Life and lemonade

If you didn't read my SRT wrap-up (previous post) then you don't know we moved. We said good-bye to our horribly small horribly smoky (neighbors, ugh!) townhouse and hello to a gorgeous ranch house that is being rented to us by someone at our church. We now have a linen closet in the bathroom (what luxury!!) and a backyard (with trees and bugs) and a jacuzzi on the deck. We are SOOOO blessed. We now have a sunroom that will be good for homeschooling, eating (2 tables gifted by a family leaving to do mission work), playing and resting. I can't believe we'll have room to put 2 tables end-to-end and still have room to walk around. We might add a 3rd table or kids' table for when we have company. :)

We celebrated Father's Day this past Sunday and my youngest kept saying Happy Father's Day to Daddy then Happy Mother's Day to me. So cute. And the boy picked up on it and started saying it too! I tried to make a cake for hubby, it rose about 2/3 of a normal cake because I couldn't find the mixer (ugh, the unpacking!) and beat it by hand. It was interesting! Hope your neck of the woods are wonderful and you're enjoying the a/c during this very hot humid June weather. :)

Spring Reading Thing 2010 Wrap-Up

Well, life never seems to go as I plan. We knew we might move before summer started but weren't sure. Well, we moved a little over a week ago so that cut into my reading time a LOT! But I still read a good number of books, mostly fiction and quite a few that weren't on my list but I found at the library. :)

1. READ Comforts from the Cross: Celebrating the Gospel
One Day at a Time by Elyse Fitpatrick - I've been using this as a daily devotional but don't always keep up. I just try to read every day and keep a bookmark with where I am in the book so I keep reading through it.
2. READ Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson - picked out by my husband, one reason is John Piper read it and is still talking about it!
3. READ Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church by Michael Horton - my husband has read this and wants me to read it and discuss.
4. *planning to read but ran out of time* God's Big Picture: Tracing the Story-Line of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts - my husband picked it out.
5. *did buy this and still plan to read* Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety: Becoming A
Woman of Faith and Confidence by Elyse Fitpatrick - rinse, repeat
6. something by Charles Martin, depends on what's available at the library but I'd like to read Chasing Fireflies *READ*. I've already read When Crickets Cry.
7. READ Greater Love by Robert Litlow - third book in the Tides of Truth series. I'd like to see how this one goes before giving a review of the other two books in the series.
(8.) READ book 4 of the Million Dollar Mysteries A Quarter for a Kiss by Mindy Starns Clark.

Not on my original list that I read:
Love the Sinner by Lynn Bulock
Undertow by Lorena McCourtney
Adelaide Piper by Beth Webb Hart
Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci
Sisterchicks Do the Hula by Robin Jones Gunn

I hope to do reviews for all of the books I've read but haven't gotten to that either. Reviews for Gilead, Greater Love, and A Quarter for a Kiss are here, here, and here respectively. Ok, on to the questions:

1) Favorite book - probably Greater Love, though it's hard to pick b/c I liked all of the fiction books I read except Gilead. I liked Sisterchicks b/c it's fun and about Hawaii, a nice easy read though I always seem to cry! Deliver Us From Evil was nail biting and intriguing, I love how he picks up characters and uses them again later but it's not a "series". Adelaide Piper (mature teen and above warning on this one though!) was challenging and had me reflecting on my high school graduation and college . Love the Sinner reminded me to keep an open mind and love others. A Quarter for a Kiss was great. Chasing Fireflies was good but not as good as When Crickets Cry (and now I want to read the newest book by Charles Martin).

2)Least favorite - Gilead, read my review to find out why, it just wasn't for me. :)

I liked Michael Horton's Christless Christianity but I kept asking my husband what about this or that and he'd say it's in the next book The Gospel-Driven Life so I wish the book had 2 parts or something! :) It was still a tough read for me b/c I don't like much non-fiction. I'm hoping I'll like God's Big Picture, the youth in our church went through it so surely I can get through it!!

3) Lynn Bulock and Beth Webb Hart were new authors for me, I enjoyed both but would probably definitely hope to read more from Lynn Bulock. She's not the best detective-ish writer but it's fast like a "beach" read and that's always nice.

My husband and I set about a 1:4 ratio for books, one non-fiction to 4 fiction and that seemed to work out pretty well, still hard to stick to though. I ended up counting Gilead as a non-fiction book b/c it seemed like it and it took me a long time to plow through it. :) I loved participating in the Spring Reading Thing. I really do think these challenges push me to read and to focus on a set list so I am looking forward to Callapider Days next reading challenge. Thank you to all who visited me because of my list, I appreciate the visits and comments and hope you had a great time reading this Spring! :)