30 Items I've Purchased in the Past 30 Days

1. Gas – BP is my preferred provider these days
2. This t-shirt
3. A gift for my cousin’s graduation (you get no link because she reads this blog)
4. A new phone for my mama
5. An iPod for the Doodlebug and her mom (that would be my sister for those who care)
6. Taylor Swift’s new CD
7. Milk
8. Chex Mix makings because it isn't Christmas without Chex Mix
9. Cute Wallflower holders
10. Approximately 50 spools of nice Christmas Ribbon (at 50 cents a spool it was a steal at the Wal-Mart)
11. P.S. I Love You
12. This t-shirt
13. Lingerie for Arynda (you get no link because it’s lingerie)
14. Amazing food at restaurants such as Ya-Yas and EVO
15. Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuits and sweet tea
16. A gift for the dad to give the mom for her birthday
17. Cute Fall pumpkins to decorate with next fall on clearance at the Pottery Barn outlet
18. Halloween pancake molds at the William-Sonoma outlet
19. Shampoo – Garnier-Fructis is my current obsession (don’t worry, it’s still Aveda products to finish off the straight or the curly hair-do)
20. Notebooks for work – 1 for each company so I can keep things straight
21. New sweaters – it’s cold at the beach!
22. Cool new glasses with clip on sunglasses
23. Prescription safety glasses because I’m a nerd like that I would rather wear them than the bulky ones that go over the cool new glasses
24. Bittersweets - I got the dejected tin
25. Dog Shampoo – It’s not all about me around here
26. Containers to put all my Christmas cookies in next year
27. One year’s worth of HOA dues
28. Wii Fit
29. Fun, black flats
30. Caesar salad with friend calamari

Yeah, that was random. Oh well. Come back tomorrow for another wonderful list. I'm sure it will be as entertaining as this one was. Ok, so I lie. It may be even more boring. We'll just have to wait and see where the randomness leads.

30 Places I've Spent the Night

And the list goes on... here are 30 places I've spent the night in the course of my life. Trust me, I could have bored you and listed many more, but I stopped myself.

1. Jefferson City, TN <-- I was born there
2. Talbott, TN <-- I grew up there
3. Port Charlotte, FL
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Daytona Beach, FL
6. Gulf Shores, AL
7. Silver Springs, FL
8. Myrtle Beach, SC
9. Chattanooga, TN
10. Hilton Head Island, SC
11. Cookeville, TN
12. Bristol, TN
13. Gatlinburg, TN
14. Pigeon Forge, TN
15. Livingston, TN
16. Nashville, TN
17. Murfreesboro, TN
18. Memphis, TN
19. Powell, TN
20. Cleveland, OH
21. Appleton, WI
22. Mount Pleasant, SC
23. Galway, Ireland
24. Dublin, Ireland
25. Edinburgh, Scotland
26. Glasgow, Scotland
27. London, England
28. New York City, NY
29. Naples, FL
30. North Charleston, SC <-- Current home

Kiss

While you are waiting on my next random post check out this new book by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy. The title is Kiss and while I have not finished the whole book, I am enjoying what I have read so far. I always enjoy Ted Dekker's books and am axious to finish this one.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
KISS
Thomas Nelson (January 6, 2009)
by
Ted Dekker
and
Erin Healy

ABOUT THE BOOK

Let me tell you all I know for sure. My name. Shauna.
I woke up in a hospital bed missing six months of my memory. In the room was my loving boyfriend-how could I have forgotten him?-my uncle and my abusive stepmother. Everyone blames me for the tragic car accident that left me near death and my dear brother brain damaged. But what they say can't be true-can it?

I believe the medicine is doing strange things to my memory. I'm unsure who I can trust and who I should run from. And I'm starting to remember things I've never known. Things not about me. I think I'm going crazy.

And even worse, I think they want to kill me.

But who? And for what? Is dying for the truth really better than living with a lie?

Sometimes dying with the truth is better than living with a lie.

After a car accident puts Shauna McAllister in a coma and wipes out six months of her memory, she returns to her childhood home to recover, but her arrival is fraught with confusion.

Her estranged father, a senator bidding on the White House, and her abusive stepmother blame Shauna for the tragedy, which has left her beloved brother severely brain damaged. Leaning on Wayne Spade, a forgotten but hopeful lover who stays by her side, Shauna tries to sort out what happened that night by jarring her memory to life. Instead, she acquires a mysterious mental ability that will either lead her to truth or get her killed by the people trying to hide it.

In this blind game of cat and mouse that stares even the darkest memories in the face, Shauna is sure of only one thing: if she remembers, she dies.

If you would like to read the first chapter of KISS, go HERE

What people are saying about KISS:

“The human brain could actually be the real final frontier—we know so little about it and yet it drives the world as we know it. So when authors like Erin and Ted bravely explore these mysterious regions, going into complex places like memory and soul and relationships, I become hooked. The creativity of this suspenseful story is sure to hook other readers as well. Very memorable!”
~Melody Carlson, author of Finding Alice and The Other Side of Darkness

“Dekker and Healy prove a winning team in this intriguing, imaginative thriller.”
~James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Try Darkness

“Kiss by Erin Healy and Ted Dekker is a superb thriller that hooked me from the first sentence. The original plot kept me guessing, and I may never look at a kiss the same way again. I’ll be watching for the next book!”
~Colleen Coble, author of Cry in the Night

“The writing team of Erin Healy and Ted Dekker has taken me through a page-turner with Kiss. It’s one of those books that you think about when you’re not reading it. I highy recommend it, especially if you don’t mind staying up late because you can’t put the book down!”
~Rene Gutteridge, author of Skid and My Life As a Doormat

Top 30 Songs On My iPod

It's "the" week. If you know me well you know what this means. If you don't, hopefully you'll figure it out by the end of "the" week. If you don't, you'll be either incredibly bored with this week's posts or you'll find me either more random or more entertaining than normal.

So, I'm not sure what this says about me, but here are the top 30 songs based on number of times played on my iPod.

1. Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
2. Car Crash - Matt Nathanson
3. I'll Make a Man Out of You - Donny Osmond & Chorus
4. In Love With a Girl - Gavin DeGraw
5. Let it Go - Gavin DeGraw
6. Cop Stop - Gavin DeGraw
7. She Holds a Key - Gavin DeGraw
8. Untamed - Gavin DeGraw
9. We Belong Together - Gavin DeGraw
10. Lord, You're Holy - Helen Baylor
11. Take a Bow - Leona Lewis
12. Heartbreak World - Matt Nathanson
13. Come On Get Higher - Sugarland
14. Young Love - Gavin DeGraw
15. Relative - Gavin DeGraw
16. She Holds a Key (The Village Sessions) - Gavin DeGraw
17. Medicate the Kids - Gavin DeGraw
18. Gone - Matt Nathanson
19. Bulletproof Weeks - Matt Nathanson
20. Wedding Dress - Matt Nathanson
21. Realize - Colbie Caillat
22. Next to Me (Wait a Minute Sister) - Gavin DeGraw
23. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
24. Still - Matt Nathanson
25. Mary's Song (Oh My My My) - Taylor Swift
26. Our Song - Taylor Song
27. Cheated on Me - Gavin DeGraw
28. I Have You to Thank - Gavin DeGraw
29. To the Beat of Our Noisy Hearts - Matt Nathanson
30. Detroit Waves - Matt Nathanson

So, when I had this idea I thought the list would be more entertaining. I could try to explain it all to you like #3 is there because it's the only song Doodlebug wants to listen to when she has my iPod. Or the fact that I bought Gavin DeGraw's album right before I left for Europe so I listened to it almost every night. But really. You all think I'm weird random anyways, so oh well.

The Perfect Match

*** I just received this book in the mail 2 days ago. I have tried to stay awake to finish it, but have been unsuccessful. Dern. I'm sure if I had received it on a Saturday morning, I would not have left my couch until I had finished it. I am really enjoying it and want to go out and get the other 2 books in the series. Enjoy this pre-published review. ***

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Perfect Match
(Tyndale House January 1, 2009)
by
Susan May Warren


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan grew up in Wayzata, a suburb of Minneapolis, and became an avid camper from an early age. Her favorite fir-lined spot is the north shore of Minnesota is where she met her husband, honeymooned and dreamed of living.

The north woods easily became the foundation for her first series, The Deep Haven series, based on a little tourist town along the shores of Lake Superior. Her first full-length book, Happily Ever After, became a Christy Award Finalist published in 2004 with Tyndale/Heartquest.

As an award winning author, Susan returned home in 2004, to her native Minnesota after serving for eight years with her husband and four children as missionaries with SEND International in Far East Russia. She now writes full time from Minnesota's north woods and the beautiful town that she always dreamed of living in.

You can sample a chapter of each and every one of Susan's novels, on her website, HERE.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Ellie Karlson is new to Deep Haven. As the town’s interim fire chief, she is determined to lead the local macho fire crew in spite of their misconceptions about her. But when someone begins setting deadly fires, Ellie faces the biggest challenge of her life. Especially when sparks fly with one of the volunteers on her crew: Pastor Dan Matthews. As Ellie battles to do her job and win the respect of her crew, she finds that there is one fire she can’t fight—the one Dan has set in her heart.
(This book is the repackaged edition published in 2004)

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Perfect Match, go HERE.

Awards:

2004 American Christian Fiction Writer's Book of the Year

A Romantic Times Magazine TOP PICK – 4½ stars

Review:

Romantic Times Magazine:
Vibrant characters and vivid language zoom this action-packed romance to the top of the charts. This is a one-sitting read –once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down.

I Could Be, But I'm Not

I could be bitter that my back hurts

• But I'm not because I can walk

I could be bitter I had to pick up my recycables that blew down the street

• But I'm not because I am thankful I can contribute toward a greener Earth

I could be bitter that I have to work a lot of extra hours

• But I'm not because I'm thankful I have a job in a struggling economy

I could be bitter that I am not married

• But I'm thankful I've never been abused by a spouse

I could be bitter that I don't have children

• But I'm thankful I get to be important in the life of others children

I could be bitter that I live so far away from my family

• But I'm thankful I have a family who loves me and I can visit and they can visit me

This life we are given is all about perspective. I could go on and on and on with the "I could be, but I'm not" scenarious, but I won't. But when you start to complain about something and how "bad" you have it, remember it could be worse. It could always be worse. And I know I do my fair shire of griping, complaining, moaning, and groaning. I do hope that I can try to remember these points when I'm feeling down. It could always be worse. I'm just thankful it's not.

Wanted - Shelley Shepard Gray

I had the privilege of reading Wanted during my Christmas break.  The main character, Katie Brenneman, is approached by widower Jonathan Lundy to watch his children while his sister goes to visit her beau in another city.  The children, scarred by the death of their mother and not having a consistent "mother figure" in their life, take time to warm up to Katie.  However, Katie perseveres and attempts to make their house a home for them, teaching them important tasks and devoting herself to them.  During this time, Katie's past comes back to haunt her from her time during her Rumspinga (running around years).  Katie must make a choice: does she return to her past or continue with this new life she is creating?  Will Katie and Jonathan grow closer or will he continue to harbor feelings for his first wife?

If you enjoy reading fiction books (especially about the Amish) then I encourage you to try this series by Shelley Shepard Gray.  This was the first book I had read of hers and I enjoyed it a lot.  I need to go buy the first book now so I can feel caught up.  I look forward to reading more books by Shelley in the future.

If you would like to buy it, you can do so at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061474460