Do you look perfect? Book review of "Perfecting Kate"

I was given the chance to read and review Perfecting Kate by Tamara Leigh.  As I've enjoyed another of her books, Splitting Harriet, I thought I knew what to expect.  However, I was surprised by Perfecting Kate.

The prologue gives you a glimpse into what's going to happen in the book and who the love interests are - Michael and Clive (make that Dr. Clive Alexander, who doesn't want to be romantically involved with a doctor?).  But the roller coaster ride Kate is taken on is classic (as I know her) Tamara Leigh.  Kate tries to be happy as a single woman, then she tries to listen to God's guidance on who she should date or not.  But sometimes it is hard to stop and think about what God wants, and time is something Kate is short on because of her job commitments, friends, and possible dates.

The heaviest topic discussed is how much should women change themselves?  Is a basic makeover enough?  Changing hair (color, cut), makeup, clothes and working out usually are enough for most women.  But when a makeover consultant hands you business cards from EVERYONE (dentist to fix that gap, surgical - mole, facial abrasian, spider veins, implants, etc), when is it enough?

So have some tissues ready because Kate is going to make you cry and question if you need to pursue an Operation: Perfect Faith!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book review Shattered

Shattered by Dani Pettrey, second in the Alaskan Courage series

I really enjoyed Submerged, the first book in the series and my review can be found here.  So I had high expectations for Shattered and I wasn't dissapointed, I really enjoyed it.  Shattered seemed to pick up close to the ending of the first book, maybe a few months later.  Shattered starts very quickly and I think the characters would be very confusing if you haven't read the first book, Submerged. And the books are so good that you should buy both. :)

Though Submerged stayed mostly in Alaska, Shattered gave the characters a chance to travel several places around California and Canada.  I enjoyed learning more about different ski areas and competition circuits.  Shattered didn't seem as God-focused though elements were there.

I enjoy that the story is told from different characters' viewpoints, but I think the suspense could've been maintained longer if the "bad guy" hadn't been introduced so quickly.

I thought it was cool that the band Kutlass was mentioned.  I laughed again at the character names, Meredith Blake is also the name used for the "Cruella DeVille" going to be stepmother in the remake Parent Trap movie.  And it's also fitting here as Gage's ex-wife.  I really liked Darcy and am glad she'll be featured in the next book in the series, Stranded coming October 2013.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review of I Exalt You, O God by Jerry Bridges

I Exalt You, O God by Jerry Bridges is a one month devotional book.  It was wonderful!  Whether you are new to Christianity and learning about worship or have been a Christian for many years, you will learn more about how/why to worship God not only in a group setting (like church) but also when you are by yourself (and why you should be doing both).  There were a mix of thoughts, Bible verses, and paraphrases of Bible verses.  One caveat is that a few days were longer than others so don't expect each day to be exactly the same length.

You can learn more about the book here.  And see all of the author's info here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a Kindle copy free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

To tattoo or not tattoo?

I've looked at other people's tattoos and I shake my head wondering what are they thinking??  My brother has several and my brother-in-law has several.  Again, I shake my head and wonder what are they thinking??  I wasn't very clear in my LADA awareness post, but my new endo said I am slowly developing type 1 diabetes.  I had another endo appointment in January, and he stopped the metformin I was taking and so I've increased my short-acting insulin pen shots to every meal (and snacks that qualify with my carb-to-insulin ratio).  Having type 1 diabetes makes me wonder if it's time to "get some ink" on my wrist.  Why?  Because I don't wear jewelry.  I'm an unusual woman, I've always been more of a tomboy than a girly-girl.  I wear my wedding ring and watch when I leave the house (well, 97% of the time, sometimes I forget).  I don't wear earrings (though my ears are pierced), or a necklace or bracelets.  So I can't imagine having a bracelet on 24/7.  But I don't want to forget and be in an accident without proper identification of this new-to-me medical condition.

My husband doesn't know how much I've been pondering this option.  I hate needles (adjusting to a diagnosis and even my daughter's diagnosis was not easy) and I hate pain so this is a REALLY big deal to me.  I know the idea of a tattoo isn't new and has already been discussed among the diabetes' community but I thought I would lay out my conflicting emotions, and since my husband is my only dedicated reader, at least my hubby will know that I'm really considering this!

Here's a picture of the tattoo that a high schooler girl has, she spoke at a kids' day camp we went to last summer.

Review of Desperate

I have been given the privilege of reading and reviewing Desperate: Hope for the Mom who needs to Breathe.  I haven't finished the book but I'm loving and enjoying it (while needing it) so much that I don't want to rush through the book to do an "on-time" review.  I think the authors would understand!  :)  I may not be the true target audience of the book, my oldest child is 11 and my youngest is 5, but I still NEED this book and am learning from it.  I think the book is targeted for mothers worn out from young children (I don't have any kids in diapers!).  But I think the book applies to all moms, even single christian women would benefit from this book.

The authors take an interesting approach to child discipline, especially Sally Clarkson.  But I do agree with her view that sometimes we need to pull back from so much physical discipline and instead spend extra time with our children and loving on them.

From what I've read so far, one area I'd like to see a little more emphasis is turning to God first. I've struggled since we moved three years ago to make friends. But it is making me turn to God first and lean on Him more. Instead of venting to a friend or automatically calling a friend, I turn it over to God and talk to Him about it first.

I've struggled for awhile between wanting and needing time to myself so I can support my family but not wanting to be worldly/selfish of "me-time".  I think SarahMae is in the same boat, but Sally reached out to her and saw that every mom needs some re-charging time and a break in order to serve their family.  I'm loving that the authors are the same as me that housekeeping is not their thing but they are working on it and want to do better.

More info coming later!  :)

Please check out the Desperate Mom website, SarahMae's blog, Sally's blog.  Great giveaways for at least the next week!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a pdf copy free from SarahMae. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Kindle Paperwhite (and other Amazon gifts) giveaway

I'm not hosting a giveaway (though I wish I could) but Chautona Havig is giving away a Kindle Paperwhite on her blog just the write escape....  The other Amazon gifts are $15 Amazon gift card, $10 Amazon gift card, and a $5 Amazon gift card.  A gift card would be perfect for purchasing her ebooks which are .99 this weekend!  So everyone wins.  :)  Again, you can go to this link.  You have 2 more days until this giveaway ends.

A happy doctor visit?

I've had some thoughts on this issue rolling around in my head for a while.  My family went through TrialNet testing in April.  Our oldest daughter is a type 1 diabetic (I've written about it here and here).  So we qualified to go through TrialNet's testing and went during my daughter's normal endocrinologist visit.  I didn't expect the results we got.  Nor the changes that would affect our family.

I've googled a lot about TrialNet positive results and haven't found very many.  (Of course this could be due to how people spell TrialNet, I've seen Trial Net and Trialnet and TrailNet, I'm not sure what trailnet is!)  In May, we received the call that I came back positive and our 2nd oldest daughter came back positive.  I misunderstood the nurse and thought she said I had a GAD score of 2 and our daughter had 4.  However, the true results were I had 2 autoantibodies and our daughter had 4 autoantibodies.

They warn you not to freak out, that anyone can have autoantibodies present and never develop diabetes.  But we both have an increased risk.  They can tell me not to freak out but it doesn't mean I'm not going to freak out!  I called the nurse back and got straightened out on which autoantibodies were positive, the amounts, and how to proceed.  She recommended taking our blood sugar if we were concerned.  And we could go to the next step of TrialNet testing of the Natural History Study (NHS). 

I didn't expect my blood sugar to be so high.  It ranged from 70-400.  Then I started to freak out a little more.  And I started to watch what I was eating.  I called the nurse back and scheduled an OGTT, which is the next step for the NHS.  I had a feeling I'd flunk the OGTT and I did.  I was already a diabetic.  Ugh.

So I made an appointment with an endocrinologist in our town.  He diagnosed me Type 2 and started me on metformin.  I saw a dietician and have changed my diet to 150 grams of carbs per day.  That has been the hardest change for me but I've already lost 10 lbs!  :)

My problem was researching diabetes types, I was pretty sure I wasn't Type 2.  From the TrialNet testing, I seemed to be Type 1.  And reading online I felt I might be LADA or Type 1.5 because I had features of both Type 1 (positive autoantibodies) and Type 2 (insulin resistance).  I felt like I was in diagnosis hell.  My daughter's endocrinologist faxed my doctor a letter saying I needed to be on insulin.  Reading online, I felt I needed to be on insulin even if it was just a little bit (if I'm truly Type 2 I could stop taking the insulin later if my blood sugar came under control).  My endo didn't think I needed it and recommended calling him when my blood sugar numbers went higher.  I felt I needed a second opinion with a different endocrinologist!!

Yesterday, I had that appointment and he recommended short-acting insulin at dinner.  Last night I gave my first Humalog Kwik* pen shot.  For the first time in a while, my after dinner blood sugar was where I want it to be.  So it was a happy dr visit after all.

This is LADA awareness week and yesterday was the first day, so I felt it was very appropriate that my dr visit was yesterday!

I'm going to post more of my story and will try to post every day this week to help raise diabetes awareness, but especially LADA.  And I'll talk more about our 2nd oldest and her TrialNet results.  :)  My circle of influence isn't very big but every little bit helps.

*I'm not advertising Humalog Kwik pen, this is just what my doctor recommended and gave me samples of it.  My daughter has used Humalog and currently uses NovoLog as backup for her pump.  I think both are great products and am hearing good things about the newer Apidra.  Humalog is from the Lilly USA company.  NovoLog is from Novo Nordisk A/S.  Apidra is from Sanofi-Aventis U.S.

Review of The Widow of Saunder's Creek

Tracey Bateman seems to write a wide genre within Christian fiction.  Her latest book, The Widow of Saunder's Creek, will probably raise some eyebrows for writing about the supernatural.  But much like Brandilyn Collins' Coral Moon, The Widow of Saunder's Creek discusses ghosts and evil spirits using a much-needed Christian viewpoint.  The Widow of Saunder's Creek starts as the book blurb describes but soon descends into unmentioned territory (see my previous review of Tandem).  When Corrie decides to move back to her husband's grandmother's home, she doesn't realize that a spirit lives there.  Could it be the spirit of her just passed away husband or the grandmother's friendly ghost friend?  You'll have to read to find out.

I do appreciate how Corrie is given wise counsel about spirits, and arguments from a biblical point.  We live in a world where we war not with flesh-and-blood but spirits, constantly depending on God to keep us safe.  I liked how Corrie developed her hobby/talent/possible career of art.  And her relationship with her sister was hilarious!

Once again, I see a trend for Tracey Bateman books of the blurb sounding very benign and then the book broaching a whole different topic.  However, this time I liked it better (call me hypocritical if you want).

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Multnomah Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book review Submerged

Submerged by Dani Pettrey, first in the Alaskan Courage series

It's rare for me to read the first book in a series when the first book is published.  I've found myself, in recent years at least, usually 2 or 3 books behind when I read the first book in a series.  But it was great to take an opportunity from Bethany House Publishers to read and review this book.

Submerged was really good, the romance had a good amount of give and take.  The story was told from multiple characters' view.  The book wasn't as suspenseful as I expected given the blurb from Dee Henderson on the cover about the book keeping me up at night.  I thought it was a great book for a first-time published author.  I was surprised that there were no discussion questions in the back.

I made notes of many pages and quotes, 9 in total, I thought the religious point-of-view and Christian thoughts were great!  Bailey is like an onion, those who know her today see a very different picture than those who knew her in high school.  She battles between the two images and her own thoughts of herself.  Cole is trying to get her to see herself as Christ sees her, a new creation made perfect in Him.

I love that at one point in the story Bailey chooses to not wear makeup but then she applies mascara and cherry Chapstick.  She asks herself, "What is she doing?  Trying to look pretty for Cole?  Not that there was anything wrong with wearing makeup.  It was the desire to focus on her looks and others' acceptance of her based on her looks that was the problem. [p. 105, paperback copy]"  Wonderful thoughts for a woman of any age. 

When you read the book, be ready to look up a recipe for pryaniki.  You'll thank me later!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review of Finding Our Way Home

Finding Our Way Home by Charlene Ann Baumbich was a wonderful book about (mainly) two women Evelyn and Sasha.  Sasha is a forced-into-retirement ballerina suffering from multiple injuries from a terrible fall during a ballet performance.  Evelyn is the young woman, putting off going to college and recently engaged, who is working for Sasha doing odd jobs and being a live-in helper.

One of my favorite parts was how Sasha introduced Evelyn to pedicures.  I've only had one pedicure but did love it!  Evelyn is suprised too by how much she enjoys it, even trying unexpected nail colors.

This is a very enjoyable story of how the two women relate to each other and grow from getting to know each other.  They help each other through horrible circumstances and grow as a result.  They truly become friends.  One plot point is Sasha's snowglobe and this book is part of the Snowglobe Connections series but I haven't read the other books and didn't feel like I needed to or missed anything.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Multnomah Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”