Summer: friends, fireflies, and fiction books

Because of my recent stomach problems that have rendered me a slave to my heating pad and my bed, I have been able to catch up on a little reading I've been wanting to do. I have always had a love for reading. I guess it's genetic because everyone in my family reads. In fact, I consider the perfect day (aside from getting an all-expense paid trip to Disney World) to be one where I'm sitting outside with my favorite book, uninterrupted for hours. I'm that person that stayed up for almost two days straight reading the final Harry Potter book when it hit stores. I'm that person that would lie awake in bed reading a book until 2 am, knowing I had a test/class the next morning. I'm that person that, for Christmas, I asked my husband for a pre-order copy of my favorite author's newest publication--a gift I wouldn't get until March! In short, I'm a book nerd....I mean, worm. I love reading. Picking up a book, I'm able to forget about everything around me and become that character. I'm so involved in the story line, my house could be burning around me and I'd never notice. And personally, I don't have a problem with that. :) Since I've been able to read more than usual, I thought I'd recommend a few of my summer favorites:

"Notes from the Underbelly" and "Tales from the Crib" by Risa Green. Now, I have never been through pregnancy, experienced the hormones, or had to deal with sleepless nights and numerous dirty diapers, but I found these books to be absolutely hilarious. I would recommend these two books to anyone--mommy-fied or not. The books are written in such a way that you don't have to be a mom to understand what she's talking about, she just makes it entertaining. I found myself actually laughing out loud several times. So, if you're a mom-to-be, been a mommy for years, or just a future mommy, I suggest you pick these up for a laugh. And if you're a guy, I guess you can read them, laugh and then feel sorry for all the things that mommies go through. :)

Normally, I would have passed right over Risa Green's books. When I walk into Barnes and Noble, I walk head straight for the Christian Fiction books. I love books that are set in the historical time periods, especially ones that focus on God and make me feel good. And I look no further than my favorite author, Francine Rivers. Her books make me laugh, cry, read in awe and humble myself in hopes that my faith can be as strong as hers. If you haven't read any of Francine's books, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY (can I say that enough?) recommend "Redeeming Love". It's a love story based on the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer--the prophet instructed by God to marry a prostitute. This hasn't been one of my recent summer reads, I'll admit, but I recommend this book to everyone I meet. It's my favorite book by far...I have 2 copies and have read it multiple (like 8 or 9?) times. It's wonderful. The faith that Michael Hosea, a farmer in California, displays for his wife Angel, a former prostitute, is heartwarming and almost makes me jealous. His faith in God is even more astonishing. If you're a fan of Christian fiction, this is a must-have book to add to your repertoire. Really, any of Francine's books, but this one especially.

Finally, continuing my Christian, feel-better-about-yourself-after-turning-each-page books, I'm currently reading "A Gentle Thunder" by Max Lucado. Ohh...my heart just clenches even thinking about this book. Max Lucado, for those of you that have never read his work, has a way of making you feel important. If you're having a day where you feel like God's not listening or is too important to care about your day-to-day worries, pick up a Max Lucado book. Here's a few quotes from "A Gentle Thunder" to give you an idea of how good you'll feel when reading:

"Welcome [birthdays] as mile-markers that remind you that you aren't home yet, but you're closer than you've ever been."

"If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart. And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He's crazy about you."

"It's certainly not easy for us to turn our lives over to the gardener. Even now, some of you are hearing the snip-snip-snip of his shears. It hurts. But take heart. You'll be better as a result. Besides, aren't you glad he thinks you are worth the effort?"

Smiling yet? Good. Go pick up a Max Lucado book.

Summer is the best time for me to get caught up on my reading...laying by the pool, trying to finish a few chapters before bed at night or just sitting in my car on my work break enjoying the sunshine. Since I've read through my stash (at least once) I'm open to recommendations :)

No? I don't believe I'm familiar with that word....

Hello, my name is Devan and I am an over-committer. If you ever want anything done, be sure and ask me to do it, because the words "no" or "I can't" or "I'm sorry, I just don't have the time" are just not in my vocabulary. This is how I came to be completely overbooked in the month of June. It started when a girl at work decided she was going to get married in the VERY short time frame of three months. The overachiever, event-planner-wannabe in me immediately jumped on the situation and assured her that we could absolutely throw a wedding together in 3 months. People do it all the time! I immediately got to work, researching wedding venues, scheduling a day to go dress shopping, pricing different area florists. I was absolutely convinced that I could do this. I could help her plan the whole thing...after all, I'd done it once before, how hard could it be? I also saw the personal benefits--if I was interested in maybe one day in the future being a wedding/event planner, I could use pictures from her wedding to start my very own portfolio. I convinced myself that this would be fairly painless. However, as the weeks passed by, my bride grew less and less interested..."Have you made an appointment with the florist?" "Not yet, but it's on my list of things to do..." "When are we having the rehearsal?" "Well, I just assumed we'd do it the night before...." Planning this wedding was going to be more of a challenge than I expected. Now, I find myself less than two weeks from the wedding date with a mounting list of things to finish for the ceremony. The creative side of me found all of these amazing ideas, like a fingerprint guest book tree (which are now sold on my website: http://www.RusticElegancecrafts.etsy.com), little pockets to hold the ceremony programs, making the unity candle myself.....and I wonder, how did I get in this situation? I didn't procrastinate. I've worked on at least one aspect of the wedding each week. How do I have so many things left to do? And then I remember....oh yes, it's because I'm an over-committer. I agree to make all of these wonderful things because I want her day to be special. And I don't consider logistics or time management or whether or not I can fit all of these things into my schedule. I agree to make all of these handmade things for the wedding, while also trying to undertake planning the bridal shower. While also trying to be a good bridesmaid (I'm failing miserably) for my long-distance best friend's wedding (which is two days before the co-worker's wedding). While scheduling doctor's appointments to get my stomach problems straightened out (for those of you that are wondering, it's IBS...yay me). While trying to start my online business (not many sales yet). Is it pathetic that I left work early one day so I could clean my house and pick up medicine at the pharmacy?? I have so many good intentions...sigh. There just aren't enough hours in the day to be an over-committer. If anyone would like to come give me lessons on how to properly say the word "no", I'd appreciate it. :)

I did it.

I've finally done it. After years of spending my free time painting and creating things, after many holidays of giving homemade gifts rather than store bought ones, after endless debates with myself about selling my paintings, I've finally done it. I've opened my own virtual "store" on the marketplace website etsy.com. For those of you that are not familiar with etsy, it's only the greatest little find for people looking for unique and individual items and gifts. I discovered this website while planning my wedding. I somehow stumbled across this website, featuring everything from handmade purses, to cake toppers, to furniture. I was amazed. How did I not discover this before?? I quickly got to work, ordering our monogrammed cake topper, 5 unique purses to fit each of my bridesmaid's personalities, my ringbearer pillows, our unity candle....the possibilities on this website were absolutely endless. After the craziness of our wedding was over, I had time to think about my own crafting hopes of selling my items. Could I do what all these sellers were doing? Could I open my own shop, manage orders, get them shipped, all while working a full-time job and trying to maintain a happy marriage? If all these people could, why can't I? I finally took action a few days ago. I started brainstorming possible store names. I started designing my store banner with my logo. Then I went home and took pictures of my items for sale. Granted, at this point, I only have two items for sale....but everyone has to start somewhere, right? I just hope people like my work. I never realized how vulnerable you would feel in putting your work out and waiting for someone to like it. But that's what I'm doing. So here's to celebrating the "grand opening" of Rustic Elegance crafts. Hope to see some of you as potential buyers soon :)

http://www.rusticelegancecrafts.etsy.com/

I never thought the day would come. Never.

I think everyone has that moment when they feel old. It doesn't matter if you're turning 21 or 81. Maybe it was the day you graduated high school or college. Or the day you got your first "big kid" job. Maybe it was the birth of your first child or grandchild. My moment of feeling downright old has come today. My baby sister is 16. I know growing older is inevitable. I knew this day was coming, but now that it's here, I'm SO not ready for it. This is a horrible cliche but it honestly doesn't seem like that long ago when she was born. Standing up against the nursery window, I remember thinking about how this little thing in the incubator was about to join our happy family of four. I didn't know if I was going to be okay inviting this new kid into my house. After all, I was 9 years older than her and I was happy having one little sister to bully around. Now I had another tossed into the mix and I just wasn't sure how that was going to work out. But then we brought her home. And she was the cutest baby with the most adorable giggle. I used to do completely silly things just to hear her laughing. She was (and still is) the most affectionate kid I'd ever met. It was impossible to be mad at her when 10 seconds later she was giggling and trying to give you a hug. This is how I think of Kristen:

Cute as a button, downy soft hair, large birthmark, cutest little baby teeth and the happiest child you will ever meet. Sixteen years later, she's still cute as a button (so I'm a little partial). Her downy hair has been replaced with unruly, absolutely OUT OF CONTROL curly hair that even the best straightener can't completely iron out. Her birthmark has completely faded to the point that, if you hadn't known her as a baby, you wouldn't know it ever existed. The baby teeth have fallen out and have been replaced with teeth that needed braces (which were removed yesterday). And that happy baby has been replaced with a moody teenager. Here's what my baby "Kittan" looks like today:

The changes in my sweet little sister are enough to send me into a fit of hyperventilating. And as if the age thing doesn't bother me enough, she is now the owner of a cell phone. She's not old enough for a cell phone! Never mind the fact that I had one whenever I was her age. Never mind the fact that her schoolmates have probably had one for going on five years now. She's still my baby sister. I should be picking out her clothes every morning and talking about the fact that boys have cooties and watching Cinderella with her. Instead, she can wear MY clothes, she tells me about all the boys that she thinks are hot (I never thought I'd hear the day...) and Cinderella is a obsession of the past. Now she likes Wizards of Waverly Place and High School Musical. What happened to my baby sister? Did those sixteen years really just fly by as fast as I think? If I'm this bad whenever my little sister turns 16, how am I going to be when I have kids of my own?? Whether I'm ready for it or not, it's here. So, Kris, Kit-Kat, K-sten, Kristenopher Robin, Kittan, Krissy, Kris Kross, K-man......happy (inhale) 16th birthday. You'll always be my baby sister, no matter how old you are. :)

Get on with it....

I came in with the full intention of being a whiner today. It's been one of those weeks. Where I wake up in a horrible mood first thing Tuesday morning, and that mindset continues for the rest of the week. Nothing seems to go right, I hate my job, people make me mad, I don't feel good, I'm listening to a child screaming at the top of it's lungs as I currently write this....it's been that kind of week. Sitting down to my computer, I planned to unleash my full wrath of emotions, disappointment and frustration. I want to write about how financing is NOT at all what I want to do with my life. How I hate sitting at a desk 8 hours a day, talking about auto equity loans and ATM deposit holds. How I feel my creativity and brain cells slowly dying away while I tell people their credit score and how it got to be that high/low. I wanted to write about applying for job after job, only to be told that I don't have the experience necessary for that position. How I am at a total loss on how to gain said experience if no one is willing to take the chance and hire me in the first place. I wanted to write how I have been experiencing intense stomach pain for the past 7+ months, only to find I have a bacteria in my stomach, go on an intense round of antibiotics to supposedly kill it and then have the pain return. How I have a "consultation" with a surgical specialist next week and I am scared to death of having a colonscopy or an endoscopy or whatever other "scopy" that involves sticking a camera where a camera isn't supposed to go. I wanted to write about how I've seen at least 15 things that I want to buy for the spring season, only to be restricted by my stupid self-imposed shopping ban. This was my plan this morning....I thought the writing would be cathartic and make me feel better about my all-around crappy week. And then we opened our doors for business this morning. And a lady walks into my office and is practically in tears over the loss of her credit card and the charges that were made to her account by some hoodlum. And I realize that I am whining over a job when there's a lot of people that don't have one. I'm whining about not being able to buy things I want, but thank God I have the money available to do so. So many people have it worse...what gives me the right to complain about not being able to shop or being forced to discuss interest rates? I wish I could have this attitude more often. Unfortunately, I get caught up in the "not me's" and the "it's so unfair" attitude and complain more often than I should. But today I've been enlightened. It's ridiculous for me to complain whenever I have so many things to be thankful about. If you know me at all, you know that I have a teensy obsession with quotes. I shouldn't have looked any further than the wonderful Ms. Hepburn: "It's that wonderful, old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it.'" Thanks Audrey.

Temptation resisted! For now...

I am less than a week into my shop-free journey and I have already faced my first temptation. Yesterday, my all-time favorite UK basketball player, Patrick Patterson, was at the Towne Mall in Etown signing autographs. Normally, I would scoff at the idea of waiting in line for hours with other UK fans just to get some person's signature, a quick picture and then get pushed along the line, my two minutes with the player long forgotten. But this was Patrick. Patterson. Do you understand this? The man that rose to team leadership as the "senior" of the team. The man that helped his freshmen teammates to mature as basketball players. The quiet, but intellegent, leader of last year's amazing basketball team. He is, by far, my favorite Kentucky player ever (and that's saying a lot, considering I was born watching Kentucky basketball). I had to go. Two hours in line and a dinky $25 picture would be a small price to pay to actually meet THE Patrick Patterson. When closing time arrived at work, I quickly gathered my things and ran out to my car, where my little sister was waiting for me to drive her towards a few hours of greatness. One and half hours, two basketball players autographs and one very shaky picture later, we are through the line and absolutely glowing with basketball enthusiasm. I file the moment away as one of my favorite Kentucky basketball memories. On our way out of the mall, I remembered a stop I needed to make: to Payless. Given my recent swearing off shopping, I was nervous to step foot in a shoe store. But I had a specific reason: buy shoes for an upcoming wedding that I'm in. I knew exactly which pair I needed. All I would have to do would be to quickly walk in the store, find the shoe, try them on, check out and leave. After giving myself a mini pep talk, I rushed into the store. I can do this. I can buy the required pair of shoes without taking a glance at any other shoes or being tempted. After all, I just met Patrick Patterson. I can do anything at this moment. I quickly walk into the section labeled "size 7." Without much searching, I find the shoes that I'm looking for. I slip them on my feet, make sure the size I have will work and make my way to the sales clerk. Silently, I congratulate myself for not even considering another pair of shoes. Maybe the next 3 months won't be as difficult as I had expected! I hand the shoes to the cashier, who looks at the shoes and sweetly says "Are you going to get another pair for half off? It includes anything in the store, including half priced items and accessories." Crap. I am the biggest sucker for a sale. Especially half priced shoes. Taking an extremely deep (and probably longer than necessary) breath, I announce "No thank you. I'm trying not to buy myself anything and these shoes are for a wedding I'm in." The cashier looks surprised...how many people turn down a half priced pair of shoes?? She rings up my single item, I pay and leave. Crisis averted. I know it hasn't even been a week, but I think I can do this for 3 more months. Maybe......

New: Add iPod album artworks automatically

The makers of CopyTrans Manager keep on adding new stuff to their iPod/iPhone management program.
Lately they released an automatic search for iPod album artworks.
Pretty neat, isn't it?
I tried it myself the other day and I was so surprised how smoothly it works.
Download this iTunes alternative