Saturday, November 24, 2012

Review: Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot

 

Celia Anderson wants nothing more than a few more boarding students for her boarding house, which are very difficult to come by in her small mining town. She isn't looking for a husband on that Christmas wishlist either. When a wandering carpenter finds lodging at her boarding house, she admits she would remarry if she found the right man, one that would bring her roses for Christmas. Though it would take a miracle to get roses during a harsh Wyoming winter. But Christmas is the season for miracles.


Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot is such a nice small read. It gives the perfect amount of christmas in a short book. It probably only took me an hour to read, but that doesn't mean it wasn't memorable. Amanda is a new author to me, i'd never heard of her before I received this for review. But she would definitely be one to keep watch out for, she has a great way with words and I wish this story was longer. It was just a cute book. Imagining the time period and the scene was the best part. Though one character really struck me wrong when he would keep after Celia trying to get her to marry him constantly. He just wouldn't let up and it irked me. But the carpenter was such a nice and genuine man, who was just searching for his father. Its just an awesome story you have to read it to see! I want to give away so much more than this but then i'd tell you the whole story. So pick it up soon!

Available September 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group

thank you to Revell for providing a copy free of charge in exchange for my review. i was not compensated in any way.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Review: Basic DVD series by Francis Chan

Francis chan has this series of dvds that are called “Basic” there is 7 dvds in all and they are about 10 minutes a piece. Its more of a small group discussion type of thing. But there isn't any reason why you couldn't watch them by yourself and contemplate them yourself, or with a friend or spouse also.


“Trends come and go in our culture and the church seems to follow. BASIC is a seven-part series of short films that challenges us to reclaim the church as Scripture describes it to be. This series speaks to those who have questions about the church and to those who may have lost interest in the church.
What is church?
You are church.
I am church.
We are church.


The DVD's in the series are:

“Fear God”
“Follow Jesus”
“Holy Spirit”
“Fellowship”
“Teaching”
“Prayer”
“Communion”

i thought that these were really awesome. the 2nd and 3rd ones i didn't get into as much as the rest. from the 4th through the 7th dvd they were really eye catching and you really just wanted to follow through with the rest of the story as it played out. but also Francis Chan always has great things to say. He is such a great speaker so this series is just good by itself even without a small group discussion like its really meant for. i suggest you check these out in a small group or just alone they are awesome. thank you to David Cook for providing these to review!


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The Not Quite There Yet Link Up!

Welcome back to the brand new link up 
Not Quite There Yet!
This link up is specifically for non-mommy and/ or unmarried bloggers.
(We still love all you married with kids folks!)
This will be a weekly link up rotating through different social media outlets for us to connect through. I hope that this link up will facilitate the making of many new friendships and partnerships. We are all in the same boat, let's get to know each other and support each other through life's twists and turns.
Alright, let's kick this thing off!
We will be linking up our Blogs this week.
You know the drill...
1. Follow your host. That's me! :D
2. Follow ALL of your co-hosts. please and thank you!
Stacey from Beautiful Solutions & Danette from All My Love For All My Days
3. Link up your Blog.
Next week we will be connecting via Facebook.
4. Find some other great bloggers and follow along. And be sure to leave a comment so we can all follow you back!
5. Button up and spread the word! Share this post on Twitter & Facebook!
Photobucket
If you are interested in co-hosting email me at  dalayna {dot} dillon {at} gmail {dot} com.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Review of Big Idea Products

Today I am going to review three Veggietales products!



Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too!”

"Featuring favorite Veggie shows, including: Pistachio: The Little Boy Who Woodn't (A Lesson in Listening to Your Parents), Lyle the Kindly Viking (A Lesson in Kindness) and Dave & The Giant Pickle (A Lesson in Self-Esteem), all with a message of how you don't have to be big to be able to do great things! Plus all new footage from the adorable Veggie Kids!"

This one was super cute it has little videos of kid veggies with kid voices it kills me how cute that is. I just can't explain it. But WAY cute. All of these videos are great. The only one I hadn't seen before was Pistachio and that was a pretty good one.



3-2-1 Penguins-The Complete Series”

 "is the popular NBC TV series now available in one complete set for the first time! It includes 13 episodes and fun bonus features!"

Never having seeing 321 penguins before I was excited to see it for the first time on a disc with lots of episodes. But I just couldn't get into it and never went past the 1st episode. It just wasn't funny or clever and mostly just boring for me.



Bob and Larry Go Country”
"It's time to hoot and holler with Bob, Larry and the whole posse as they round up all-time favorite, top country songs like "Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," "Jesus Take the Wheel," and "God Bless the USA;" you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kick up your boot heels and play it over and over again!"



I do like country song some of the time. And I had an open mind for most of the cd. And it was amusing at some points. But I just couldn't listen anymore it was just too weird and too much for me. So I didn't really enjoy it that much. Which was such a bummer.


Stay tuned for more reviews for veggietales products!

thanks to Big Idea for providing these for review free of charge. my thoughts are my own and i was not compensated in anyway.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Book Review: The Christmas Pony by Melody Carlson


In 1937 when christmas came along, eight-year-old Lucy Turnbull knew better than to wish for a pony. Her mother had assured her that asking for a pony was the same as asking for the moon. The only mouths they could feed were the kind that pay at their boarding house. When an interesting pair of strangers come into town, Lucy starts to believe that her Christmas wishes might just come true after all.

This is the newest Christmas novel out by melody Carlson. Normally I would like most everything she puts out. Unfortunately in this case I just couldn’t connect with it, and it being such a short novel (about 160 pages) it was just hard and slow moving for me. Maybe it was because of the fact i'm not into horses at all. But whatever the reason it just wasn't a good one for me personally. I'm sure there are others who would love this novel but a great author!

Available Sept 2012  at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

thank you to revell for providing this for review. i was not compensated in any way.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Review: The Ultimate Veggietales Christmas Collection

  
It's A Veggie Christmas Marathon! Plug in the tree, light the fire and get ready for the VeggieTales Christmas Extravaganza!

Big Idea has put out a new christmas collection! i was SO excited to get the opportunity to review this. I LOVE veggietales and I love veggitales christmas even more! its just so lovely! on this collection it has every VeggieTales Christmas DVD that is out. Plus there is a cd that has 25 christmas songs. here is the list of what is on the 2 disc collection.
  • Includes:
    • It's a Meaningful Life
    • Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving
    • The Little Drummer Boy
    • The Toy that Saved Christmas
    • The Star of Christmas
    • Christmas Singalong DVD
    • + 25 Song CD! Approx. 243 minutes
Now i had seen most of these before, except for The Star of Christmas. and i love them all. they are so clever and just all around great. its the best that there is the christmas cd too. i will definitely put all those songs (except feliz navidad cause i kinda despise that song) on my mp3 player come christmas time. the only thing bad about this collection is the singalong dvd. i just don't really see a point to those. maybe for older kids who can read but i'm not sure what else it is useful for.

other than that its awesome. i just love that they made a collection like this.

And right now this is happening!



thank you to big idea for providing this for review all my thoughts are my own. and i was not compensated in any way.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

life lately

i meant to write last week, it didn't happen that much is obvious.

well i don't know anything about the IRS yet. so thats still stressful.

another stressful thing, was the boys phone situation, he had to call insurance and pay a deductible. blah. but not only that he had a loaner phone we had just  basic one. so he had no contacts. and we were waiting for a call potentially from a person that might help with the IRS stuff. so while the boy was one the phone with insurance the other phone rang. and it had a texas area code which is where that person is from. so i had to answer it. i don't like talking on the phone in general. but i had to. so i answered it, but it wasn't that person. UGH it was the boys dad, now i'm not too fond of his parents they are super irritating and condescending and they put a religious spin on everything to make themselves look better. so it was awkward to talk to his dad. mostly the convo went like this...

him: so you guys are together pretty much every night?
me: basically
him: well you guys must like each other.
me: just a little bit
him: well i hope its more than a little bit since you are planning or talking about getting married.
me: uh yeah.

SO AWKWARD. they don't know how to take sarcasm and now it was a big thing like they were trying to be nice when the boy called him back but they don't get me and my humor. they play it off as i'm funny but its so awkward cause now they are all who is this girl and why is she with my son. they already think we are unequally yolked because of the fact that i don't speak in tongues. according to them everyone has to have ALL gifts that the bible talks about. but whatever i live in seattle they live in texas. and thats how it shall stay. his parents are nuts. not a fan.

another person who i'm not a fan of is my grandma. shes so unrealistic. yesterday was her birthday she apparently was so sad that none of the grandkids called her or made a big deal cause it was her 75th birthday. well let me tell you this granny, you treat people like crap and you don't give anyone the benefit of the doubt and you expect everyone to fawn all over you on your birthday? yeah right. just last week she had called my cell and basically screamed at me asking where my mom was, cause she miscommunicated the whole outing. and i was like gee thanks i did nothing to you lady. its not like our family is close anyways. but really you cannot expect everyone to drop everything for you when you treat all of us so badly. she puts the dogs she takes care of first in everything. she uses them as an excuse and never spends time with us. and she also expects that when she doesn't do anything for us. like throwing money at us is a great thing and its in place of memories and that makes it all better. well you have treated my cousin and her family like crap and so has the rest of the family. i just don't see the point. she has said some really screwed up things lately and its just very infuriating to have a grandma who wasn't a grandma to me. shes the only one i've ever had and when i see others relationships with their grandparents its just depressing to me. i wish i knew what it was like to have a loving extended family. all i know is a family that doesn't communicate and most of them have extreme hot heads. no wonder why grandpa doesn't go anywhere or do anything she screams at him all the time and most of the time its for no reason. there aren't really any happy holidays going on around here. its sad.


in other happy news these are the crafty things i've done lately.

this is the poncho i made for my neighbor:


 and this is the dog bed and the blanket i made for someone at church:

i am pretty happy with them. also here are some flowers i've been making for a friend. she is putting them on knitted ear warmer/headbands.
lets see, i also won this cowl on a giveaway got it the other day in the mail. its awesome!

 and since i'm still on a picture kick. i will show you the boys cell phone that got run over by a bus a few weeks ago:
i hope you all are well!



Kylie Minogue Album review



The Abbey Road Sessions features sixteen tracks, all radically reworked, spanning Kylie’s incredible twenty-five-year career. It was recorded in London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios with Kylie’s band and a full orchestra. The album features many of Kylie’s best-known hits and previously unreleased tracks. Over all sixteen tracks, one thing becomes very clear—stripped of her high-end pop production, the emotional resonance of Kylie’s songs has never been clearer, and her voice has never sounded better.

My Thoughts:
i only remember hearing one song of hers before and that was a long time ago. it wasn't horrible. but i just couldn't get into this cd. it bored me to death. i dunno what it was but i guess its cause i'm more into indie stuff these days. but you can't get into everything.
 


I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the CD to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Chris Mann Album review


As a finalist on the hit NBC television series “The Voice,” Chris Mann captured the hearts of millions while drawing the respect of platinum talents such as Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo. Following one of his many dynamic live performances on the show, Aguilera told him, “I
feel the heavens open up when you sing.” America agreed, and when the series ended, Chris had not one, but two songs on the iTunes Top 10 Pop Singles Chart.

Influenced by Pavarotti, Robbie Williams and vintage Sinatra, Chris’ blend of classically-trained tenor and contemporary pop vocals is a sound that’s rare in music today. Said Cee Lo, “He is by far one of the most incomparable vocalists I have ever heard.”

This classical crossover artist is set to release his Christmas EP on October 9 and his full-length major label debut album on October 30.


My Thoughts:

I wasn't familiar with this guy at all. i haven't watched the voice until this season. so i had no idea what to expect really. i went in with an open mind i do like a lot of different genres of music so i assumed i would like this too. unfortunately for me that wasn't the case. i listened to the whole album and i kept skipping to the next song to see if i was gonna like the next one. and it just didn't happen. the music was slow and sounded too operaish for me.


This is a review post from One2One Network. I was provided with a copy of the album and I am eligible for a prize drawing. All opinions stated are my own

Friday, November 2, 2012

well tuesday was kinda rawrish. i felt so bad for the boy cause a lot of things are going wrong lately and honestly this week has been crap. so has the last few months. there are a lot of things that really suck, the irs is trying to get him to pay money. and now there is a certified letter waiting at the post office. nothing was working right on his birthday. AND yesterday his phone got run over by a bus that he was trying to catch that didn't stop for him.  i just don't know what to do or how to handle it and its not like i get very much time with him anymore. and now all this its almost too much for me.

probably doesn't help that my period started yesterday so i was all irritated and emotional and in a lot of pain. i dunno i'm just depressed i guess i need things to be better. i need to force myself to do something and to pray about it. but i still am just freaking out inside. well thats about all for now. i have to work on reading all these christmas books for review. and i need to work out. so i will leave you with a picture.