Product Review Preview, Valentine’s and a Knee Update

Those fabulous people at CSN Stores has given me another opportunity to review one of there products!  Yay!  If you look back through my blog, you’ll see that I’ve reviewed items such as shoes and kitchen products, but CSN Stores has so much more.  From swing sets to bedroom sets, they have thousands of products to choose from.  Talk about one stop shopping!  Stay tuned to see what item I select this time.  Also, if you’re interested in winning a CSN Stores gift certificate, be sure to stop by my other blog!

Moving right along, I wanted to talk about Valentine’s day.  Did you all have a good one?  I sure did.  Jeremy and I are pretty laid back, so we aren’t the type of people to go out to a fancy dinner and buy expensive presents for each other on Valentines.  We must just love each other SO much throughout the whole year! (Ha! )  Anyway, since Jeremy hasn’t been able to drive due to his knee surgery, I didn’t even expect a card from him this year.  Well, he pleasantly surprised me and when I got home from work…I found that he had baked me a PINK Valentine’s cake, had Hershey kisses all over the place and had gotten me a card.  Awwww!  As my mom would say, “What a guy, huh?”  Apparently, the Friday before, he asked our friend, Jake, if he was available to take him to Walmart, so they did a little Valentine’s shopping.  Anyway, we exchanged cards, went out to dinner at a little steakhouse in our po-dunk town, watched TV and ate cake.  In fact, I’ve been eating cake all this week.  Best. Husband. Ever. 

Not gonna lie…I’m really surprise he even knew where the cake pans were.

PINK funfetti Valentine’s cake!  Drool…

Kisses! (And yes, I’m almost 28 years old and I keep my childhood teddy bears by my bed)

Lastly, I wanted to post a knee update.  Jeremy’s knee is doing really well and the Dr. is proud of his progress.  He’s getting his permanent brace soon (which he’ll wear for about the next year) , he off his crutches, and he’s started physical therapy.  He’s taking one more week off of work, but he’s definitely on the road to recovery!

Ewww! It still looks funny.

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

27 years ago today, my husband was born.  Yay!

Happy Birthday, Jerm!  I love you.

Jayla and Saremy's Vacation 2010 - Caribbean Cruise

Hi friends!  Are you ready for an exciting post that will make you want to go someplace tropical, kick your shoes off and lay in the sand?  Alright then!  Here we go...

 

As you fine readers know, we hang out with our friends Jake and Kayla (lovingly referred to as "Jayla") a lot.  We usually have dinner with them a few times a month, we have video game and movie nights, and we go on vacation with them.  If you refer back to our prior vacation posts, you'll see that we have plans to go on an annual vacation with them.  Last year (that sounds so long again, but really it was in December, and I'm just now catching up on blogging about it), we decided to go on a cruise through the Western Carribean!  So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present you with: Jayla and Saremy's Vacation 2010!

 

 

We departed for our cruise, aboard the Celebrity Eclipse, out of the port of Miami on December 11th and set sail for 7 glorious days of vacation.  Our ports of call were: Grand Cayman Islands, Cozumel, Mexico, Costa Maya, Mexico and Roatan, Honduras; along with 2 full days at sea.  At each port, we did excursions such as: going to Hell and the turtle farm in Grand Cayman, doing zip lines in Cozumel, power snorkeling in Costa Maya, and visiting the preservation park in Honduras.  Plus, while aboard our ship we ate delicious food, took in nightly shows, ate delicious food, laid out by the pool, ate delicious food, shopped, ate delicious food, gambled in the casino, ate delicious food, dressed up for 2 formal nights, and did I mention, we ate A LOT of delicious food?? :)  For those of you who have never cruised before...eating is a big part of the activity on board, and the food is amazing and always available.  It's somewhat ridiculous, actually. 

 

Yep, that’s our ship.

 

Neighbors.

 

Our room.

 

Complimentary rob, slipper and iced tea.

 

Our first night aboard.

 

We’ve been to Hell and back.

 

The waves were huge in Grand Cayman.

 

We got to hold turtles!

 

About to go zip lining.

 

On the shuttle boat back to the ship.

 

Jayla’s “pretend” anniversary.

 

Costa Maya.

 

Honduras was gorgeous!

 

At the preservation park…

 

Where we made new friends.

 

Formal night.

 

What a great vacation!

We had an awesome time on this cruise and there have already been talks of cruising the Eastern Caribbean in the future.  Jake and Kayla, thanks for another great vacation!  We had a blast!

 

My favorite group shot!

Litfuse Blog Tour and Review: Rhythm of Secrets by Patti Lacy

The Rhythm of Secrets
by Patti Lacy
Published January 31st, 2011
Kregel Publications 
320 pages
ISBN: 9780825426742
Fiction/Historical

 About the book: Since 1955, Sheila Franklin, a talented musician, has perfectly performed the role of devout pastor’s wife, locking away her past as Sheba Alexander and Sylvia Allen. Her carefully constructed façade crumbles with a single phone call from a young Marine named Samuel, the illegitimate son she secretly put up for adoption. Samuel begs Sheila to use her government contacts to get his fiancé, Mali, a Thai prostitute, into America. A dangerous mixture of love and guilt spurs her to help her only child even though it devastates her husband Edward and exposes her questionable past. After a quarrel with Edward, Sheila and Samuel board a C-130 for Thailand and then search Bangkok’s steamy streets for a Madonna-faced prostitute. The two whisk Mali from a brothel but are seized by a warlord who considers Mali his “number one girl.” In a teak “ghost house,” Sheila discovers God’s grace and gains the freedom she needs to find her own identity—Sheila, Sylvia, and Sheba. A framed story, this novel has roots in the bohemian 1940s New Orleans French Quarter and spans three decades, including the turbulent Vietnam era.

My Review:

The Rhythm of Secrets was the first book I’ve read by Patti Lacy and I am thoroughly impressed!  Mrs. Lacy was able to transport me back to places such as 1940’s New Orleans, a summery beach in Mississippi, a home for unwed mothers and even to a brothel in Thailand, during the Vietnam war.  And let me tell you, what an emotional, wild and grace-filled ride, it was!

In all honesty, I didn’t think that I would like this book very much; however, I was immediately captured by the flash back story line of Shelia’s present day and her childhood.  I couldn’t wait to hear her story and understand why she gave up Samuel, but I also wanted to find out what would happen now that he was back in her life.  Also, I enjoyed how this book dealt with “real” issues of era.  Racism, alcohol, prostitution, and a baby out of wedlock are all brought up in this book and they were were handled tastefully and realistically.  Lastly, Mrs. Lacy has a beautiful writing style.  It is rich with descriptions and at times, I felt like I actually was Sheba grieving the loss of her parents, or Sylvia fighting to keep her baby, or even Shelia struggling to understand God’s love for her. 

The only downside to this book (and this is really stretching for a downside) was that there was SO much going on and it was  always intense!  After following along all the ups and downs of Shelia’s emotional journey, I felt like I should have been on page 400, but when I looked down, it was surprising to find that I was only on page 200. 

Overall, I’m so glad that I read this book!  Shelia is such a strong and brave character, who perseveres and gets the life that she deserves at the end. It’s an entertaining story that will make you think with all its plot twists and turns, and make you smile with an overwhelming message of forgiveness. Sara’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Many thanks to Litfuse Publicity Group for sending me this complimentary review copy in exchange for posting my honest review! 

Patti Lacy is celebrating the release of her latest book with a NOOK Giveaway, blog tour and Book Club Party! Follow the blog tour and read the reviews! Patti and her publisher, Kregel Publications, are giving away a NOOK prize package worth over $150 to one lucky winner!!!!

Enter the Nook eReader Giveaway and you could win:

• A brand new Nook eReader with Wi-Fi
• $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form/s, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest. Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on February 16th at Patti's Rhythm of Secrets Facebook Party.

The Knee

Hi blog readers!  What is new in the life of Jeremy and Sara, you ask?  Well, Jeremy decided he needed a break from work for a bit...so, he went and hurt his knee.  Just kidding!  Well, kinda.  A few days before New Years, Jeremy hurt his knee playing basketball.  As a matter of fact, he hurt it pretty bad.  Bad enough to tear his ACL and need surgery.  Yep.  Apparently to Jeremy, if you're going to hurt yourself...you might as well go all out and hurt yourself bad!  So, he had surgery last Friday to fix his knee and is on the road to recovery.  Here are some pictures of his first few days after surgery... we'll keep you posted on his progress.

Right after he got home.  Connected to the Polar Care 500.

Blanket = check. Potato Chips = check. Laptop = check.

Jeremy's entourage.