Books I Took on Vacation

No book review toda, but.....

This week I'm planning on lots of sitting on the beach and beside the lake.  While the kids splash and play, I'm taking the following two books with me to read and relax.

They are the first two books of Denise Hunter's series "The New Heights".

I've loved everything I've read from Denise.  So, I decided to go back and read some of her older books.  These two have been sitting on my shelf for a while and the third is on my paperbackswap.com wishlist.

The cover of "Mending Places" is what made me pick these two books to take with me.

BOOK 1:

Hanna can forgive anything. But can she forgive this? One Woman Harboring a Painful Past Hanna Landin's past holds her captive. But the rugged mountain guide she hires to help the family's floundering mountain lodge makes her wish she could move beyond it. Can she save her grandmother's lodge from threats of sabotage? Can she forget that terrible night? One Man Hiding a Mysterious Secret Micah Gallagher lives with a load of guilt from past mistakes. He can conquer the slopes of the Grand Teton, but can he conquer the fear in his heart? His new boss seems determined to make him try, but Micah is strong enough to resist her...or is he? Two Lives Indelibly Intertwined Together Hanna and Micah face the past. But it's more horrifying than either of them feared, and Hanna faces the ultimate challenge of forgiveness. Micah will do anything to protect Hanna. But can he protect her from himself?

BOOK 2:

As if the jolt of becoming a single mom to her two sons wasn't enough, Natalie Coombs is facing new stresses as the director of the crisis pregnancy center. A teenager who comes in for testing brings back memories of another pregnant girl whose life tragically ended in suicide. Desperate to reach out to this client, Natalie crosses professional boundaries and incurs the wrath of a mysterious assailant. Even within her family, all is not well as her relationship with her sister becomes increasingly tense. Natalie is compelled to carefully count the cost of following her heart and her convictions amid betrayal, physical danger, and strained family relationships. Filled with human drama, readers will be easily drawn in as national issues become highly personal in this gripping tale of conflict and commitment.

*******

So, Lord willing, I might be on the beach or a front porch chair right now reading one of these books.

Wish you were here!!

Happy Memorial Day & VACATION!

A HUGE thank you to all those who have fought for our country and even given their lives so that we could live in freedom!

We will be leaving this morning to go on our annual vacation!   YAY!

Last year we went to Niagra Falls.  Sigh....  What a wonderful time we had staying in the bungelow and see the beautiful land surrounding the Falls.  Riding the Maid of the Mist was the BEST!

This year we're taking it a notch down to our customary vacation of renting a cabin in one of the great State Parks that surround us.  We're lucky to have one in our "back yard" that we go to during the summer for "beach days".  It is Shawnee State Park.  We {heart} State Parks!

This year we've rented a cabin at Gifford Pinchot State Park.  Modern cabins are a must.  I won't go unless we have a bathroom and kitchen.  With a family it is just so much easier!

We plan on having no plans.  Just a lot of relaxing, fishing, reading, beaching, hiking and watching the lake.  Our cabin is RIGHT on the lake.  YAY!  Down one of the trails from our cabin is the beach and playground for the kids and also a fishing pier.

It was actually during our vacation on Gallitizen State Park at the lake that we decided on naming our then "baby in my belly" Laken.  So peaceful and serene.

So, even though I won't be around this week (no wifi, unless I find a McD's somewhere) I have set up some posts if they do what they are supposed to and actually post.  I have some exciting stuff coming up.  So come back and visit.

Any orders I get from my shop, I will send out promptly upon return.  I appreciate everyone's support!

So, have a great holiday and a great week.  I'll miss you!

Scripture Memory Verse ~ 5/29/11

Memory Verse ~ 5/29/11-6/5/11

"Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-- guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. " 

2 Timothy 1:14

Hide these Words in your heart and they will be with you always.

     

Please see my sidebar to see all the wonderful places I'll be linking up to.

TSMSS ~ "Take Me Into the Beautiful" by Cloverton

 

This is a new one for me.  What do you think?




Have a great weekend!

{this moment} & Feel Good Friday ~ 5/27/11

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo (or 2, or 3) - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

************************

"Just make a list. List 5 things that made you really happy this week. No matter how bad or boring you think your week was, I bet you can find 5 things."

1.  Last day of school!!!

2.  5th Grade Graduation!


3.  Getting mani's and pedi's with Kaylee before her graduation!


4.  Spring Cleaning is DONE!


5.  Planning next week's vacation!

{Shop Updates} ~ 5/26/11

Each Thursday I am going to dedicate a post to updating you on what is new and/or restocked in my "Colletta's Kitchen Sink" etsy shop.

Here are some new items:

"Newborn-Adult White Summer Fling Sun Hat with Choice of 3 Flower Clips"

"Newborn-Adult White Headband with Choice of 3 Flower Clips"

"Your Choice of 3 or 6 Triple Flower Hair Clips"

"Individual Triple Layer Flower Hairclip"

 All these items can be found in the "Hats and Accesories" section of my shop.

I also restocked some cocoons and pods that sold and a "Bikini" Mug Cozy.  How fun!

Have a great day!

Mug Cozies and "Hornet Pride"

This post is about mug cozies, but I'd like to veer off topic for a bit.

Our local school district voted to close our small community high school last week.  Our town is fighting back by opening a Charter school.  We've had it in the works for over a year getting all the pieces in order and getting the charter approved.

We're now in the phase of getting everything finalized and ready to open the doors for the first day of school this fall.  This takes start-up money until we can start billin the district.

Our school mascot is the "Hyndman Hornet" and our colors are orange and black.

Therefore, this first mug cozy is names "Hornet Pride".  50% of every sale of the "Hornet Pride" mug cozy in my etsy shop will go to the "Hope for Hyndman Charter School".

Click HERE to go directly to that item listing.

"Hornet Pride"

Now for the other information about these cozies.  I found the free pattern at http://www.crafty-anna.blogspot.com/.  They are so fun to make!

"Cherry Chip"

"Camo"

"Marakesh"

"Monet"

"Candy"

"Banana Berry"

"Bikini"

These can all be found under the "Cozies" section of my shop.

Thanks so much for your support!!

Please see my sidebar for the places I'll be linking to!

"Sworn to Protect" by DiAnn Mills

Call of Duty - Book 2

Book Description:

Border Patrol Agent Danika Morales has sworn to protect the southern borders of our nation, but that oath has cost her. Two years ago, her husband, Toby, was killed trying to help the very immigrants Danika was responsible for sending back to Mexico. His murder was never solved. But now, a recent string of attacks and arrests leads her to believe that someone in McAllen is profiting from sneaking undocumented immigrants into the country . . . and it may somehow be tied to Toby's death.

 

My Thoughts:

 

I liked this book even more than the first of the series, Breach of Trust.  It was so full of action, drama, suspense, and mystery.

 

I enjoyed gettting to know the characters and what there beliefs about the immigration policies were.

 

I loved the relationship Danika has with her daughter and extended family.  I also appreciated the fact that the author uses Christian counseling to help her characters through tough situations and tramatic pasts.  Sometimes life gives us more than we can comprehend and make well-thought-out decisions about without the perspective of an unbiased person to talk through issues with.  It should not be something that needs to be hidden.

 

And it wouldn't be romantic suspense with a little romance, would it?  It was a great romance also.

 

Waiting impatiently to read Book 3 of the Call of Duty series!

 

 

 

 

Cherry Covered Chocolate Cupcakes

It was Saturday afternoon and I was trying to decide on something to bake.  The recipes I was looking at either didn't jump out at me or I was missing an ingredient or two.

That is when I remembered making the Fruit Punch Cupcakes and had thought about trying different variations with Crystal Lite (or Great Value  hehe) Sugar Free Drink Powder.

I had a Fudge Chocolate cake mix in the cupboard and some cherry flavored drink mix.  And here is what they make when combined:

Cherry Covered Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

Any variation of chocolate cake mix will do.  Mix per directions on box and add 1/2 tub/tube of cherry drink mix.  Bake per cupcake directions.

Cool completely.

Icing:

1/2 cup Crisco

2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar
1/2 tub Cherry Drink Mix

Combine the first 4 ingredient in a mixing bowl and mix well. Add powdered sugar a bit at a time until you get a nice fluffy consistency. Add Cherry Drink Mix and mix well. Add more milk if needed. Beat on high until light and fluffy.

Put icing into a ziplock bag to pipe the icing on the cupcakes. Start with a dollop in the center and then start on the outside edge and work toward the middle and up over the center. This gives it some height.

Optional:

If I had had some marachino cherries on hand I probably would have added one to the top of each cupcake.  yummmm....

Share with family and friends.

Laken, my 4yo, likes to help pipe the icing on the cupcakes.  I can't even begin to explain the difficulty of piping icing with two extra hands moving and squeezing the ziplock bag.  lol

Ahhh, the making of memories...

Please see my left sidebar for the places I'll be linking to!

Finally!

I finally got my blog pages updated!  I've been meaning to do so for quite a while.

My goal is to keep them updated as I post.  We'll see how long it lasts.

Have a good week, everyone!

Scripture Memory Verse ~ 5/22/11

Memory Verse ~ 5/22/11-5/28/11

"Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." 

Isaiah 30:21

Hide these Words in your heart and they will be with you always.

     

Please see my sidebar to see all the wonderful places I'll be linking up to.

TSMSS ~ "More Beautiful You" by Jonny Diaz

 

I love this song and think the video is great too.  Having two girls, I want them to know that they are beautiful just as they are.

Have a great weekend!

{this moment} & Feel Good Friday 4/20/11

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo (or 2, or 3) - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

************************

"Just make a list. List 5 things that made you really happy this week. No matter how bad or boring you think your week was, I bet you can find 5 things."

1.  The Charter School is a GO!!!!


2.  Only one more week of getting Kaylee up for school!


3.  Today is my cousin, Brian's, 18th Birthday!


4.  5 rooms completely Spring Cleaned!


5.  Softball game tonight!  I love watching those girls play ball!

 

Summer Fling Sun Hats & {Shop Updates} ~ 5/19/11

Each Thursday I am going to dedicate a post to updating you on what is new and/or restocked in my "Colletta's Kitchen Sink" etsy shop.

It was so weird that when I went to create today's shop update, the update that went missing during Blogger's breakdown appeared as a draft.  I went ahead and posted it, so that is why there may or may not be two shop updates posted today with different dates.

So, this week, I've been crocheting my fingers to the bone!  I wanted to be able to list my new item:  "Summer Fling Sun Hat".  Yay!!!

I got the pattern from http://www.busymomdesigns.com/ and she allows sales if products made from her patterns.  Just getting that out there.  lol

I've made quite a few different colorways and these hats go from size 0-3 months all the way up to adult.  I can also do custom colors if you would like.

Here are the colors I have so far.

Lt. Raspberry with Honeydew flower

Honydew with Lt. Raspberry Flower

Dk. Orchid with Pale Yellow Flower

Pale Yellow with Dk Orchid Flower

Patriotic Blue with White Flower

Patriotic Red with White Flower

I'm also working on a white hat with multiple flowers.  The flowers are detachable and have an alligator clip on the back so they can also be worn as a hair clip.

Here are some modeling shots of my ham, I mean my daughter.

All these hats can be found in the "Hats and Accesories" section of my shop.
Have a great day!

Please see my sidebar for the places I'll be linking to!