BOOK REVIEW: Girl Stop Apologizing

So I read Rachel Hollis's first book and walked away with mixed feeling on her writing style and formatting. After reading "Girl Stop Apologizing" I have to say that I do like her as a writer when she writes how she did in this book. It was a lot more focused and it was a better self development based book. 

I also liked how she used the analogy of a road trip/ map to navigate your way through a goal. Also her stories were a lot more on point here with illustrating her points along the way to reaching a goal. I also liked how she didn't ramble as much in this book keeping it shorter and on point. I have a hard time reading books that ramble, partly because my brain rambles on it's own when I read things and adding in someone else makes it even messier... (see I ramble) 

Anyway Loved this book and would recommend it to anyone in the business field, PTO mom, stay at home parent, college student. What she has to say can be applied to anyone trying to reach a goal. 

You can get your copy here

Grandpa's Tackle Box Sign

Nate has been helping my dad build a shed in their yard to store all of the lake and fishing gear. I felt it needed a sign and came up with "Grandpa's Tackle Box" and He loved it! Here is some of the in progress pictures of the sign coming together from my hand stenciling, painting and adding the rope border. (don't ask what kind of knot that is... yes i know my knots but it just needed to look cool not hold anything)

And all done !

My dad loves the sign and is now joking that this is his reason to take over the whole shed with his gear for fishing. 

Chicken Egg Portable Night Light

We were given this cute light for our baby shower for M a few months back and LOVE IT! We have only had to charge it 2 times now since she was born and she is 7 weeks old. We use it every night for diaper changes, checking on her and the boys or when need to nurse her. 

The soft light is amazing because it is NOT blue light and does not pulse. It is and easy tap on and tap off concept. We can even adjust the brightness by holding down the top after turning it on or holding it down again to turn it back up. 

The chicken part is made out of a soft material and is child safe so if you have a little one who is like our 2 year old who likes to snag it to snuggle with they can without getting hurt by a hard toy. 

There are no cords during use unless you leave the charging cord plugged in. It takes about an hour for us to charge ours and like i said it lasts several weeks on the lowest setting being used off and on all night. The box said it can last all night on one charge. The charging cord plugs into a USB port charger (like your cell phone cords) and is included in the box, the port is not.

Check it out on AMAZON HERE

WOOD Burning

I love the look of wood burning crafts! One day I will learn how to do this skill for myself in teh mean time I Shop from this shop MAKEWISHES. Her work is AMAZING and she has even donated to our schools charity event. Check out some of her work. 

     

What I am even more excited about is getting these to use with little M as she grows through the year! I can't wait till when they get here next week! 

PS I have to admit I am a bit bias with this artist, there are several really good ones out there but this is my sister in law and I love all the heart she puts into each piece. She will also do custom requests when she isn't back ordered.  You can find here online at the link above as well as at several different craft shows or pop con events in Salt Lake City/ Provo Utah areas

BOOK REVIEW : Girl Wash Your Face

So I read this book for the book club I am in and really loved a lot of the concepts and ideas she covered.  Although I feel like several of her stories that she used to illustrate the points didn't apply or connect with me as well as they may for other readers. 

LOVED: The way she pointed out the lies we tell ourselves in life.

LOVED: How she recapped the end of the chapters with how she overcame/overcomes the lie

DISLIKE: Several of her stories she used to illustrate the lie were a bit of a stretch to me

DISLIKE: I feel like throughout the book she puts herself on a pedestal and put other down (judges them) 

BIGGEST DISLIKE: In the book she talks about toxic relationships. She says to get out and get away. The personal story she uses is that of her and her husband and how he treated her when the started dating.... paining him in an awful light and then basically says he changed so it doesn't apply... Umm what is this telling other women or girls??? mixed feelings on this...

FAVORITE CONCEPT/TAKE AWAY: I love how in the book Rachel talks about other people's opinions and how to deal with them. my favorite take away is how she quotes another person, I think it was her therapist, saying that someone else's opinion of you is NONE of your business. WORDS TO LIVE BY! how many times do we get caught up in how others think of us???  

Over all good book and a lot to think about from the book. Again I loved the lies and how she over came them and I began to see how the lies apply to me and what I do now and what I can do to overcome them in my own life.  Now on to her next book....

You can get Girl Wash Your Face here

***Update to my Biggest Dislike***

I have watched several of  Rachel's youtube videos and listened to several of her audios and now understand a little more of her story and how her personality is. Anyway one of the videos was of her and Dave (her husband) talking about marriage. They talk about their story and how everything happened and you get more from his perspective (he does not pain himself in a pretty light either). Anyway, I still feel conflicted on her example in the book but I get it now on why it sort of fit. For here it was about being willing to leave and not put up with the abuse any more. She had to face it and "wash her face" stop crying and move on. End of story. The fact that he realized what he lost and came crawling back and had to change his own behavior to treat her respectfully is an add on. 

***Update to the update***

Dave is an amazing husband for him to be willing to let his wife share their story openly and for him to be willing to publicly admit that he was abusive but has changed and is now in a commit relationship with his wife where they are equals. 

Steal of a Deal

Back story: a few months back we were at Walmart to pick up a few things for the kids and as we were walking out they were loading things onto the clearance display carts. Nate walked over to see the price and it was too good to pass up! $54 for a 12 man tent! Giant bonus is it has built in LED lights that run along the ceiling that have several settings of brightness. 

Check it out on Amazon Here

All set up for our test run in the back yard. Just a little note as to setting up the tent. This takes a minimum of 2 people and that was a bit of a challenge too. Grant it if you are using a 12 man tent you probably have a handful of people around to help out with set up. The total set up time for Nate and I was 45 min. From unboxing to final set up all staked into the ground. Take down was done in 15 minutes. Another bonus is we don't have to have a fly for it because the fly is built into the zippered mesh windows. There are 2 doors, 4 wall windows, 4 triangle ceiling windows, 2 floor vents and 2 roof vents that can be closed.

It has your standard storage pouches plus 2 HUGE Storage pocket organizers! These are great for the littles toys, flash lights, bug spray, sunscreen,  electronics, glow sticks, and soo much more. 

Here are 3 kids sleeping bags and a large storage tote and there is still space for our queen mattress and our baby's pack n play. Did i mention even after all of that we have tons of open space?

Final pic to show how tall it is. My hubby is 5 ft 10 in and has plenty of head room. No more slouching our bending over to stand up and walk. 

Living Scriptures Big Book

My kids love coloring and activity books and I love when I can find one that is great for during church. This one we picked up in Utah before moving to Michigan and our kids love it! There is something for everyone in this BIG BOOK. My 7 year old loves the dot to dots and the coding pages. My 4 year old loves the find the differences pages and coloring pages and my 2 year old loves doodling on any page he can that has pictures of animals.