Adventures in La La Land

Amazon Link Justin and I drove to Auburn Hills for a little getaway this weekend. It's a 2.5 hour drive and I am a horrendous traveler. I can't handle being bored and I'm a very anxious passenger. Without fail, I get a stomach ache an hour before we leave, filled with an xiety about dying in some gruesome highway crash and leaving my girls orphans. All that's to say, I was looking for something fun and light to keep my attention on the drive. This book fit the bill. (And reading it on the Kindle prevented the usual sickness I experience reading a real book while riding in the car.) It was silly and fun and interesting. There were definitely parts that had me laughing out loud and reading through tears trying (and failing) to convey the humor to Justin. My favorite parts were her list of what makes a good best friend, and this description of herself as a kid that I hugely identified with: When I was a kid, I was obsessed with listing my favorite things. I kept a...

Amazon Link I broke my rule about branching out from inspirational fiction to read this book. It was one of my bookbub recommendations earlier this week and when I saw it was about an arranged marriage, I was hooked. I'm a sucker for arranged marriages. Haha. There's not much to say about this book. It was a great read. It's more than just romance. There were a lot of historical elements and I enjoyed the setting and time period (Scotland, 1500s). There was also a fair amount of mystery that had me guessing throughout the book. My one complaint is that the main character, Anne, was way too perfect. She goes through all these horrible circumstances, but knows how to respond every time. She's the perfect Christian, the perfect sister, the perfect wife. Don't get me wrong. I don't want my fiction reads to be totally realistic. I like to read as an escape. But it'd be nice to be able to relate a little more to the character. Haha. Two thumbs up from me! ...

Amazon link One of my friends recently starting writing a beautiful and thoughtful blog . In one of her entries, she mentioned this book and inspired me to put it on my Christmas list. Justin's mom bought it for me, and after all the frivolous fiction I've been reading lately, I decided to start it last week. The first half was interesting and practical, but nothing I really struggle with. So I started to lose interest. Then on Monday, I got bad news about my car and started my downward spiral into depression. I forced myself to pick this book back up just so I could finish it and move on to some more frivolous fiction. Lo and behold, the second half was all about trusting God and growing through our trials. It's funny because I "bragged" about my ability to see the big picture and trust God's goodness throughout my trials when I got the initial bad news about my car. But when the second wave of bad news came through, I suddenly lost sight of that. This bo...

Favorite Color: Red/green (I asked her what her favorite color was and she said, "Ummmm, red. Green! She doesn't actually know her colors. Just their names.) Favorite Food:  Macaroni and Cheese or cheese roll ups Favorite Song:  "Wheels on the Bus" or "Let it Go" Favorite Book: " The Oops Book" ( Blue Hat, Green Hat by Boynton ) Favorite TV Show: Daniel Tiger (she calls him "Neighbor")   Favorite Animal:  Kitty Favorite Game:  ? Favorite Snack:  Cheese Favorite Fruit:  Strawberries Favorite Drink:  Apple juice Favorite PJs:  Elsa jammies Favorite Toy:  Her babies Favorite Outside Activity:  Slide and swing I copied and pasted this from Lucy's 2 year update and kept a lot of the same answers! Haha. 

1. Week 3 of being stranded at home. I didn't handle it as gracefully this week. I lost my mind on Wednesday and didn't know how I'd ever make it through Thursday. But my marvelous sister brought me Olive Garden and sat and chatted with me for a few hours. Amazing what good food and adult conversation can do for the mood! I called about my car and it's not going to be finished until the end of next week, so if anyone's up for bringing me Olive Garden . . . Haha. No, the repair shop said they would get me a loaner vehicle.  2. In the midst of my  doldrums  this week, I was encouraged by this article . I love how she writes, "just do the ne xt thing." She actually posted a poem earlier this week by the same title. It's such a simple but important sentiment. When I'm overwhelmed by the state of my house or the months of homeschooling yet to plan and carry out or the utter lack of spiritual growth in my life, I start to panic. So I have to remember ...

I hate writing these entries because I feel like my limited writing ability can't possibly capture Lena's personality and character. But I'll hate myself even more if I never do it, so here goes . . . Lena is 2 years old today. She is hilarious and naughty and sweet and quirky. The Stats She has most of her teeth. Still waiting on all 4 eye teeth and at least one more set of molars.  She's still tiny. She has a doctor's appointment at the beginning of February, but my best estimate is that she's around 25 lbs. She is just  starting to grow out of her 18 month shirts. But 2T pants are huge on her (way too long). The Fun Stuff She can count perfectly to 11. She sings the alphabet (loudly and often). She can identify heart and star but doesn't know any other shapes. I wrote in Lucy's 26 month update that she was starting to identify letters?! I've never even tried to work on letters with Lena. She definitely can't identify any of t...

1. The car saga: I brought my car to the shop on Monday night. They called me Tuesday morning and said they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, and it needed to be looked at by a transmission specialist. My dad drove me back to the shop so I could drive my car down the street to the Ford dealership. They called me on Wednesday with the great  news: the transmission has something majorly wrong with it and either needs to be rebuilt or replaced. Of course, it's some special kind of transmission that Ford only made for a few years before realizing it was more trouble than it's worth. So the parts are hard to find and very pricey. The estimate to rebuild is $2500. That's more than half of what I paid for the car a month ago. The Ford guy said this problem has undoubtedly been happening for months and the guy who sold it to me had to have known about it. :-( I'm entirely too trusting and think that everyone is honest. Maybe the craigslist guy genuinely didn't...