Book Review: Lady in Waiting

Lady in Waiting is written by author Susan Meissner. A new author to me and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Most of the novels I read tend to follow a girl in her early twenties, unmarried who falls in love and the couple live happily ever after.
This novel is very different in that it follows two different ladies and at different times in history. The first lady is modern day Jane Lindsay, who lives in New York, is in her mid to late forties, married and runs an antique store. The story begins with her husband telling her he wants to live apart from her for awhile. As the story progresses she finds a ring in some piles of merchandise sent to her antique store. This ring belonged to the Lady Jane Grey, whose story is told through the eyes of Lucy Day, the dressmaker. The novel then goes back and forth between Jane Lindsay's life and the affect of her separation and Lucy Day's story of Lady Jane and her tragic life.
The novel takes the two stories and shows a picture of love and the choices we make for ourselves as women. Whether you have been married for many years, such as Jane or were never married to the one you loved, such as Lady Jane Grey the take away from this book is that you have choices to make and you must stand up for what you believe in.
I love the way that Meissner used the historical figure of Lady Jane Grey as a parallel (using the ring) to the modern day Jane Lindsay. She captured the beauty and grandness of the 16th Century, but also showed the dark and frightening side of the Reformation.
I would recommend this book for anyone who loves a novel filled with history that is intertwined with love, romance and women standing up for that in which they believe.

I have not read any other novels by Susan Meissner, but I am definitely putting her novel The Shape of Mercy on my must read list. You can check out any of these novels on Amazon.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Book Review: Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball

This book is set in a North American city, most likely in the Midwest, and tells the story of two unlikely people who meet, fall in love through a series of events and at the end attend a magical ball together.

The problem with this book is that although you get to know the characters they never really feel as though everything is fully divulged. The characters did not seem to be well developed for my taste. It was almost as if the author has known these people her whole life and expected you to know who they were too, but never by revealing too much.When something is revealed about a character it seems to be glossed over very quickly. The end of the story was wrapped up too quickly in my opinion and could have gone on for at least two more chapters in order to give the characters a little more time to develop. The magical fantasy part of the story was also never really explained and even though it had some parallels to Christianity it was never really clear.Maybe my expectations for the book were too high and I should have just enjoyed the easy reading that it was, but I just want to be able to tell it like I see it. :-)

If you are looking for a book to read that gives you romance and fantasy rolled into one this is the book for you. Enjoy yourself as you dive into a new world of wizards and magical romance!You can watch a trailer for the book here. Also, you can buy the book on Amazon if you click here.

"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review"

A New Year!

I couldn't think of just one thing that stood out to me this year as a favorite memory. I think there are a few and a few days I wish I could have had a do over, but overall it's been a good year! Below I thought I would sharre with you some of my favorite photo moments from this past year! As I go into this new year of 2011 my prayer is that God will soften my heart in all things and that I will give up control to God in every area of my life!!

Enjoy the pics!

Helping with the Laundry

Downtown


Mike and his grandma with his cousin Matt who is in the Marines and was out training in Twentynine Palms for a few weeks. We were able to visit him for a few hours which was great!


Mother's Day 2010


I love this because after a red eye flight to North Carolina we drove over the border to South Carolina and went to Starbucks because we wanted to say we'd been to South Carolina too! :-)


Swimming Lessons


After a hike up Mt. Rubidoux


My mom came with us to San Francisco to watch Addie which allowed me to do ministry with our high school students and I am super appreciative of it.


The Pumpkin Patch

Have a wonderful New Year!!

50 Free Shutterfly Christmas Cards

I know I already wrote about this below, but I have had some other guidelines given to me by Shutterfly.com that I will need to follow in order to receive the cards. :-)

In the past I have bought a few things from Shutterfly including their photobooks, which I love using to make a yearly book for my daughter and the calendars which I have given out as gifts to family members. This year I'm excited to be able to use Shutterfly for my Christmas cards because they do such a good job at a reasonable price. They also have many, many options. You can check out all their Christmas options here.

My favorite card that I am planning on using is the one below:




I love how simple the design is and how there is an option for multiple pictures in order to possibly show different sides of our personality as a family. I also want a card that says Merry Christmas on it because this is the true reason for this time of year: The birth of Christ! :-)
I'm excited that we will be able to send out these cards to share with our friends and family about our life this past year through pictures. What a great way to share the memories that we have had all year long with those we rarely get to see!

Also besides Christmas cards Shutterfly.com has other personalized photo items to buy.

You can find desk calendars if you click here to give to your husband/wife or dad/mom or maybe the grandparents:
You can also find personalized birth announcements if you click here. It is so nice to be able to send out an announcement with a picture on it that friends and family who live far away get a chance to see the baby when they are little.




With all this said I hope you look into trying out Shutterfly.com. It really is a great company that sells quality products at a extremely reasonable price. Thanks for reading my post and I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season!!

Shutterfly.com

I love this website! I have bought a few things from it, including cards and photobooks and calendars. It is so easy to use and is such an easy way to keep memories without stressing yourself out. I am writing this post because if I do I will get 50 free Shutterfly cards to use. I will be using them for my Christmas cards and I know it's going to be so easy. If you've never checked it out before you totally should. I wouldn't be promoting this if I didn't think it was a good website. Even if I do get something free out of it. :-) If you have a blog and would like to do this too you can check the link out here. Also, you can link to the Shutterfly website here. I encourage you to check it out! It's great!

What's on my mind...

Lately, I've been thinking about doing something other than just being a stay at home mom. It's nice to be able to have the freedom to just pick up and go anywhere we want and not have any time constraints, but I need something that gets me out of the house and not just something like going to the park. In my head I have been throwing around the idea of doing photography... mainly childrens photography. Now some might be saying... "Nicole, there are sooooo many people out there with their own, extremely good, photography business, why get into that market?" I have loved photography since I was in high school. I wanted (for about a year) to go to photography school very badly. My parents weren't too thrilled with the idea so it was put out of my mind. By the way, I have no hard feelings toward that. God obviously placed me at CBU for a reason and it was a great experience. I love being able to capture a moment with a camera!

Sooooooo....... as I sit here thinking about "starting" my own children's photgraphy business I look forward to the plan God has for my life and I hope that if this is something in my future I will have support. First step... pray! Second step... buy a nice camera! :-)

Here is a picture I took of Addie (with my mom's nice camera). Enjoy!

Stuck in a Pit and Needing to Look Up...

I've written before about how I struggle with anxiety and depression and I have for 9 years.
I have been reading this little book by Beth Moore titled Looking Up When Life is Looking Down. It's been a great read (and quick). Something that she talks about is getting out of the pit you're in. Sometimes we place ourselves in this pit without even meaning to, but then we must get ourselves unstuck with the help of God and scripture. I'm learning more and more that scripture is what helps us defeat the enemy. God could just take this away from me (believe me I ask Him to all the time), but I know that right now he is allowing me to go through this for some reason. I may know the reason someday or I may never know why.
When I truly accept who I am becoming and who God is molding me into only then will I feel free from this "pain". I know that I can do anything with God and that I have to give up this control I'm feeling, it's hard, but God is more powerful than any thought or feeling or struggle I may be going through. I will continue to pray that I will put this past me and truly live for God in everything I do, so that I can be the best wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend and most importantly child of God!

Letting Go...

I have to give up control... that's the bottom line of everything I do in my life. I have a hard time not trying to control every situation of my life and when something doesn't go exactly like I planned I feel as though I've failed. What I have to learn from all situations is to let go and let God take it. Deep down in my heart I know this and I believe this, but putting it into practice is not always so easy.
Today we took down my daughters crib and put up the toddler railing. Nothing crazy, but still a big step. This one little thing made my heart hurt for a while thinking about her growing up. I know she has to grow up and learn things and I wouldn't want her to stay little and always having to do everything for her, but it still feels like one of those situations I want to control, but I know I can't.
I have struggled with anxiety for the past 9 years and have recently gone off medication in hopes of being able to control it with more healthy eating, exercise and prayer AND relying on God more. It's been hard and I know that I have to let go of the things I can't control, but I'm finding with knowing that God wins every time there shouldn't be anything that I can't do, even as simple as letting my little girl grow-up.

Below is a picture of Addie at the recent beach trip we went to with our high school students:

All By Myself...

I know I'm not really all by myself. I have God and I have friends and family, but this weekend I am a "single mom" and let me tell you it's hard. I'm am so totally blessed with how much my husband does. He takes out the trash, will give Addie baths, cleans up after dinner, plus a multitude of other things that I don't have time to name off. He's pretty darn amazing! So, when he leaves for a few days I usually call my parents and ask to stay over there. This time I decided I could do it on my own and be totally fine. That was until last night when I didn't fall asleep until 2:30am. I had about a thousand different things running through my mind and it just wouldn't shut off plus I would just be falling alseep and I would hear some weird noise.

I don't think its that I can't do all the above things on my own, because I can and I would. I think it's mostly that I get lonely and I need people around. Yes, I am aware that my daughter is a person, but it's not the same. Our conversations are usually about Tinkerbell, Dora or if she went poo poo. :-) So, I called my mom up this morning and asked if we could come crash with them for a few days which she was totally fine with. The other reason we didn't originally stay with my parents is that my brothers girlfriend is visiting from Idaho this week and is staying in the spare room. Which is totally fine (and by the way I love her, she's super great) and both Addie and I can sleep pretty much anywhere.

So, as I sit in my parents living room writing this lovely blog I feel a lot of relief that I will have people around me to converse with this weekend. i will no longer be "all by myself."

More Pics: Days Two & Three

I know I cut Mike's face off, but it's the best one I took! :-)

Addie loved this area since it had porch swings and big rocks to sit on!

We took a picture similar to this in Tennessee, so I thought we better take one in North Carolina too!

The view from our back patio!

Addie wearing her hat... it lasted about 10 minutes, which might be a record!

Some gorgeous flowers near our apartment!

Days One & Two Pictures!

Right outside the airport in Charlotte

Welcome to Charlotte, North Carolina!

Welcome to South Carolina!!

Starbucks in South Carolina!!

Driving to Ridgecrest, North Carolina!

Mellow Mushroom!

Downtown Asheville

Addie & Daddy!!

Ridgecrest Days One & Two

Day One:
We arrived in Ridgecrest, North Carolina after an evening wedding (that Mike performed), a drive to LAX from Cherry Valley, a red eye flight (with very little sleep for myself)to Charlotte, a 20 minute drive into Fort Mill, South Carolina to go to Starbucks (just so we can now say we’ve set foot in South Carolina), and finally a two hour drive to Ridgecrest, North Carolina. The drive was beautiful and we saw a LOT of trees and some beautiful houses and churches along the way. When we arrived at Ridgecrest it was about 10am (7am our time). Basically we entered our apartment and I slept for a good hour and a half while Addison played with everything from the suitcases and Mike took a shower. After this Mike took Addie on a walk trough Ridgecrest to explore. When I got up we decided to drive to eat somewhere and then go to Walmart to get some breakfast foods. We ended up at Sonic, which was pretty good and then off to the Walmart Super Center. It was one of the nicest Walmart’s I’ve ever been to. When we got back to the apartment we all took about a two hour nap, which was super nice. After this we got up and drove into Asheville and ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom. We went to one of these in Tennessee and absolutely loved it. This one was good, but a little different. The food was still good, but we had a strange lady come up to us during dinner and she stood extremely close to Mike and asked if we had bifocals and then preceded to say she knew it sounded weird and kind of slurred her words. I think she wasn’t quite all there. It was just sort of awkward more than anything. After dinner we walked around downtown Asheville a little bit and we were able to enjoy the beauty of the buildings mixed with the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We drove near the Biltmore Estate (it’s the biggest house in the US with about 250 room, I believe) but we didn’t go onto the grounds because it costs way too much for us. After driving around Asheville and then back through Swannanoa and Black Mountain we came back and skyped with my parents and watched some fireflies. It was pretty cool and I tried taking some video of them, but it’s hard to tell when they’re on the screen.

Day Two:
This morning Addie and I woke up at about 10am which was a very nice night of sleep for both of us. We got ready (making sure to put lots of sunscreen on) and Mike came back from a meeting and then off we went to have some BBQ at a place called Okie Dokie’s Smokehouse. It was pretty good, not the best I’ve ever had, but still tasty. We came back to the camp and Mike greeted the youth pastors at registration. In case some of you are wondering what we are doing in North Carolina I’ll tell you. Mike is a consultant for Lifeway Christian Resources (they basically put out church curriculum) and for the last few years he has been asked to come to their main conference centers and train the youth pastors of the students who come to camp. While the students are in specialized tracks, which is anything from hiking to arts and crafts, Mike will be able to hang out and train youth leaders and volunteers from the over 60 churches that are here this year. There is about 1600 students at camp this week. One of the largest I’ve ever heard of and that they’ve had so far this summer (we’re at week 3)!! Is is a greta opportunity for Mike and a wonderful opportunity for us as a family to travel to a state we haven’t been to before. Also, I have to pay for my flight and this is the last time we can fly before Addie turns 2 and we have to pay for a seat on the plane. Tonight we will eat dinner in the cafeteria here with a whole lot of southern teenagers.It should be fun and tomorrow we may go to the Arboretum in Asheville so, I’ll keep you posted. We don’t have internet in our apartment here so I have to write this when I’m in one of the many other buildings. I also forgot my cable for the camera back in the apartment so I will have to post pictures and video stuff tomorrow. So sorry! More to come tomorrow.

Vacation's Coming Soon...

In a few weeks we leave for North Carolina... this will be our first time to this state. It should be a fun experience. Mike will be teaching at a conference. (He isn't the main speaker he's just doing some training for the youth pastors.) I'm looking forward to being there and exploring a new place. I love researching the places I'm going to and then seeing the sights when I get there so that should be fun. I'm looking forward to having a little bit of down time (as much as you can with an almost 2 year old) away from home.
What I'm not looking forward to is the three weeks leading up to the trip when I have to pack for myself, Addie and some for Mike. I also have to figure out what types of snacks to bring (if I have time to get some there), make sure everything is taken care of when we're gone and make sure I don't leave the house a mess only to come home to a mess that I won't want to clean up. The last thing I'm not looking forward to is the red eye flight we will be taking. We leave LAX at 10:30pm on the 19th and arrive in Charlotte, NC at 6:00am on the 20th, only to have to drive two hours to Ridgecrest. It will be a looooooong day!
I know I sound like I'm complaining and maybe I am a little, but when all is said and done I am going to try and enjoy this last plane trip as a family, at least for a little while, because Addie will be two years old soon and we will have to pay for a full price ticket. I love my kid, but I am not paying $300 for a flight where she takes up less room then some people's carry-ons. :-)

I'll be back to write again about what happens on our trip!

I know, I know...

It has been way too long since I've been a consistent blogger (if I ever was), but I just thought I would post something today with it being Mother's Day and with myself having a little bit of extra time to do such things, such as write a blog! It has been a very nice and relaxing weekend. Friday night we went to a play at King High School (Ashley Setzler's last one of high school) and yesterday we cleaned up in the morning, but we were able to go to lunch with Mike's mom and grandma and relax after that. Today I was blessed to be able to have time this morning with my mom, Mike's mom, Mike's grandma and my sweet little Addison (the reason I get to celebrate this day)! Below is a picture of Addie and I on Mother's Day this year and last year. What a difference a year makes! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! :-)

A Few Lists...

Lately I keep finding lists of stuff I want to do. The first list goal I have is to see all the National Historic Landmarks in California. There are 138 and I have been to 9! I think I have a few more to see. :-)

The next list is the Top 25 Restaurants in Riverside. I have been to 6 of the 25, but a lot of them are on the upper end of my budget, so we'll see how fast I can get through these ones!

The third and final list is 101 Things to Do in Riverside. Out of 101 I have done 20. Still a long way to go! What's funny about this one is that I have never been to the Riverside Art Museum (it's on the list), but I have had art "hanging" there. When I was in fifth grade we had to draw a nature picture with pastels and mine was picked along with others from the elementary schools in Riverside to hang in the museum for a limited time! Kind of cool, but we never went and saw it, so I still ahven't been there. Someday! It's on my list now! :-) One of the other items on this list is the CBU Theater Department. I counted as having done that since I sort of feel like I lived in the theater while I attended CBU!

All this to say I'm eager to get started on all these lists. Overall there is 264 things to do on my lists! That's a bit overwhelming, but I think I can do it!!

My Beautiful Daughter...

Addie just turned 18 Months on Saturday! She is one little comedienne. She is super sweet and is learning new words everyday. She always has something funny that she is doing. Yesterday I took her with me to my Bible Study because she was sick and I didn't want her to infect the other preschoolers. She decided at the end that she would get down on all fours and kick her leg up behind her like a donkey. Very funny and very distracting, but she's so cute so it was okay. :-) We went to her 18 Month check-up today and she received two shots (HIB and H1N1). She also had to have some blood drawn. She did fairly well. The doctor said this is a hard appointment because they just don't want anything to do with the doctors. That was certainly true for Addie. She did say bye, bye and blow kisses to the Dr. when she left. She is 25.6 pounds and she is 33 1/2 inches long. Soooo tall! I think she is taller than I was at her age. She says lots of words, her favorites being: Cheese, Juice, Mama, Dad, Bye Bye, Choo Choo, Night Night, Uh-Oh, Gapa (Grandpa) and she can say lots of animal sounds which include a snake, a cow, a dog, a duck and a sheep! She likes to talk to us a lot in her own little language and she LOVES reading books. She is finally sitting somewhat still while I read her books. We have to go fast, but at least we get through it. Addie also loves to sing the alphabet (sort of) and she likes to count. She prefers the number two, but she sometimes counts along with us. She also LOVES to dance as you can see in the video I will post later. The last 18 months have gone by fast and slow and Addie has grown so much. I'm definitely looking forward to the crazy antics my beautiful little girl will bring to us in 2010!!

MOPS...

Today began a new year of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). For those who don't know it is a program designed for women who are moms to preschool age children. There is also a program for the kids going on at the same time. It is such a wonderful outlet for mothers, especially at the beginning of motherhood when your life gets turned upside down. :-)

I have to confess that last year I was not going to join in the group because I felt a bit of pressure coming from many sides. Being the wife of a youth pastor you have eyes on you at all times, so I really wanted to be defiant and not join a ministry that I was "expected" to join. I'm so glad I didn't listen to myself and that I listened to God! MOPS has been such a blessing for me. It has helped me to forge new friendships to learn that it's okay to have mommy guilt sometimes. I've learned to be a little more laid back in the things I do. To not sweat the small stuff!! I've learned that I'm not the only mom who has days she just wishes she could have five minutes to myself. I've learned that God is in control of my life and that I can't do this "mom thing" without His help or the help of others.

All this said, I'm really excited this for this year and all the new friendships that will be formed and all the new things we will learn! It's going to be a great year "Together on Planet Mom!"

I have a deep dark secret...

Okay, maybe it's not a deep dark secret, but it is something that not many people know about me.

Okay, so here is the big reveal:

I secretly wish I was British.

I wish I lived in England and had a British accent and that Addie had a little British accent too. I LOVE London and I have been thinking more about it lately. It's been two years since I've been there and I think I left a little piece of my heart there. I just love the people, the atmosphere, the public transportation, and the parks that are everywhere (and people use them). I know that I eventually will go back there, but until then I will just keep "secretly" wishing I was British. Cheerio!!

Amazing Website...

This is such a great website out there for all you moms. I love it and they have really great deals!!

Not so good at this whole blog thing anymore...

It seems like I go a really long time between each blog and I shouldn't because I always have a lot to say. :-) It has been an extremely busy summer! Every other week had something going on. The fall slows down a little, but the first part still looks to be fairly busy. We were lucky enough to have two "vacations" this summer. The first you saw was in Glorietta, New Mexico. It was sort of work for Mike, but still a good time of getting away. A week ago we were able to take a nice week long vacation. We started it out in Fresno visiting Mike's family. It was super nice to get away and not have to worry about our routine or anything with church. We came back on Wednesday and we hung out at home on Thursday and went to a Luau at Mike's grandma's senior living facility. It was very nice and the food was pretty good. Addie loved the rice!! On Friday we drove to Redondo Beach and went to a place called Seaside Lagoon. It was a place I used to go to when I was younger and it was fun to take Addie. We also drove around where I used to live and saw my old house I grew up in and my church I grew up at. Both have changed a whole lot! On Saturday we hung out at home and went to the Farmer's Market and Trader Joe's. All in all vacation was pretty relaxing and I wish we could have it everyday. I guess then it wouldn't be vacation! In a few weeks we will go on our final vacation of this year. (I promise we don't usually travel this much.) We will be traveling to Nashville, TN (my first time) where Mike will be teaching at a confernce or youth workers at Lifeway. After this we will then head out to Denver, CO to visit Mike's family and one of my roommates from college and her family. It should be a lot of fun and I will try to post pictures from that trip.

I'm praying that this fall will be a wonderful time of connecting with old friends, making new ones, strengthing current friendships and for Mike and I to take time to grow our marriage. I know that God can do amazing things and He has already shown me how powerful He is. I pray that I can learn to rely on God more and trust in His plan for my life. We can't do it on our own and I am learning that more and more each day!