99 Blessings by Brother David Steindl-Rast (book review)

99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life

From the inside front cover:

Source of all blessings, you bless us with dreams-dreams while we sleep and dreams in our most wakeful moments. May I be responsive to both forms of dreams and pass these blessings on by living a life that is faithful to their guidance.

From beloved author Brother David Steindl-Rast comes this beautiful collection of original blessings meant to guide readers through each day with wisdom and spirit.

This gift book of ninety-nine personal and original blessings from Brother David Steindl-Rast, known for his pioneering work in interfaith dialogue, marks the first time the member of the Benedictine Order of Catholic monks has crafted a series of prayers for the general reader-from Catholics to Protestants, Jews and Muslims, agnostics and uncertain. Blessings are life-giving only as long as we pass them on, so this book is meant to be shared with friends, family, coworkers, strangers, and anyone in need of a few words of inspiration and guidance. - See more at: http://www.imagecatholicbooks.com/book/223564/99-blessings/#sthash.QByasedN.dpuf

My thoughts:
 99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life is a collection of blessings by Brother David Steindl-Rast. Although Brother Steindl-Rast is a Catholic monk, these blessings are meant to be non-denominational. The blessings range from blessings for the wind, music, air travel, medicine, gravity, snow, insects, the internet, hair, learning by heart, cows, fits and misfits, and books to name just a few of the 99 things.
I found the blessings to be short, sweet and powerful for the soul. You feel good reading them. You feel good thinking on them. You feel good praying them.

As Brother Steindl-Rast writes in his introduction, this book of blessings is meant to be shared with others. It is beautifully bound and should be shared. I have already gotten another copy to be gifted to a friend for her birthday!

I would highly recommend this book for both yourself and others in your life.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this book for purpose of review from the Blogging for Books program from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

Birds, Chuck E Cheese, A Carousel Ride, and Blueberries!

Typically, during the summer we try to get away for a couple of days as a family, just to spend some quality time together and do some fun things. Well this year we decided to stick closer to home and explore some areas that are not too far from our home.

On Tuesday, we took the kiddos to Mansfield, Ohio to spend the day. I found a ton of great ideas at the blog The Traveling Praters!

We started our day at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary. The Ohio Bird Sanctuary has several kinds of owls, hawks and other birds that have been injured in some way or raised by humans and they offer a safe refuge for these birds to live.

The kids loved looking at the different birds and they were even brave enough to walk through the aviary where the birds are not in cages. Jacob said his favorite was the ducks! The Ohio Bird Sanctuary also has several nature trails with beautiful flowers!

Then we headed out to lunch. We told Rebecca that if she read 10 chapter books AND journal them, that we would take her to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and to play. Well lo and behold she did and so we had to keep our promise. (If you don't know Chuck E. Cheese is NOT one of my favorite places!). So after we left the bird sanctuary, we headed to the restaurant.

It wasn't too crowded and once the kids ate they wanted to play, play, play! The kids had a blast and that is what matters! I loved seeing their smiling faces as they played the different games. And Jacob LOVED their pizza...he ate 4 slices!

After lunch, we decided to head to the Richland Carousel Park. This is a huge merry-go-round in the middle of downtown Mansfield.

It is a beautiful carousel with 52 different animals ranging from horses to giraffes to cats. We all rode one time and then Bill and Rebecca rode again.

After we had ridden the carousel, we headed out to the last stop of the day...The Blueberry Patch to pick blueberries of course! The kids had a blast when we picked strawberries and so we thought they would enjoy picking blueberries. And since blueberries are Benjamin's favorite, then we figured it would be a win, win!

The kids enjoyed it for the most part. It was very hot and humid when we were there, so we only picked a few pounds. Jacob was so excited to pick them. Personally, I do not like blueberries, but the kids said that they were delicious!

Overall, it was a fun-filled family day! As Rebecca said it "was 6 hours of family fun!" We have lots of memories and it was fairly lo cost.

It was a great way to spend a summer day!

Gift of a Servant by Tamara Amos (book review)

Gift of a Servant

From the back cover:

Santa Reveals His Mission Of Love!

A father waits up on Christmas Eve night to demand retirement from the hero of his childhood, Santa Claus. The same saint who used to symbolize Christmas spirit is now plastered on advertisements everywhere, driving shoppers into holiday hysteria! Dear old Dad makes a mistake, however, by forgetting what every child knows: When Santa comes in the night with a bag full of surprises, he always leaves the perfect gift.

Gift of a Servant is a glimpse into the soul of one of the most celebrated and beloved saints of our time. It is a journey into the heart of his mission to bestow God's love upon His children, and an invitation to join him on this holy quest.

Enter in with an expectant heart to receive the gift Santa Claus has prepared for you!

My thoughts:

I always laugh because there is usually something every year that speaks to me as “Christmas in July.” This year was no different. I had the opportunity to read and review Tamara Amos’ book Gift of a Servant.

Gift of a Servant begins with the narrator being upset during Christmas season about the culture of our society and how Santa Clause somehow has overshadowed Jesus, who is the reason for the season. The story continues in a dreamlike state, when the narrator meets Santa and demands answers. Santa in turn shows how in fact he is being a servant of Jesus for caring for his children and showing them love.

This book was okay. The author says that the book is intended for children above 8 years old. I think that the symbolism is a little much for most 8 year olds that I know. Some of the symbolism was a little much for me. I like the sentiment behind the book, however I feel that this is not necessarily a children’s book as the subject matter runs deep.
 Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookcrash.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Secrets to a Happy Life by Bill Giovannetti (book review)

Secrets to a Happy Life: Finding Satisfaction in Any Situation

From the back cover:

Can you really be happy in ANY situation? YES!

Contrary to popular belief, happy people aren't born happy. And they face difficulties as we all do. But they have discovered something the rest of us can learn--how to tap into a deep happiness that flows no matter the circumstance.

Filled with practical advice and biblical wisdom, Secrets to a Happy Life shows how true satisfaction is anchored to the soul, safe from the disappointments and stresses at the surface of life. Drawing lessons from the remarkable life of Joseph, who was sold into slavery at a young age and endured much hardship, you will discover how to:

· See all the ways God is working for your joy
· Get beyond the negative emotions that hold you back
· Find rest in God's goodness and control
· View your life from heaven's perspective
· Create--and tap into--your own deep well of happiness

Life will always have its ups and downs, but with the life-changing secrets in this book, you can amplify and sustain the joy already inside you.

My thoughts:

Giovannetti argues that there are 11 secrets to living a happy life. He incorporates the story of Joseph from the Bible to illustrate these secrets. Quite honestly I have heard all of Giovannetti's secrets before and so probably have you. However, he presents them in a way that allows for them to sink in to your life, while at the same time using historical and biblical references to show you why they are important for your own happiness.  He allows you to see that short term happiness, while it may seem good at the time, really may not lead to long term happiness and the joy that his secrets will show you.

I thought that this book was okay. I didn't really feel like I learned anything new, only learned how to apply what I knew in a different manner and to look at things in a different way. I liked the fact that each chapter ended with discussion questions that would make me think on that secret even more.

If you or someone you know struggles with happiness, then this book may be for you.

Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from the publisher, Bethany House, in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.

Update on Summer Bucket List

At the beginning of the summer, I made a summer family bucket list that listed things that I wanted to do with our family. I was doing this as a way to be intentional with how we spent our time over the summer and not just end up watching TV and lounging around. Well it is now July 5...so I thought I would do a check-in to see how we are coming with our bucket list.

 

2013 Summer Family Bucket List

 Visit the Zoo

Wash the car/van by hand with the kids' help

Play at the park at least once every 2 weeks--went to the park 2 times in June!

Have a picnic on a blanket on the grass

Go to Chuck E. Cheese---not yet, planning on going this coming week

Catholic Kidz Camp for Rebecca (Vacation Bible School)---DONE! She had a blast!

Make Smores in the sun

Pick strawberries---DONE!

Eat lunch on the porch

Play tag in the yard

Go to the library at least once every 2 weeks---ongoing, we have been going every week.

Attend the Knox County Fair

Go to Ye Olde Mill for Ice Cream

Mini golf

Go to the Children's Garden---DONE

Take Rebecca to the movies

Watch fireworks on the 4th of July---DONE, wasn't on the 4th, but the night of the 3rd when our town had theirs.

 

Not too bad! I notice that I have been more intentional with what we are doing and the plans that we are making. It has made for a great summer so far. Looking forward to seeing what adventures July and August will bring.

 

What have you been up to over the month of June?

Happy 4th of July

Just wanted to pop on for a minute and wish my readers a Happy 4th of July!

We took the kids to our town's fireworks display last night and they had a blast after they got over them being so loud. It was a great, fun night. (and yay for getting something else marked off our summer bucket list!)

I hope that you have a chance to spend time with your family and/ or friends today and celebrate our country's independence.

A happy and safe 4th of July to you and your family from me and mine!

Custom T-Shirts make great gifts!

A couple months ago, I was contacted by Allied Shirts to see if I would be interested in reviewing one of their customizable t-shirts. Honestly I don't wear a lot of t-shirts that have writing on them, HOWEVER my husband ALWAYS has a t-shirt on with some sort of graphic. So I quickly agreed knowing that I could use it as a gift for either his birthday or for Father's Day.

Allied Shirts offers unisex long and short sleeve t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. As I was looking through their website, it was very easy to plan the shirt from choosing the size, to the color, etc.

Then came the process of figuring out what to put on it. And that was the hardest part!

I wanted something that said that this shirt belonged to Bill, but at the same time I wanted something out of the ordinary.

I started looking around online for some inspiration....I started thinking about my hubby's interests....football, sports, etc....Then I saw this....

Source

And I loved the saying! But since my hubby doesn't necessarity hate the Raiders....I thought about the team that he loathes with a passion!

And I came up with this:

If you knew my hubby in real life, then you know that he LOATHES the Steelers. He is a die hard 49ers fan and he is a hardcore Browns fan. Above all else, he HATES the Steelers.

I gave the shirt to him for his birthday and he LOVED it!

The process of ordering was very simple! I chose the color (they offer over 20 colors to choose from), size (they offer youth small through adult 4XL) and added the writing.

I can say that the quality of the shirt is very good. I ordered Bill a 3X as I was unsure of the shrinkage factor, but I am happy to say that the shirt had little or no shrinkage after it was washed and dried in the dryer. While it is a tad bit big for Bill because of that, it is perfect for wearing over a long sleeve tee (in other words perfect for football season!)

I would highly recommend Allied Shirts for all  your custom t-shirt design needs, be they 1 shirt or 100 shirts!

Disclaimer: I was provided a free t-shirt in exchange for an honest review from Allied Shirts.

Potty Training Jacob Day #1

So today after waking up to a messy poopy diaper from Jacob, I decided that once again I was going to try to potty train him. I was DONE with poopy diapers from him. D.O.N.E.  DONE!!!!

So day #1 started....I put him in pull ups this morning and he actually did not fight me to sit on the potty. Instead he was okay with it. I praised him for not having peed in his pull up. I praised him for trying to go. I told him he was such a good boy.

This afternoon, he actually went pee in the potty for the first time! He was so happy.

Then while I was making dinner, he told me he had to go potty. I got him on the potty and he accidentally peed on his leg and he was SO upset.

I hope this is a  sign of good things to come with Jacob going potty, because he needs to be out of diapers. I NEED him to be out of diapers. I think he did a pretty good job for day #1. He went pee in the potty 3 times!  I hope this is a good stepping stone in the right direction.

Any potty training tips for teaching boys to go potty?

Reluctantly Related by Deanna Brann, Ph.D. (book review)

Reluctantly Related: Secrets To Getting Along With Your Mother-in-Law or Daughter-in-law

From the back cover:

With humor, compassion and focus, in-law expert Dr. Deanna Brann shows you step by step how to bring positive, lasting change to your mother-in-law or daughter-in-law (MIL or DIL) relationship. Her groundbreaking research and powerful techniques have helped women nationwide to live happier, healthier and more peaceful live with the women in their extended-by-marriage families.

• Understand why your in-law relationship is so hard
• Learn powerful tools and techniques to bring peace and lasting change to your in-law relationship
• Change your relationship without having to confront your in-law

My thoughts:

Reluctantly Related: Secrets to Getting Along with your Mother-in-Law or Daughter-in-Law by Deanna Brann, Ph.D. is a good book that describes the different personalities that may be present in a Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law relationship. Brann identifies different personality types for MILs and DILs. She identifies the personalities of MILs as Comfortable Carla, Mothering Margaret, Off-the-Wall Wanda and Uncertain Sara. The personalities of DILs include Confident Connie, Doubting Donna, Weird Wendy, and Transitioned Tracy. She also includes how each responds and is shaped by the role of the son/husband in the relationship. While she explains each type of personalities, Brann also talks about different problems and issues that may arise when the different personalities mesh together. Brann ends her book with quizzes for you to take to see which personality fits your life.

I think that this book could have been helpful. However, I felt that as I was reading through the different personalities I was a part of several and I could see my MIL in several of them and there was really no explanation as to what to do then. I also felt that by having the quiz at the end of the book, Brann was defeating the purpose. If the quizzes were available toward the beginning, then I think the reader would have a better understanding of which character they were most like and thus could get more out of the reading.

Disclaimer: I was sent this book from The Cadence Group in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.

Children's Garden

Last Friday, we took an unplanned trip to the Knox County Children's Garden for lunch and an afternoon out of the house.

We did not plan this. Friday morning I took the kids to the library and to Kroger and I came home to a very overwhelming smell of sewer in our house and no water in either toilet. There was water on the floors around the bottom of the toilet. We called our landlord, and to make a long story short, it seems the city was cleaning the sewer system in our area and they must have sucked all the water out. The smell was AWFUL!!! Needless to say I suggested to Bill that we take the kids out to eat for lunch and let the house air out.

So we decided to get McDonalds and head out to the Children's Garden. It was on our family bucket list to go to this summer so it worked!

The last time we went, Benjamin was maybe 3 months old. It was a very nice afternoon.

The kids enjoyed their lunch and running around and exploring the gardens.

Finding frogs in the 2 ponds.

Taking family photos...

Seeing the beautiful flowers.

Looking at the pretty murals.

They liked playing in the secret garden.

And Rebecca decided to take mine and Bill's picture, with Jacob coming in on it! LOL

It was a wonderful day to go and build memories with our family and to get away from what was a smelly situation!

What have you done lately with your family to build memories?

Knox County Relay for Life

Over the weekend I had the privilege to take part in an amazing event in our area. In actuality I believe that this type of activity is in over 20 different countries. I am talking about Relay for Life.

Relay for Life is an 18 hour relay walk that takes place with different teams participating that raise money to help find a cure for cancer. During the Knox County Relay for Life event, there were 44 different teams represented and each team had at least one member on the track walking through the entire 18 hours. The first lap is taken by the survivors...There were 4 women on the team that I was on that were survivors, including my mom.

The first lap---the survivors

This year I took part in the St. Vincent De Paul team. I felt drawn to do this for 2 reasons.... First my mom who was diagnosed with bladder cancer...who had surgery, then went through 2 bouts of chemo. I can say that she is now among the survivors.

Me, my mom, my dad, and my sister

I also did this for 2 friends.  I watched a friend go through being diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer. I had a friend and coworker diagnosed with breast cancer, went through 2 different surgeries, and then went through chemo and radiation. She finished radiation about a month before this event. Cancer had affected my life and I HATE that! I joined this team for them.

This was during the caregiver lap..this was my friend (in purple who battled breast cancer this year) and her family.

I can say that it was an AMAZING experience. I went to the event by myself first, then I came home and got the kids and took them so Bill could go to work. They had booths set up with fun things to do, including getting your hair sprayed for donations by the team "Kids Against Cancer." One of my friends organizes this team every year and they raised $112 just by spraying hair. Rebecca even got in on the action.

Then Saturday morning I went back to walk some more. The sense of community and doing something above and beyond me was amazing.

The team that I was on raised over $2800 for the cause. I think that is outstanding considering we were a first year team and no one really knew what they were doing.

As a whole, the Knox County Relay for Life raised over $240,000! That is so good!

It was an emotional, amazing experience and it is one that I will be joining in on again in the years to come! If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend participating. It is so worth it.

Sunday Night Chit Chat

HAPPY SUNDAY!!! It has been a CRAZY, BUSY weekend around here with A LOT going on! Friday we went to the Children's Garden. Friday night and Saturday morning I participated in an amazing event---Relay for Life. Saturday afternoon I had a class for work. And today I left at 8:40 this morning and spent the entire day in Columbus, going with my parents and sister to see the show "Wicked." Home just in time to take Rebecca to Vacation Bible School. Now I am typing this up, getting ready to go pick her up. It has been a busy weekend and Sunday.



And since it is Sunday, it is time once again for Sunday Night Chit-Chat...hosted by our friend Carla! 

 

To play along simply start your post with a photo or quote... Copy and paste the starters and link up to Carla so she and others can visit you and see what you've been up to!

So here goes:



 

Went and saw this musical today. It was OUTSTANDING!!!! So good!
 

 

• Reading? I am currently reading "99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life" by Brother David Steindl-Rast
• Listening to?  The TV is on, and Benjamin is pounding on his toy drum. The air conditioner is also on as it is HOT!
• Watching? The kids are watching "Sophia the First"
• Cooking/Baking? Yesterday we made homemade "blizzards." So good and so much cheaper than Dairy Queen's.
• Happy you accomplished this week? I have been super busy this weekend and so glad that it is almost over. I was gone most of the day Friday, yesterday and today...doing fun things (Children's Garden, Relay for Life, and seeing Wicked among other things). I was also able to walk 5 days....
• Looking forward to next week? Not having much planned on my calender. This week I only have one tutoring job as 2 of my kids are gone on vacation.  Rebecca has vacation bible school but that is it. And I have nothing unusual on my calender so far.
• Thankful for today? My husband who held down the fort for me today while I was gone all day long. I left before the boys were awake and didn't get back until time to take Rebecca to Vacation Bible school. He does so much for me and yet I know that I don't thank him enough.
• *Bonus Question* What was your least favourite part and your most favourite part of the last week? I think I liked being busy, but did not like not seeing my hubby very much this weekend. Also don't like the feeling of being selfish since I was doing all of these things by myself and not with Bill or the kids.

So there you have it. A little glimpse into my world on this Sunday night! Hope everyone has a wonderful week and remember to link up to our wonderful chat host Carla! :)

Car update

Last week I told you how Bill came home and told me that the car was having transmission problems....

We thought that we were going to have to get the transmission rebuilt to the tune of over $2000....

We ended up taking the car to a transmission place about 40 minutes away. We called a local auto repair place and they could put a new transmission in, but not rebuild one and they recommended this transmission place 40 minutes away.

We dropped the car off on Tuesday. (Which was okay, but meant that we were down to 1 car, and that meant that the kids and I were pretty much stuck at home since Bill needed the van for work.)

Wednesday afternoon, Bill called and the mechanic said they were still testing it and weren't sure yet what the issue was.

Thursday afternoon, Bill called and was told that it was not a valve problem and that there was a code that the mechanic did not recognize that came up and that he sent that code to a mechanic in California to see if he knew what it was and that he would call us as soon as he knew anything.

Friday, no word from the place.

Saturday and Sunday no word.

Sunday, Bill and I decided that at some point on Monday if we had not heard from them, then we would go and get the car and take it to the shop here in town to get the new transmission put in (to the tune of $2000!) since *we* were convinced that that was going to be the needed result.

Well Monday morning, Bill gets a call from the mechanic. He is 99% sure he fixed the problem. The code was for a sensor that was overheating and causing the transmission to choke up when you are going over 55mph. He replaced the sensor and it was running fine.

The cost: $40.

We went Monday to pick it up, and the guy told Bill not to pay then, but to drive the car for 2 weeks to make sure that solved the problem, then he could pay. Really?!?!

Bill said that the car drove fine coming home and has been fine since then!

YAHOO!!! I hope that this was the fix for the car and not just a bandaid for a bigger issue. Fingers crossed!

Have you had any car issues lately?