Sunday, May 4, 2025
Laken's Senior Prom ~ 2025
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Happy Homemaker ~ 4/22/2025
"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said."
Matthew 28:6a
Have a great week!
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Happy Homemaker ~ 3/9/2025
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
James 5:16
Have a great week!
Thursday, March 6, 2025
My Weekly Bookishness ~ 3/6/2025
Early 1900s. When an accident leaves Sadie West's family in dire financial need, she nervously leaves the land she loves to work in the Hoag duster factory. But sending all her money home means that she has nowhere to board, and she's forced to take up residence in an abandoned building--a choice that throws her in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.
Recently returned from exile, and determined to keep his arrival a secret, Otis Taylor makes the impulsive decision to hire the woman he finds hiding on his family's property with the strict instructions she tell no one he has returned. The dark halls of his boyhood flood him with memories he's long tried to forget. The only bright light is the woman he has hired. Can the optimistic Sadie teach the wounded Otis to trust again? To love? Can the pair unravel the family secrets that have long cast a shadow over the mansion and those who reside within?
With the same heart as Rachel Fordham's fan-loved previous historical novels, Beyond Ivy Walls takes readers on an emotional journey full of character development, historical nuance, and a deeply satisfying happily ever after.
Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she's the same person at her core in both times, she's leading two vastly different lives.
In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives--and any hope of love--are put in jeopardy.
Libby's life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about--women's suffrage--is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.
Styling is all she’s here for…and maybe a laugh or two from the legendary matchmakers who sit in her styling chair and think they have her on their target board.
Horse trainer Luc Asher has taken a job in the town he’s heard a lot about but has no plan to be one of the “matches”. He’s a loner, with good reason, and as far from looking for love as a man can get.
Making him the perfect target…at least that’s what Esther Mae, Norma Sue, and Adela, the town matchmakers, believe the moment he strides into Sam’s Diner looking as handsome and alone as a man shouldn’t be.
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Colletta Is Losing It! ~ Weekly Weigh In #1 ~ 3/4/2025
My tracking week will be Monday through Sunday. Here are some stats:
Highest Weight ~ 301.6 lbs
Last Week's Weight ~ 301.6
This Week's Weight ~ 293.2
This Week's Total: -8.4 lbs
*Grand Total: -8.4 lbs
Exercise Week #1 : Goal 3 X 30min/week
Monday ~ 30 minutes ~ Treadmill
Tuesday ~ 45 minutes ~ Walking Outside
Wednesday ~ N/A
Thursday ~ 45 minutes ~ Walking Outside
Friday ~ N/A
Saturday ~ N/A
Sunday ~ N/A
This Week's Total: 120 minutes
*Grand Total: 120 minutes
Top Ten Tuesday ~ First Lines ~ 3/4/2025
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Sunday, March 2, 2025
Happy Homemaker ~ 3/2/2025
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
Philippians 4:6
Have a great week!
Saturday, March 1, 2025
Book Review ~ You're Not Enough (and that's okay) by Allie Beth Stuckey ~ 3/1/2025
We're told that the key to happiness is self-love. Instagram influencers, mommy bloggers, self-help gurus, and even Christian teachers promise that if we learn to love ourselves, we'll be successful, secure, and complete. But the promise doesn't deliver. Instead of feeling fulfilled, our pursuit of self-love traps us in an exhausting as we strive for self-acceptance, we become addicted to self-improvement.
The truth is we can't find satisfaction inside ourselves because we are the problem. We struggle with feelings of inadequacy because we are inadequate. Alone, we are not good enough, smart enough, or beautiful enough. We're not enough--period. And that's okay, because God is.
The answer to our insufficiency and insecurity isn't self-love, but God's love. In Jesus, we're offered a way out of our toxic culture of self-love and into a joyful life of relying on him for wisdom, satisfaction, and purpose. We don't have to wonder what it's all about anymore. This is it.
This book isn't about battling your not-enoughness; it's about embracing it. Allie Beth Stuckey, a Christian, conservative new mom, found herself at the dead end of self-love, and she wants to help you combat the false teachings and self-destructive mindsets that got her there. In this book, she uncovers the myths popularized by our culture of trendy narcissism, reveals where they manifest in politics and the church, and dismantles them with biblical truth and practical wisdom.