"The Secrets Beneath"

Since I read "A Summer Secret" by Kathleen Fuller, I decided I should read book 2 in the Mysteries of Middlefield, "The Secrets Beneath."

Kathleen Fuller does a great job writing about Amish teens in this series.

Rebekah Yoder is a very curious teen who has quite a time with Caleb Mullet. Caleb tends to pick on her. Bekah's sister and friend tell her that Caleb likes her. Bekah doesn't know what to think about that.

Mysterious things start taking place next door. The vacant house has been bought. An old man and a very shady character show up at various different times at the house. It is all Bekah can do to refrain from looking out the window and spying on them.

School has been postponed for at least two weeks due to an accident. Meanwhile, her cousin Amanda shows up for a visit. Amanda's dad leaves Amanda with Bekah's family for quite awhile. Why would her uncle up and leave Amanda?

Cousin Amanda is sad her dad left her behind. She tried to run away but ended up being found and brought back. Amanda has a mother but why isn't she involved in what is best for Amanda? Amanda doesn't interact with Bekah's family and keeps to herself. She doesn't eat. She sleeps a lot.

At the house next door, the old man digs in his yard for some reason. This has Bekah puzzled. Cousin Amanda catches her spying. Bekah tells her what is going on over there.

Bekah and Amanda find themselves in a very scary situation. Will they escape unharmed? Will Amanda get along with Bekah's family? Will Caleb and Amanda make amends?

Read this book to find out.

Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half ---with-- America's Cheapest Family

"Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half" --with--America's Cheapest Family

by Steve & Annette Economides

I was very happy to get this book in my hands. Who does't want to save money on grocery bills? With the price of food going up, it doesn't hurt to save each and every penny we can.

In their first book, "America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money," they talked of money saving strategies from practically every budget.

The average family of three spends about $6,133 per year on groceries. That's $511 each month and $170 per person!

Their team effort in writing the book, allows you to read the book from your own life experience. You can apply the various ideas and tips to your level of your life. Test your grocery genius.

According to a 2006 survey, the average American family is eating out 1.4 times each week. Is that because we are too busy, hate to cook or it is more convient?

Meal planning is a must! Take stock of what you have and have a well stocked pantry. List your daily events that you have planned for the week and plan meals accordingly. Create your own menu planner or use the form they have in the book. If you are recipe challenged, research various cookbooks for meal ideas. Online recipes are great too!

Research the local grocery ads and note the sale items. Ad match between stores. Commit to spending less time shopping and avoid impulse buys. Know your prices and if you are getting a good deal or not. They talk of couponing and know that most of us don't want to sit down and clip coupons etc. Steve and Annette work as a team with the grocery shopping. Does your spouse go with you to the store? Not mine!

Once a month cooking can save a lot of time. Just pull your frozen meal out of the freezer on a super busy night. No meal prep and time for you.

Stock up and organize. Store it, find it, use it. They talk of tools and tips that they use. Make meal time fun! Have a garden. They share their favorite family recipes.

Recent Art

"Friendship" postcard. Thank you to all of my friends!
Love ya.

Recent Art

Been awhile my friends. Sorry about that! Here is a "book" themed postcard I made for a recent swap. I LOVE to read!!!!!!!!

http://divascreativas.ning.com Blog Hop Fun

Come have some fun in this upcoming blog hop. Please join the site if you are already not a member. Tell them Sarah Ackerman sent you. Blog hops are fun. You get to see some neat projects, get ideas and win prizes. Hope to see you there!

Win a 1000 sheets of Paper!

Go to this site for a chance to win 1000 sheets of paper! WOWZER! What fun that would be to win. Gotta LOVE paper!

"A Summer Secret"

"A Summer Secret"

By Kathleen Fuller

Book one in the Mysteries of Middlefield series by Kathleen Fuller. Having never read books by Kathleen Fuller before, I am happy to get to know her writing. I had no idea the book was written toward the teenage age but was fine with reading it anyway.

Amish girl Mary Beth Mullet loves to escape and get free time for herself. Living with a twin 13 year old brother and a younger one, she finds peace and quiet in an old abandoned barn. She draws and keeps a journal. Snacks, juice boxes and a blanket make it feel comfy.

Mary Beth notices some strange things in the barn. A found button, that is not like what the Amish wear, begins the mystery. She also notices some of her snacks have disappeared. Twin brother Johnny gets in on the mystery.

Meanwhile, teenage Sawyer is on the run. His parents were killed in a car accident. With no other family around, he is placed in foster care. Some parents a foster family can be though! He escapes and is on the run.

The mystery is solved and Sawyer gets to know Mary Beth and Johnny. The secret the twins hid from their parents could get them into trouble. They go sneaking around and tread on thin ice (so to speak) with their parents.

One night the barn is on fire. The secret comes out after that.

Will Mary Beth and Johnny get into trouble? Will Sawyer get caught or forever be on the run? Will the twins ever see Sawyer again?

I encourage you to read the book to find out.

Happy National Scrapbook Day!

Hope some of you got to enjoy National Scrapbook Day today! I had fun! Always good to have some scrap therapy!

Since I went to Disney on April 7-11, I worked on some photos from that trip. What fun!

This one I am not quite done with. I want to add some journaling. I will show you what I come up with once I add to it.

Hope all of you got some pages done!

Plain Paradise

Plain Paradise

by Beth Wiseman

I was so happy to review this book. I love reading about the Amish!

This is book 1 in the Daughters of the Promise series.

Linda Huyard had the perfect Amish life. Wonderful parents and two younger brothers.

Josephine Dronberger mysteriously comes to town. Josie was a scared teenager when her parents made her give up her baby girl. The baby was left with an Old Order Amish couple in Lancaster County. She desperately wants to get in touch with her daughter and get to know her.

Linda is courting Stephen. Stephen pens poems on paper and puts them in a slot on the bridge for Linda. Linda hopes that one day Stephen will ask her to marry him.

One day Josie shows up at the Huyard home. Linda's mom, Mary Ellen, tells her to leave at once. Linda can't understand why her mom would be so upset and turn that stranger away.

Abe and Mary Ellen have a secret that they have been hiding. They wondered why they had kept it for so long. The truth must come out and it will certainly hurt!

Linda has a good relationship with an older friend named Jonas. Jonas is a wise man who is very sick. Linda often pays him visits and is sad that her dear friend is so sick.

Josie gets to know Linda and her family. Linda goes to Josie's house. Mary Ellen is worried that Linda will get caught up in the English world. Stephen and his bishop grandfather also worry about Linda.

Josie is very sick and often has seizures. Her husband Robert was stuck in China. Josie ended up staying with Linda's family. While there, she learns about God and the power of prayer. She wishes her husband would believe there is a God.

Will Josie find her long lost daughter? Will she get better? Will Stephen propose to Linda? Will Robert find the Lord?

Read this book to find all the answers and more.

One Hit Wonder

A challenge to do a layout of the #1 song the day you were born. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head" was my song.

"Cryin's not for me 'cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin' because I'm free nothin's worrying me."

If only I couldn't complain and worry right now. LOL! Heaven help me!

"Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God"

I had the pleasure of attending Women of Faith in 2006. I was really impressed with Sheila Walsh's story. When I came across this book, I knew I had to read it.
Trust is the greatest gift that we can give our Father. A gift of immeasurable beauty. Sometimes we have to wait a lifetime to see the fulfillment of a dream, and the gift is who we became in the process of waiting.
Walsh tells of her first speaking engagement. She was very nervous of course. She ended up telling her story. The ladies loved it. She saw that opportunity as a moment of grace. She was grateful to have been used by God in such an unexpected way that day.
Sheila received a letter from someone who had heard one of her talks. In this letter, it was predicted that a new uniform was being made for her. Her period of boot camp was over and it was time for a promotion.
Jesus hasn't come to get you through the pain of life, he has come to live in you through it.
In this book, Sheila tells of Bible characters and their trust toward God, from Anna the prophetess, Paul, Tabitha, Gideon, Samson, and Abraham.
Trust him with all we are and all we have. When we try to figure out things on our own, we will fail; when we trust him and follow him no matter how things seem to us or those around us, there is amazing victory.
When we find ourselves in hard times, peace will only be found in our Father's arms. All we are asked to do is to trust God and keep followiing him, no matter how dark the path gets. Every trial is designed to show you something about yourself that you did not know.
God is the one friend you can always, completely, 100 percent trust. You can trust God with everything you have and are, because he never has and never will fail you.

Welcome Blog Hoppers

Welcome to my blog. WHAT about this hop? WHAT fun this is! Isn't it great to recycle? WHAT a shame if you don't! WHAT about winning a prize? WHAT you have to do is post a comment on my blog. Be sure to leave your email address. WHAT about following my blog? WHAT about joining our "Create It Green" Yahoo group and blog? WHAT fun you will have!





This ATC was made with a red envelope liner. You know the red, gold or silver on the top inside of envelopes? Mostly we get these at Christmas time. Used postage stamps and a bow off of a bag of Christmas candy. Fun! I love collecting used postage stamps for my art!




This ATC was made with scraps of paper that one would usually throw away. Gold foil envelope liner, a Watkins product label (yes I sell Watkins) and a cut out from a vintage calendar. WHAT fun this was to make!!




This ATC was made with a texture type of wallpaper. Scraps of paper from a book, a vintage calendar image and a button. WHAT a beautiful lady she is!




This last ATC was made with the red envelope liner. The hearts were punched out from an old greeting card. The hearts in the middle was a pop up from a greeting card. WHAT a heart filled card!

WHAT to do now? WHAT about hopping over to Joan's blog? See WHAT creative items she is sharing!


http://www.joan-discoveries.blogspot.com

My keyword is WHAT in case you didn't figure it out! : )

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had fun!

Join Our Blog Hop

Join us tomorrow February 6 for a fun blog hop. Start here http://createitgreen.blogspot.com/ at noon EST. This will be the start of your recycled craft journey! Prizes and fun will be had.

Recycled Collage Greeting Card

This card was made out of old greeting cards. Yes, I save my cards that people send. I like the vintage type look to it. I was sorry to send this swap card away : ( Hopefully the person getting it will like it!

"Blessings" by Kim Vogel Sawyer

This is the third book in the Summerfeld Trilogy by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

Young Mennonite Trina has a special bond with animals. She knows how to care for them. Her passion is to be a vet. With the strict order of her community and the disapproval of her parents, will Trina ever achieve her dream?

Boyfriend Graham is mad when he finds out her plans to attend college. Can he marry someone who is determined to step out of the Mennonite fellowship?

Will Trina's plans of taking over Dr. Groening's practice work out for her?

What a Way to Spend Your 40th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me today! So fun having the flu on your birthday! NOT! I have had nothing to eat since yesterday afternoon.

I shouldn't complain though. It could be a lot worse!

Prayers for Hatti and their clean up process. Help them to rebuild and go on with their life.

This ATC I made using recycled greeting card parts. I love making collage and doing my part to recycle. One lucky follower will be receiving this.

Every Good Gift

Here is my recycled greeting card collage ATC that I made for a swap.
I just love to save all the greeting cards that I receive and recycle for art projects. So much fun!
If you follow my blog, you just might be receiving this very soon.

"Fearless" by Max Lucado

Having never read a Max Lucado book before, this was the perfect one for me to start out with.

Sadly, currently two family members are going through depression and anxiety. I hope to turn to this book and offer them support from it. It is a book that everyone should have in their house!

Fear of not mattering, fear of what's next, fear of disappointing God, fear of running out, our kids in danger, overwhelming challenges, violence, fear of the coming winter, life's final moments, fear that God is not real. Max talks about all of these familar fears.

Max talks of "Eight Worry-Stoppers."

Pray first, Easy now, Act on it, Compile a worry list, Evaluate your worry categories, Focus on today, Unleash a worry army, and Let God be enough. The first letter of each word in the list equals = P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L.

All that Jesus suffered! (ropes, whips, thorns, and nails). Do you hear the whip slapping against his back? Fight your dragons in Gethsemane's garden. Talk to God about your troubles.

"I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." - John 14:27

He distributes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to many. When you unlock your understanding with mine, and we share our discoveries. When we mix, mingle, confess, and pray, Christ speaks.

"I tell you not to worry about everyday life--whether you have enough." - Matt. 6:25

"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kindom." - Luke 12:32

I pray for all those who suffer from depression and anxiety. May this book help you to overcome it.