Wednesday, March 31, 2010

My First **Blogging For Books** Tour

My friend Michelle told me about this program:

Blogging for Books


Do you love to read and review books?
Do you have an established personal blog on which to share your opinions?


If so, you may be eligible to join upcoming blog tours for WaterBrook Multnomah titles.


As an approved blog reviewer, you'll receive a free, advance copy of the featured book in each tour in which you choose to participate. To submit your blog for consideration, please fill out the form below. If your blog is chosen to participate, a WaterBrook Multnomah publicity representative will get in touch with you soon.

Here is the link...
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/blogging-for-books/

This is the first book I said yes to. I am a very picky reader. I don't just read to read. AND I have this "100 page try" rule that goes like this...if after 100 pages I could care less what happens to any of the characters or how the story ends, I stop reading. My friend Angie dubbed me as the "Book Tease" years ago.

I received a complimentary book to read and one to give away! :) If you are interested in winning a copy, please leave a comment and I will write down all the names and have a random drawing. I will post the winner and send out the book after I get an address.

Here is the summary I got in the email:

Summary:


Inspired by the engaging stories told through her grandmother’s photographs taken at the turn of the century, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick provides a portrait of the tension between darkness and light in the soul of a young woman pursuing her professional dreams.



Despite growing in confidence as a photographer, eighteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele’s personal life is still at a crossroads. Hoping she’s put an unfortunate romantic longing behind her as “water under the bridge,” she exiles herself to Milwaukee to operate photographic studios for those ill with mercury poisoning.



Jessie gains footing on her dream to one day own her own studio and soon finds herself in other Midwest towns, pursuing her profession. But even a job she loves can’t keep those painful memories from seeping into her heart, and the shadows of a forbidden love threaten to darken the portrait of her life.


Here is my review:


I didn't realize that this book was based on the author's grandmother. I guess that is why I felt it was a little boring and there were parts in it that didn't really need to be there. As I stated above, I am a picky reader, so after 100 pages I was ready to put it down. Not because it was a bad book, but because it just didn't seem all that interesting. But, because I agreed to review the book, I kept going. Then I got to 200 pages and just had to skip to the end to find out what happened. After reading the ending I was a little curious about how the characters got to that point, but not enough to actually finish the book. I know a lot of people would enjoy this book. Most of the gals in my book club would probably finish it and like it...I just look over beside my bed and see the growing pile of books I want to read and I just want to get to them. Another sign that I wasn't really into the book...whenever I got a chance to read it, I would find something else to do. I guess I just didn't really like the characters all that much. One thing I did like about the book was every so often there would be a picture taken by the main character and then a write-up about the picture. (the conversations that the subject and photographer had, why they chose the props they did, why the photo was being taken...) I want to state again that this isn't a bad book. It just wasn't a book for me. I'm like a kid who needs to be constantly entertained (oh, that's where Cole gets it from!) so if the book isn't giving off fireworks, then I will move on and look for the new M-80 book to blow me away.


To get a copy of this book or other books, visit:


http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781578569816



(This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

This is so weird!

These taste like McDonald's cheeseburgers!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

It was a good birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. The weather was decent, I saw daffodils growing in the wild, I went shopping for clothes and scrapbook supplies and went out to dinner with my family...at IHOP. Everyone always laughs at my pick, but hey, I love IHOP! I was actually good. I got the whole grain pancakes without butter and used sugar free syrup. (I had a run in with the Girl Scouts this weekend and had to redeem myself after all those thin mints!)

When Cole and I were getting ready in the morning I said I was going to the gym even though it was my birthday. He said "You're not fat, Lady!" I never say anything about my weight and always tell him I am "medium" so I am not sure where that comment came from. He has seen the Biggest Loser...

So, I went to the gym and I walked 5 minutes and then planned on running for 10 and then run/walk the rest of the time. But after 10 minutes I still felt good so I thought I'd go for 15. 15 became 20 and then I thought I am only 5 more minutes away from completing week 6 of the Couch to 5K...so I did it! No guaranteeing I will ever run 25 minutes straight again in this lifetime, but I did it on my 38th b-day! (thanks to Hey, Soul Sister and Party In The USA)

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Come to my backyard Jason Castro!

Last night on the Bachelor wedding Jason Castro from American Idol played a few songs. I was so surprised... and excited to see him again. When he was on American Idol I would always say I wanted him to come play in my backyard while I had some drinks with friends. Well, if he is doing Bachelor gigs I just might have a chance at getting him here!
Come play in my backyard Jason Castro!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

My New Thing

My new thing (besides blogging a lot more!) is boiling chicken. I hate having chicken in the fridge thawing...so now I just take the frozen chicken right out of the freezer and put it into a big pot and boil it for an hour. When I take it out the chicken is soooo tender I can shred it with two forks.

Tonight I made a yummy chicken cheese steak salad. I boiled the chicken, shredded it and then put it into a pan with olive oil, light Italian dressing, onion powder and garlic powder. After letting it fry up a little I put slices of provolone cheese on top and let it melt. I put the chicken on a bed of shredded lettuce and added sunflower seeds. It was really good...like Lenny's Subs good! (That's my favorite place to get that salad.)

I know this is weird, but on that kind of salad I don't like dressing. It is just so good on it's own.

I am down 10 pounds! :)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Hooray!

I told some of you before that every 6 months I order a blog book that contains my blog entries and pictures. (I do 6 months b/c each book can only hold so many pictures.) I love it because I have a hard copy which takes the place of journals and some scrapbook pages. My problem with scrapbooking is that I feel like I have to scrap everything that we do even if I only take a picture or two. Now I can just blog about it and have it in a hardbound book forever! Yay!

I made 2 blog books so far and wasn't really happy about the format...the captions I typed under the pictures in my blog didn't come out under my pictures in the blog book. I joined an advisory panel with blog2print and suggested they make the captions come up like in the blog...and now they do!!!! I just got an email saying you can chose your format...regular that will use less pages and combine photos and text together and snapshot that will print your captions under the picture! Yay!

The email also included a coupon for 15% off your blog book. Just enter this code: newb2p
It expires March 31, 2010.

Check out the website to see all the options available...
http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html

Monday, March 1, 2010

I've Got Regina Beat!

My friend Regina (who is doing the South Beach Diet too) posted on her blog that her child tortured her b/c he came home from school with candy and spread it all over the counter and offered her some. Well Sister, just listen to MY morning!

Cole had a field trip. To Domino's. Pizza.

All the kids in his class made their own personal sized pizza, ate pizza, the placed smelled like pizza. Then the manager comes out and says the adults are welcome to make their own pizza. Non-South Beach Diet-Amy would have bolted to the dough! Instead, South Beach Diet-Amy wiped the drool off her face and patted her growling tummy reassuring it that soon it could have pizza again.

I am still stuck at 8 pounds. BUT, I got into some old jeans today without a struggle!