrate Suzanne is hosting The Search iPad Giveaway! http://litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/the-search-by-suzanne-woods-fisher.html

  

Blog Tour Schedule: http://litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/the-search-by-suzanne-woods-fisher.html  

Please stop by these other blogs for another chance to win!! 

An Amish Love~ Book Review

Two of today's most popular genres--Romance and Amish fiction--together in one volume.
"Healing Hearts" by Beth Wiseman: Levina Lapp and her husband Naaman are alone for the first time in 30 years. When Naaman left to visit cousins in Ohio, Levina wasn't expecting him to be gone a year. Now that he's back, will they be able to move beyond this estrangement and fall in love again?
"What the Heart Sees" by Kathleen Fuller: A tragic accident rocks a peaceful Amish community, leaving Ellie Chupp blinded and Christopher Bender's future shattered. But they find love and forgiveness in a place they least expect.
"A Marriage of the Heart" by Kelly Long: Rachel Yoder is tired of her Amish lifestyle and her domineering father's ways. When handsome Joseph Lambert comes back from the Englisch, she lies to force a marriage of convenience, providing the perfect means to escape her father's rule. But Rachel never imagined she'd fall in love with Joseph so quickly or irrevocably.

I enjoyed reading about the simple things in life..Amish dating, cooking, cleaning, going to Church every Sunday. This was an easy story line to follow as all 3 stories connected in some way by a character or 2. In each story there was a small problem or mystery to be solved and only in the Amish way can it be solved. I think I'll always enjoy reading and learning about the Amish!

This book was given to me by BookSneeze to Review, all opinions are my own.

Happy New Years~ 2011!!!

Happy New Year my Friends!!

We have taken down our Christmas tree and the bay window tree is put away and all that is left is the Christmas village. We have eaten our Pork and Sourkrout with mashed tators and I made chocolate no-bakes for dessert. I'm relaxing and pondering on some major changes which we have coming our way this New Year. The kids are relaxing and watching a few cartoons on "Sprout" channel.

So now that Christmas is put away my house feels bare and I have bare spots...not liking the empty feeling so I'm going to have to get creative and find/make some changes.

How do you handle the bare spots in your home? Do you run out and buy new to fill the space or is less more this year?

UnStuff ~ A Book Review

List Price:

14.99 

ISBN:

978-1-4143-3478-3 

Trim Size:

5 1/2 x 8 1/4 

Binding:

Softcover 

Release:

January 2011 

God . . . and stuff. Everything in the universe falls into one of these two categories. Which is more important to you? (It’s not a trick question.) In Unstuff: Making Room in Your Life for What Really Matters, popular authors Hayley and Michael DiMarco take a close look at what’s in your wallet, your heart, your house, and your mind to reveal the pleasures and perils of stuff—and the joy, peace, and freedom that comes from learning to live with less.
In this real-life look at “how it’s done,” the DiMarcos take an uncomfortably close look at the cost of their love affair with stuff. They start by Unstuffing their house—getting rid of anything they don’t need by giving away, selling, or throwing out items that only add to their love for more. Then, kicking it up a notch, this family of three travels across the country with nothing more than they can fit in a motor home . . . and discovers that the really important stuff goes with them.

 

 I read this book during a bad time, the Christmas Holiday when we receive alot! I can see where the Authors are coming from and talking about but the idea of selling everything including your house and moving into a small motor home is an idea that I cannot grasp right now. It would not work for my family. I prefer the habit we have of going thru our things every other month or so and donating it to our Community Action Office.

 

I received this book from Tyndale for Review, opinions are my own.

Merry Christmas~ The Day After!

We had a very nice Christmas here by staying inside warm and trying to get WELL, that's right the kids had the stomach bug which started Thursday afternoon as we were at the movies watching "Tangled" and celebrating my now 8 yr old's Birthday. Lil guy started to cry/scream about his ear hurting followed with a spike in temp all before movie had ended, we never made it to the Pizza Place, instead we ran to the Urgent Care where he was loaded up with meds for an Ear Infection/ stomach bug. Then Friday my Birthday girl got the bug with 102 fever. Christmas day we did open present but went back to bed where we all slept till 5.  We tried to salvage some of the Holiday by driving around town in the warm car looking at Christmas lights and Chinese food since I wasn't in the mood to cook. We weren't as wel as we thought and came right back home to just lay on the couch and watch "A Christmas Carol" with George C. Scott.

Today the kids are feeling a tad bit better and oldest is at her best friends playing but now it seems to be Husbands turn to feel icky and stay close to the bathroom...I'm sure I'm next...I'm glad that this hit us while the kids are on break though.

Hubby gave me a Flip Camera in my fav. color Blue so I'm ready to post more videos on my YouTube channel. I'm having fun and "meeting" new families.

I hope every one of you had a Blessed Christmas Day!!

What was your Fav. gift to receive this year?

Blind Hope- An Unwanted Dog & the Woman She Rescued~ Book Review

Meeder (Hope Rising) tells the story of an unwanted dog whose forlorn and broken heart and body called out to Meeder'sco-author, Sacher, and how, in their subsequent relationship, the dog became the agent of spiritual rescue to her owner. Together, Meeder and Sacher write about their own meeting and work at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Oregon, where Sacher was moved to take ownership of a disabled pooch that she renamed Mia. In a completely disarming manner, Meeder relates a love story between Sacher and Mia as human and dog grew to trust one another one day, one bump, and one bruise at a time. Meeder parallels their human/canine relationship with the trust and love Sacher develops with God. With humorous and poignant asides, Meeder beautifully bridges the gap between the sad and silly, showing the lovely and forsaken aspects of the individual heart so powerfully that readers will be coaxed into revisiting their understanding of the rescue God readily offers to all.

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books; 1 edition (July 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601422806
• ISBN-13: 978-1601422804

Mia is such a sweet dog. This book has made me stop and take a second look at homeless animals in the hopes that many will be rescued, cared for and loved in a safe house with a lovely family to see them thru till the end of their days. Mia started out abused but was rescued by Laurie and proved to be a worthy dog for the rest of her sweet life. She showed Laurie how to open her heart to God and to except situations that you can not change.

My dogs are rescued from the shelters and are so trusting and excepting of us that it was good to read about another dog gaining trust and showing love to her owner.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.