Book Review and GIVEAWAY!!

Giveaway is over! the winner is 

Shannon! Thanks!


I'm so excited I get to do a little Giveaway on my teensy tiny blog! But first the review...




As One Devil to Another by Richard Platt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book was a nod to C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters. It is written in that style, of a mentor demon to his nephew trainee who is on his first assignment. It is interesting as a fiction account, but even more so as a thought-provoking look at how Satan attempts to pull us from God! Many different areas are looked at, including our pride and ambition, television, internet, among others.  It definitely made me think about how these things (internet was especially convicting for me!) pull our focus from God and make it easier for the devil to do his work, as we lose our "real" connection with people in exchange for a false sense of community.  The only negative I have is that I just finished it up a few minutes ago and am confused about the ending; I feel like I need to go back and reread since I must have missed something... But I would definitely recommend this book!


I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review.




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The publisher has graciously provided me with a free copy for someone! (well actually, a certificate for a free copy, redeemable, I believe, wherever this book is sold!) 

Just leave me a comment below telling me what your favorite book is to enter! (one entry per person, US addresses only).

Book Review: Your 100 Day Prayer

Keep an eye out Tuesday for another review and a GIVEAWAY!!!


Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Actively Waiting on God by John I. Snyder
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I haven't worked through the whole book yet, but have actually to start over and follow through ever day! But I have done enough i feel for a review. I really appreciate this book due to some circumstances in our family life, and the idea of deliberately focusing on an issue in prayer daily is exciting! I'm not sure that this book is quite what I expected but it is still a valuable tool I'm excited to put to use!  The book contains short devotionals of about a page each, and a prompt to prayer encouraging one to focus on an area or idea, such as dealing with the shock of the request one is praying for, or asking God to reveal what He is teaching through the circumstance.  I like that each devotional is short, allowing you to do it quickly in the morning and continue to pray and meditate on the idea through the day. It is short enough that it can be a supplement to an additional study without being overwhelming. There is a space for notes for each day as well. I'd recommend this book if there's a request (and who among us doesn't have something?!) that you need to truly focus on and bring to the Lord.

I recieved an e-copy of this book from the publisher for review.


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Recipe Organization

I have been (attempting to) follow along with the 52 Weeks of An Organized Home Challenge. I won't say I've done every challenge, but I have done most; the one I was most excited about was this one: Organize Recipes and Cookbooks. What I really like about this challenge is that every week, she send you an email with the challenge, and suggestions of different ways to complete it.  I had been planning to make up a recipe binder for all my paper recipes- I have magazine pullouts, recipe cards, cookbooks, ideas on the computer, Taste of Home magazines... so confusing when I know i have a recipe and can't remember where it is!  I'd always seen recipe binders and thought it was the best option.  But in the challenge, she included a section on digital organization and mentioned Evernote. 

I LOVE IT.  I'd heard of it before but for some reason had decided against using it (just in general, not even thinking of recipes). When she suggested it as an option, I went back and revisited. It is an amazing program and it is FREE!  


You can get an Evernote app for almost anything- I have it on my computer, Nook, and I-Pod Touch. So you can access it anywhere.  


The sidebar is where you can see your "notebooks"

As you can see, I'm not only using it for recipes, and haven't even begun to really use it as I hope to.  But you can see above that you can create sub-groups of notebooks, such as my "RECIPES" group above. Below I have all my categories.  And within each notebook, it looks like this.

On the far left, is the sidebar I have already shown you. The next row is all the Notes within the chosen Notebook. You can see I have chosen the "Main" notebook to show you.  So the second row has all the recipes I have collected so far within the Main category.  As you choose it, it shows up in the view box.  You can edit, add tags, comments etc.  This recipe was taken from the web using the Evernote clipper, which is amazing!  You can snip out any part of a webpage you want and put it in evernote! The program automatically records the URL in case you need to easily find it again.  This all is made even easier by the Evernote Clearly tool, which gives you a screen with just the article, no buttons, ads, etc. This makes for non-distracted reading, but also is a super easy way to clip just what you want from the page. The purple lettering above is  my note after making this for dinner!


Now to menu plan, I've begun to use the "recipes to try" notebook.  There are several super easy ways to change the notebook of an item; you can grab the item from the second row, where the notes are listed, and pull it to the notebook you want, or you can click on the upper right of the note and change it from a drop down menu. So I pull recipes I want to try into the notebook, and put them back as I'm finished.  

Recipes I have already typed out on the computer (I had been attempting to do nice recipe cards) can just be copied and pasted into a note. You can pull in pictures if you have them, add pdfs, links to other recipes and tons of other things I've not even discovered.  


I have been loving that I can pull things up on my ipod or nook (since we only have one computer, its nice to not need it for a recipe). And since our internet is spotty, it is amazing to have all these on the computer, but also backed up to Evernote's site. I don't have to worry about losing them if our computer crashes! And I've found on my ipod that if I connect to the internet and open a note, its then available there as I need it, internet or no!


Another amazing thing about Evernote is the search function. It can search within things you've typed, things you've clipped from the internet, pdfs, almost anything!  So if I have some avocados I need to use up, all I need to do is search for "avocado".

Obviously, I need some more avocado recipes, but get the picture?  I'm not even positive I need all the separate category notebooks with the search and also the tags (categories, like you can do with your pictures). But they are there for now...


According to the Evernote site and blog, people are using evernote to organize their entire lives.  Financial information, tax preparation, trip planning. Its amazing.  


My goal is to be able to get rid of all the paper recipes I have floating around.  I plan to scan in all my magazine pages (apparently there is a "scan to evernote" app for some printers that I haven't been able to set up yet that makes it so easy), copy and paste all my typed recipes, and clip ones I find on the internet.  For now, I've been using Pinterest for meal inspiration and ideas.

and moving them into Evernote as I use them, either from Pinterest, my computer, or a paper recipe.


I also created notes like this:

Here, I plan to write my favorite recipes from my cookbooks. I'm not quite ready to get rid of those yet, though the recipes from books I use less frequently may end up being scanned into evernote...


The possibilities are almost endless.I am so glad I discovered this and really excited about seeing the potential in organizing the rest of my life!  


UPDATE!!!
I remembered seeing something on the evernote blog about linking notes... I went searching (found it on the first try!) and ... AHA!  The perfect menu planning system. So ignore what I wrote above, this will save time and I won't have to put recipes "away"!

It might be hard to see... but I made myself a table with the days of the week.  See the letters on the left side?  That's the link to the recipe I'll use that day!  By right clicking on a recipe (on that middle bar with the pictures) and choosing "copy note link", you copy the URL and can then past it into your chart (control + v). I still will write them out on my notepad (I got a days of the week notepad in the dollar section at walmart that I've been using) for quick peeks at the menu when I'm not at my computer, but this way I'll have it here too! And it will be easier to find the recipes for each day. 

Wetbags

After about 6 months of saying I need to make a few more wetbags I finally did them... a few hours and I have 3 lovely new bags. I used PUL and this tutorial for an oilcoth wristlet.  I used my own dimension, and didnt cut the top and bottom like she did- I'm not really sure what the point would be of that...


Wetbags are so handy even if you don't cloth diaper! Think swim clothes, pukey/poopy clothes etc!

I also  added elastcs so they could be rolled up and tucked in the diaper bag. It took a few tries but I got it the way I like now!

If you dont have pul, I have also made them from fabric with a shower curtain lining!

Baby Shoes

On the second try, I was able to whip up these quick booties for our new baby J.

I used the tutorial and pattern here. As printed it turned out to just barely squueze onto his 4 month feet, so I'd say the would fit a baby 3 months and under. I enlarged it 115% and they fit perfectly. They are two layers of fleece and have double elastic bands so they ACTUALLY STAY ON!!! So simple to do... I'll be trying to figure out a 6-12 mo size! and maybe even larger for E!

These I made from this tutorial for my neice... hope they fit!

Book Reviews: The Captive Heart and The Daniel Fast

The Captive Heart by W. Dale Cramer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't read a lot of amish fiction, and have to admit that when I started this one, I had more stereotypes in my head than I thought. I grew up and live in an area with lots of Amish, and despite not knowing any personally, thought I had a good idea of them.  As I was reading this book, I thought several times,"this is so unrealistic!" It wasn't til I finished the book and read the note from the author that I realized he probably knew what he was talking about! So, that said, I did enjoy the book; i thought the premise of Amish moving to Mexico was interesting (it is based on actual historical happenings) and enjoyed it as a quick, enjoyable read that opened my eyes to my stereotypes of those I see around me every day. I am Mennonite and agree with Mennonite views of Pacifism which is another subject broached in the book; it brought up the same debate I have with myself at times though- if I choose not to do actions of violence, someone else has to or I would not survive. Though I would not choose to be a soldier and go to war, I am thankful for those that do so and protect us as a country. And in the story, if Domingo did not take action, the settlement would most likely not have survived. No answers are offered but it always gets me thinking!  I would recommend this book to those that enjoy Amish fiction or romance; there is some action in the book but most likely not enough for a die-hard action reader!  Despite not reading a lot of this genre, I am interested in reading the first in the series as well as seeing what happens in the lives of these characters!


I recieved a copy of this book for the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


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The Daniel Fast: Feed Your Soul, Strengthen Your Spirit, and Renew Your Body by Susan Gregory

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I've not finished the book completely or attempted the fast, I feel I've read enough for an honest review.  I am enjoying this book; I had not heard of the Daniel fast before but as soon as I read the title and brief synopsis, I felt it really made sense! Daniel and his friends proved to their jailers that it works and looked healthier than ever, so why wouldn't it be a good option for us today?  I see it as a wonderful alternative to a complete fast which may not always be realistic in our busy lives today, and especially not to me as a mother of young children and a nursing baby. The daniel fast focuses on restricting your diet as Daniel did which also causes one to be disciplined, and encourages similar focus on Bible Study, Prayer and spiritual growth. I appreciate that the author takes the time to discuss why and how one goes about it and includes a great many scripture passages to back up her thoughts. She includes 5 helpful tips to a successful fast and expounds on them.  The book also includes enough recipes to complete a successful fast. She discusses the spiritual side but also is specific on how to go about it. I think these would be a great book for someone who is not very familiar with fasting but has interest in pursuing it, but of course would be excellent for a Christian at any level in their faith.  I'm looking forward to finishing it and planning a Daniel fast of my own!

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

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Book Review: Babylon's Falling

Babylon's Falling: The Story of Belteshazzar, also known as Daniyyel by William G. Collins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was excited to read this book, however it fell short of my expectations.  This is a novel based on the story of Daniel and his three friends from the Bible. Just that made me excited to read it. There are great stories in those passages in the Bible- the fiery furnace, Daniel and the Lion's den.  THe author stated he wanted to bring this "charismatic character" to life; however I felt he failed to do so.  This book felt dry and boring- so sad to see these amazing stories this way!  The author filled in a lot of areas the Bible doesn't tell about, but skimmed over the most amazing parts! I felt he really missed the opportunity to help us really experience what it may have been like for those three friends to stand up to the King and refuse to bow, to realize they were in a fire and feeling fine and in the presence of an angel! And what Daniel's experience in the lion's den was like. I was really disappointed that the author really almost ignored these pivotal parts of the story.  Sadly I wouldn't recommend this book. By the end I was really struggling to even finish it.


I was given a copy of this book through BookSneeze for review.


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