Fearless

Okay, I got this book for Christmas and I just started it and finished it this week. It sat on my bedside table and I found every reason why not to read it. I also found every why not to write this review.

I hate to say anything bad about it, but I didn't really like it.

I thought it was repetitive. Each chapter felt like a mini sermon focusing on the same subject. But just like sermons there were several good stories, this wasn't enough to move this book into the like catagory.

This is the first book of Max Lucado's that I have ever finished, and I don't know if I will read another one of his.

I don't think that Max Lucado took into consideration those people who suffer from extreme anxiety who take everything to Jesus, but still have to deal with it. Sometimes I thought it was almost like those who saw a therapist were seeking a cop out. Which I don't believe to be true. I think that therapy can be very beneficial.

This book is not one that I will keep. It is definitely going in the donate to the library pile.

I wish I would have looked at other reviews of this book before I spent my time reading it. Most were glowing of this book, but the funniest one said that the best part of this book was the cover. I totally agree. I guess this is another example of you can't judge a book by its cover.

Exciting Games

Since Bo and I have gotten used to not having cable, and we have started playing a lot more games like rummy. This was one of my grandmothers favorite card games. She actually taught my brother and I how to play before we could hold all the cards in our hands. So to solve this problem she got us a circle thing to make holding cards easier. Our hands weren't big enough to shuffle the cards either so she got us a mechanical card shuffler. Maw, my brother and I would play cards for hours when we went to visit her.

Now, Bo and I play rummy together. This night I actually won, but most nights I don't.
This is Mancala. It is a simple, but fun game that I was introduced to in college. Bo usually beats me in this game also, but I really think he has an advantage because he counts all the time. So he knows exactly what piles of marbles to move. On the other hand I just move the pile that feel right to me.

Is there a board/card game that you like to play? I'm always open for new ideas.

Blankets for W & E

My niece and nephew covered up with the blankets I made them. My nephew is learning to share with his sister so when I gave him his blanket he immediately gave it to his sister. But then I told him I had one for his sister he seemed pretty happy about that. He pretty much carried it around with him on Saturday. Seeing as my niece is only 3 months old she didn't have much of a reaction.

Nephew's Blanket - this was made from a kit from Joann. It was pretty easy to put together. I just don't understand who decided to put satin in it, but you go with what you got.
A closer look.

Niece's Blanket - it will match her room perfectly. I didn't stitch in the ditch or any quilting also there isn't any batting inside of it which is perfect for the extremely hot weather we are having, but houses are so cool compared to outside.

I hope to make a few more of these soon.

Tomato Bacon Piec

I made this for my dad's birthday party. This is an amazing recipie that I thought I would share with you.

1 Prepared Pie Crust (I use 2 BUT some are deep and some are not)
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ tablespoon chopped chives (1 tablespoon if fresh)
6 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon dried sweet basil
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place piecrust in pie pan. Dock the bottom of piecrust (poke w/fork) and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until just set and bottom is slightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside.In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese and chopped chives and mix well.In piecrust, layer tomato slices, sprinkling each layer with a dash of salt, pepper, onion powder and basil and some of the bacon crumbles. Repeat until piecrust is full, and then spread cheese/mayo mixture on top. Bake pie for 40 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Let pie cool slightly before slicing and serve.

We all enjoyed this pie!

Picked to Early

Bo and I grew watermelons in our garden. Well I should say we had 1 watermelon in our garden the others opened up because of the heat. These were suppose to be small watermelons so we didn't actually know when we were suppose to pick it. Needless to say we picked it a little to soon. But at least it looked good.

Here you can see better see the size of the watermelon. We have learned a lot from the square foot garden and grown more than we ever have in the past. We will just have to improve on it next year.

Again doesn't the watermelon look pretty?

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Since my dad has followed me on my blog since day one, I am going to take this moment to wish him a Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Note- Please ignore the Vera Bradley bag because he had a basket on the front of his scooter he had to carry most of our stuff at Disney World.

Knockout Entrepreneur

In the last few days I decided I wanted to read. So I looked at the stack of books beside my bed and decided to read Knockout Entrepreneur by George Foreman.

Before this book I knew very little about George Foreman besides he sold grills and used to box. I'm really not a boxing fan. But I remember my grandparents watching Saturday Night Fights and now that I'm married to Bo, I have to follow it more because he LOVES boxing.

Let me just say that George Foreman's book was a great, entertaining, and encouraging book to read. If you ever think about starting a business this would be a great book to read. I love to read self help and business books and this one felt a little bit of each with a little autobiography in the mix.

I would definitely recommend this book to any one.

Fresh Peaches

On Saturday Bo and I went to one of the local farmers markets. They had great looking produce. We ended up buying tomatoes and peaches.

Tonight I made peach crisp. It was great especially warm out of the oven with ice cream on top. Bo wants to eat some tomorrow for breakfast.
These are some of the peaches I used. Don't they look great?

Frog in the Flowers

I have to show you this frog yard art because the other night Bo and I went to Joann Fabrics to check out there clearance summer stuff. Bo picked out this frog for our back yard. I would have never guessed in a million years that he would have liked this. Now, it is living in the middle of the flowers that my friend Lindy gave us.

More Outdoor Stuff

I have always liked utility spools that people use for tables. So I was on a mission to find one. Which I did. Now, I just want to paint it. I just can't decided on a color. Any suggestions?

I did make a table cloth to go over the top, but there was a bunch of stuff on the spool so the kitchen table had to model it for me.

Another view.

See I still do sew.

Cut Out Quilts

This past weekend I cut out 2 small quilts. They are super easy and they come in a prepackaged deal so there isn't really much thinking on my end. One is for my niece and the other is to be saved for the next baby gift I need.
I have one more to cut out. This one is for my nephew. He loves his dog so I'm sure he will love this quilt. Actually he amazes me by how much he likes the stuff I make him.

I hope to have these done this weekend.

Were Did the Weekend Go?

We had a super busy weekend. I'm not exactly sure what happened to it. I did actually cut some things out to sew. I'll show you those tomorrow. But to top off my weekend Bo cooked dinner for me. It was wonderful. Scalloped potatoes, some new kind of Barbecue Chicken, and Green Beans. Everything tasted great.

Above Ground Pool

Yes, Bo and I got an above ground pool. Bo studying the directions.

Our biggest problem is our ground isn't level. We didn't realize how uneven our ground was until we started to fill the pool with water. Needless to say it just didn't work.

So now we have to dig out about 18 inches of our yard to level out our swimming pool. At the rate we are going we will be able to swim by the end of summer. Thankfully both Bo and I love to swim.

Garden Update

We have eaten several tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden and they tasted delicious!!

But we were very excited to see that we have some tiny watermelons on the vine.

We also have some squash coming in nicely. We have a problem because we can't remember what kind of squash we planted. Do you have any idea what kind it is?

Happy 4th of July

Bo and I spent the 4th with his family at his grandmother's house. We spent the day swimming and having fun talking to his cousins. My parents came and eat supper with us. I'm really glad that both my parents and Bo's parents get along as well as they do.

I made sure to wear something red white and blue most of the day. Even when we were swimming.

Bo enjoying the pool. Bo and I are both lucky in the fact that we both grew up with pool. His at his grandmothers house two house away from the house he grew up in, and I was lucky enough to have one in my back yard. One day we both hope to have one. I just hope we are rich enough to have someone else take care of it.

Frugal Failure

Let me start off by saying Bo and I are frugal in many ways. NO TV isn't one of them.
So for months now Bo and I have talked about giving up cable TV. We had read several articles about how more and more people were giving up cable t.v. We actually have gotten rid of our digital cable and our DVR over the years and now we are down to expanded basic. So we thought we weren't given up that much. WRONG!!
We just knew we could do this because a few years ago we actually gave up TV for Lent. And we really enjoyed those 40 days without TV.
But some how this time seems harder! So hard in fact that after 2 weeks of not having cable or any t.v. we have decided to call the cable company and have it reconnected.
I'll just cut out more coupons or we will eat out less to make up the difference. We'll just chalk this up as beyond our frugal point.
So my question is how many of you live with out cable?