The No More Excuses Diet

So, I was a little skeptical to review a book with a smokin' hot mom on the front cover, but as I read the back of the book, I was definitely intrigued. Maria King, aka the smokin' hot lady on the cover, used to be like me... I couldn't believe it! She was a woman who struggled with her weight, and after having three babies, was not happy with herself physically. So, she decided to do something about it -- she committed her time to getting healthy, and made it a top priority in her life. She set a goal, and the set out to reach that goal. The body that she shows off on the front cover of this book is the product of her hard work.

Kang does an amazing job at setting you up to succeed. In the book, she not only shares a TON of ways to help you get fit and healthy, but she also shares her battles with weight and her reason that she chose to shape up. Unlike a lot of other 'diet' books that I have read, Kang is down to earth and realistic about weight loss. The book is laid out into three different parts: The beginning of the weight loss journey when you are pumped and ready to tackle anything (ie the first three days of your journey :P), the middle of the journey when you feel like all hope is lost and you have lose your motivation (this section is FULL of encouragement and help to keep you on track with the 3 month plan Kang has you set up for yourself) and the last part of the journey, which is maintaining the new healthy lifestyle.

As someone who has had two babies (one recently) and has always struggled with my weight, this book was a breath of fresh air. It reminded me that it IS possible to get healthy, and it did so in a down to earth way that doesn't have me spending hundreds of dollars on groceries that I have never even heard of before. The best part is that it helped me set up a plan that I could stick to and helped me set attainable rules to live by.

I would recommend this book to ANYONE who is looking for an amazing, practical, encouraging 'diet' book. If you let it, this book and Kang's advice will change your life!



You can check out more about this book and the author here!

I received a copy of this book for free from Blogging For Books.

In This House, We Will Giggle!

Our homes are a place where our lives takes place: we laugh, cry, yell, and learn there. Our children will learn many difficult life lessons in the place we call home, whether that be an apartment, a mansion, or a camper. As a parent of a very lovable yet strong-willed four-year-old, I admit that there are days when I feel like I do more reprimanding (which often turns to impatient yelling) instead of effective parenting. I am so thankful for the grace that God has given me when it comes to life and parenting, and I am also thankful for people like Courtney DeFeo, who writes books like In This House, We Weill Giggle: Making Virtues, Love, And Laughter a Daily Part of Your Family Life. 

DeFeo is a mom, and knows what it is like to lose her cool, and have her focus slip to the "in the moment" moments instead of looking at the big picture. When she realized that she was spending more time on giving instructions to her kids and making sure they follow through instead of living life with them, she decided to make some changes. In each chapter of her book, she tells how she was able to bring more important virtues into her home, like forgiveness, joy, love, respect, service, and patience (among many others).

The book is 12 chapters, and works so that each month, your family can focus one virtue. DeFeo gives ideas on how to bring giggles to your home every month, monthly memory verses, catch phrases to use to help ingrain the virtues in each family member, and activities to do as a family to use what you are learning about the virtue. And another added bonus if you enjoy the Jesus Storybook Bible: She has a story that goes with each virtue every month! This is great if you have young ones, so that you can explain the virtue in a way that they can understand.

I really enjoyed this book, because it helped me to remember the important things in life. It is a great read, and will be especially helpful if you are looking to get out of the 'daily grind', and bring true joy and life into your home.

I received this book for free from bloggingforbooks.com

Learn more about the book, and read some for yourself here!

A Fun Book Review Involving Dinosaurs

When it was time for me to pick a new book to review, I was perusing my choices, and this book caught my eye immediately... I decided that I needed an easy, hands-on book for my next book, just to get a break from heavy reading. While I don't consider myself an artist in any way, shape, or form, I always think it is fun to try. Which is why I ended up choosing the book "Draw-a-saurus: Everything you need to know to draw your favorite dinosaurs" by James Silvani.

 To start out, the cover is very bring and intriguing, with a few pictures of brightly colored dinosaurs among the title itself. Inside, the pages are also very colorful, and it even has  comic strips/pictures in the introduction as well as throughout the book to keep the tone light and fun. The author starts the book with teaching the basics, so a person of any skill level is able to pick this book up and draw dinosaurs (even people like me, with NO drawing ability!)

I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a fun time. As you can see from my attempts, following written instructions and looking at the very helpful pictures of each step, even someone like me can become a dinosaur artist :) 

To learn more about the artist or to check the book out for yourself, click here.

I received this book for free from bloggingforbooks.org

Be The Messenger, Live Like the Message

Be The Message: Taking Your Faith Beyond Words to A Life of Action, is written by a pastor, Kerry Shook, and his wife Chris. It is a book written from feelings of not doing enough. The authors "felt a gap between what they were saying and the needs of people around them", so they decided to start living out the Word, instead of just preaching it. The book is written in four sections:

Transforming: Your Words into a Life Message,
Discovering: Your Unique Life Message,
Understanding: The Message That Confounds the World, and
Taking: Your Life Message to the World Around You.


While I believe that this book is well-written and is full of good advice to motivate Christians to get out and actually live like Jesus did, I do not agree with some of what the pastor says. The biggest statement that I question is one of the basic building blocks of the book, which is why I even address it: "Jesus is the Word. The Word is the Gospel. Christ, the Word, lives in you, Translation. You are the gospel...Friend, you are I are the gospel." While I understand where the author is trying to get across, what he is saying is not that we are the gospel. To continue translating it the way that he does, he would end up saying we are Jesus. 

This is simply incorrect. I believe that we are to be messengers of the message, who is the Word, who is Christ Jesus, but no human will ever be perfect, like Christ. The message us messengers should send to the world is that OF Jesus, for He died on the cross and rose again for our sins, for us to tell the world of all He did for us, and continues to do.

I reiterate that much of the advice on how to get out and live like Christ in this book is very helpful and encouraging. I cannot, however, agree with the authors' main base for this book, which is that we are the message. We are simply the Messengers. 

For more information about the book, visit http://bethemessage.org.

I received this book for free from bloggingforbooks.com.

Through the Eyes of Farm Animals

I grew up in the city until I was twelve, and then moved to the country, where my grandfather has a crop farm, but no animals. I was always curious about cows and other animals, but never really had the opportunity until
 high school to learn more about them. that time came when I decided to learn how to milk cows to help out a 
family friend who was having shoulder surgery. He could get the cows into the milking barn for me, but couldn't
 do the actual milking. Now, I was never an animal 'whisperer' like the author of "My Gentle Barn", Ellie Laks, but
 I did and do care for animals, and do not agree with animal abuse. Things I saw after working there for a while
 were astounding to me. Why would someone hit a cow with a crowbar to make him stand still? Why would you 
slap them or use horrible, obviously painful contraptions to make them do what you wanted them to do?
 I couldn't handle it, and I cam to find that if I gently put my hand on the cow's rear to let her know I was a friend,
 she would be at ease. I didn't have to hit her.


I had no idea what to do about the abuse I saw, so I just did what I could to comfort while I was there.
 Ellie Laks, on the other hand, went a step further, and created a sanctuary for animals that have been 
abused and mistreated. She tells her story in her book, "My Gentle Barn", and tells it very well, grabbing 
your attention from the first page with her own personal testimony to the animals' testimonies throughout 
the entire book.

I was truly touched by the sharing of her story, and by the gentleness she has with these beautiful creatures.
 Not only was it a wonderful and inspiring read, it was very informative and eye opening about the meat and 
dairy industries. 

You don't have to be an animal lover to enjoy this book, but I can guarantee it will get you second guessing 
how animals on your plate were treated (My family is a meat eating family, and I can definitely say that it has 
me thinking a bit more about it!)

Thank you, Ellie and Jay, for you continued work, and for NOT giving up on your passions!! 

I received this book for free from Blogging For Books, and I am so glad I did --
 go out and buy it to support The Gentle Barn!

You can also learn more about what the Gentle Barn is all about here. Donate, support an animal, sign up for the newsletter, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

ATTN: Crafters Everywhere...

With not working right now, I have had more time to not only stay on top of the cleaning in our home, but also find little ways to make it feel more like home, and not just an apartment. It has been a lot of fun getting creative and finding cheap, small ways to transform our living space into something that fits our family. One of the things I generally have a hard time with is meal planning... I am not a big fan of cooking anyway, but when I have to do it last minute, I am especially bad at coming up with a good recipe :) So I recruited some help from my book blog, and found a great book that gave me the idea of creating this simple, cute menu planner:

The great thing about this was that I had almost everything I needed in my home, and it cost me about $4 to make (I could have easily found a frame for less than that, at a garage sale or something, but I was impatient...) 

The book is called Petit Collage, and Lorena Siminovich does a stupendous job of coming up with cute, creative ideas and also making them easy to follow. The book is full of pictures that give the reader a clear idea of what the project will/should look like, and the back of the book has pages of templates for the projects! While books like this can easily turn an enthusiastic beginning crafter into a discouraged one, Petit Collage will make crafters of all skill levels feel prepared to start creating :)

To learn more about the author, who also writes children's books, click here.

This book was given to me free from the Blogging For Books program.

The Search for Not-So-Greasy Alternatives

As some people may know, I have recently had a run with some health issues, one being gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach lining. This issue can be caused by many things, some of those being stress, greasy foods, excessive vomiting, or even certain medications. The thing that doctors usually tell you to do first to try and control it (beside heartburn medicine) is to eat the world's most bland, boring diet. 

While I wasn't too excited about this, I definitely didn't want to go through another bout of inflammation, seeing as how it felt like I was having an hour-long contraction... So I decided to go with the bland diet. In my search, I found that I was able to choose and review "The Blender Girl", a recipe book by Tess Masters with 100 gluten-free, vegan recipes inside. I was excited when I got the book, and set to work perusing the recipes right away. I was a bit disappointed in what I found; while the recipes sounded good, many of the ingredients involved were foreign to me. And the ones I did recognize were a bit pricey! 

The recipes I did make were pretty tasty, and fit the bill when it came to my bland die -- Tess Masters did a good job at making 'boring' food delicious, and it was a good feeling knowing that I was feeding my body healthy options instead of sugar and dyes. The recipes are easy to follow, and I also enjoyed the amount of pictures in the book -- that always helps in choosing a recipe to make!
For more information on this book and the author, click here.

I received this book for free from Blogging For Books for this review.