Finished another book :)

Source: via Hayley on Pinteres

LOVED IT!  Cannot wait to start the next one.  I could not put it down, finished in 2-3 days.

Gotta Love a Good Book

Source: http://www.alexacall.com/2011/08/help.html via Hayley on Pinterest

A couple weeks ago, I got real nerdy and could not put a book down.  I literally, finished it in one week!  On a Saturday night, I read until 2:00 am to finish one amazing book.  The Help!!!  It was awesome!!  I cannot wait to go see the movie.  Has anyone read the book or seen the movie?  Or both?  I love reading the book before seeing the movie and comparing the two.  Any good book ideas for my next read?

Source via Hayley on Pinterest

Book Club

I am so pumped to be in a book club!  I will be reading along fellow friends: Jen, EB, and Laurie.  I cannot wait to finish the book, hangout with friends, and to see the movie!  If you want to join along, borrow, buy, or check out Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen from the library and tag along.  We are still deciding on when to meet and what questions we will discuss, but anyone is welcome!  I am already a third through the book.

Book review by: Book Browse


An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons.

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

Must Reads

I love to read!  I can never put down a Nicholas Sparks book.  I cannot wait to finish my current book to start one of his!

Here is his list and the ones I have read are in BLUE: 

Books by Nicholas Sparks

• The Best of Me

• Safe Haven

• The Last Song (movie)

• The Lucky One

• Dear John (movie)

• The Choice

• At First Sight

• True Believer

• Three Weeks With My Brother

• The Guardian

• The Wedding

• Nights In Rodanthe (movie)

• A Bend In The Road

• The Rescue

• A Walk To Remember (movie)

• Message In a Bottle (movie)

• The Notebook (movie)

• Wokini

  6 of his books are already movies.  They must be good!  Oh, how I love a good book!

  
  
 

finished a book!

I am so excited, I finished book two in January 2011.  I borrowed a book from a friend a long time ago and finally decided to reread the book and actually finish it.  I read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell.  It gives a really great perspective on Christianity and how simple it actually is.  I love how he portrays Jesus's love for people.  If you have not already read it, you should!

I love this quote: "Very few people in our world are offering anything worth dying for.  Most of the messages we receive are about how to make life easier.  The call of Jesus goes the other direction: It's about making our lives more difficult.  It is going out of our way to be more generous and disciplined and loving and free.  It is refusing to escape and become numb to and check out of this broken, fractured world" (Bell, p. 169).

Love cuddling up and reading when its snowing :)

Captivating: Chapter One

So far I think I might like this book but sometimes I feel that it does not apply to me.  I loved this passage in the introduction: "We have women friends who love tea parties and china, and friends who break out in hives at the thought of them.  We have women friends who love to hunt, bow hunt even.  Women who love to entertain and women who don't.  Women who are professors, moms, doctors, nurses, missionaries, dentists, homemakers, therapists, chefs, artists, poets, rock climbers, triathletes, secretaries, sales people, and social workers.  Beautiful women, all" (Eldredge, p. ix-x).

I love that women are unique and do not have to fit the ideal picture of a woman.  What is that anyway?  There isn't one!  It is okay for me to love hosting people at my house, but hate the idea of a tea party.  I want all women to know that if you are not girly, that is okay to.  I was a tomboy until basically high school when my sister sat me down and told me before my first day of Freshmen year, I had to wear makeup (she did it for me of course for a year or two).  I love wearing sweat pants, but also like the idea of being dressed up and looking pretty.  I am sporty, and fear the kitchen.  I am hoping through this blog I can tackle basic meals and maybe try some hard ones too.

I like how Stasi put that women can be unsure of what it means to be a woman and what it means to be feminine.  I definitely am uncertain of what it means or feels to be feminine.  Even as a wife, I feel that.  One problem of this book is that even though Stasi says all women are different she uses the words all girls...  She stated that all girls played dress up and basically all boys played war.  I did not dress up in dresses and spin around, I was the tomboy and I played cowboys and Indians.  So I do not make the connection there.  Other than that, this book is really going to challenge my views and stubbornness of being a woman.  I am excited for God to open up my heart and to see where this takes me!

Let me know what you think and Kat I hope you come along for the journey!

-Hayley

Journey into a woman's heart

I have heard of the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge that unveils the mystery of a woman's soul.  I am not a girly girl at all and have heard horror stories from this book.  Girls have told me that they have read it in one night and could not put it down, drinking tea and holding a box of Kleenex near.  That is not me.  I am completely the opposite.  I love wearing sweatpants (even out in public) and hate wearing makeup unless I know I am getting my picture taken.  Don't get me wrong, I love looking pretty, just hate all the work it takes.  I even bought Captivating in January 2008, because I knew I had to bite the bullet and read it one day.  It has taken me over two years to open it up willingly.  I tried sometime last year, in my first year of marriage to really understand who I am as a woman in God's eyes, but stopped either because I was too busy, or did not want to take this heartfelt adventure.  I am still trying to figure that out.  I am not against the women who love being in the kitchen wearing an apron, I eventually want to love cooking and getting in touch with my feminine side.  I just hope this book can reach me where I am at, and that ultimately, God can change my heart and show me how being a woman is a wonderful thing and to embrace all that God has in store for me.

So, I will be brutally honest about my journey through Captivating, and if I offend you, I am sorry, but I want to be real to get the most out of this process.  I also bought, Captivating: A guided journal, which I think any woman should buy to accompany the book to really dig deep!  I encourage anyone to try out this book and journal with me and to post their responses along the way.  Even if I sound bitter right now, I am truly excited to take a journey with Jesus and to talk about the insides of my heart.

Alright......so here I go!!!!!