Archive | September, 2014

Book Review – Sept 2014

30 Sep

book review sept2014

“The Smallest Bookstore Still Contains More Ideas of Worth

Than Have Been Presented in the Entire History of Television.” -Andrew Ross

I disappeared there for a while, didn’t I? So sorry, I thought about you guys a lot if that’s any consolation. Not only has my body decided to behave worse than normal by adding in a few more pains and frustrations, it was Rosh Hashannah last week! My OH and I were able to go to a local community’s service for it. It was the first time I had been a part of a service for this special day so it was cool to be able to attend. This week is Yom Kippur, so I don’t know if I’ll end up missing posting again but for today we have this months’ book review!

I must say that I love the quote for this month. It kind of makes me chuckle for the truth of it.

And now let’s get on to the books! I didn’t get near as much reading done this month but two of them I have absolutely LOVED!

  • The Merchant’s Daughter – by Melanie Dickerson — Once the daughter of a wealthy merchant but now an indentured servant, Annabel faces danger and and choices she’d never dreamed of. Caught between the slimy baliff who presses his attentions on her and the new Lord Ranulf who is rumored to be beastly and absolutely terrifying, she believes that life in a nunnery is the way to solve her problems. But as her encounters with Lord Ranulf result in feelings of safety and happiness, Annabel must struggle to face her feelings and decide which plans she will follow – hers or God’s. ACK! I love this book. Last month I had just started it and mentioned it briefly in the review for August. It is now one of my favorites that I will probably end up buying.
  • The Healer’s Apprentice – by Melanie Dickerson  — As a woodcutter’s daughter, Rose knows that her opportunity to train under the healer of Hagenheim Castle is a rare opportunity. Even though she gets squeamish at the sight of blood she wants to prove herself capable. When Lord Hamlin is injured and Rose is the one to heal his wound, she feels emotions toward him that she knows are forbidden, for he is betrothed to a mysterious lady in hiding. —and yes, she did it again folks!! another favorite! The twists and turns that she incorporates into her stories are wonderful.
  • A Voice in the Wind – by Francine Rivers — Falling in love with a handsome aristocrat is ridiculous but that’s just what Hadassah has done. She clings to her faith that God will deliver them from decadent Rome while struggling with her feelings.  — I don’t know about this one. I’m really trying to like this novel . I feel like there are too many characters that seem to have no connection to each other and no real forward movement with the plot line…. I’m 80 pages into the almost 500 and still not sucked in. Normally at this point I just give up on it but I’ve been told that it is really good so I’ll probably dive back into it in the next few days. I’ll let you all know if my opinion changes.
  • Libby’s Story – by Judy Baer — A chance encounter brings together tenderhearted and loyal Libby Morrison and sensitive and angry Reese Reynolds. While Libby is struggling to take care of her aging parents and Reese is nursing self-pity over being paralyzed, their friendship slowly blossoms. — I really enjoy this book. It is actually the third in a ‘series’ ( i can’t find anything that says it is actually a series…) It is enjoyable on its’ own but much more so after having read the first two. Each covers the story of the three friends, Jenny, Tia and Libby. (Jenny’s Story, Tia’s Story and this one, Libby’s Story)
  • An Unexpected Match – by Gayle Roper — As an upstanding Amish woman, Rachel Beiler can’t believe what she’s doing. She begins a hidden life as a college student. All she wants to do is learn but she doesn’t know yet how it will change her and what it will cost her. On the first night of class she meets two people – Amy Steiner who has secrets of her own and Rob Lanier an army vet. — ummm, YES! As I’m sure you know if you’ve read at least a few of my book reviews, I love stories about the Amish. And this one has a plot that I’m not used to seeing so it was very fun to read and I definitely got drawn in quickly.

And that’s it! I think this is the least amount of reading I’ve done all year! But, I’m all set to start one of my favorite novels, Mara: Daughter of the Nile and have another favorite coming from the library!

Happy Reading friends and do share what you’ve been reading lately!

~Laura

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My Hometown

23 Sep

If there was anywhere to land at the age of 8, after moving ‘most every year growing up, I’m glad we landed in Bend, Or. I love it here. Don’t know why? Let me share that with you for today’s Blog-tember Challenge   –  A guide to your city! Share some of the hot-spots and hidden gems of where you live.

Here’s a list of the Top 10 things I love about where I live! PilotButteBend

  • Pilot Butte- right in the center of town, it offers a 360 view of this tourist destination! You’re able to see all the mountains that, if you’re a skier, snowboarder or what-have-you-in-the-snow, is the reason you’re probably here! sparkslakebend
  • Sparks Lake – stunning, beautiful and a wonderful place to go kayaking or hikingdrakeparkbend
  • Drake Park – we have a plethora of parks here but this one is my favorite. it follows the winding path of the Deschutes River, and you can kayak/canoe in its’ shallow waters.  there are events in the park through the year, two things that hold my heart to it are: the Flashback Cruz and the fact that my OH proposed there! steinspillarbend
  • Steins Pillar – a 350 foot tall tower in the high desert, this is a beautiful view at the end of a 4 mile hike. when i did it, i only did half of it but next time i plan on going all the way to the base of it! mtbachelorbend
  • Mt. Bachelor – THE place for fun in the snow! of course, i’ve only been there in the summertime, heh. highdesertmuseumbend
  • High Desert Museum – this museum is 135 acres full of animals, interesting history and great exhibits all about the high desert. There are hands-on learning events for everyone and it’s only 5 minutes from Bend tacostandbend
  • The Taco Stand – a tiny tucked-away taco place with great prices and great food… a must when visiting!  gregsgrillbend
  • Greg’s Grill – complete opposite of the taco stand but because you’re in Bend, you can wear the exact same thing to either! Great service and really yummy food! with a beautiful view of the Deschutes River.This is where we go for a nice ‘date night’ =) deschutesbrewbend
  • Deschutes Brewery – this is how they describe it “A classic English pub atmosphere, with a distinctly Oregon twist, come visit us and see where it all began.” they’ve been around since 1988 and the food is fantastic. i’m not a big beer drinker…wait, i have one sip of my OH’s on the super rare occasion so I can’t vouch for their drinks but their food??? MM mm good.  we only go here once in a great while but it’s ah-mazing!pilotbutteburgersbend
  • Pilot Butte Drive In- umm, this is also a must-eat place. Amazing burgers. Kinda pricey burgers for my ultra-thin wallet but yum! And their fries are absolutely addicting

well, I hope you enjoyed this little look into my hometown!

Have you ever visited Bend? What’s your favorite place where you live?

~Laura

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How We Met

13 Sep

Hellooooo all! I do hope you are getting the wonderful weather and beautiful sunshine that I am! so lovely out today!!!

So, today’s prompt (for the blog-tember challenge ) is perfect for me!!! =)

Sept 13th: Your current relationship status. If dating/married, give us a glimpse of your story! If single, share about this special season.

My OH and I will have been married one year and five months exactly as of today!!!  Which means we are still newlyweds, which is so strange to think about that word fitting us!

We met New Years Eve, 2011. Pine Tavern, Bend Or. OH and I had a mutual friend and he invited us (along with other people he was going with ) to dinner, kinda last minute. I had been laying half-dead-from-pain on the couch in some of the most awful-ugly men’s pajama bottoms with a sweatshirt and my hair in a knotted mess when I got a call from my friend telling me about this impromptu invitation. I remember glancing down at myself, debating if I could get presentable in the time allowed. Deciding that a chance to eat at Pine Tavern didn’t present itself very often, I agreed. Throwing my stuff needed for the overnight stay at my friends into a bag and quickly wrapping my long wool scarf around my neck, I ran out the door. By the time we parked at the restaurant, the pain pills I had taken had started working and I started questioning her about this guy.

Walking to the door, I saw a guy walking confidently across the parking lot and I went ‘hmmm’, not even knowing it was HIM! Ha. I was further impressed by him when he opened the door for us – and then proceeded to provide fun conversation the rest of the evening. I spent most of the meal watching his expressions – never had I been that drawn to a guy that quick! The meal ended, we said goodbye (a bit reluctantly on mine and his ends) and then fast forward to evening of the next day and we ended up talking for hours on facebook (good old social media, you can find someone’s friend and send them a message!!) I remember telling my mom that I had finally met a guy that talked as much as I did. (still true by the way). We had our first date the very next afternoon – January 2, 2012.

From that point we had a date almost every day for the next two weeks – which involved him meeting all my family. Yikes! At the end of those two weeks he asked me to be his girlfriend and of course, I said yes!

For the next three months we had our ups and downs – but I grew in confidence that this was the man that I had been praying and waiting for! He took my parents to dinner to ask my dad permission to ask for my hand. Whew!  On April 8, 2012 (Easter Sunday) He asked me to be his wife.

In order for us to have the Jewish wedding that we wanted, his rabbi’s rule was that all couples’ have to be engaged for a year before they will perform the ceremony. It was painful to agree to but we did! That year was a very rough year, I lost my nanny job and health started going downhill a bit. Right before our wedding, April 13, 2013, the company he worked for was sold and he ‘transferred’ to the new company…. (on our honeymoon he found out that they fired him.)  But by the time the time for the pre-ceremony ceremony came around, we were both ready and excited to finally be married!!

How We Met

How We Met

How We Met

How We Met

i love this one. so handsome

                            

How We Met

the Aaronic Benediction

              the Aaronic Benediction

How We Met

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Music that Moves my Feet

8 Sep
music that moves my feet

courtesy of unsplash

 

this is a two-part blog post today- hope you all don’t mind! 

Today’s Blog-tember Challenge‘s prompt :

Music that moves you. Are you a Spotify addict or a Pandora guru? Tell us your favorite artists/stations!

this next bit is something i wrote last night… =) 

As I’m sitting here, I find my mind wandering to all the ‘could haves’, wishes and ‘if only’s ‘. Now I know as much as anyone that it’s no good going down that path. The best thing to do is get a hug. If you can’t get that, eat some ice cream. None in the house? Go to bed. 

hehe. But seriously, how often do our dreams change over the course of our lives? When I was younger, I wanted to be all sorts of things, a business woman (didn’t matter details…), a horse rider in the Olympics, work on a ranch and a writer. Interestingly enough, the one thing that has never changed has been writing. While I admit riding horses for a living would still be absolutely fantastic or being in the business world would do wonders for my wardrobe…. writing is what I’m actually decent at. Along the way I got distracted by early childhood education, culinary school and working to open my own bakery. But a few years later as I sit here alone with my sleeping dog at my feet, I realize writing is what I yearn to do.  So, all that to say that I can’t wait to get this blasted pain from shooting through my temples, into my eyes and down my neck so that I can start typing furiously away at the story that I am loving so far. I’ve found myself talking about my main character as if she were a real person and her story a real life journey. That’s a good thing, right? 

So, here’s to a rather large dose of tylenol, essenetial oils and remembering to put my glasses on. 

~Laura