Jan 22 - 28

Notable things of the week:

• First time at a book club - discussing The Secret of Pembrooke Park.
• I had a girls night with Melissa and Mom while Ross took the girls to a Veggietales movie at church. 
• First Daddy/Daughter Dance for Ross and Bella. 
• Our new nephew, Elijah David, was born!

Book Review: Nightmares! - By Jason Segel

Reason for Reading: I saw Jason Segel being interviewed on one of Ross's TV shows (The Daily Show maybe) and he was promoting this book. It sounded interesting enough so I added it to my list at the library and it came in this month. 

Review: I did not know what to expect from this book. Upon reading the inner cover I realized it was written as a children's book, but still sounded interesting enough for me to enjoy.

Charlie, the main character, is riddled with sleep deprivation at the start of the book and it quickly starts to explain why. He's afraid his step-monster (mother) is a witch! And if he does sleep he has nightmares of being taken away..

The story steps over into fantasy and at first that threw me off since I didn't expect it, but once I got settled into it I was fine. I really enjoyed the things that played out once Charlie entered his nightmares and I felt like the story ended nicely tying up numerous small plots started throughout the book.

Overall I gave this 5/5 since it was good and I'd read it again.

Jan 15 - 21

Notable things of the week:

• We tried the Chicken Fried Rice Hamburger Helper for the first time. 
• I ran the Star Card Cart at Bella's school for the first time. 
• Bella and I went to our first Movie night at South.
• We went to Caroline's first birthday party.
• We took the girls to the mall and bought Bella's dress for the daddy/daughter dance.

Book Review: The Secret of Pembrooke Park - by Julie Klassen

Reason for Reading: My mom is involved in a book club and wanted to see if maybe it was something I'd enjoy. This book is this month's pick and she finished it and passed it on to me. I knew nothing about it or the author before beginning.

Review:  For me this book is a 5 out of 5 stars. Meaning I liked it and would read it again.

This book is set in the early 1800's and deals with both the love life of the main character, her family and the mysteries that await them at Pembrooke Park.

The mysteries were really well written and there were some things I was able to guess and others that I couldn't fathom until they were revealed. I thought the mystery was well weaved into the story, not overshadowing the other parts of the story, but keeping me intrigued while I was reading.

The longing for romance/companionship for the main character, Abigail was also really well written, at least to me. I've read other reviews that said for the time period her behavior was downright scandalous (nothing like today's standards for sure), but since I haven't read any other historical books placed in this time period I can't say whether I agree or not. I will say that I didn't mind the "impropriety" at all and was longing for certain people to "get on with it", so to speak. 

I really enjoyed all the characters and felt like the author did a wonderful job of fleshing them out and making them seem very real. I loved Abigail's desire to strike a friendship with Leah and I found that to be a very sweet and touching side story to follow.

It had a satisfying end and I could easily see myself enjoying this book all over again. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys or might enjoy a historical-romance-mystery.

Jan 8 - 14

Notable things of the week:

• Lilly got an earache and took her medicine like a champ!
• She weighed 44.8 lbs and was 43 inches tall.
• I tried a new recipe for Sugar Cookies
• We played board games at Grandma's over the weekend

Book Review: Say Goodbye to Survival Mode - by Crystal Paine

Reason for Reading: When I quit my job last March I started following Crystal's blog, MoneySavingMom.com for inspiration on money saving (and making) ideas as well as encouragement for being a stay-at-home mom. So when I saw she had written a book on getting out of survival mode I knew it was one I'd want to check out.

Review: I give this book 3 stars out of 5. It's an inspiring book, but I felt like it was a lot of fluff. I like Crystal and her website and that made it a good read for me, but it's a lot of words for a few good ideas. I felt like it was something I could write given the time. Of course, part of that is because I've read self-help books and blogs before and mostly this is nothing new.

There were a couple of ideas that I did pull out of the book. One was the suggestion of cutting back on Facebook. That's always something that's in the back of my mind. I have never bothered to delete my account, but I do try to remind myself to keep from checking it constantly. The other idea was to be OK living "simply". In particular she mentioned that she doesn't put a lot of adornments in her home. I found that comforting because we don't have a lot of things on the walls or other kinds of decorations (outside of Christmas decor) in the house. And I do sometimes feel bad for that... though I'm not sure why. And because of this book I've tried to give myself more grace in that area.

Overall it's a good read, though not something life changing for me. I wouldn't rush to recommend it to my friends, but I wouldn't say it was bad either.

List of her 9 "strategies" for my future reference...

1. Say no more often
2. Say yes to the best things
3. Have specific goals
4. Be disciplined
5. Be intentional financially
6. Manage your home
7. See failures as stepping stones
8. Make a difference
9. Take care of yourself

Jan 1 - 7 (and Dec 31, too)

Notable things of the week:

• Bella overcoming her fear of movie theaters and going to see Annie. 
• NYE party at Andy and Rosie's.
• Second snow day of the school year on 1/6

Happy New Year 2015

Happy New Year, y'all! I'm excited for a fresh start this year. I've made some new resolutions and I'm hoping to track of them here in the blog. The thought is that it will keep me accountable and motivated towards my goals. So, without further ado, here are my resolutions for the year:

1) Put a certain dollar amount in savings every month. I'm not going to post the amount, but I'll post what percentage I hit each month and what might have caused faltering. We already know some of it will be used for a vacation in July, but other than that it will only be tapped into for emergencies. We really want to focus on building our savings.

2) Take better care of myself and lose about 2 pounds a month. As I get older my knees, ankles and back seem to get worse. In 2014 I lost about 15 pounds after quitting my job, and that seems to have helped my back. I think more weight loss is key to taking some of the pressure off my knees and ankles, so  if I could end 2015 about 24 pounds lighter I'd be happy. And I want to take better care overall of myself.

3) Read 3 books a month. As a stay-at-home mom you would think that I could find more time to read, but I really don't. I want to focus on this one. And also on logging the books with maybe a short review so I can remember what I've read and make good recommendations. Here are my January picks:

1.  Say Goodbye to Survival Mode - Crystal Paine
2. As You Wish - Carey Elwes
3. The Secret of Pembrooke Park - Julie Klassen

4) Blog at least once a week. I'd still like to do a weekly blog of happenings during the week for a family review. Anything more than that would be surprising given my track record.. but you never know. :)

That's all I can think of for now. I think it's going to be a good, busy year yet again. I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year, full of love, and laughter and joy.