New Year New Post!

Happy New Year bloggy friends.  Watch this space for a new blog post soon! :)

A Century Turns by William J. Bennett

You may think from the title of this post that it's directed at how long it's been since I've blogged. Not so. :) It's actually the title of a book I read by William J. Bennett.

Before this book I had only briefly heard of William J. Bennett. He has written other books, one of them being "The Book of Virtues for Young People" which I owned. This book however is of a completely different genre than I normally delve into. On the outside it appears to be a political book. It is, but it is more than that. It takes a look at our country's history from 1998-2008.

Normally, I would say "boring". I don't mind politics so much, but it always seems so hard to find the truth in all of it. I also feel that too many times large vocabularies are used to impress and the average audience reading it is left somewhat behind, wondering what they just read. This book gave me an insight into recent political history. There were things that humored me (surprisingly) and I learned a lot.

It was not a quick read for me. I am a fairly voracious reader, but this one took me awhile to get through. It's thought provoking. There is a lot of information in it. I was glad for the pictures included that gave me a visual to the people and places that he spoke of.

What I appreciated most about this book was that it's about the most impartial political minded material I've ever read. The author was willing to point out flaws in the administration that he worked for as well as flaws of new administration. He also pointed out the good in both. I can appreciate that neither one is perfect and Mr. Bennett did a great job of showing this.

While it's not something I'm likely to read again, I am glad that I took the time to plow through it and finish it. I do think it's very educational and at times entertaining. It helped me to better understand the presidency and our recent political history including 9/11 and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Being More Intentional in 2012

I'm kind of tired of floating through life. Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it doesn't. So I've decided to become more intentional in the things I do this year. One of the areas I plan to do this is in my reading. I spend way more time reading online that I should. I look at the books on my bookshelf and think....someday. Someday never comes. So this year, I will be picking out 24 books to read- 2 a month. Most of them will be non-fiction. I want things that are going to help me grow as a person and in my relationship with God. One of the ways I can do that is by becoming intentional about the media that I am putting into my head. So, without further ado. Here is this year's reading list.

January

- Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman (I've read 5 chapters today and already feel myself being stretched)! Finished Jan. 9, 2012

-168 Hours- You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam Decided not to read this book after starting it. Substituted a book from April.

February

-Simple Steps: 10 Weeks to Getting Control of Your Life by Lisa Lelas and others

-Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

March

-The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer

-Becoming a Woman of Simplicity by Cynthia Heald

April

-Simple Hospitality by Jane Jarrell Finished Jan. 31, 2012

-Stop Dating the Church! Fall in Love with the Family of God by Joshua Harris

May

-Radical by David Platt

-Forgotten God by Francis Chan

June

-Shaping Ordinary Boys into Extraordinary Men by William Beausay II

-A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller

July

-Making Life an Adventure by Dustin Beal

-A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

August

-Love is a Verb by Gary Chapman

-I Sold My Soul on Ebay by Hemant Mehta

September

-Jesus Freaks compiled by DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs

-A Woman and Her God by Beth Moore (and others)

October

-The Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns

-Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy

November

-Passionate Housewives Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald

-One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

December

-American Idols: The Worship of the American Dream by Bob Hostetler

-Open Heart Open Home by Karen Mains

Check This Out!

Money Saving Mom has long been one of my favorite homemaking and money saving blogs. Now Crystal (aka Money Saving Mom) has a new book coming out! You can check it out here!

I personally am going to try to get it from our local library. I love getting new tips on how to manage our income to the best of our ability!

PW's Apple Dumplings

***Warning*** The following recipe is not healthy. In fact, it is bad for you. If you are concerned about this, do NOT proceed.***

This is a recipe that I've had in my "to try" file for a little while now. It is Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings. It calls for 2 sticks of butter (Paula Deen Would be so proud!) and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. This is all before you top it off with a can of Mt. Dew.



The recipe I used said "You'll know you're doing it right if it looks kinda gross." Yep, I did it right!
The final product. The buttery smell was intoxicating. The taste was yummy. I will make these again!

Find the recipe I used here. And if you've never heard of Pioneer Woman go check her out here.

30 Days of Summer Day 3

June 19, 2011

We went to our annual family Luau. It rained almost the entire time. :( We still had a pretty good time though. I mean who can be sad when there are pina coladas with little umbrellas? :)

30 Days of Summer- Day 2

June 7, 2011

Watched a sweet baby sleep.
Wrote threats to quit summer school.

Played on the slip and slide with cousins.

Cuddled up on the floor with our cousins during a thunderstorm and watched "Wonder Pets".