Randoms & Current Faves

Well this week has not gone exactly according to "my" plans. LOL! But it has been a good one anyways. I had grand intentions of getting back on a workout routine by getting up at the butt-crack of dawn (5 a.m.) and walking on the treadmill. Well I did manage to get up and do it one day this week but not the rest of the days. Jonah has not slept well at all this week due to what I think it a final tooth pushing up. He started with a stuffy nose (not running at all) and a low-grade fever on Tuesday. This is his standard teeth-cutting symptoms so I am pretty sure that is what is going on. The fever only lasted about a day and never got high but he is still stuffy nosed. The problem is that he still wants his paci at naptime and bedtime so he wakes in the night looking for it but when he puts it in he can't breath well....Ugh! I think it's time to get rid of that thing but I can't bring myself to take it away yet.

I digress.

So I've had to pour a little extra coffee in the mornings due to the 5-6 hour sleepless nights (for both Michael and I). But I have got a lot of extra cuddle time this week. :)

Anyways, I wanted to share some of the really good books I have read recently. I have been on a reading kick lately. I think it's because all my regular shows have been off for a while.

I recently read my first Max Lucado book called Just Like Jesus. This book was something that I really needed to read. It's all about how we as Christians are to model our lives to be just like Jesus' life. It goes through the characteristics of Jesus and how we are to apply them in our own life. There were a ton of great quotes in the book and I really loved the message it kept repeating of how Jesus loves you just the way you are but he does not want you to stay that way. He wants you to be changed by the love of Jesus and that to be reflected in how you live your life everyday. Here is another quote from the book I loved.

“God rewards those who seek Him. Not those who seek doctrine of religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself. And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus.”

So true. We are to always be seeking Jesus.

The next two books I read were Bloom: Finding Beauty In The Un-expected - A Memoir by Kelle Hampton and My So-Called Life As a Proverbs 31 Wife by Sara Horn.

Both of these books were quick and easy reads but nothing in them really stuck with me. I regulary read Kelle's blog Enjoying The Small Things so I already loved her writing style and what she writes about on her blog but the book did not really bring anything new to me that I didn't already get from reading her blog.

Sara's book was just ok. It is the one-year experiment that she underwent to try to be more like the woman described in the 31st chapter of Proverbs. I enjoyed reading what all she went through but it just was not as comical as I thought it would be.



I also recently listened to the audio book of The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks and I really enjoyed that story. I have not seen the movie but I can't wait to now. I will have to say that the guy reading the book was not great. I almost didn't finish it becuase I hated his voice when he did Ben, Nana and Elizabeth. It really took a lot away from the story so that's why I want to see the characters come alive in the movie to get the full effect.

On to some of my current favorite things! I am loving all these new finds. Don't you just love when you come across something or try something new and it becomes an instant favorite?

Wal-Mart quit carrying my favorite hot cocoa (Coldstone Creamery brand) that I was putting in my coffee everyday. Boo! So I finally found something that I like just as much. I love the Internationl Delight brand Caramel Macchiato cream. It is not an overhwelming flavor at all.

I also tried a new recipe this week that Michael and I both loved. It's Pioneer Woman's Penne a la Betsy pasta dish. It is not the cheapest one to make with the cost of shrimp (even the frozen ones) but it is so good. I also did not use fresh herbs but used dried ones and it was still great! We are having leftovers of it tonight. :)

I am also loving the free app YouVersion on my new phone. It is Bible app that you can use to sign up for Bible reading plans. I am following along with the blog #SheReadsTruth and we are in the middle of studying the book of Proverbs. I love that it gets me into His Word everyday no matter what. Check it out!

I feel so much more fulfilled and balanced when I read His Word throughout the week. Why had I not been doing that more? Is it really so hard to go get my Bible and open it up? Honestly, it is hard to do that. But with the Bible being right there on my phone, it is always with me. When I don't try to sit and read a whole book and just take a small bite of it each day, I can really concentrate on what I've read.


Michael and I have been through some hard things this past month. We had a miscarriage at about 7 weeks. We found out about the possibility of this pregnancy not being viable in early July. I miscarried the weekend of Jonah's second birthday and I've had a hard time with it. We don't have answers for why these things happen but I know that God's love for me is the same as it has always been and I do not blame myself or God for why this happened to us a second time. I just trust that God will provide us another chld in His time and not in ours. I do know that going through hard times like these brings us closer to God and it has done that for me.

If you're reading this and you know me personally, please just say a prayer for us for God's healing of my body and his will in how our family grows. We have not publicly talked about this loss since we had not publicly announced our pregnancy. It was been our choice to manage this loss in private but prayers are always appreciated so that is why I mention it here on our life journal.