Don’t get me wrong, though. I still love what is written in Savor. After all, it truly does contain the best of the best writings from Shauna’s other books (as well as some mouth watering recipes). Savor is kind of like picking up one of her previous books and reading a section I’ve previously highlighted or underlined. For a seasoned Shauna reader, Savor will feel familiar and homey. And who doesn’t love that? So in this sense, I really do like this devotional. Its definitely a book that I will buy as a gift for certain friends, as the words and expositions are solid and biblical. Oh, and did I mention that this book is gorgeous?!?  Absolutely beautiful. It has a hardback linen cover with a ribbon placemarker, the page edges are dyed indigo and the inside type is elegant, easy to read. Skip the Kindle version and go directly of the hardback. Or get both! Because in spite of my disappointment concerning the lack of genuinely new content, Savor is definitely worth the buy!

You can purchase Savor HERE and read more about Shauna Niequist HERE. 

***Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.***

I used to love writing notes. In fact, I still kind of have a notecard hoarding problem. If I see a cute set of stationery in the Dollar Spot at Target, I have to buy it! In Middle School and High School, my best friends and I exchanged notebooks during class periods that we filled with notes. There is just something about handwritten letters that the age of texts and emails just cannot touch. Each person’s handwriting is as unique as a fingerprint, and the extra time and effort that goes into hand writing a letter conveys a great measure of love and value. 

That is why I was thrilled when I received The World Needs More Love Letters: All-In-One Stationery and Envelopes. This isn’t a book you read cover-to-cover… its a book that requires action! 

There are 40 pages (5 different designs) that are each an all-in-one stationery set. On one side, you write the address and place the stamp, and on the other side you write your note. Then simply fold the note, place a sticker seal (which is included in the book) to close, and mail it off! Sure to make someone’s day. Its really as simple as that- write, fold, seal, stamp, send. The front and back cover of the book contain 40 simple ideas for writing letters, just to get you started. 

The book is the brainchild of Hannah Brecher, creator of moreloveletters.com (a truly beautiful website!). This movement has been responsible for more than 20,000 letters sent by volunteers. While this isn’t your ordinary book, it is definitely a fun one that I can’t wait to put to good use!

You can purchase this book HERE. 

This book was sent to me by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

I’ll be the first person to admit that I am a Shauna fan. A Shauna fan? Yes, I’m calling her by her first name, mostly because she writes in such a beautiful way that makes me feel as though we are long-time besties, just chatting about life over coffee. I’ve read all of her previous books, and even declared Bread & Wine my favorite book of 2013. I love Shauna’s ability to tell a story woven with Biblical truths, and her concise one-liner life lessons that I may or may not have underlined, highlighted and written on pink index cards to put in my car, Bible, on my mirror, fridge, etc. Perhaps that is why Savor left me more than a bit disappointed. Most of this 365-day devotional is just shortened paragraphs from her previous works. And while I should be loving that, since I loved said previous works so much, I was just hoping for something new and maybe a different format? I’m not quite sure. 

Don’t get me wrong, though. I still love what is written in Savor. After all, it truly does contain the best of the best writings from Shauna’s other books (as well as some mouth watering recipes). Savor is kind of like picking up one of her previous books and reading a section I’ve previously highlighted or underlined. For a seasoned Shauna reader, Savor will feel familiar and homey. And who doesn’t love that? So in this sense, I really do like this devotional. Its definitely a book that I will buy as a gift for certain friends, as the words and expositions are solid and biblical. Oh, and did I mention that this book is gorgeous?!?  Absolutely beautiful. It has a hardback linen cover with a ribbon placemarker, the page edges are dyed indigo and the inside type is elegant, easy to read. Skip the Kindle version and go directly of the hardback. Or get both! Because in spite of my disappointment concerning the lack of genuinely new content, Savor is definitely worth the buy!

You can purchase Savor HERE and read more about Shauna Niequist HERE. 

***Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.***

The illustrations by Laura J. Bryant (of the “God Gave Us” series) in this book are colorful and endearing, each one featuring a mother with her son and young daughter. My oldest child is 4 years old (recommended age for this book is 4-8 years old) and she absolutely loved this book. There is enough going on in each illlustrated page that gives us more to talk about than just what is written. The rhyming stanzas on each page are long enough to convey a message but short enough that my 4 year old doesn’t lose interest. 

I love this book and am delighted to have it in our home library. It would make an excellent addition to your’s as well. Perfect for a birthday present, to tell your child that they are loved and unique!

You can purchase this book here. You can also read more about the author and illustrator on their webpages. 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.***

I love cookbooks! But I only buy and hold onto cookbooks that I actually use. I have no room for collectors’ items on my bookshelf. So when I sat down to read my newest cookbook, Trisha’s Table, I was almost giddy. I love Trisha Yearwood. I read the cookbook cover to cover in one sitting, and have a few impressions from that first read-through. 

Pros: 

The photographs in this cookbook are beautiful. They are wonderfully styled and evoke the down-home Southern style that Trisha exudes. 

The recipes are thoughtfully explained and most all of the ingredients seem easy enough to find. I also love the stories that accompany her recipes… from friends, from family, Trisha’s Table is truly a scrapbook of her nearest and dearest. 

The cookbook is artfully arranged by the common breakdown of breakfast, snacks/appetizers, soups & salads, beef & pork, chicken turkey & fish, pasta, sides, cakes cupcakes & pies, and cookies brownies bars & more. There is also a wide range of food styles— from Basil Pesto Pizza to Pad Thai, with everything in between. 

One other major highlight from this cookbook is the inclusion of several allergy-friendly recipes. Trisha explains how to make cashew cream that is easily exchanged to make several recipes dairy-free. 

Cons: 

I have only one grievance with Trisha’s Table, and that is, there are not enough pictures to accompany the recipes. A dish only tastes as good as it looks, and there were quite a few recipes that sounded good when reading through them, but there was no picture to put with it. 

So as to whether or not this cookbook will stay on my shelf (and in my kitchen), its a yes. Not having pictures with recipes is a big deal to me (I especially love Pioneer Woman’s picture-filled step-by-step cookbooks) but the big “pro” that saved this one is the inclusion of some dairy-free recipes. I can’t wait to try them! If you love Trisha Yearwood, or are a fan of Southern style comfort food, this is a great cookbook for you!!

Though I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the purposes of this review, the opinions are my own.

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly.

1 Peter 1:3 
 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..

 February 11, 1989

Fast-forward 21 years.  February 11, 2010.  The day my daughter was born.  I do not think it was any coincidence that Whitney was born on this day-- my 21st re-birthday.  For years I've celebrated that as my re-birthday, and from now on, I will also celebrate it as my daughter's birthday.  How can anyone see this situation and not see God's incredible goodness in all of this?  Of the 365 days my daughter could be born, God allowed her to be born on the anniversary of the day I gave my life to him.  And my mom and sister were also able to be with me!  A reminder that in every situation, no matter what the circumstance, God is still with me.  And I have promised to give him all the glory in every situation.  So you see, that's why Easter is so much more than just bunnies and eggs to me.  Easter is life!  And praise!  And HOPE!

February 11, 2010

Romans 6:8-11 
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

I have recently discovered something that has been a total game changer in our household. After a long, cold winter of being cooped up inside for way too long, Spring signifies a time to adopt some good habits that we'd let slide through the colder months. For us, the biggest one is grocery shopping. Not only do I really dislike the cold, I especially dislike grocery shopping when its cold. Let me tell you about my relationship with grocery shopping: I hate it. Everything about planning our weekly menus, I hate. I despise menu-planning, then list-making then grocery shopping. Because after all that exhausting work is done, guess what?? I still have to cook! And when the cooking is done and everything is eaten, guess what??? I'm still not done-- there's the clean up! It is all just such a process.

But I am off on a little rant. All that to simply say, I'm not a fan of what is arguably one of the biggest parts of my stay-at-home job. A while ago, my sister-in-law suggested a podcast to me called "Inspired to Action" with Kat Lee. I would absolutely suggest this podcast to anyone and everyone! I usually listen to it at nap time when I am cleaning the kitchen. It makes an often-loathed tasked into a not so lame one. (See rant above.) On her podcast, Kat recommends this thing called "Plan To Eat." She even offered a free 30-Day trial. We'd just had one of those weeks where we had nothing in the fridge for days, and resorted to eating out way too much. I had to try it-- and I LOVE IT! It is so simple to use and has cut my meal planning time to almost nothing.

Here's briefly how it works (there are videos on the website that explain it all really well): You can import recipes from any website, and you can even manually enter any recipes you can't find online. I started by going through all my Pinterest food boards and importing those recipes into my Plan To Eat (PTE). I worked on it in the evening when I was watching TV or a movie with Sean. Super easy and it didn't take long. Here's how some of my Recipes look right now:




You can see that some of the items are in blue. That indicates that it is a recipe. The menu items in white (like in the second week) are items that I don't use a recipe for, I just know what's in them or I know that we have everything on hand.

You can make a menu for all your meals and snacks or just for dinner. What I like to do is put our basic breakfast, lunch and snack items in the calendar so I know what we have on hand. But we don't necessarily eat the breakfast that is on that particular day.



Seriously, I know I sound like an infomercial but PTE has revolutionized my life. And no, I"m not just being dramatic. This is real life, friends! So here's the deal: you can also get a free 30-day trial of Plan To Eat. They don't take any credit card or bank information. It really is no-strings-attached-FREE. Then after your trial, you decide if you like it. If you do-- awesome! It is $4.95/month or you can pay a year upfront for $39.95 (saving you some cash). But what do I get out of all this?? Aside from sharing my newfound love with you friends, for each person who uses this referral link to sign up, I will get a dollar. So its not much, but its something- and as I hope you will soon be able to tell, it is such an awesome website, you will be telling all of YOUR friends about it!!!

One more thing: this past Monday night, Sean and I took a much-needed overnight date. We stayed at an amazing hotel downtown and planned to go grocery shopping on our way home the next day. Well, I didn't get our menu planned before we left, so I had to do it Tuesday morning, just before we were checking out of our hotel. I set up the entire week's menu AND shopping list in less than 5 minutes on our iPad!!!  It was wonderful!

So tell me... do you hate meal planning/list making/grocery  shopping as much as I do? What is your method for this daily task? Have you tried Plan To Eat? Will you try it?????  Click HERE to sign up for your free 30 day trial! And let me know what you think. :)