a hidden witch...

A few months ago I was selected to receive a great book A Modern Witch, I reviewed it here. As a thank you for reviewing A Modern Witch the author, Debora Geary, sent her reviewers a copy of the next book in the series, A Hidden Witch.  The email with the book came at such a perfect time, it really made my day, I was so excited.  I have to say, it didn't disappoint, evidenced by the fact that I read it in one sitting.  All of our favorite witches were back with the introductions to some new characters.  I think one of the things I love most about The Modern Witch series is that I fall in love with the characters, I feel for them and with them you are definitely along for the ride when you read this book. 

Elorie is a woman who was born into a witch family and wished to be a witch throughout her whole life. When it became apparent that Elorie didn't have powers she was devastated, but took to a different role so she could still support the witching community she loved.  She has accepted her place in the witching community and has come to terms with the fact that she doesn't have powers...or does she?  After a scan, developed by a young witchling and her 2 sisters,  reveals some magical powers in Elorie the entire witching community comes together to figure out exactly what kind of powers Elorie has and how best to use them.  Another wonderful story of a family's love, empathy and humor helping them through even the toughest of situations.  I loved every page of this book and cannot wait to see what happens next!

For those of you who don't have ereaders...you are in luck...A Modern Witch is available in paperback on Amazon and A Hidden Witch will be available in a few weeks!

Source Disclosure: I received A Hidden Witch from the author but the opinions of this book are all my own!

thankful thursday(the random edition)...

So, today my thankful post is going to be a little on the "I'm thankful for the small things that make me smile" side.  I am always of course thankful for the big things, but sometimes it is the little things that can make your day...so here is mine today.

• ELECTRICITY...we were without power for 12 hours.  Thankfully, a chunk of that time was while we were sleeping but the natives were getting restless.  I felt so disconnected. 
• The people who worked hard to get our electricity back on.
• Saving $4 on a pair of shoes that I bought for Brianna.
• A great book given to me by the author (review coming tomorrow!)

I know these storms have been hard on so many people, I hope and pray that everyone stays safe!

new stuff at links of love...

For those of you who don't keep up with me over at links of love (although there hasn't been much to keep up with these days) there is a new post up!  But for those of you that don't want to click over, here is the gist of the post.  I have tried my hand at making watches and I'm fairly pleased with the results.  Happy Tuesday all!

my girl...

Today Bob took Bryce to the Illinois Open to watch Brian play so Brianna and I had the afternoon to ourselves.  (Side note...apparently Bryce was amazingly well behaved at the course and quiet and listened well...the kid has a serious love of golf already.  It is all he has talked about since being home).  Anyway, Brianna's birthday is next week and since we are moving soon, her two little friends from daycare/preschool are coming over Monday night for a sleepover and then Tuesday we're taking the girls to the mall to have their hair, nails and makeup done at a little girl's party place, then I had the bright idea to take the three girls and have their picture taken together all dolled up.  Of course I am me, so I decided they needed matching outfits so I decided to make them tutus.  (wow, I went off on a little tangent here).  All of this to say that we headed out this afternoon to get supplies for the tutus and also shoe shopping for the wedding we are going to this weekend (both of us needed shoes).  It was so fun shoe shopping with her, she definitely has an opinion about what she likes and doesn't and having conversations with her now it so fun.  As I said on facebook tonight, having a girl certainly brings a lot of drama to life, but days like today make all of it worth while.  I know Brianna and I will certainly butt heads in the future, but hopefully there are also many more days like today in our future. 

4th of july (catch up post!)...

We spent the 4th of July weekend at our friend's house in Milwaukee.  It is a tradition to go up there the weekend of the 4th, and this is the first time we've taken the kids.  While we were there, our friend's baby was baptised and we were lucky enough to be able to witness it.  The kids are in love with Ben, Amanda and especially baby Molly (or Maui as Bryce calls her).  We all had such a good time hanging out with friends and being together.  We're grateful that Ben & Amanda keep letting us come back! :)  Here are a few pictures from baptism.

much needed family time...

Sorry I missed you last week, but we were out having a long family weekend. Last Thursday the four of us spent the day at the waterpark with my sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews. We had a great time, even though it was pretty crowded. I think the lazy river was everyone's favorite :). After the waterpark we headed to Wisconsin to Bob's family's lake house. We spent the next 3 days there. Mom and Dad joined us at the lake and we had a few days to just relax, play in the water and spend time together. We also had a small, and very early, birthday party for Brianna. Everyone's schedules are so insane this summer we weren't sure when we'd be able to do it otherwise, so we celebrated her birthday with my family (and Bob's parents) at the lake. Unfortunately, because we decided to do it at the last minute, I didn't make her a cake, but be on the lookout for one when her actual birthday approaches! Overall it was such a great weekend and went by too fast. 

thankful...part 2...

Seriously...how can you not be thankful when you get to see stuff like this everyday?  Makes me know everything will be just fine as long as we're together.

the big thankful post...

Most of you know that this year has not been easy, our house still hasn't sold and we're (the kids and I) are moving to Iowa without Bob in a few weeks so Brianna can start school.  I don't know that I will ever look back on this year (at least the first half...hopefully the second half redeems itself) and think that this was a great year.  It has been hard, much harder than we thought, and stressful...and to be completely honest, this house selling hasn't brought out the best in me.  I truly feel like we're doing the right thing for our family by moving, but after hitting roadblock after roadblock the doubt is definitely creeping in.  This wasn't the way it was supposed to go...but, this is the way it is going and we are dealing with it the best way we can. That brings me to my thankful...As tough as these last six-ish months have been....there is no way we could have made it through without our friends and family.  They are always ready with encouraging words and even just an ear to listen when we need to let out our frustrations.  They are all the best.  And for me personally, I am so very thankful for Bob.  He works so hard for all of us and keeps me sane (well as sane as I ever get), he makes me laugh when I want to cry, and is just there for me always.  So, through it all...I'm still so very thankful.AND...I get to spend the weekend with some of my very favorite people in the world so I'm very thankful for that as well! :)