Author: cvegnad

January 27, 2015

I Choose You Today by Deb DeArmond #LitfuseReads

Marriage is a blessing between two people that we have to continuous work on every day. Marriage is a decision we make to love our spouse and to honour, respect and communicate openly with them. I Choose You Today by Deb DeArmond is an incredibly important read for all married couples and those soon to be married.

About I Choose You Today

Deb DeArmond has been married for thirty-eight years and knows a lot when it comes to marriage. Every day her and her husband make the spoke declaration, I Choose You Today. This declaration is a regular part of their constant communication. When we do not feel like saying these words that is when it is most important to remind ourselves that love is a choice not a feeling. I Choose You Today features thirty-one scriptural principles that work to support marriage and help couples to develop healthy bible based behaviour.

Built on an introductory anecdotal story, each chapter has an inspirational take away of not only what to do but how to apply these principles immediately. Thought provoking questions create talking points for couples to explore their own choices and experiences to generate open dialogue. I Choose You Today is not a book of “should do” but one of choices that each individual can make in their marriage and align it with God. Every chapter ends with an inspirational quote.

My Thoughts

My marriage and my husband are two of the most important things in my life. Every day we work towards building a stronger relationship and partnership. He knows me better than any one else I have ever met. He knows by just looking at me when I am hurt, sad or feeling down and always tries to make my day that much better. In the almost twelve years we have known each other we have had our own share of ups and downs. And the downs can hit hard. It is during these moments when our relationship is tested the most. I know I am guilty of occasionally not fighting fair.

I loved the openness of her book. She lets you into their marriage and relationship with complete honesty and uses their marriage to give guidance and understanding. She shares the struggles that others face and that many of us are currently facing right now. She breaks down each chapter by “I Choose You” to honour, love and so on. Sometimes it is hard to forget how to honour, love, respect our spouse. I love my husband with all my heart but with the daily struggles of getting by I can forget to tell him so. It is important to remember to make this part of our daily lives no matter how busy we become. She ends each chapter with a closing prayer and inspirational quote. The best part is you can read the chapters together or separately but they are all conversation starters for yourself and your spouse.

This is a definite must read for all married couples and those soon to be married. Deb explores each topic and reminds us that our marriage is one of the most important choices we will make in our life.

Rating: 5/5

Marriage Challenges!

Valentine’s Day Challenge: February 1-28

The ‘I Choose You’ Challenge: March 1 – December 31, 2015

Each challenge is slightly different and you will receive emails from Deb. Each challenge looks at building the relationship between your spouse and yourself.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 23, 2015

Let’s Get Crafty with DIY Valentine’s Day Centre Pieces! #Ad

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

Craft time is one of the best ways to fit in quality family time. A time to be silly and to experiment with new ideas and let the kids just be themselves. The holiday’s are a perfect time to get in some extra crafts and Valentine’s Day is no exception in our home. Each year we try to design a new craft – something different and unique for our family.

Since dinner time is important in our family (nothing beats that kind of bonding time!) and we have just recently started eating out in the dining room with our wedding dishes we thought a craft for our table would fit our family the best. Our table, while looking pretty with all the good dishes on it, was just looking plain:

Boring right?

So we thought, what better way to spice up our table than with Valentine’s Day themed centre pieces! We envisioned candles, candy, vases and with this in mind we headed out to Walmart to find some key pieces for our centre piece.

While I was checking out vases and supplies, our youngest son had the time of his life in the children’s crafting aisle – he would have fully stocked our cart if he was allowed to!

For our Valentine’s Day centre piece craft we purchased (and you will need to purchase to replicate!):

two medium-sized candles and one large candle
two small square vases
fabric in a colour of your choosing
cinnamon hearts
glue gun and sticks
white rectangular candle holder (we actually used a white appetizer tray for our craft!)
heart stickers
Valentine’s Day themed ribbon
clear wrapping paper

Start first with the small glass vases (since this was our kid’s favourite part!). Choose which stickers you want to apply on to the glass and apply the stickers directly onto the glass. Fill your glasses with the cinnamon hearts. Wrap them up with the clear wrapping paper and tie off in a bow with the ribbon.

Cut the fabric into rectangular pieces. The length should be enough so that the fabric will stretch around the candle once and just slightly overlap.

Using the glue gun, glue the under side of the left side of the fabric onto the top part of the right side of the fabric. Make sure that you are pulling the fabric tightly to ensure that it does not slip off the candle. Word of advice – don’t apply the glue from the glue gun directly onto the candle (yes, I can admit it – I made this mistake and completely blame the lack of coffee and pure exhaustion). Also be careful with those fingers! I managed to apply the glue directly onto my fingers – ouch!

Now comes the best part – arrangement!

Place the three candles onto the white candle holder (or in our case the app tray). Place hearts around the candles.

Voila! A beautifully Valentine’s Day themed decorated centre piece. The best part is that it can be changed and updated when the season changes.

Because the children in our life play such an important role in our life and it is important to us to let them know we love them, we decided to use the vases as a place setting. We put each vase on the children’s plate and it was a wonderful companion to our centre piece and the kids loved their extra surprise.

How do you update your home decor to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Do you have a special craft that you like to make each year?

January 21, 2015

New from Quilts of Love | A Stitch in Crime Kindle Fire Giveaway!

Don’t miss the newest Quilts of Love book, A Stitch in Crime by Cathy Elliott. Thea’s first quilt show begins to fall apart at the seams. Will she be able to piece the mystery together and save the town’s investment in the quilt show before another attack happens . . . with far worse results.

Enter to win a Kindle HDX!

One winner will receive:

A Kindle HDX
A Stitch in Crime by Cathy Elliott
Masterpiece Marriage by Gina Welborn
Swept Away by Laura V. Hilton and Cindy Loven

Enter today by clicking the button below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 8th. Winner will be announced on the Quilts of Love blog February 9th.

NOT ON FACEBOOK? ENTER HERE.

Enter today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

Coming next week will be my review of, A Stitch in Crime!

January 19, 2015

Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie the Pooh #giveaway

As a child, I grew up with the stories of Winnie the Pooh and his friendly gang. We had the collection of stuffed animals and the bedtime stories to go along with it. My love of Winnie the Pooh only grew stronger when I had my own children. I wanted them to love Winnie the Pooh just as much as I do!

It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I realized that the story I love so much was actually based on a true story! This true story comes to life in the new book, Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie the Pooh set to release on January 20th, 2015.

Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie the Pooh tells the story of Harry Coleburn, a veterinarian and a solder in training for World War I. On his way to training he finds a baby bear for sale at the train station and he knew within his heart that he had to care for the bear. Harry names the bear Winnie, short for his company’s home town of Winnipeg and brings Winnie with him to the training camp in England. She quickly becomes attached to Harry and follows him everywhere and soon becomes the regiment’s much-loved mascot. All too soon, Harry has to ship off to the battlegrounds in France and must find a loving home for Winnie. He chooses the London Zoo. While Winnie is there a very special little boy named Christopher Robin comes along and plays with Winnie.

This story is an incredibly heart warming tale that is the perfect story to share with your children. A tale of love, compassion and friendship that is timeless. The illustrations are wonderful and beautifully created to showcase the friendship and love that forms.

The book also includes original photographs of Harry, Winnie and Christopher Robin! This was a perfect idea to really connect the story to it’s past. Our kids loved looking at the photographs.

If you can’t wait and want to purchase a copy of the book you can do so now on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

The Giveaway!

Canadian residents, 18 years of age and older can enter to win their own copy using the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 16, 2015

The Amish Blacksmith #review

A new novel from bestselling authors, Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner, The Amish Blacksmith is Book Two in The Men of Lancaster County Series.

About the Amish Blacksmith

Apprenticed blacksmith, Jake Miller, is skeptical of Priscilla Kinsinger’s ability to soothe troubled horses, especially when he has his own ideas on how to settle them. Six years earlier, Priscilla’s mother died in an awful accident in their home and Priscilla’s grief over losing her mother was so intense that she was sent to live with relatives in Indiana. She has only just returned to Lancaster County. Her homecoming shouldn’t matter to Jake who is interested in courting lighthearted, Amanda Shetler. But Jake’s boss who is also Priscilla’s uncle asks him to help reconnect Priscilla with community life and he has no choice but to do just that. He finds himself slowly drawn to the beautiful but emotionally wounded Priscilla.

Jake is determined to prove to her that it is not her fault that her mother died but what he discovers will challenge everything they both believe about the depth of love and the breadth of forgiveness.

My Thoughts

The Amish Blacksmith is a wonderfully written story about loss and finding hope again. Priscilla has lost so much in her life with the loss of her Mother. She feels so much guilt over this loss which makes no sense to her family. She has lost all interest in everything that she once loved especially horses. She used to have such a deep connection with horses but her guilt has overwhelmed her and she can not allow herself to feel happiness.

Jake knew her as a young child and at first feels obligated to integrate Priscilla back into their community. He begins to realize that there is so much more behind her pain and wants to help her find peace and forgiveness. They begin to forge a friendship and Priscilla finally opens up to Jake and this was quite the twist in the story for me! I was not expecting the reason that was revealed about her guilt. It was then up to Jake and Priscilla to learn how to apply their beliefs and religion in order to forgive themselves for the past in order to move into the future.

I loved this book and have re-read it again because it was so good.

Rating: 5/5

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.