The Convenient Groom

Celebrity marriage counselor, Kate Lawrence is ready for her larger-than-life wedding to her fiance.  However on the morning of her wedding, she receives the call that leaves her abandoned.  Kate is devastated as the media is covering her wedding and the new release of her book about how to find a mate.  Lucas, a man who has been in love with Kate, overhears the conversation and offers to "help".   Lucas' help comes in the form of being a stand-in groom.  The agreement comes with a one-year expiration date.  Then they will get a divorce.  After the wedding, Kate and Lucas attempt to keep appearances by pretending they are married.  Predictably during this time, Kate begins to fall in love with Lucas.  It is also during this time that Kate begins to understand that her "perfect" way of finding a mate may have just left out the most important part.

This book was an enjoyable read although rather predictable and far-fetched.  I did appreciate the insight that love can not be boiled down to formula and that if God is at the center of a relationship, then that is far more important than other personality traits.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the 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 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Springtime in Wisconsin

Last week we had our thaw.  The snow had all but melted and we started thinking about where we were going to plant our garden and flowers.  We needed to think about buying rakes to get the leaves that hadn't been raked last fall.  We needed to think about getting a lawn mower for the summer.  And then.....we got socked with another storm.   It was actually a "thundersnow".   Thunder and lightening last night and then we got dumped with about 10 inches of heavy wet snow with more to come today.

Abby and I went for a short walk and picked up tree limbs that were out in the road.

Abby doing her share!

Pictures from our walk.  It felt magical.

Abby watching Daddy clear snow off the truck.  Sad bit of news - a tree limb fell on Paul's truck and knocked some of the molding off the back.  Thankfully that was all the damage!

Wild and Crazy

My newest project has been working on placemats.  I've wanted to make some for quite a while but for many reasons did not start.  Then I found the fabric squares.....they are a little on the wild side but I love them. 

My plan is to quilt them.  I'll probably use a green or red backing (not sure yet) and then the same color binding.    This will definitely liven up our dining room!

Morning Time

I couldn't resist the other morning...kids in jammies are just so cute.   I don't want to miss these moments.  These are some of the moments that I never want to forget.

Bucket o' Fun

Hooch

I am attempting to make a sourdough bread starter.  It takes about a week of feeding flour and water.  Apparently, there are yeast spores in the air and in the flour which are captured and start working in the flour and water.   On Saturday I get to make my first bread!   As I read more about the process, I learned about hooch.   Hooch is the watery part on top of the mixture that you have to pour out every day.   I just like the word.  Hooch.....hooch...hooch.

Homemade Poptarts

A couple of days I ago, I attempted homemade poptarts.   What a great idea!   I made the dough (which was super easy) and then rolled it out, put homemade raspberry jam in the center and then sealed the two sides and baked them in the oven.

They were just "ok".   Mostly because of my mistakes though.  I didn't roll out the dough thin enough.   I didn't let the dough sit and become more "unified".   I didn't use enough jam.  The ones that I used applesauce in were not sweet enough - there is no sugar in the dough.   But I will try again.  A friend gave me another recipe which I am going to try maybe in a couple of weeks.   But I did get some sweet time with my little helper.   Wouldn't your baking be so much more fun with this one at your elbows?

Pray

I am not really one for "things" up on my wall; you know, the sayings and decorations that are out there right now.  Don't get me wrong - I like a lot of them but I don't know how to incorporate them well into a look that suites me just right.   But....I do love this one!   I love the creativity and uniquiness.   I feel like I could actually make something like this if I had time.  (Maybe one day when my kids are out of the house and I am looking for fun projects to do - Remind me then, ok?)

Compare and Contrast

This is Abby and I at the same age!

Picnik

Picassa has a new button on their edit menu called Picnik.  Picnik is a photo editing software directly linked to your picassa albums.  I really want to get better at editing and improving my pictures so I played around with it during the kids' naptime.   

Another attempt at the hat picture.  This time I remembered to put the original next to it.

This one is super cheesy but that's okay - I'm just playing around!