Book Review - Snow Melts in Spring by Deborah Vogts

What do horses and football have in common? Well not much but those are two of the many things in this novel by Deborah Vogts.

In the first book of the seasons of Tall grass series it follows Gil and Mattie. Gil is a professional football player. Mattie is a veterinarian in Gil’s hometown. One night something horrible happened. Gil’s horse had gotten hit by a car and needed some serious TLC he was very close to not making it at all. But there came Mattie, helped the horse.

Out of nowhere Gil comes back after a phone call from his father telling him about his horse. So much more was going on down there, not just with the horse. There were so many issues between all of these people that you will meet once you read this. Many secrets, lies but there is also love.

Its a pretty dramatic tale but that’s what makes it so good. Where will Mattie and Gil end up? Only you will find out once you read it. And it will be a great time for reals!

Whew! i'm still alive don't worry!

The boy, me and Jason

I almost don't know what to say about anything at all right now. Yeah I went on the trip. I guess I’ll say what happened on the trip. Though its somewhat hard to wrap my mind around still.

The airplane turned out to be okay. I had to be x-rayed though in that one machine. I didn't feel like having people all up in my lady parts though so that was that. And I’m such a threatening looking individual you know! But I digress. I didn't get any sleep on either of the flights. Which sucks cause we were flying at 11:35 pm Tuesday and got there at 10 am on Wednesday! And we lost basically 4 hours since we weren't used to daylight savings time. It was a pretty sucky deal.

Jason and I

So we got there, his mom, brother and grandpa picked us up and we drove an hour to his grandparents place. Their house was kinda yucky. Sorta looked like it should have been torn down honestly. But i guess it was okay. I mean they weren't super horrible. The boys brother is amazing love that kid!

We stayed there for a bit and then went to the house where we were staying, kyles house he is the cousin of the boy. And he wasn't like I thought at all. But his wife was actually pretty nice and amazing which I didn't think either. And their kid who they nick named "the chunk" was SOOOO cute I loved him. Steph had another kid named Landon too. So we stayed there got all settled and showered and ready for dinner/picture time.

I got out of the picture! so I was happy. But I was also tired and hopped up on sugar and caffeine so it was really annoying. But nothing was too horrible. We had a lot of fun with the cousins and the boys brother.

the boy and i

We went out to a mall the next day and that was super boring and tiring. Then after that we went out to dinner with the boys parents...... yeah that didn't go so well. Basically religion is stupid and well I got told because I don't speak in tongues that we would be unequally yoked IF (his dad put a huge emphasis on the if) we get married. and I’m sure he doesn't think I’m great in the keeping track of money arena because I don't write things done. but i keep track of my money, heck i barely spend any money! but whatever. so that was a huge mess i think. It does make me laugh though. Cause they barely have money for things because they live beyond their means. I dunno still not too pleased about it all. cause its not totally true.

the cousins and i

Then we goofed off when we got back to the house and did a lot of pictures and stuff. It was fun I was really sad that Jason had to leave. We only saw him for two days. But it was memorable.
The next day we went out to lunch and then to the park and then I kinda got grilled again. it was kinda crazy. But what can you do I guess? That’s what happens when you are with religious people. You can't say “geez” or “gosh” and I’m pretty sure I said all that but I am almost positive they heard me say crap. And I just try to stop it but its just something that we say so often here its hard to stop.

all of us cousins (well i'm not one)

Its such a weird environment to be in. You come from the city and then go out into the boonies! For one its super quiet there and that makes it super difficult for me to sleep. But its just so weird and different. A lot of people know each other and that’s SO weird for me honestly. Other than that the rest of the days we hung out. Went on a walk for a bit. Um we went to dinner at aunt Rachels and just chilled I guess. That was on our last night there. We left on Sunday afternoon, went to church before that and boy that was weird. It was super small but everyone called out things to say like they were just shooting the breeze with each other. SO weird. But also like this one guy kept saying “praise the lord” every few words and it kinda bugged me. It was almost defeating the purpose of saying it at all.

It really made me realize how great I have it and have had it all my life. I didn't have any stipulations on what I could say like gosh or geez. And other things. I'm SO grateful for how I was brought up you have no idea. We all would just sit there and talk about religion cause all of them lived it and it would have ruined them if they let it.

the grandparents

I really liked his cousins and most of his family but when they were being religious not so much. I liked them really but I was SO beyond ready to go home, where there were fruits and veggies and not junk food. Which really does mess up your bowels by the way. So nasty. And just the noises and the prettiness of Seattle. Gosh I missed it so bad. And having some place super close to go, like the store or anything really.

I dunno next time if we go there we are renting a car and staying at a hotel. And picking our food and all sorts of other variables of a trip. Oi so crazy.

the aunts and uncle  and us

The kids were funny though Landon would say some weird stuff. He tried to get me to give him a lollipop and I wouldn't and he was like but I love you. And I was just like thanks but you don’t' get it. He was such a whiner though. And then the boys dad. Well this is a whole nother issue. Haha I gave him a side hug cause I twas weird for me to hug him at all. And he was like “see this girl knows how to hug. A lot of women will just put their breasts on you and I don't like that.” I was just like uhhhh that just happened? It was SO weird.

There was some drama about the boy and I staying at the same house. But we bypassed that by just doing it anyway and putting all our stuff in the same suitcase. It just is what it is. Its not a bad thing. My mom was like “who are these people” trying to tell us that it was weird but it all worked out in the end.

All the sisters, the boys mom in pink shirt

Most of the trip was good but I was happy to be home. And im still kinda all whacked out from it.
The boys parents are so crazy sometimes. They are now asking if I fulfilled his need of loneliness so is that a mistake for thinking that we are meant to be together. Why would you say that?! Its so annoying. They need to know things before they can support it! But I dunno its not their decision its not matter of that. I dunno its a battle we have to face and I don't like it. But It is what it is I suppose. We shall see how it plays out haha.

The chunk!

I am kinda glad I went though I met them and most of them loved me. Oh here is another funny tidbit.

So kyle throws chunk up in the air and catches him. Well his grandparents freaked out about it. And his grandma started praying like crazily. And on Sunday the boys grandpa (his brother calls him g-pap) came over and asked what the boy thought about kyle throwing the baby. And he was like “kyle isn't superman you know” and asked if the boy would do that and he kinda laughed and his grandpa was like this isn't funny! And then his grandma came over and was all “you gotta pray for that baby!” and it was just so amusing to me. You'd have to hear the voice to understand how she said it. But its not a big deal. Oh and cause kyle throws chunk on the couch. What toddler doesn't love that? He giggles so crazily when it happens. so stinkin cute! how could you resist that adorable face! 

Book Review - The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman

The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman is a novel about the treasures of life.

Saphora Worren is an upscale southern womane. She lives in an amazing home, has three adult children and a husband that is a plastic surgeon. The only problem is life isn't what it seemed for her. It seemed to everyone that she has the most amazing life. But, under the surface of that is a feeling of emptiness. She needed to flee away from all of this. She packed her bags and was going to go away, only that was haulted by her husband, Benders unexpected arrival at home.

He came home for a reason, to tell her some very bone chilling news. He was dying.. that would change their lives forever, especially in the moment of right now.

Of course like every wife does, she will take care of her husband, no matter what else has happened before. They leave to their vacation home near the beach. She was going to go there in the first place when she was deciding to get away. Though this is a whole different story now. The whole family is brought to gether at this house, they all take care of each other, and meet a little boy named Tobias the impression he left on them would change all of their lives eventually for the better.

Saphora learns a lot about herself during this journey, of life and of death and she won't be the same ever again.

While reading this I wasn't sure about it at all. I went from liking it to not wanting to read it at all. Yet I couldn't tear myself away from it. Its just one of those novels that you just go back to over and over beause you NEED to find out what happens. All in all I think that it is a good book. Though i'm not sure I would have picked it up again, or chosen it at the drop of a hat. I guess i'm more indifferent about it, though I was just super curious about what was going to happen next.

Book Review - The Perfect Blend by Trish Perry

Who wouldn't love a story about tea? It sounds weird but this is totally a book to curl up with while drinking tea on a cold day. It is titled the perfect blend and is written by Trish Perry under harvest house publishers. Gotta love a publishing company located in the pacific northwest for sure! Moving along being unfamiliar with an author sometimes is a huge hit or miss. This one, however wasn't in that ballpark at all. It was such a pleasurable read. Let me give you a bit of background with this story.

We start off with Steph, she had come to Middleburg to elope with an attorney there named Rick. But what she didn't really plan for was the fact that he left without a word and stood her up at the alter. She was devastated, without knowing what to do. Here comes in Milly she owns a tea shop across the street from the attorney office. Milly invites steph into her tea shop. But very quickly she is invited into Millys life and her business. Steph starts working there the next day and in the process it will change herself and her whole perspective on things. So while at the shop Steph meets some local people who also quickly become some of her best friends. Two sisters Christy and Liz. They invite Steph to live with them and she accepted soon everything else falls into place. Then there is Kendall, he owns the hotel/restaurant they become super fast friends, he also tries to help her find a job. They have a bit of drama but I can't tell you what that’s all about. Then that would give away the whole story! And that would be unfair. But its really a great book. Luckily its a series and the next one comes out soon! So please check out the perfect blend by trish perry. You can pick it up at a local book store or library!

Book Review - Forgotten by Melody Carlson

Have you ever felt like you were forgotten? Or have you been homeless? Then you might want to read this novel by Melody Carlson.

Forgotten focuses on 17-year-old Adele. She has been through a lot in her life. She's had to mother her own single mom. Her mother has had a drug addiction and Adele thought that her mom had turned a corner on the problem. She was clean and moved the two of them closer to her new fantastic job. Things went great for a few weeks, until her mother started acting weird and one day simply disappeared with her new boyfriend.

Adele has to learn to function on her own. In the midst of all of this she has friends who are pretty well off, but she finds it hard to keep up the act much longer. Slowly things just begin to unravel to the point that Adele finds herself out on the streets. Will she find a way to survive in this cruel world? Does the girl have a fighting chance?

You're going to find yourself rooting for Adele in this incredible page-turner. It's easy to sympathize with her plight.

This is mostly aimed for teenagers, so do recommend it to any teenagers you know. It may help them see a new angle on things that they wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also, this is the first in a series so stay tuned to see what else Melody has in store!


this was provided to me by navpress in exchange for a review. that in no way affected my thoughts.

Book Review - Passport Through Darkness by Kimberly L. Smith

Passport To Darkness by Kimbery L. Smith is about her and her husband's incredible journeys and the lessons that she learned from them.

She thought that living the “good” life would give her everything she longed for. But boy was she wrong about that! She was called to something different. Something that would change her forever and put a lot of things into perspective. Like how good she has it in America and how it's okay to be imperfect. And the importance of communication, even if it is a lot of times you are going through the most painful things imaginable.

While reading this book you will probably experience a rush of emotions such as shock and sadness. Kimberly and her husband Milton at a certain point in their lives were called by God to do something more. And that journey took them through much more difficulty than they could ever have imagined. They moved most of their family out of the country to different foreign places, starting with Spain. There they encountered one of the worst things they'd ever experienced: a child was being abused by the director of the orphanage. They began working hard to prevent things like that from happening. While that man escaped out of the country, this is the event that set off their continual fight for the sake of the orphans. They learned all they could about human trafficking. They wanted to make a difference, but they didn't know how much it would change both of them. Milton couldn't continue to travel places and had to go back to the U.S. because of his diabetes.

Through all of that there was yet more to be done. Kimberly answered the call with much hesitation. She traveled to Sudan where she witnessed so many horrible things were happening and had some earth-shattering experiences.. Most of it was so horrifying that you couldn't believe it had actually happened. In the midst of all of this, Kimberly slides into heartache and depression and feelings of her own unworthiness, only for others to help her out of the pit so that she could continue the good work.

That's only the beginning of what you'll find in this book. But personally I have never read anything about human trafficking. Most of what I read in this book made my mouth drop open. It's so heart wrenching and almost leaves a person speechless and just wanting to cry thinking of all the orphans and the pain they constantly go through. As well as the women and even preteens that are raped repeatedly. It's just so baffling to hear about.

Reading this book will really open your eyes to what actually goes on in other countries. This is a book about real issues and real events. God is definitely evident in some of the stories in it. Please read this, it will for sure open your eyes onto what is happening out. It's a great book, not a happy one clearly, but it is very well written and contains so much to learn from. This book is definitely recommended for everyone to read.

what a week

oh boy so last week nothing ever went right. it was not a happy week. i just can't even say everything that happened. but the worst thing happened on thursday. i went to pick up the boy, it was dark and i didn't know where i was going. i went to go into this parking lot. and i ran into a cement little wall thing i couldn't see. then my car was making a noise.... i was upset, we were trying to get to community group for the first time in months.

in the end it will cost 600 dollars to fix it. i bent the whole front frame of my car. my poor dear talula. and broke the radiator. so thats fun. but maybe my headlights will get adjusted when its there.

leaving tonight to go to PA. kinda terrified. i just don't want to go period. apparently i have to be in the family picture. oi. i dunno i'm not totally happy about going at all but i guess it is what it is. i still need to do more packing. criminy. getting ready for the airport is exhausting. anyways. thats about it. i'll update later!

Beside Still Waters: Author Interview

check out this interview of tricia goyer! she wrote beside still waters. great book also check that out in april!

Book Review - Words by Ginny Yttrup

Have you ever been at a loss for words? Or felt like you just couldn't say something? It would be horrible not to be able to express how you feel. But that is what ten year old Kaylee Wren deals with. She hasn't been able to talk because of events that have traumatized her beyond belief. Her mother left her in search of drugs most likely. But what was worse was the man she left her daughter with. This man that was put in control of Kaylee was not someone you should entrust your children with and abusive in more ways than one.

 He scares Kaylee, but she just reads words from the dictionary her mother left behind (while he isn't looking) and keeps them all in her head. And when he is gone, she goes off into the woods to her secret place, a lovely redwood tree that she calls her own

Then there is Sierra, an artist in her thirties. She seems okay but deep down she's not. She lives with shame from when she was young such as the drugs which led to the destruction of her life. She also lost a daughter at birth because of them. Now on the anniversary of her daughter Annie's death she loses control of her emotions. But God begins to take control of Sierra's path as she learns to trust.

Now here is where it gets interesting! Kaylee is at her safe place in the forest. Sierra shows up, clearly upset about everything. Little did either of them know what a bond they would come to have and what else would transpire through it. It's honestly an amazing novel. One that you just can't put down.

This is a great debut for Ginny Yttrup. Her style of writing is super appealing. It's not an artificially sweet story, it's REAL. It conveys every little emotion in the words and happenings as it switches back and forth between Kaylee and Sierra's stories. I really loved this novel. It was amazing to read and experience their lives. I hope you'll take a chance to read it.

Thank you to B&H publishing for sending me a copy for review!

Check out Code of Justice!

Hey all! i just wanted to let you know of this new book out by Liz Johnson. She writes amazing books. i hope you'll check it out. i will have a review up sometime in the near future! 

"Follow the drugs."

Her sister's last words shake FBI agent Heather Sloan to the core. They also convince her that the helicopter crash only Heather survived wasn't an accident. Sheriff's deputy Jeremy Latham is assigned the case—he's the only one who can help Heather find the person responsible. If she can convince him they should work together. As they dig for the truth, they learn to trust and care for each other. Will they lose it all when the killer targets Heather? She's willing to risk her life to find her sister's killer—but her code of justice could cost her the chance to win Jeremy's love.

About the Author:

            Liz Johnson grew up reading Christian fiction, and always dreamed of being part of the publishing industry. After graduating from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a degree in public relations, she set out to fulfill her dream. In 2006 she got her wish when she accepted a publicity position at a major trade book publisher. While working in the industry, she decided to pursue her other dream—becoming an author. Along the way to having her novels published, she completed the Christian Writers Guild apprentice course and wrote articles for several magazines.
            Liz makes her home in Nashville, TN, where she enjoys theater, exploring the local music scene, and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her two nephews and three nieces. She loves stories of true love with happy endings. Keep up with Liz's adventures in writing at www.lizjohnsonbooks.com.

new look!

well i changed up my blog look. it seems more cheery now i like it. i didn't make it though. found the template on a site. pretty good stuff.

speaking of change, I've dubbed this as the year of change. lately that change has been blogging a lot more recently. its kinda crazy but i do miss it. so there i press forward with my blogging habits.

change is hard though,  i am usually not fond of it. it takes me a long time to process things a lot of times. and even just the will to change in some part of your life is hard. its a rough road. and I'm definitely experiencing that on all sides.

with my relationship with the boy. trusting things will change and be okay is hard. i guess sometimes i tend to be super pessimistic. so getting out of that way of thinking is really hard for me.

also there is change in the children's ministry where i volunteer. also very hard. we are now doing a lesson with 2 year olds. that's hard in itself. but some kids are more difficult than others. its just really stressful.

i guess sometimes just embracing change is stressful in general. that's all i got for now.