Breath of Angel

I recently reviewed "Breath of Angel" by Karyn Henley. I honestly didn't really want to read this book because it's the first one in a series and I don't usually read series. When I received the book, within just the first couple of chapters I was already lost. I don't read a lot of science fiction or fantasy books (scratch that - I don't read any!) so it was extremely hard for me to keep up with the huge list of characters, who was on the "good" and "bad" side, and all the levels of angels they had created. I was so confused in just the first couple of chapters that I would have given up reading it except for the fact that I wanted to give it a fair chance, especially for my review.

By the end of the book, things were coming together more for me. I understood the relationships of the people in the book but I still don't really understand the "war" that's going on in the book. Know this - the book was very well-written. Just because this type wasn't really my style, I recommended this book to my husband twice while I was reading it, because he does like fantasy novels, and I thought it would all make more sense to him.

If you're interested in science fiction or fantasy books, I'd recommend this. Please do note that although this is from a Christian publisher, the premise of this book and characters and events had nothing to do with any type of religion. Any angels talked about in this book were very loosely based on anything in the Bible.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.


Read more about the book on the official website.

Use the study guide along with the book.

Go here to watch the trailer for the book.

Read more about the author here.

Check out the first chapter here.

#8 - Make homemade cream of chicken soup

I never seem to have "cream of..." soup on hand when I need it, although I consider it to be a pantry staple. So last night when I needed it for a recipe and didn't have it, I figured it was easier just to make it myself then to run out to the store. Turns out it really is that easy.

The Canary List

I recently reviewed "The Canary List" by Sigmund Brouwer. I was interested to read it because I love Christian thriller books which is what I thought this would be.

Instead, it was a confusing maze of demon-possession, the Catholic church, and a conspiracy that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. After reading the book I am still not completely sure about what I just read. I don't feel that it came together in the end at all and I think I just wasted three days of my life reading this book.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Miracles Are For Real

I recently reviewed "Miracles are for Real" by James Garlow and Keith Wall. I didn't really know what to expect from this book but I actually really enjoyed it. Honestly, the part I loved most about the book was the "modern" miracles that were told in this book. Children who died and came back, people who have miraculously been healed with no medical explanation, and other stories like that intrigued me and just made me really excited to be a part of the Christian faith and have an incredible, awesome God in charge.

But the stories were just one great part of this book. The other part is the fact that the authors were able to really explain the background of miracles, and a lot of scripture that had to do with miracles. One thing I really liked is they talked about how people overuse the word "miracle". But there are really several different types of answered prayer, which they call "simple answered prayer", "complex answered prayer", "the coincidence", and the "against all odds". I love the way they laid all of these out into categories.

This was a very well-written book and really easy to read. It talks about the faith aspect of miracles, the act of miracles, and yet it never seems pushy or with an "agenda". I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishing Group for this review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Christmas Eve and Day

We spend Christmas Eve with Stephen's family, exchanging gifts and doing Chinese gift exchange, eating tons of food and singing Christmas carols until our voices (or children) give out. We spent Christmas Day with my family, exchanging gifts and eating tons of food as well! Post-Christmas we go to Georgia to see the rest of Stephen's family, but that will be a separate blog. Here are the pictures from Christmas Eve:












And here are the pictures from Christmas Day at Granny's house:











And here are the pictures from our house Christmas morning (after about five pictures my camera battery died, so all the other pictures are on the video camera. I will eventually upload them!)

Christmas Lights

Some people down the road from us have an insane collection of Christmas lights that go up right after Thanksgiving. Every year since 2008 we've gone walking in their yard to look at these lights. Last year Brianna enjoyed it, but this year I was afraid we wouldn't be able to reign her in she was so excited. Also, they even had Santa Claus, although Brianna wasn't too impressed, not really "getting" the whole Santa thing. Actually it really confused her because he handed out candy and she thought we were trick-or-treating. Go figure.

Life Update Via Pictures

Brianna puts on her Thanksgiving hat and forces Hunter to love her:


She calls these her "funny glasses":

She called me into the kitchen one day to show me how she figured out how to do handprints on her Aquadoodle:


Which quickly turned into footprints:


And actually, then we found other things we could make "prints" out of!! (No pictures of that)

Three of the cutest kids you'll ever see:



The universal chore that kids love - washing windows:




You mean we're supposed to be brushing her teeth??



It's hard having an older sister who knows where Mommy's mascara is: