I love a good book; give me a good book, a cup of coffee, & you won’t hear from me for a while. Typically I only read non-fiction, but maybe twice a year I will read a novel (this usually happens when I’m in an airport). I really love reading people’s stories, especially how their experiences shape them, thus memoirs are my favorite books. Another genre of books that I like to read are marital books on ways, with biblical basis, to make your marriage stronger. However, I must say that I am not a literature guru, not even close. I normally pick a book completely based on the cover or the title (yes, I know that’s wrong). If I read a review about a book, or search a topic & the title keeps appearing then I will probably read that too. Here is a review of the books that I read over the summer:
Thumbs down: Never Give Up (by Bill Moushey & Bill Parise) is about my favorite Steelers defensive player, James Harrison. Moushey is a Pittsburgh sports column writer & Parise is Harrison’s agent, so they know him pretty well. The book was about Harrison’s football career & how he got to Steeler Nation. I liked the story, but it was poorly written.
Confessions of a Rebel Debutante (by Anna Fields) I thought would be more interesting about the south than it actually was. I did enjoy Fields pointing out places & things that I recognized from back on the east coast, but that was probably all that got me through the book.
My Stoke of Insight (by Jill Taylor) was the first book written by a neurologist who had come through a stroke. It was interesting for her to confirm the feelings that neurologists say one will experience during a stroke & it was intriguing to know how much she was thinking & comprehending but could not express. I think the only reason I didn’t like this memoir was because it moved too slowly for me (but then again I guess that is what it is like after having a stroke).
The Wednesday Sisters (by Meg Clayton) was actually a novel about a group of women that lived in the same neighborhood & got together every Wednesday to write in the park. The novel lacked captivation & I’m still not sure what the point was.
Thumbs up: The Power of a Praying Wife (by Stormie Omartian) was so helpful. As women, I think so many times we have no idea how our husbands need us to pray for them; I mean, how could we know that?! Each chapter in this book was a different topic that husbands often struggle with (e.g. finances, career, fatherhood, etc.) & how their wives can help them through prayer. Omartian also provides lots of scripture (i.e. “power tools”) for prayer. I liked this so much that I got
Power of a Praying Husband for Phil. There are others too, like
Power of a Praying Parent, etc.
The Savvy Bride’s Answer Guide (by Focus on the Family) was such a cute cover, especially when you put it next to the groom’s edition & it looks like they are holding hands! Awwwww! Aside from the cute-cover-factor, I like books from Focus on the Family. I guess I’m no longer considered a “newlywed” but I still liked this book. Each chapter was so short that I could quickly read one while I was eating my cereal in the morning & still get a great message of encouragement on how to better serve my husband. This would be a great wedding gift for someone just getting married (even if it isn’t on their registry hehe).
Orange is the New Black (by Piper Kerman) was awesome! I was getting a pedicure when I read the review in People magazine & it sounded so unique that of course I had to read it. Kerman described her young adult life when she was involved in drug smuggling, & after she got her life together (and 10 years later) it all caught up with her. The memoir is about her time spent in prison, the women she met, & the relationships that developed. It gives a unique perspective on our judicial system & prison life. I also thought it was neat that while she was in prison, Martha Stewart’s trial was going on, and the responses from the inmates were hilarious!
The Body Broken (by Lynne Greenberg) was a great story about a woman who’s spine was cracked as a teen & her subsequent battle with uncontrollable pain for decades; a very powerful story of her juggling pain, a career, & her roles as a wife & mother.
10 Things I Want my Husband to Know (by Annie Chapman) I picked because I like the author. The Chapmans have written many great books, & this was no different. Each chapter offered ways in which a wife can effectively communicate with her husband about different topics.
Wasabi Gospel (by Shawn Wood) was beyond fantastic! Wood took different parables that Jesus taught & really emphasized what Jesus was saying. For example, Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, but Wood reminds us that our neighbors are even those people that society tells us not to like (i.e. thieves, murders, adulterers, terrorists, etc.) & we are still expected to demonstrate love & compassion towards those people, AND pray for them. The cover & title initially attracted me because I like sushi, but after reading it, I liked Wood’s comparison of the startling effect of wasabi & the startling messages of Jesus. I just love to dive deeper into the Word to really understand what is being said; this book definitely does that.
So that is what I have been reading. What books have you read recently that you would recommend?
On Tuesday I made Spicy Buffalo Wings with homemade Spicy Buffalo Sauce & homemade Cool Ranch (SL) with Garlic Fries (TFYC). I didn’t try the wings because I don’t like wings. I like chicken & I like buffalo sauce, but I do NOT like wings. They are too messy. I do not like having sauce all over my face, dripping down my shirt, on my finger nails…..nah I’ll just pass on wings. This celebratory dinner was for Phil for after he finished his test on Tuesday night (Sidebar- he scored a 107!!!!!! So proud of him!). I think that Phil really liked the wings & I loved making them for him. I made the Garlic Fries from the cookbook club & they were pretty tasty! I ended up dipping my fries into the Cool Ranch sauce --> one bad & one good cancel each other out, right?
My favorites from this week were salsa & fries…..so healthy! Hehe just kidding!
Chocolate Cherry-Almond Biscotti- If you’re like me, & notorious for not being able to guesstimate measurements well, you need a kitchen ruler for this recipe. If you over-estimate then it doesn’t bake through well & if you under-estimate, it will break. So my best advice is bringing a ruler into the kitchen. I used cranberries instead of cherries, Cadbury dark chocolate (not the best quality, but a couple steps up from Kroger brand), omitted the orange zest, used regular whole-wheat flour, & didn’t chop the almonds too finely (don’t you think almonds look prettier when you can see them?). I thought the biscotti was really great & went fantastic with my morning cappuccino!
Sweet & Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwich- This is one sophisticated grilled cheese sandwich. While I did like the idea of making this traditional sandwich a little more novel, I didn’t really like this specific twist. I didn’t feel like the caramelized onions & the pepper jack cheese were a good combination. In Martha Stewart Living (October) there is an article with a bunch of recipes for dressing-up the traditional grilled cheese. I think I will try merging some of those options with this one & see what I get.
Mango Lassi- Apparently I’m not a fan of mangos, & Phil, who does like mangos, didn’t like this drink either. Unfortunately, we just did not like this drink at all; we couldn’t even finish the one glass that we were sharing :-\ 
Phil picked Chicken Marsala Tetrazzini from my SL magazine for dinner last night & we both really liked it. Never having cooked with marsala, it was certainly a challenge especially since I didn’t even know where to find it in the grocery store (FYI- it’s in the condiments aisle). hehe
Ok those were my new recipes from last week. Of course, I’ll let you know how this week goes in the kitchen! 
We have been to our fair share of Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurants in the past few years, but 
We were also blessed to take a few trips this summer. We started by visiting Austin and the capital building, as well as Lake Travis. This was our second trip to Lake Travis, but it still shocks me to think that we’re still in Texas when we go there. Also, after 3 years in TX we finally made it to a beach! I love living this close to the beach; if it were up to me we would be there every weekend. On our last trip to the beach, we were out to dinner and got seated next to a woman sitting alone. Before she left, she came to our table and told us that we reminded her of her and her recently deceased husband when they were young. We could see that she was troubled and realized that we had the perfect opportunity to witness to her. It was a great reminder that every opportunity and every encounter we have in our lives is a chance to lead someone to Christ…even when you’re on vacation. In addition, it was another reminder that you never know when you’re last day on earth will be, so love the Lord and love others as much as you can. I doubt that we were as much of a blessing to the restaurant lady as she was to us.
Lake Travis
In the kitchen this summer I cooked a lot of CHICKEN! I haven’t started on any new recipes from my cookbook club, but I have still tried several new recipes (most of which were based on chicken); in the fall I will probably jump into the new cookbook. This summer I tried my hand at cake decorating, but I am not good at all. Right now it’s embarrassing, but I hope to get better during the fall. 
Phil and I took a painting class at the beginning of August and here is the picture of our class. 
Amongst all the fun activities this summer, Phil aced his class and I taught 2 courses. We had an end-of-semester celebration dinner at Smith & Wollensky. It was our first time there, but I loved it. The food was so delicious and we even splurged for dessert; wow, yum-o! 
Low-fat chocolate pudding- I saw this recipe in my FN magazine and thought “no way that can be tasty.” It was actually good, but I think I must to have done something wrong because it never took to a pudding consistency.
Pork BBQ and potato salad- I have yet to find a place in TX that makes good southern Carolina pork BBQ. There are many places that make great TX BBQ, but pork is my favorite type of BBQ. I have never made it because I thought I needed a smoker. I was wrong; all I needed was 16 hours. I spent one day last week making this 10 lb BBQ masterpiece. To me the only RIGHT way to eat Carolina BBQ is to top it with some homemade potato salad. So for the first time ever I made my own BBQ, BBQ sauce, & potato salad. Yum-o! 
Greek whole-wheat pitas- I made this last night really fast. The recipe just called for a Greek salad, but I added some grilled chicken. If I didn’t serve my husband some form of meat for dinner, he would think I had lost my mind! 
Some of the decorations inside: on the stair railing, the coffee table, & in the powder room.
Here are the decorations that were on the buffet. 
I don't know about everyone else, but I had a blastie-blast at this shower! The hostesses with the then mommy-t0-be, and now, new mommy. Congratulations Wyatt & Amy on your new beautiful baby boy! We can’t wait to meet little Callum (aka Roshambeaux)! 
