• Book Reviews,  Goals

    March 2021 Goals

    Hi friends! It’s a little late for March goals but I figured it’s better late than never right? 🤣 Let’s first recap February’s goals first though.


    February Goals Recap:

    • read two books I think I’m going to start adding in small recaps of books I’ve read to these posts.
    • find a better schedule for working on Etsy This has been life-changing!!
    • edit/organize a month of photos
    • plan our weeks
    • stick to social media boundaries Another thing that has been life-changing! I can stay so much more focused on things I want to get done throughout the day because I’m not distracted by social media.
    • blog once a week
    • work on new products for Etsy

    Books I’ve Read:

    A little check in from my 2021 book list for the year: So far the list has been really helpful when it comes to making sure I have books in the house that I want to read. It also has helped with realizing that I needed to prioritize room in our budget for books or time at the library to get the books. It has given me some motivation to choose to read too because I don’t want to fall too far behind with the list.

    So if you remember, I planned to read a fiction and a non-fiction book each month and what I am realizing is that one non-fiction book a month might be too much. When I do choose to sit down to read I’m wanting to sort of checkout and enjoy a story. I do really like reading for learning purposes as well though, I’m just realizing with the amount of time I have (with is not very much because of small children LOL) I will choose fiction more than non-fiction.

    Okay now onto the reviews. (I’ve included January’s books as well.)

    • The Tattooist of Auschwitz: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
      This book was very eye opening and heartbreaking. It is an amazing love story amidst the heartbreaking reality of what went on during the Holocaust. I would recommend this one for sure.
    • The Last Anniversary: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
      I looove Liane Moriarty. This book was a really great one but I felt it was a little lacking in the ending. I guess I just like to have the ending of books neatly tied up with a bow and this one didn’t quite do that for me. But all in all it was still a very good read if you like chick-lit.
    • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
      I very much enjoyed this book and thought it was a great start to the conversation of facing racism. I would love to read more books to learn even more of what I can do to fight racism.
    • The Ickabog: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
      This was a really cute book. I haven’t read anything by J.K. Rowling since I’ve finished the Harry Potter series so it was really fun to dive back into her writing. I definitely enjoyed this one and am glad she released it.
    • One by One: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
      This is my third Ruth Ware book and I really enjoyed all of them including this one. I stayed up until 2 am one night because I just had to know how it ended. I looked up reviews after I finished it and was pretty shocked to see there were quite a few people who didn’t enjoy this one that much. I thought it was very suspenseful and would recommend it if you enjoy suspense novels.

    You can review my 2021 book list here if you’re interested.

    March Goals:

    • Read two books
    • Blog once a week
    • Plan our weeks
    • Stick to our new schedule
    • Create a cleaning schedule
    • Work on new Etsy shop
    • Edit one month of photos

    I’m excited to keep working on these goals and keep trying on the ones that haven’t quite happened yet.

    Affiliate links are used in this post.

  • Book Reviews

    Recent Reads: 2019

    I read ten books last year and I thought it might be fun to share with you my thoughts on them. I’m hoping to read more books this year, especially as I won’t be on social media for the first three months but we shall see what happens.

    Affiliate links are used in this post.


    The Confident Parent by Jane Scott – 4/5 Stars
    My original plan was to read this before Shane was born but honestly never really felt like I needed to. I mistakingly thought I knew enough to take care of a baby with no stress. I think this would have been a great book for me to have read before he was born though because it really helps you remember to find time for yourself and your marriage and not get lost in being just parents, which is a reminder I think all new parents can use. The author is a pediatrician who has lived all over the world and has seen how different mothers are from how they are in the US, and helps you to see that maybe certain things that are normal here might not be as normal as we think.

    The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk by Diana West and Lisa Marasco – 4/5 Stars
    I’m pretty sure I started this book last year and finished it this year. I decided to read this because as some of you may know, I had a very hard time nursing Shane. He had a stage 4 tongue and lip tie, as well as cheek ties that weren’t caught until he was 7 weeks old (!). As you can imagine, nursing was very painful and my milk never fully came in, which was devastating for me. I picked this book up to hopefully learn some tips/tricks to help next time.

    All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire – 5/5 Stars
    Oh man, this book. It was so good. Definitely my favorite of the year from this type of book. It’s about a girl from a troubled family who meets a book from out of town who ends up having to go back to his home town right when she needs him most. All of their secrets come out at the end, specifically ones about her family that leave you hanging on to the edge of your seat. Definitely a must read in my opinion.

    The Story of Channon Rose (Part One (4) + Part Two (5)) by Channon Rose – 4/5 Stars
    These are actually two books split between two parts. They are autobiographies by a Youtuber who used to be a porn star. This one may be a little bit surprising to see on my list but I love psychology and learning how people chose the lives that they did. Channon’s story is honestly amazing and I can’t believe the things she has gone through in her life. The first book is about her family life and the second is more about how she got into the porn industry. Both books were super interesting. I discovered her because I watch a lot of Youtube and learned of her through other Youtubers that I watch.

    To Hell With the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke – 5/5 Stars
    If you only take away one book from all of these, let it be this one. This book is life changing. I actually was lucky enough to be on the launch team for this book and read this book before it came out. I’m super grateful for that because Jeff’s insight on how our culture is over-connected and overworked is eye opening. I have been Jeff and Alyssa fans for a long time now but this book is by far my favorite. Jeff actually starts questioning and unpacking how our hustle culture is affecting us and let me tell you, it definitely makes you want to stop and reevaluate the priorities in your life as well.

    Winter Stroll and Winter Storms by Elin Hilderbrand – 4/5 Stars
    I read the first book in this series two winters ago so I decided to pick up the next two this year. I have heard so many good things about these books and I think maybe my hopes were a little too high for them. While I do really like and recommend these books, I don’t think they are quite as good as they are hyped up to be. They are about a family who lives on Nantucket and run an inn together. There are a lot of moving parts in this series, such as a cheating spouse, a son who is a POW, another who is in jail, and a wife who gets addicting to pills. It flashes back and forth between all of the characters points of view and is very interesting. My only complaint is that it is a little predictable.

    Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman – 3.5/5 Stars
    This is another book that I felt didn’t quite live up to the hype although I did think it was very good. It’s about a very socially awkward woman who has kept her distance from others, believing that her life was completely fine with her usual Friday night pizza and vodka guzzling. However everything starts to change when she meets Raymond who very much pushes her outside of her comfort zone to finally realize that things have to change in her life.

    Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale – 5/5 Stars
    This is also another must read. It’s about a girl who works for her parents restaurant as a chef and is engaged to her childhood sweetheart until everything flips onto its head. Her fiancé never comes home from a business trip and her parents business is a lot more unstable than she could have ever imagined. After attending his funeral though, Aimee is unsure of what exactly happened on this business trip and leads her to start uncovering truths about what actually happened to her fiancé. I really enjoyed this book and the unexpected twists and turns of it.


    Have you read any of these? What were your thoughts? I’m planning on writing these types of posts every month or two so that it will be a lot easier to remember my thoughts on the books. 😉

  • Book Reviews,  Faith

    No Fear Book Review

    As I’ve mentioned a few times now, I’m trying to make it a habit of reading before bed instead of watching Netflix. It’s actually much harder than I thought it was going to be! I just wanted to give credit where credit is due and say that I stole this format of a book review from Leah, who is the queen of reading and book reviews, haha! I am so jealous of how much reading she does. I have included an affiliate link in case you wanted to check this book out for yourself! (Just click the title!)


    No Fear by Tony Perkins
    Rating: ★★★☆☆

    “No Fear draws you inside the stories of young, ordinary believers who, despite incredible opposition, courageously stand up for God’s truth. Tony Perkins pairs each story with a biblical example and gives practical ideas for building a “no fear” perspective every day. Today, followers of Jesus Christ face more opposition to their beliefs than any generation in American history. Yet even in such a hostile cultural and political environment, it is an exciting time to stand firm in the faith. You have been chosen to live in this important hour, and reading these stories will inspire you to the same kind of courage.  So what are you waiting for?”*

    What I Liked: This book really encouraged me to reevaluate what following Jesus means to me and what God is actually expecting of me. I have always been in the camp of being super respectful of other’s opinions and their beliefs and haven’t been too open about my own in fear of giving them the wrong impression. Since this book gives extreme examples of people standing for their faith in ways that I never would, it’s helping me think again about stepping out in faith without being fearful of other’s response. Of still being respectful, but also still taking that step of faith and sharing my faith.

    What I Didn’t Like: I felt like a lot of these stories were way too extreme and weren’t loving at all. To me, sharing your faith is literally explaining the gospel to someone or sharing about how Jesus has affected your life. In this book, the author praises others for defying laws of praying out loud and saying this is an example of following God. In certain examples, this is true, but for the most part, people aren’t going to become Christians because we chose to defy the law and pray out loud. I think by going against the law, you are not honoring God, you are showing others that you care more about what you believe. I am having a really hard time accurately displaying what I didn’t like but a lot of the chapters just didn’t sit right with me.

    Favorite Quotes: “The only way to counter the fear of man is with faith in God, which provides the courage and the strength that God requires for His world-changing work.”

    “We ultimately decided to go ahead with the Bible verses on the banner, but my real hope was that people would look at what we were doing and see Christ and not people who just want their own way.”

    “If the stand we take is motivated by a need to “win” an argument or prevail over those we oppose, we may win the battle but lose in the long run.”


    To be honest with you, overall I would not recommend this book. It was not bad, and helped me question whether or not I was choosing fear over faith more times than not, but I just did not enjoy most of the stories or believe that they were what it meant to be a Christian.

    “I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review.”

    *synopsis from Amazon

    What books have you been reading lately?


  • Book Reviews,  Faith,  Marriage

    8 Books To Read Before Getting Married

    Getting engaged and married is such a fun time. I would even argue that it is the most anticipated and exciting time of your life. There’s just something so special about finally finding the one that you will spend the rest of your life with that makes you look forward to whatever life may throw at you. Now you have your best friend by your side to go through it with you. If I’m being completely honest, you really don’t realize just how hard marriage is going to be because of these new rose-colored glasses you are now wearing.

    There are also so many emotions that go along with getting married. Aside from the absolute joy that you are now experiencing from finding your soul mate, there very well may be some other feelings trying to creep in as well. Like anxiety. Or doubt. Or being overwhelmed. These feelings are normal, so instead of just trying to ignore them, I think it’s important to educate yourself on what will make a marriage work so that you can limit these feelings as much as possible.

    One way to do this is to attend Pre-martial Counseling through your church (if you attend one). This is a really great way to safeguard your marriage before you even enter into it. It’s a way to make sure that your marriage will be lined up with biblical principles. Another way to get great advice on marriage that you know you can trust is to read marriage books. I loved doing this when I was engaged, and even before I got engaged. I want to share with you 8 books that I read before I got married. These books were full of helpful advice that made me feel more prepared to walk down the aisle, confident in my decision to marry Tommy.

    This post contains affiliate links. This means that the price of the item won’t change for you, but I receive a small commission of the sale if you choose to buy. Thanks for your support!

    1 | Preparing for Marriage

    Tommy and I each received a copy of this book from our pastor during our pre-marital counseling. It was a really great book to go through to help us get on the same page about things that we wouldn’t have thought to talk about or ask each other. Some topics that it covered were Household Chores, Finances, Purity, Conflict Resolution, and Sex. The way the chapters were set up were that you read a little section about whatever the topic for the chapter was, answered the questions, and then at the end of each chapter you met with your fiancé and did a Couples Project, where you would go over your answers together and answer more questions together. It was super fun to set dates and do the couples project together. Each chapter made me super excited to get married.

    2 | You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity

    This was such an awesome, eye-opening book. It was super convicting (as I shared in this recap of it) because it goes into so much detail about how marriage is for God’s glory. Francis Chan is a great pastor and author and he really challenges you that marriage is only secondary to God and his call on your life. He reminds you that you should love God first and use marriage to glorify him, not ourselves by pursuing the American Dream. It was a really great book and definitely helped me set my priorities for getting married straight.

    3 | Love and Respect

    I’ve talked about this book so many times on my blog because it is just that good. (I shared here where I wrote a whole book review on it, and again here recently when I shared about something I learned from the book in another blog post.) This book is full of knowledge about what men and women need from each other, which is biblically based.

    4 | The Mingling of Souls: God’s Design for Love, Marriage, Sex, and Redemption

    I absolutely loved this book. I read it while we were in the Bahamas on vacation before I was even engaged and it taught me so much. Matt Chandler is a pastor from Texas, who I love listening to because he’s got so much wisdom but is also really funny. He is also like that in this book, while he goes through studying Song of Solomon in the Bible. It was so good I’m planning on reading it again.

    5 | For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men

    This book is similar to Love and Respect in the sense that it teaches you what men need from their wives. It was a really fun read because it literally does exactly what the title suggests. It teaches you all about how men operate and it has been read and approved by men so it is definitely accurate. 😉 This book could really be a good read for anyone honestly. It’s very interesting.

    These next few books I would say are more helpful for girls who haven’t yet met their husbands or are not engaged yet, but are still really helpful if you have. They are just geared more toward helping you while you wait for God to answer your prayer for a husband, while the books above are more about marriage wisdom.

    6 | Praying for Your Future Husband: Preparing Your Heart for His

    This was the first marriage book I ever read back in 2012. This was a time when I was really struggling with waiting on God’s timing for dating and this book really encouraged me through it. It’s a light read, but was really fun to pray over my husband before I even knew him. It also encourages you to write letters to your husband to give to him once you are married, which I did also and it was a super special time. If you are single and waiting for God to answer your prayer to bring someone into your life to date, this book is for you.

    7 | When God Writes Your Love Story

    This was another really encouraging book that I read while waiting on a husband. It gives you plenty of wisdom for what a biblical marriage and dating relationship should look like. It’s really helpful because it reminds you how important it is to wait on God, and that it is so worth it in the end.

    8 | Lady in Waiting: Becoming God’s Best While Waiting for Mr. Right

    I loved this book because it took the focus off of waiting and onto myself and how I can prepare to be my best. This was the most helpful thing I did while waiting for a boyfriend because sometimes just focusing on waiting made it impossible. When I could do something active, like prepare my heart to be a wife, it made the waiting more bearable. This book is more of a devotional type book, rather than just a quick read with other people’s stories or advice. It’s a more hands-on type book, so if you are really struggling through the waiting, this might be a huge help to you.

    I hope these books will help you on your journey to becoming a wife. I know they really did for me, no matter what stage of life I was in, whether I was single as a Pringle, dating but just not quite ready to be married, or engaged and waiting to say “I Do”, these books were huge encouragers for me. They set up realistic expectations of marriage and encouraged me to wait on God above all else, even when it felt like I couldn’t wait another second.

    What books do you recommend that helped you with marriage? I’m always looking for more to read.

  • Book Reviews

    What I Read: February

    what i read february
    I’m happy to say that I have kept up with my reading this past month. I seriously am loving all the time I have to read because it’s so refreshing to take a tiny break from real life and get lost in a book. It seems this next month too I’ll have some free time seeing as I still don’t have a job lined up. Womp. But I’m trying not to get discouraged and know that in God’s timing I’ll find one. PS. I can’t wait until I don’t have to visit Indeed.com ever again though. Okay on to the books:

    The Daylight Marriage

    the daylight marriage

    2 out of 5

    I read this in the beginning of February and I have the worst memory when it comes to books and movies so I honestly don’t remember exactly what happened but I remember not liking it. It was like taken but a lot less entertaining.

    Best Friends Forever

    best friends forever.jpg

    4 out of 5

    This one was great. It’s about two women who were best friends in high school but stopped being friends at the end of it because of a huge fight they had. One day when they’re 30 one of the women shows up on the other’s doorstep with blood on her coat saying she needs help. This book really kept me interested and it was a really great story.

    Barefoot

    barefoot

    5 out of 5

    This book was my favorite this month for sure. It was about three women who are going through really difficult things – one has cancer, one found out her husband cheated on her right when she found out that they were pregnant after trying for years, and the other was fired for her job for sleeping with a student. They all are living in a summer house on the beach for the summer, and it makes you long for the summer and the warm weather.

    Anchored

    anchored.jpg

    5 out of 5

    This book gave me all the feels. It is insanely heart wrenching and all you want to do is get to the end to know everything is going to be okay. The way Kayla Aimee writes is outstanding and she throws in humor in such a way that makes you just simply not able to put this book down. I read it in about 24 hours I believe. It’s so sad but so amazing at the same time.

    Changes That Heal

    changes that heal

    4 out of 5

    This looks like the only “faith” book I’ve read this month. I try to read both a “story” book and a “faith” book I can learn from at the same time. This book was HARD to get through. It’s hard because it’s teaching us all the things we do wrong when it comes to relating to both God and others. It was extremely helpful and eye opening but definitely a difficult read. I did a review of a few chapter here if you’re interested.

    What Alice Forgot

    what alice forgot.jpg

    4 out of 5

    This book was hard to get into. It took me about half the book to really get hooked. I read this one because I heard a lot of good things about it but I was a little disappointed. The main character Alice wakes up from hitting her head and quickly learns that she has forgotten the last 10 years. She just took so long before really getting answers about what was going on in her life and I found it maddening. If I woke up and couldn’t remember that much I would be running about frantically trying to figure out what was going on. She was very laid back at first and it took me until she started figuring everything out to really get hooked. But once I did it was GREAT. I loved the end.

    I can’t believe I read 6 books this month. That’s a record so far. I’m going to try to keep it up. I’m reading another marriage book seeing as I’m just 2 and a half months from the wedding!! It’s also on my March goals and I want to be as prepared for marriage as I can be when the time comes.

    Have any suggestions for me? Have you read any of these books – what did you think?

  • Book Reviews

    Books I’ve Read: January

    So in January I was able to read so much because I haven’t had any actual work to do at work because I am being laid off in March because my bank merged with another one. So anyways, I literally am just reading and planning my wedding during work hours because there is nothing to. It’s seriously bliss.

    So in January I was able to read 5 books, which is a lot for me. I normally don’t read all that much – I have the desire to but never seem to actually make the time to do it. Since I had so much free time though I’ve been doing a lot more reading and it has sparked my love for it again and I’m going to really try to make sure I read regularly even when I have a job that I actually have to work at haha.

    PS. Have you guys discovered Goodreads yet? I’m sure you have but if not it’s a great place to track all the books you want to read, have read and are currently reading. I always see books that I want to read and can never remember them so I started writing them in the notes section of my phone and that helped me read more and now that I have discovered this website it’s soo much easier. They even recommend books to you based off of what you have rated the ones you’ve read. It’s awesome.

    For Women Only

    for women only.jpg

    5 out of 5
    I thought this book was great. I read it because as you all know I’m engaged and I’m also interested in Psychology so I have read about how different men and women are when it comes to processing the world and I love the idea of finding out how men work. I read this to better understand my fiance and I have to say it really really helped. It opens your eyes to so much about how they’re wired. I think it’s a must read if you are in a relationship, engaged, married, or even are just planning to be married one day.

    You and Me Forever

    you and me forever

    4 out of 5
    This was another marriage book – you’ll soon learn (if you haven’t already) that marriage is one of my favorite topics so obviously I read about it a lot. This book was one of the most convicting books I’ve read. It talks about how we are called to love Jesus more than our spouse and even our children. It really helps you check yourself and make sure you’re living for the correct things (God’s glory) and not our own.

    Something Borrowed

    something borrowed.jpg

    5 out of 5
    This is the second time I read this book and I loved it this time as much as I did the first. I think I read the whole thing in about 2 days and it’s a pretty thick book. I don’t want to give too much away about it but it’s a romantic comedy (and was actually turned into a movie) but it’s really suspenseful. If you like love stories you will love this one.

    The Giver

    the giver

    3.5 out of 5
    This is also the second time I read this book. The first time was in school, maybe 8th grade. It’s a really interesting book about a boy who lives in like a community that is hyper-sensitively controlled by the government. They follow insanely strict rules and the boy Jonas was selected to receive memories and quickly learns that the world wasn’t always this way. It’s a cute, short book that keeps you pretty interested.

    One Light Still Shines

    one light still shines.jpg

    5 out of 5
    Oh my gosh, this book! It gave me all the feels. If I could rate it a 6 out of 5 I would. It’s written by the woman who was married to the man who was responsible for the Amish Schoolhouse Shootings. She is so raw and real in this book and she walks you through how her life looked at the time – not leaving out even the smallest details. She talks about how leaning on Jesus brought her through this and it shows you just how practical it is to follow Jesus and just how much he really cares about us. Such a great book.

    That would be all. I’m really proud of myself for reading this much in January and I hope to keep my reading up for the rest of this month too.