Fearfully & Wonderfully Made (U-NEEK by Dayspring Review & Info)

A few days ago, we were out grocery shopping when Lizzy spotted someone with an eye-patch. "Look! She looks like a pirate!" Lizzy yelled. This is actually not the first time that we've had an encounter with an eye-patch, and it hasn't always ended well. Thankfully, this woman totally rolled with the punches and gave a good "Arg!" and reference to The Pirate Fairy movie (Lizzy was thrilled).

We've talked to Lizzy quite a lot lately about how everyone looks different, and that's okay. The world would be a really boring place if we were all the same. But still, she's just at that age where she's really noticing the differences a lot. She couldn't care less whether someone has long hair, short hair, or no hair, but you better believe that she notices, and she definitely intends to let the whole store know that she notices. Still, we've been working lately on kindness, and have basically told her that it's only okay to compliment people that we don't know on their appearance.

Recently, Dayspring came out with a new line of product called U-NEEKS that really affirms the idea that everyone is unique and wonderfully made, which really aligns with some of the things we've been working with Lizzy on lately. We were offered the opportunity to review some of the products, and although you may have noticed that I've majorly backed off the number of reviews and giveaways that I've done in the past year, I said yes to this one because I really and truly love everything about it.


The line is based around a group of characters called the U-NEEKS. Each individual character has a name (Indigo, Wally, Alliebird, & Dweeber are pictured above), and comes with some info about their favorite things. Each character has their own favorite Bible verse, but the overall message for the whole line is "Fearfully & Wonderfully Made!" Each character's tag says "We are fearfully & wonderfully made, a little bit quirky, a little bit strange, and completely U-Neek!"

Thus far, I have really let the girls decide what toys they want to play with, but sometimes I get sick of all the perfect princesses and baby dolls. We all know that's not reality. I like that the U-NEEKS  dolls are a little more funky and a lot less perfect. We have already spent a lot of time counting eyes, ears, teeth, and comparing hair, etc. It's a good starting point to talk about all those issues we've been working on with Lizzy, and helps me break it down in ways that are meaningful and understandable to her--these dolls may not look like her princesses, but they are just as fun to play with! Not only that, but that there's only one Lizzy in the world, and it's okay that she's not going to look or act just like any of the other kids in the school--God made her just the way she is, and he did it on purpose, FOR a purpose! 





I thought my girls would be most excited about the dolls, and while they do love them, I was surprised that Lizzy's favorite part of the collection has been the greeting cards.

Earlier this summer, Lizzy's aunt Renee broke her foot playing soccer. One of the first things Lizzy said when she heard was, "I want to make her a card!" Sweet Lizzy busted out the Alliebird "Owl be praying for you" cards, and went right to work. Now, anytime she hears that someone is hurt or sick, she asks to make them an "owl card". I have to admit that I am NOT great about sending cards to people, and I always wish that I were better about it, so I love that Lizzy has this desire already and am trying to do my best to foster it!

We also received these sweet Encouragement Notes, which I have been saving with the intention of sending them along with Lizzy's snack to school this next year. Each card has a sweet note of encouragement, and it has really been incredible how much of an affect they have on Lizzy--she really lights up whenever I read them to her! The card that Lizzy is holding above says, "Never frog-get, I think you're amazing." So simple, but such a good thing for kiddos to hear affirmed regularly!

These coupon books to reward kids for good behavior are also SO AWESOME. Another thing that's really simple, but really effective, for Lizzy in terms of her behavior and attitude. Again, she totally lights up at the recognition.

The U-NEEKS collection is available on the Dayspring website, but you can also see them in-store at Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart stores until July 15th. I really suggest going and checking out the coupon books and encouragement notes--they are awesome, and can definitely be used independent of the plush toys above!

Disclosure Statement: I received the U-NEEKS product from Dayspring in exchange for my honest review and thoughts.  All opinions and photos are my own, and all links above are non-affiliate links.

Be BRAVE: A Review and Giveaway

 

Lately, Lizzy's absolute favorite book is Princess Smarty Pants by Babette Cole--it's a story about a princess who doesn't want to get married despite her mother's pushing, and eventually avoids the issue by kissing her prince and turning him into a frog. Lizzy loves it, so I was also pretty confident that she would love the movie Brave, and had been excited for it to come out on video so that we could rent it. So when I was contacted about doing a review and giveaway of Brave, I totally jumped at the chance. If you've been living under a rock and haven't heard of the newest Disney/Pixar movie Brave, here's the description from the studio:

An original and thrilling journey set in the ancient and magical Highlands of Scotland, “Brave” follows the heroic journey of the headstrong, young adventurer Merida. Determined to carveher own path in life, Merida confronts tradition and defies an age old custom that inadvertentlyunleashes chaos, and forces her to discover the true meaning of bravery.

Essentially, the story is about Merida, a young adventurous girl, whose parents (especially her mother) want her to get married in order to join two highland clans together. Merida's mother arranges for the sons of other clan leaders to come and compete for Merida's hand in marriage. Merida is less than thrilled, and eventually decides to compete for her own hand--and blows the boys out of the water. Unsurprisingly, this causes a huge disagreement between Merida and her mother. A little while later, Merida visits a witch and asks for a spell to change her mother so that she doesn't have to get married--and is shocked to discover that the "change" it brings is to turn her mother into a bear...whom her father then attempts to kill.

Like Tangled, Disney/Pixar's Brave  showcases a strong female lead, which is something that I love to see, having a daughter (and quite a spunky one) myself. But Brave takes things even a step further than Tangled in that there is no romantic sub-plot whatsoever. No prince swoops in to save the day. The movie doesn't conclude with Merida thinking that maybe prince so-and-so isn't so bad after all. Heck, even Merida's big Scottish father doesn't play a huge part in the movie...it's mostly a movie about Merida and her mother...and I thought that was sort of refreshing.  Call me a fuddy duddy, but I just don't think that every movie targeted at the under 10 crowd needs to revolve around falling in love.

A few other notes: 

• Lizzy has quite a few older cousins, as well as some friends with older (elementary)  brothers and sisters. We'd heard from several of them that Brave was pretty scary, and I know a few of our friends actually had to leave the theater with their kids. I can see how some of the scenes with the bear may have been even scarier on the big screen at the movie theater (and especially in 3D), and how some kiddos may still have a hard time with them even at home...but they really didn't seem to phase Lizzy at all. Neither did the scenes with the "witch", who seemed to us to be far more eccentric and far less "evil" than in past Disney/Pixar movies. So as far as I'm concerned, the moral is to know your kids, and now that the movie is coming out on video, you could always pre-watch if you're unsure about how they'd do.
• I've also heard some comments from boys and their dads that this is more of a "chick flick", and that  they didn't like Brave because there wasn't as much action and adventure as some of the other Disney/Pixar movies. I'll tell you right up front that I don't put much credence in identifying things as "girl movies" and "boy movies" at this age--one of Lizzy's favorite movies is Cars--so I sort of tended to roll my eyes when I heard that feedback. That said, I asked Justin what he thought just to get a second perspective, and he said that he thought it was a great story and a good movie--not just a "chick flick" at all.
• How cool is it to have a princess with crazy hair? Is that just me? I loved Merida's hair!
• LOVED the soundtrack/score. It was absolutely beautiful!  

 Overall, we really liked Brave. We watched the Blu-Ray version, but we're excited to try out the Blu-Ray 3D version at my parents' house sometime, because I'm sure it's very well done. Brave will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 13th, but can be pre-ordered from Amazon here (non-affiliate link). 

AND, I'm thrilled to have a copy of the 5 Disc Collectors Edition to giveaway to one of YOU!  The Collectors Edition includes a copy of the Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray 3D, DVD, and Digital Copy, and retails for about $35!

Here's the scoop:

(1) This giveaway is open to US Residents (or those with a US shipping address).To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog. That's it.  You don't need to be a blog follower, though I do appreciate it.

(2) You can enter once per day (three total entries per person) until 5pm PST on Thursday Nov 8th.

(3) For the love of all things holy, please make sure that you have an email attached to the account you are commenting with or that you leave your email address in your comment itself. If I don't have your email address, I WILL choose another winner. 

(4) Disney/Pixar needs the giveaway winner's address by November 12th at the latest, so please get back to me ASAP if you're the lucky winner. If I haven't heard from you by  6pm PST on Sunday November 11th, I will be forced to pick a new winner. 

 

 Disclosure Statement: I received a copy of the Brave 5-Disc Collectors Edition for review, but was not compensated in any other way. As always, all opinions included in the review are my own, and were not influenced by the review/giveaway sponsor.  Thanks so much to Eric and Disney/Pixar for sponsoring such a great giveaway!

The Scoop with My Hair {Dove Conditioner Review}

Thank you all for your sweet comments about my hair on my last bump update post! You all were too sweet...and also totally made me laugh because I knew that this post about my experience using Dove's Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner was coming up next, and that it is directly related to how my hair looks now.

So, let's get right to it, shall we? First, I'll tell you this about my hair:
-I have a lot of hair.
-It's super thick. Like REALLY thick. Like 5+ hairties when I run.
-It's natural texture tends to be slightly dry and also pretty frizzy, and this tends to get worse when I'm pregnant.
-I am way overdue for an appointment with my favorite hair girl (my last cut was about 22 weeks ago).

For the most part, I buy inexpensive drugstore shampoos and conditioners. Basically, whatever is on sale. I have a salon brand conditioner that I save for special occasions, but mostly it's just the drugstore stuff...and I've tried just about every brand out there, including other varieties of Dove shampoos and conditioners in the past. I'd look for product that said it was made for dry and/or frizzy hair, but honestly didn't spend too much time thinking about it because I usually just tossed my hair up in a ponytail or messy bun anyway--to wear down, I typically have to blowdry AND straighten my hair, and I just don't have time for that on a regular basis.

A few weeks ago, Dove's Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner arrived on my doorstep via BlogHer. It came with shiny claims that it would help repair dry, rough, and frizzy hair while also being a weightless conditioner. To be honest, I thought 'Man, that would be nice!' but didn't really have high hopes that it would fulfill those claims any more than any of the other drugstore brands I've tried (which is about mediocre at best). That same day, I jumped in the shower at the last minute before heading off to one of Justin's baseball games, figuring that I'd let my hair air dry, and then just toss it up in a bun since it would be all frizzy and gross.

But....um....it dried beautifully, car windows down and all. I was so stunned that I snapped a photo and uploaded it to Instagram right away. Because honestly, I don't think my hair has EVER looked this good just air-drying with no additional fussing or product. And it's not a coincidence. When I use the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner, my hair looks good without really trying. And also without the greasiness and weight that I was expecting from an oil conditioner. I can take a shower before bed, toss it up in a sock bun, and wake up to nice smooth curls just like in the last bump update. Even though my hair is usually frizzy as all get out. Even though I have split ends galore. Seriously, that's it. It's so easy, and looks so polished! I'm a convert--especially since it retails for about $4 a bottle. I don't say this lightly, but I absolutely love it...I think even more than my go-to salon brand! Yes, seriously.

So anyway, that's the scoop with my hair! Have any of you guys tried any of the newer Dove conditioners? What do you think? Be sure to check out the sweepstakes below as well as the coupon for $1.50 off a Dove Hair Therapy Product!

Sweepstakes Prompt: How much do you typically spend on conditioner? 

Enter to win a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry"; and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that Tweet.
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/4/2012 - 9/30/2012

Be sure to visit Dove^®Hair.com to get a coupon for $1.50 off Dove Hair Therapy products.

Monday Morning Giveaway! {Fairhaven Health DreamBelly Butter}

After my pregnancy with Lizzy, I had a lot of stretch marks. Some moms don't seem to mind them, but I can remember looking at my stomach and just being so irritated--I'd faithfully applied all the cocoa butter stretch mark creams...I'd done all the things I was supposed to do, and I still ended up with a stomach full of angry red marks. I remember wondering if my stomach would always look like that--and for the record, it didn't. The stretch marks didn't go away, but they did fade from angry red to a white/silver color that wasn't as noticeable....but it took awhile. I think even at a year out when I was taking before and after photos for Insanity, they were still pretty noticeable, though definitely an improvement.

Anyway, the point is that I'm always a little suspicious when a product claims to "prevent" or "repair" stretch marks. So, when I was contacted by Fairhaven Health about reviewing (and giving away!) their DreamBelly Butter, which was described as a 'natural, nourishing formula to help soothe, protect and heal stretch marks'....I was super skeptical. That said, when I visited the website and saw that in the product description, Fairhaven Health straight-up said that some women are genetically more susceptible to stretch marks than others...I felt like this was a product I could possibly get behind, you know? They didn't make any fanciful claims about how if I used this product I'd never get any stretch marks or that all my existing ones would magically disappear--they were honest. Some women are going to get stretch marks during pregnancy no matter what (I'm one of them, apparently)...and I appreciated their honesty in that. Because I think that even if you are one of those people who are predisposed to stretch marks, there's still a lot of good sense in keeping your skin hydrated and moisturized. Between that and the fact that the product contained no parabens, artificial colors, or preservatives, I was interested. So, I agreed to give the DreamBelly Butter a try, and a few days later, it arrived on my doorstep. 

After using the DreamBelly Butter for a few weeks now, I can tell you a few things: 

• This product is probably not going to prevent stretch marks for someone who is genetically predisposed towards them...but it does help to keep my stomach hydrated, which definitely makes the stretch marks less uncomfortable and also seems to help them look less angry and noticeable. 
• I like that when I'm looking at the ingredient list, I actually recognize nearly all of the ingredients, like beeswax, rose hips, and sunflower seed oil.
• I don't normally enjoy scented lotions (because I'm allergic to everything under the sun and even natural ingredients like lavender can give me hives), this lotion is lightly scented and doesn't bother me at all. But honestly, I'm not sure that I could tell you what the scent is--maybe slightly sweet with a touch of rose?
• I can tell you that the lotion itself is rather thick, and I do feel like I need to wash my hands after applying it on my belly, but that may just be me. I tend to do that sort of thing.
• And lastly, I can also tell you that it's AWESOME for cracked elbows, heels, and just skin in general. I almost wonder if Fairhaven Health does a disservice to itself by marketing this product specifically for pregnant and postpartum moms...because I think it's actually a really great, high-quality product for anyone.

So, by now you guys should know that I don't sugar coat things on this blog just because I'm reviewing them. Book reviews aren't always positive. Neither are product reviews. One thing you'll get from me in terms of any reviews I do on this blog is my straight-up opinion, good or bad. This time, I was initially skeptical of Fairhaven Health's DreamBelly Butter, but ended up being pleasantly surprised. And ultimately, I'd definitely recommend it to a friend...which is why I'm happy to say that the good folks at Fairhaven Health are giving away some DreamBelly Butter to TWO readers!

Here's the fine print: 
-To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog. For the love, please make sure you either have an email address attached to your account, or that you leave it in the comment. If I don't have a way to get in touch with you, I'll have to pick another winner, and that would just suck. 
-You do NOT have to be pregnant in order to win!! As I mentioned before, it's a great product for everyone...but how sweet would it be as part of a care-package for a pregnant or postpartum friend? I promise that no one will assume you're secretly pregnant if you enter this giveaway ;)
-This contest will close Saturday August 25th at 5pm Pacific Time. I'll draw winners sometime over the weekend and contact winners by email. If you're selected, please make sure to get back to me by Monday at noon, or a new winner will be selected!

Good luck, and I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do! 

Disclosure Statement: I was provided with DreamBelly Butter by Fairhaven Health to try and review. I was not compensated in any other way, and all opinions in the review are my own!

The Artist's Way Toolkit {A Review}

As part of BlogHer Book Club, which I have participated in often, I was recently given the opportunity to review a new online tool called "The Artist's Way Toolkit". BlogHer described the Artist's Way Toolkit as follows:

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron has motivated millions of aspiring and professional artists around the world to discover and recover their creative selves. Now some of the most powerful practices from The Artist's Way have been adapted to create MyArtist's Way Toolkit, an interactive experience that will allow you to:

• UNBLOCK yourself with powerful Artist's Way exercises
• TRACE your creative process in your own personal Artist's Way Creativity Notebook
• RECEIVE Daily Inspirations, Affirmations, and Artist's Date ideas from Julia

  ...............................................................................................

I'll be honest and say upfront that while I knew The Artist's Way was originally a book, I didn't really know anything about the book other than I imagined that the intent was to help creative people get out of creative slumps. I'd been feeling in a bit of a photography slump, and had great visions of re-kindling my passion for the craft and getting my creative juices flowing, so I signed up as a reviewer, and when my password landed in my email box, I was excited to get started.

But then I logged in, and I'll admit I was left feeling a little bit let-down. The Toolkit is billed as being an interactive experience, but it really seemed to be targeted more to individuals who had already read the book--from Artist Dates to Creative Pages to Creative Notes to Morning Pages...it's a lot for a "newbie" of sorts to take in, especially considering the fact that there's very little guidance from the toolkit itself other than a very brief and largely unhelpful guide and FAQ section. There's also a 20 minute YouTube video from the author of The Artist's Way, which was actually kind of a turn-off for me--if I have 20 minutes of silence without a toddler running about, I'd rather watch 20 minutes of Design Star than a YouTube video about the Toolkit, which could have easily been summarized more succinctly in a text guide.

Now, moving on to the Toolkit itself...the idea of spending time writing and attempting to facilitate creativity each day is a good one, I think. Even the idea of "morning pages", in which the "artist" writes 3 pages each day without spending too much time thinking about what he or she is writing, is a good one...in theory. However, it didn't take me long to discover that I think the creators of The Artist's Way toolkit and I operate on a fundamentally difficult wavelength and in a fundamentally different world--first, the "artist" is sternly cautioned that he or she may NOT (under any circumstances) type their "morning pages." For some reason, "morning pages" must always be handwritten, but "creativity pages"  (in which the "artist" essentially adds photos, poems, and whatever else happens to inspire them) are allowed to be done via the Toolkit on the computer. To me, this made no sense...I wanted to reverse things and do the "morning pages" online and the "creativity pages" by hand, in a book.

Overall, I just wasn't that impressed with The Artist's Way toolkit. It didn't make sense to me, and I wished that the suggestions would have been more targeted to specific types of art (i.e. different suggestions for photography compared to painting or writing). Unfortunately, though I faithfully checked in and thought about "morning pages" nearly every day, it just wasn't a tool that I found myself eager to use all that frequently even when I had free access to it, so I really can't picture myself actually paying for it at this time in my life.

If you're interested in reading more about The Artist's Way toolkit, pop on over to BlogHer Book Club and see what others had to say!


Disclosure: This was a paid review via BlogHer Book Club, as always, all opinions are completely my own, and receiving payment for the time spent reviewing the product does not influence my comments in any way.

Redeemed- (In)spired Deals Review & Giveaway

A few years ago, I remember walking into an acquaintance's home, and noticing how many pieces of decor items talked about the fact that they were a Christian family. 'Wow, they must really want to make sure that everyone knows that they're Christians,' I thought with disdain.

At that point in my life and in my faith, that was honestly the only explanation that I could fathom--that generally, when people had Christian home decor up in their home, it was either (a) because they felt like they were "supposed" to have those items up or (b) because they wanted to make sure that every single person in their lives knew that they were Christian. To be totally honest, neither reason seemed like a particularly good reason to me, and for that reason, our home was fairly devoid of any references to our faith for the next several years.

However, this past December, I partnered with Dayspring and (in)courage to participate in a review and giveaway of a home decor item. To be honest, I thought that it would probably be something that I might display at Christmas time, and then put away for the rest of the year. But surprisingly, something happened--I noticed that the little tealight holder became an unexpected support and encouragement to me during a pretty hard experience in my life. And because of that, it has remained on display in our home ever since.

This past month, I've had another opportunity to partner with (in)courage and Dayspring to review a home decor item, and I think I'm ready to say that before, I was wrong. Totally, dead wrong. At least for me, displaying home decor items that have faith-based messages isn't at all about who else sees them. It's about me, and the fact that often, in the midst of chaos, I need those words written in my heart and whispered into my soul.

This month's (in)spired deals item comes from the Redeemed line:

Life is a patchwork of the meaningful things we keep with us—memories, moments, and connections that serve as daily reminders of where we’ve come from and who our loving Heavenly Father says we are in Jesus. The Redeemed collection celebrates the way God, in His generous grace, sews together every beautiful bit of our lives to form one masterpiece creation after another.

The items that I personally received to review were the "Beautiful in Its Time" Vintage Glass Vase and the Blessed Set of 6 Ceramic Coasters.

As always, the products seem to be very well-made--the ceramic coasters are beautiful (each one has a different image), and seem like they'll hold up very well. But my real favorite here is the vintage glass vase, which I could immediately imagine sitting atop my dream farmhouse table someday, acting as a vase for fresh-cut flowers from the backyard, or a carafe for orange juice at a Sunday morning breakfast. It's something that I can imagine standing the test of time well enough to pass down to one of my kiddos someday.

The vase includes the above verse etched on one side, and then raised glass letters that spell "Redeemed" on the other side...and boy, is it ever a good reminder for my soul lately--there's this song by a band called Late Tuesday that goes, "everything's broken, but it still can be redeemed", and that's exactly what this vase reminds me of every morning. That when I'm exhausted and grumbling about doing more dishes. Or when I'm feeling like our house or budget isn't the way I'd like it to be. I need that reminder sometimes that things will be not just okay, but more beautiful than I could ever imagine--in God's time, not my own.

So, because I genuinely love Dayspring products, I'm thrilled to be able to giveaway a coupon code for one of you to order this beautiful vase for yourself!

There's no fancy requirements in order to enter--simply leave a comment on this post between now, and 6:00am (PST) this Friday morning, the 20th!

The fine print: I was provided with a vase and coaster set to review and photograph, but was not compensated in any other way for this review, nor do I profit from the links to Dayspring included in this post. As always, all opinions included in this review are my own. The winner of this giveaway will be chosen on Friday the 20th, using Random.org, and will be given a coupon code specifically for the glass vase mentioned above. The winner will be responsible for shipping costs for the item.

What I Read in 2011

I can't believe I read 51 books in 2011. Holy COW. Rocking Lizzy to sleep for her naps has done wonders for my reading time! You know, it's interesting--last year I read only 26 books, but once I identified my favorites, they represented roughly 30% of the total. This year? We're at just about the same percentage. Is that weird or what?! Anyway, my favorites are in bold below. And I'd love it if you'd tell ME your favorite book that you read in 2011!

#1- Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
#2- The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
#3- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
#4- Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels
#5- The Story Jar by Deborah Bedford, Angela Elwell Hunt, and Robin Lee Hatcher
#6- Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
#7-The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
#8- Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo
#9- The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston
#10- The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
#11- The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg
#12-Under the Dome by Stephen King
#13- Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
#14- The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon
#15- Posh by Lucy Jackson
#16- Rescue by Anita Shreve
#17- A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
#18- The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
#19- Little Bee by Chris Cleave
#20- If I Stay by Gayle Forman
#21- Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld
#22- A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
#23- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
#24- Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
#25- What Happened To Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
#26- A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
#27-Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
#28-The Kid by Sapphire
#29- Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
#30-The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi Durrow
#31- These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
#32- Room by Emma Donoghue
#33- Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong
#34- Slow Love by Dominique Browning
#35-An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
#36- The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
#37- 31 Days to Clean- Having a Martha House the Mary Way by Sarah Mae
#38-The Bake-Off by Beth Kendrick
#39- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
#40-Food Rules by Michael Pollan
#41 Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
#42- Friendship Bread by Darien Gee
#43-Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
#44-Love at First Bark by Julie Klam
#45- In the Woods by Tana French
#46- The Likeness by Tana French
#47-Faithful Place by Tana French
#48-Little Face by Sophie Hannah
#49-Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
#50- Matched by Allyson Condie
#51- Divergent by Veronica Roth

And here's my list from 2010:

#1- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
#2- The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve
#3- The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart
#4- The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
#5- Talk Before Sleep By Elizabeth Berg
#6- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover
#7- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
#8- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
#9-Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon
#10- The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
#11- The Next Thing On My List by Jill Smolinski
#12- Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott
#13- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
#14- The Girls by Lori Lansens
#15-Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#16- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
#17- Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
#18- A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
#19- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
#20 The Host by Stephenie Meyer
#21- Never Tell Our Business to Strangers: A Memoir by Jennifer Mascia
#22- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
#23- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
#24- The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
#25- Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon
#26- Hector and the Search For Happiness by Fracois Lelord

Book Review: Love at First Bark

image from BlogHer Book Club

I'll never forget my first upper-division college English class. As a self-proclaimed bookworm, I had already read most of the books we covered in the intro classes, and I was thrilled to be getting into something more meaty. Within minutes of purchasing the books on the syllabus, I had already begun reading, even though our first class meeting was months away. I was THAT excited.

The first book that my professor assigned was narrated by a dog. Don't ask me what it was called, because I think I've blocked it from my memory. It was the worst book I've ever read. EVER. It was painful to finish. I absolutely hated it, and couldn't even see what redeeming qualities someone else might find in the book as I usually can.

I'm a little bit ashamed to admit it, but since that experience, I've avoided "dog-books" like the plague. I think I just figured that I clearly wasn't one of those "dog people", and I'd never understand books that revolved around them. Marley & Me? Nope, didn't read it. I may or may not have avoided The Art of Racing in the Rain simply because it had a dog on the cover. However, for BlogHer Book Club, I was recently sent Love at First Bark: How Saving A Dog Can Sometimes Help You Save Yourself by Julie Klam. Truth be told, I had almost skipped participating this round because it was a "dog book"...but I'm always telling people that one of my favorite things about BlogHer Book Club is that it encourages me to read books I might not have read otherwise. So, I bit the bullet and agreed to read and review the book.

Shortly after it arrived, I sat down with Love at First Bark as I was getting ready to rock Lizzy to sleep for her nap. And honest-to-God, I didn't get up again until I'd finished the book. For the first time, Julie Klam's book didn't feel like a "dog book"--it felt like a witty, hilarious, lovely memoir that happened to include characters who were dogs right along with the human ones.

My favorite story in the book was Morris-the-Pitbull, whom Julie and her husband Paul happened upon on the street, tied to a lightpost. Upon asking around, they discovered that this particular tagless Pitbull had been tied up for quite some time. They quickly began calling him Morris, and Julie began trying to find him a home, Paul reluctantly staying with her, probably partly to ensure that Morris didn't come home with them. But unexpectedly, Paul and Julie, who had sort of been passing through their marriage like ships in the night, reconnected in a way that they haven't in a long time. I mean, haven't we all been there in relationships? In a place where you're just not connecting like you used to? And then suddenly, you get involved in something that helps you reconnect? Gives you something to talk about again?

Now that I've read Love at First Bark, I think that my prior aversion to most "dog books" (excluding the one I read in college English, which was just BAD) was that I simply couldn't relate. While we had dogs growing up, I felt rather ambivalent about them. I didn't love them. I honestly didn't even feel affection for them--they were just those two annoying things that barked at night and woke me up. I simply haven't loved a dog like a member of my family. Although I've never personally encountered that kind of love for a dog, for the first time when reading Love at First Bark, I could see how it's possible, and hope I'm fortunate enough to experience it someday.

Join the discussion about Love at First Bark over at BlogHer Book Club!

Disclosure Statement: This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club, but as always, all opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Review: Playtex Sport Body Wipes

I don't know if I've mentioned it before on this blog, but I'm a member of a pretty cool website called {Crowdtap}.Through it, sometimes I have the opportunity to sample products or throw house parties. I also have the opportunity to give feedback to brands, answer surveys, and sometimes be awarded with money for my responses that I can cash in as an Amazon Gift Card--I've cashed in $50 already this year. Plus, 5% of everything you earn is donated to a charity of your choice, and then Crowdtap matches the donation.

Anyway, I recently had the opportunity to review and share the new Playtex Sport Body Wipes that were launched earlier this month. I was kind of excited about them, because I thought the single-serving packages would be nice for after our softball games this spring and summer--we often end up going out to eat or grocery shopping after our games, and it would be nice not to always SMELL like I had just played softball.

That said, I have pretty sensitive skin and have had some BAD reactions to beauty products before, so I thought it was wise to try these out in the privacy of my own home first! So today, after my Insanity workout, I tried one out.

The first thing I noticed was the scent. It's labeled by Playtex as "Fresh and Clean"--and it was pungent, but not unpleasant. Personally, I would have appreciated a bit of a milder scent (I usually shy away from scented body products due to the aforementioned reactions), but it wasn't bad and didn't make me break out in hives, so that's a plus. The package says "Great for the entire body!" and notes that the wipes are alcohol free, but I still didn't feel comfortable using the wipe on my face--the scent was just too strong for me and I was worried that it might cause breakouts.

Additionally, it bears mentioning that while these are billed as being a great alternative to a shower when you don't have the time (say after working out on your lunch break), I think that they're going to be most useful in terms of moderate exercise...'cause let's be honest, after Insanity, my hair is so drenched with sweat that I'm not sure that using a body wipe would make that much of a difference. However, for moderate exercise, and especially hiking, I think these could be a great addition to my bag of tricks.

One caveat--these seem very much like scented baby wipes to me, so in order for these to be something that I'd actually purchase, I'd need them to be priced similarly to baby wipes. Assuming they were, I think I probably would purchase these in the future.

Oh, and also, the wipes say that their flushable, but I am fairly sure my husband (who works for a plumbing company) would beg to differ, or at least recommend against it. And there you have it.

Note: I was provided these sport wipes by Playtex, through Crowdtap. As part of my participation on Crowdtap, I will be writing a similar review of my experience with this product. The top 1 in 25 reviewers receive a $25 credit towards an Amazon gift card, but other than that opportunity, I did not receive any compensation for this post. In fact, a blog post was in no way a requirement of Crowdtap...I just blog about pretty much everything in my life, and figured that some of the women who read my blog would either (a) be interested to hear about a product like this or (b) have seen this product already and wondered whether it was worth it. So there you go!