Share Your Shelf!

 

Happy Thursday and bonus post day, friends! I'm joining up with Joanne, Tanya, and Marilyn to talk about the great books I read this month and hope you'll chime in at the end of this post. If you want to check the book out for yourself, just click on each picture and you'll be redirected to a separate link to Amazon. 

My first book this month was the latest book in the  Finlay Donovan series, Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano.

This may have been my favorite book in the series! It was fun because Finlay and Vero find themselves in Atlantic City and off on a wild goose chase. Before long, some of their friends from their hometown start showing up at their hotel and they're having to sneak off and cover their bases. I was so sad to finish this book, because I'll have to wait a whole year to read the next one, if she writes another installment. Are you reading them yet?? 

The second book I read in April was this short story about a character in the Finlay books, Vero.

I loved reading about Vero, and how she came t/o know Finlay! You'll see some other familiar faces in this short story in her cousin Ramon and friend/ex-boyfriend/current love interest, Javi. If you decide to read this one, I would almost read this before I read the first book in the series. This would be more like a short prequel to the series, but it's not described as that on Amazon. They should ask me my opinion! 

My fourth book of the month was this one that got a really bad rap last summer, but thanks to a review that sweet Sarah did on her blog last year, I came into this one with new and fresh eyes. She encouraged us to read this book as exactly what it was: another book by an author most of us loved after reading her previous novel. I love that she reminded us of this and to encourage us to read it as just another book, not comparing it to the debut novel. I think because of that, I can say that not only did I love this one, but that I loved it even more than her first book!

It's shocking to me that this book is only Carley Fortune's second book. Her debut novel was a blockbuster hit in 2022, Every Summer After, and though this one was reviewed by many bloggers as a big miss, I beg to differ! I liked this one more than her first one, and even the author herself acknowledged that this is a better story line than her first book, though she wrestled with this one for much longer than her first book. Do you ever read those author acknowledgements at the back of every book? They're enlightening! 

Anyway, about this book...

Fern Brookbanks always swore that she would never go into the family business of owning and operating the resort that took up her mom's entire life, but that is exactly where she finds herself a few months after the death of her mom. Back at home at Brookbanks resort, she is flooded with all kinds of memories from her childhood, and running into the man that stole her heart and her thoughts ten years ago sends waves of shock through her. She always wondered what happened to the mysterious Will that she met one summer ten years ago. She spent one perfect day with him touring the beloved Toronto that she would soon be leaving, but she was heartbroken when he stood her up at the resort she had to get back to...so much so that she never got over the heartbreak of it all. This book alternates between past and present day, which I always love!

I'm stopping with the description there, because I think you should read this book if you missed it last year. This book takes you back and forth between present and past, and it also shares snippets of an old journal of her mom's that Fern found in the cabin she grew up in. I love stories like this! 

Book number 5 of the month was a quick read by another favorite author.

I love all of Fiona's books! They're all short, practical, easy to read, and inspirational. She wrote this one with people like me in mind: aspiring authors. This book was filled with great and practical advice that I immediately put to good use! 

My sixth book was one recommended to me by our local Indie bookstore Instagrammer, Novel. (I almost always buy their 5 star rated books!) This was an author I've never read before, but can now say that I am a huge fan of. I'll be finding more books by her in the future, but this one was her latest release.

Eve Hatch finds herself accidentally pregnant and dreading breaking the news to her best friend, who has been unable to conceive a baby with her husband. More than not wanting to tell Willa, she really doesn't want to break the news to the guy from that one night...she doesn't want to pressure him into being a part of the baby's life, but she feels like she has to tell him before she loses her nerve. Thankfully she has her other best friend (and brother of Willa) to lean on, and Shep is the rock that she needs to get her through. She becomes confused about all of her feelings as the baby's dad grows more and more excited with each passing day, and as she starts to see Shep in a new light...

Who knew this would be a trope I would love?? I didn't see this one coming, but I loved it so much that I could barely put it down. 

Book number seven was this much anticipated book by someone whose blog I have read forever. 

The first sentence to describe this book is, "How do you stand when life keeps knocking you down?". This book is partly personal testimony of Courtney and what all has taken place in her very public life over the last decade or so, and is filled with stories of God's redemption, His goodness, and His faithfulness. She went through a very public and painful divorce against her will, and this book was part of the road to her recovery. She's very candid in this book as she shared all that took place, but she wrote it beautifully and tastefully. I love that the pages within are filled with Scripture! This book is a great recommendation for anyone going through anything in life, which means that is for all of us. Somehow it was also very uplifting and encouraging, and there were times when I laughed out loud and a few time that I was teary. I read this book in one day, it was that good. 

The eighth book I read was another new author to me...

The opening descriptive question for this book is, "How far would you go to protect your child?". Samantha knew something was wrong with her son the minute he walked in from school that one afternoon. He didn't greet her, he didn't come to have his normal afternoon snack, he just walked straight up to his room and stayed there until late that night. As much as she hates to think of it, she can't help but wonder if he is the newest victim of a bully at school. Even her husband agrees with her as the night goes on, and Guy wakes up to his son crying in his room. If the school won't protect their son, and the police seem reluctant to get too involved, Samantha and Guy are forced to take action. 

This book was so good! I thought I had it figured out and gasped when it played out differently than I'd thought. I've never read one of Hurst's books before, but I'm a fan! This one is free right now with Kindle Unlimited. 

The ninth and last book that I read in April was one by a favorite author...

(Don't judge it by the ridiculous cover.) This is the 2nd book in a series, and this one is about Annie, the sweet younger sister with the reputation of an angel. She doesn't understand why she isn't good at going on dates, but the expectations of her siblings are not helping her. She's surprised to see Will back in town...he's there to be Amelia's bodyguard again until after her wedding to Noah takes place. When Will walks into a restaurant and witnesses Annie's terrible date with John, he can't help but stick around and make the guy a little more uncomfortable. Annie can't figure out why she can't talk to men, but she isn't shy at all around Will, especially with the way he looks with the sleeve of tattoos he has. Amelia comes up with a great idea inspired by their favorite Audrey Hepburn movie...she gets Annie to ask Will to be her dating coach. What Annie doesn't know is that Will has liked her since the first time he ever saw her, but he wants no part of anything having to do with a relationship and that takes place in a small town. Can he really pull that off? And can Annie keep quiet about her own feelings? 

This book was un-put-down-able. All I wanted to do was read after I first started it the other night; it was swoon-worthy and laugh out loud funny, all at once. You should check it out for yourself! 

It's your turn! Tell me what you read and loved this month. I always need to know all the details on things like this. 

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Thankful Thursday

 

Happy Thursday, friends, and happy bonus blog post day! It's one of those weeks. 🤣 I'm so glad you're here to join in with this weekly gratitude post. If you're wondering, my other blog post today is about the books that I read in April. 

Here are a few things right out of my gratitude journal for this week. I am thankful for...

• the new mercies of the Lord
• that He has kept me at peace this week and not overwhelmed with things to remember
• friends pitching in at work
• Todd shopping at Sam's to help me figure out amounts of snacks to buy
• seeing Drew on Monday while he was close by
• feeding him lunch and sending him home with groceries
• free books 
• grocery delivery service from Walmart plus (I'm in the free trial phase and loving it)
• easy dinners
• the fact that it's May!!
• my portable fan when I'm melting at work
• great books to read (I'm still on a roll)
• music that is encouraging
• my Mom and getting to talk to her on my way to work. She gives me such helpful advice! 
• the laughter that happens often in our home
• that all of the boys are really close to their dad
• the fact that we found a couple of missing birth certificates this week
• morning coffee
• pretty flower beds
• an amazing work environment 
• Tuesday night church and that I was having so much fun that I forgot I was there to "work"
• my to-do list notes app on my phone
• beautiful weather to unload large quantities of things from my car
• that Chloe finally got spayed yesterday, something we've all been dreading

What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog each day, friends. I am thankful for you! Love to all. 

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Currently: the happy May edition

 

Happy Wednesday, and happy MAY!! I'm so excited that it's this time of year and that summer is so close that I can almost taste it! I love this time of year. Welcome to this month's edition of Currently where  we're talking about the things we're currently loving, looking forward to, seeing, reading, and wanting. I'm so glad you're here and I'm excited to read all of your posts in the days to come! 

Loving: I am loving that this week is flying by, since it is one in which I've been way more busy than usual. Today I am finalizing all of my prep for tomorrow and Friday by going to Sam's and ordering all the things these young leaders may want. I literally was up every hour Monday night thinking about things I had to do for this! I'm not overwhelmed or nervous, but I just don't want to forget anything, you know? On Monday I talked to my friend from work who's helping me no less than three times. I think she's more worried than I am; I just figure that it is what it is, and there's no need to stress, right? 

I am loving my Monday's off from work! Remember me asking for prayer for my friend about eight weeks ago, whose young son (21) died tragically? I had lunch with her yesterday; it was so good to see her, and to be able to talk and catch up. I've missed seeing her at our church, so we're going to keep this up each month so that we can stay in touch better. I was going to go into work after lunch, but my Drew called me and asked if I was at home, so I hightailed it back home in time to make him lunch for a surprise visit. He was close by and was sent home because of weather, so he came home to eat and to grocery shop in our pantry. I love doing this for him! 

How cute is the new restaurant we met at for lunch? The food was delicious! 

Looking forward to: Friday afternoon, around one o'clock. 🤣 My work week will be over! I'll have a quiet night at home, because Todd will be working a huge event here in Memphis, the Music Fest. Both he and Graham are so excited for their favorite event of the year! I will be beat and watching movies from the comfort of my chair. I can't wait! But also? I'm looking forward to the first swim of the season, too. I ordered a new swimsuit and coverup that I can't wait to receive. I'll link it here if I love it! 

Seeing: I'm currently looking out my living room windows and seeing sunshine after a dreary Monday. That's always nice to see! I'm also seeing a few things that I'd like to do in the living room, and I'm thinking of rearranging the furniture just a tiny bit. I may only do this so that it's not so crowded on one side of the room; Chloe's kennel is huge and it's too much right next to our long couch. I feel confident that I will do this soon; I may even surprise Todd and do it by myself this weekend while he works! It'll give me a chance to deep clean as well. We'll see...

Reading: I'm reading a book that was popular a year or two ago that is really good so far, The Maid by Nita Prose. I'll be sharing about the books I read in April tomorrow, so come back and join us for our new link party!

Wanting: I'm wanting to take a trip with Todd. We're in the beginning stages of discussing where we'd like to go and how we'd like to travel to get there. I don't know that it'll happen before summer of 2025, but we're talking and hoping to start making plans soon. It's fun to dream up places we want to go! I don't know that he will be able to travel at all during this summer, since he'll be new on his job with the state of Tennessee. 

Thanks for linking up with me today! I can't wait to read all of your posts. Love to all!

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a post of random and unrelated things on a Tuesday

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I'm running low on content ideas this week, so when in doubt, why not write a post of random things? 

We had our flower beds weeded and mulched on Friday afternoon and are so happy with how great they are looking. Remember me talking about the hydrangeas that we have planted in our side beds, and how they were dying? Or so I thought? It turns out that they're not!

They have little buds on them! I'm really excited about this and hope they last longer this year than the other years that we've had them. They didn't bloom at all last year, thanks to the several hard freezes that we had. 

I loved this view of our town hall as I walked out last week. I love a crisscross pattern that has been mowed into the grass, don't you? 

I love writing down prayer requests in my journal each week. This was me sitting down to do that last week, and I filled up half the page. 

I came across this old picture a couple of weeks ago, and my heart jumped. I loved the days of homeschooling all four of them, and I miss my table looking like this!

A couple of years ago, I decided to scale way back on the amount of books that I own, so I sold the tall bookcase that had been in our bedroom and in the process I found all of these old Bible studies that I'd completed. I remember asking at that time on social media, what one was supposed to do with all these books that had helped me study God's word over the years. Most people recommended saving them all, and I did for a while, but eventually I tossed most of these. I kept only the ones that had special meaning and whose author didn't go off the deep end. 

Look at Chip as a puppy! He was the cutest. Also, I loved this chair that we used to have, and apparently so did Chip. 

The anniversary of this picture above was pretty recent. Graham and Drew went on their first mission trip to Guatemala with their (then) youth pastor AJ and a bunch of other teenagers from church (when they were 16 and 15). When they left Memphis and were flying into Houston, they had to make an emergency landing because they were low on fuel; this happened in the town of College Station, Texas. When they got to Houston, that unplanned stop made them miss their connecting flight into Guatemala, so they spent the night on the floor of the Houston airport. That night some of them caught a flight directly to Guatemala, the others left the next day. One group flew straight into Guatemala, and their group flew through Mexico City, then onto Guatemala. They told me that they were shocked to see armed guards with machine guns in that airport; this happened on a Sunday, so I was a nervous wreck tracking them on their flights. I couldn't sit in the service and spent the whole morning on a couch in the lobby watching their plane on the airline's app on my phone. 

This one feels appropriate since I'm watching Friends while writing this post. Todd never saw the last couple of seasons either, thanks to that being a busy time for us raising little ones, and we've been watching it together since Sunday. This is one of the many little bags that I carry in my work bag or in my purse. I have a thing for little pouches like this and also for tote bags. 

Thanks for reading about my random assortment of tidbits today! I'm linking up with Joanne for today's post. Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. 

Hello Monday

 

Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was good, but I really did not do anything. I did see my dad on Friday; we ate lunch here at my house, then we went to Sam's for me to pick up an order for the bookstore, then I went to the church to unload it all. Sandy picked him up, and Todd went out to ride his motorcycle. I made myself pizza for dinner, which I am pretty sure why my weekend went the way it did. It was good, but I think it made me sick! I watched a movie which is not even worth mentioning here; after that I opted to read my book.

That's pretty much all I did on Saturday too, but I did stop to buy myself a little something online! One of my sons picked it up for me from Academy shortly after I ordered it, but I treated myself to a zero gravity chair for my deck. This thing is so comfy, and I hope to spend lots of time out there reading in the next few weeks, especially before it gets too hot. 

Todd bought us sushi for dinner, then we watched The Big Bang Theory together that night. 

My favorites are spicy crawfish and spicy shrimp. 

Todd and I left together for church on Sunday morning by 7:15, and we were back home by 12:45. We had to stay after to unbox some five gallon coffee containers (five of them) that I bought for the big event this week at our church, then we ate lunch and watched Friends for the rest of the afternoon. We lead such incredibly exciting lives! 🤣 

Tell me your weekend was more exciting than mine! What did you do that you loved? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

p.s. Don't forget about the Currently link party that happens Wednesday and the new Share Your Shelf book link party on Thursday! On Wednesday we'll be talking about what we're currently loving, looking forward to, seeing, reading, and wanting. 

Share 4 Somethings

 

Happy Saturday, friends! Welcome to the April edition of S4S where we'll be talking about somethings we've loved or disliked, accomplished, improved upon or something that needs improvement, and noticed. I'll jump in!

Some things I loved this month were...

Making my bed the minute I woke up every morning while Todd was having to sleep downstairs...

... celebrating our sweet Drew on his 24th birthday...

... and this sweet act of kindness from the Sunshine committee at work. They gave me this little potted flower as Todd recovered, which is the sweetest thing ever. I still have it sitting on my counter! 

Some things I accomplished this month were ... 

Maintaining the household chores...

...and being able to keep up with things at work in spite of my many absences lately. 

Something that still needs improvement is my motivation for home. I still need to work on several projects around the house, and I keep losing steam by the time I think about getting around to them. 

Something I noticed this month is that Todd and I can be together for days and days on end without killing each other. 🤣 As far as around town or in our own yard, I've noticed how green everything is right now. I love seeing the grass fill in again and the trees coming back to life. I think our dogs enjoy the grass again, too. They seem to like walking around in it and checking things out more than when it was colder. I've noticed on cool and windy days, they love to just stand there and sniff the air. It's the cutest thing to watch! 

I can't wait to read your posts this weekend! Thanks for linking up with me this month and for reading my blog. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend! Love to all. 

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Friday Favorites, 4.26.2024.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika for today's favorite blog post of the week. How has your week been? Mine has been great, albeit busy and sleepless; I hope you can say the same! 

About the sleepless part—I mentioned on my blog post yesterday that there is a huge event happening at our church next week, called Collegiate Summit. There will be an additional 700 people in our building for three days, and I am in charge of their coffee, drinks, and snacks. I will have some help, but it is a huge undertaking! I'm thankful for friends that work at church as co-workers who are coming out of the woodwork to pitch in and help me on those days. Anyway, when I have something big looming over my head, I dream about it; that's been the case for the last two nights! This also happened time and again when I first started working in the bookstore, and it would keep me up at all hours of the night. 

I'll be so glad to have this event behind me! I may or may not let the blog go next week, as I'll be working extra hours, too...so stay tuned! Also, before I forget, tomorrow is the last Saturday of the month which means it's time for Share 4 Somethings. We'll talk about the things we've loved or disliked, accomplished, improved upon or something that needs improvement, and noticed this month. Additionally, on Wednesday May 1st, it'll be time for the Currently post. May's prompts are things we're currently loving, looking forward to, seeing, reading, and wanting. I hope you make plans to join us for both link parties! I'll share the Currently prompts for June at the end of Wednesday's post, so be on lookout for them. 

Enough about all of that! I'll move onto some of my favorite things from this week.

On Saturday while I was out with my mom and sister, one of the places we went to has these funny coasters. Those are my favorites, and I feel like I need both of them in my life. The bottom one, though? That'll be how my end plays out most likely! 🤣

This cookie was a favorite treat from the weekend!

This day of reading and my quiet time were my favorites! 

I'll share about the books I read this month on Thursday May 2nd in the new link-up I'm co-hosting, but I read this book on Monday. It might be one of my new favorites! I love it when that happens; I sat down to read a chapter and accidentally finished it in the same day. 

Spending time with Todd is my favorite; however, you need to know a couple of things about this picture above. First, we were heading to an event that I did not want to go to; secondly, Todd and I fought on the way there and we were mad at each other for half the event. It was terrible. 🤣 On a positive note, I love this picture of us that Graham took! 

It's my favorite when little ones come to see me at work! This little fella is one of my faves. 

Sticky notes are my favorite! They were all over the place on Tuesday as I started finding out about this huge event next week. I needed to remember #allthethings and so this is what my workspace looked like. 

I'm a Dayspring retailer for the bookstore, and new catalogues are my favorite! I ordered a few things recently and look forward to ordering some more next week in one of the lulls. 

Being on the library board is one of my favorite things! I had a work session and a meeting on Tuesday night of this week. And speaking of that...

... this is one of my favorite views! I took this from my car looking back up to our town hall. I love our little town!

I sent this picture to Mom, because I wore a favorite dress this week, the original one I'd bought to wear on Easter Sunday. I didn't wear this one, though, but the second one that I ordered. These dresses are so comfy! I will add a caveat to this statement; if you're larger busted, this is not the dress for you.

These easy nights of dinner are my favorite! These are the best chicken strips from Walmart, and my dressing of choice was Blue Cheese. 

Magazine subscription day is my favorite! I recently subscribed to AD for only $10 a year, thanks to an Instagram ad that influenced me. I got a free tote with this year subscription, though, and you all know how much I love a tote bag! 

Mexican and margaritas are my favorite, especially when I add my dear friend Andrea! We met up for dinner last night after not seeing each other (on purpose) for a ridiculous amount of time. 

Lastly, this is our neighbor's house down the street; they've had it completely remodeled on the outside, much like we did to ours back in 2019. I think it's gorgeous! I love this blue color they picked for their home, and I think it fits the style of the house perfectly. Do you like to see color on houses? I don't usually, if I'm honest, but they knocked it out of the park with this one. 

Did you catch my other blog posts this week? I'll link them below. 

On Monday I linked up with Hello Monday. 

Tuesday was when I shared a day in the life. 

On Wednesday I linked up with What's Up Wednesday. 

And yesterday was Thankful Thursday.

What was a favorite from your week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. I hope to see you back here tomorrow for Share 4 Somethings! Love to all.