Perfect Summer Read: The Beach Trees

Hi Friends!  So sorry for my absence these past couple of months I hope everyone has been doing well and enjoying the warm weather!

With Summer right around the corner I like to get my summer reading list together.  You know the kind of books you like to take to the beach, pool, lake, mountains, etc. that you can just get lost in.  Well I have the perfect book for you!  It's called The Beach Trees by Karen White.

Set in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina comes a heart warming story about moving on after great tragedies.  The main character Julie Holt is like a fish out of water in New Orleans in the beginning, she's a native of New England and has dealt with her own tragedy, the disappearance of her younger sister Chelsea when she was only twelve and then the death of her best friend Monica who leaves her only son Beau in Julie's guardianship.  Her life changing journey leads her to New Orleans where Monica grew up and has left a beach house named River Song to her son Beau.  Only after she arrives in New Orleans does she realize that Katrina has taken it's wrath out on River Song and there's almost nothing left.  So she must connect with the family that Monica ran away from and try to piece together the mystery of why she ran away from a family that seemed to love her so much while rebuilding River Song.

Here you meet Monica's brother Trey who is a very complex character and her grandmother Miss Aimee who is one of my favorite characters of the book.  One of the things that I love about Karen White's books is you get two stories in one.  The present day with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which is Julie's story and then you get to see Aimee's story and what tragedies she dealth with and how she overcame them. 

My favorite quote of the book is, "Great tragedy give us opportunities for great kindness."  It get's me a little choked up thinking about all of the disasters that part of our country is facing right now in Missouri and other states in the wake of the tornados.  But this book shows us just what the human spirit is made of and how we overcome and move on, help one another when the weight is too much to bear.

There's romance, mystery, and drama all rolled into one and I promise it won't dissapoint.  I guarantee The Beach Trees will leave you inspired.  Follow this link to see what others had to say about the book.

Happy summer reading!!!

Happy Valentines, Blessing Ring, and a Tutu

Happy Valentines Day Friends! Really quick post as I'm walking out the door to work.

I have a surprise baby shower to go to today for a co-worker and I made her a blessing ring.  Seriously the easiest thing ever to make!!  All you need is a necklace ring from a craft store and ribbons.  Then you can add any embelishment you like.

And I also made her a tutu in her school colors.  She went to Virginia Tech and so did her husband and they are die hard fans.  So I think she'll really love this!!

Hope you all have a wonderful V Day!!!

My Week in Pictures

Hello Friends!  I've been enjoying my new Nikon and thought I'd share my week in pictures.  Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Pioneer Woman's Carrot and Squash Curry Soup! YUM!

I joined a Book Club!!  This is what we're currently reading!

This was a belated Christmas present for Hubby.  The poor guy came in a million pieces and Hubby glued him back together agent!

Playing with my new camera!

This is MY NOOK!  Doesn't it look cozy and in desperate need of a makeover, this is on my 2011 Goals!

The surprise snow we got on Friday night!

The last of the Christmas decorations that came down this weekend!

I just love the glitter that's on this poinsettia!

Our cozy breakfast nook, although I have to admit that Christmas lights make anything look cozy! : )

Have a FABULOUS week friends!

My 29 Goals in 2010 - Continued

Happy 2011 Friends!  I hope everyone had a great New Year's and is excited about 2011, it's gonna be a great year!

So I shared my first two goals here and now I'm going to share the rest with you now because I need to get started on my 30 Goals in 2011!

Goal 3 - Take 365 photos (photo a day).  Didn't happen, I think I made it to the end of February and then I just kind of stopped.  I will be trying this one again and I'm hoping that my new Nikon will motivate me to follow through with it this year!

Goal 4 - Open up an Etsy store.  Nope didn't do this one either, probably won't be adding this to the 2011 list because instead of opening up an Etsy store I became a Thirty-One Consultant!! I love it! 

Goal 5 - Learn how to sew.  No, this is turning into a list of things I didn't do in 2010, haha!  I would love to learn to sew, my mom used to sew and she made me the most beautiful easter dresses. 

Goal 6 - Attend 2 weddings.  YES!  I did this, attended two good friends weddings one in March and the other in July. 

Goal 7 - Read 12 books.  The idea was to read a book a month.  I read The Host, On Folly Beach, The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner, Dead in the Family, Chasing Harry Winston, The Last Song, Firefly Lane (started but didn't finish), Eat Pray Love (started but didn't finish, The Hunger Games, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (still reading), and one that I can't remember the name of??  So I didn't quite get there, but I was close!

Goal 8 - Learn 24 new recipes.  Okay so I got 23 new recipes.  I'll share them with you in another post.  But a lot of them were the Pioneer Woman.

Goal 9 - Make everything in the Pioneer Woman Cookbook.  Didn't happen but I made at least 5 or 6 things.

Goal 10 - Swim in the ocean.  YES!  Did this over the summer in Virginia Beach.

Goal 11 - Go to Scotland.  Yes, we went to Scotland in February to surprise Hubby's dad for his 60th birthday, it was a great trip!

Goal 12 - Plant herbs in the garden. I planted Basil, Rosemary, and Lemon Balm. : )  I plan on planting a lot more this spring.  I want to do Parsley, Chives, Thyme, and a few others.

Goal 13 - Go to Key West.  Hubby and I got invited to a good friends wedding in Key West and we were planning on going but with this still being the first year in our new house we really wanted to spend the time and money on that so we didn't do Key West and while I'm sad we didn't get to see our friends getting married I'm really glad that we saved the money and were able to spend time at the house.

Goal 14 - Host a Party at the house.  Halloween Party and Hubby's Birthday Party and a Thirty One party!  I was all about the parties! : )

Goal 15 - Go to the movies at midnight.  Yes, hubby and I went to see It's Complicated at a 10:30 showing so technically we were at the movies at midnight and it was fun!

Goal 16 - Hang our Wedding Pictures up - Haven't done this yet, but we have started printing and framing them!

Goal 17 - Refurbish an old piece of furniture - I'm not really sure where this one came from but no I haven't done this.  I'll work on it in 2011

Goal 18 - Decorate and paint my nook.  Long story that I will share with you in another post.

Goal 19 - Give away 20 pieces of clothing I don't wear anymore.  Yes I have given away a lot more than that and have a big bag that's still accumulating as we speak.

Goal 20 - Buy new shoes for work.  Yes, I bought a cute pair of tan pumps from Aldo that I love!

Goal 21 - Have a Harry Potter weekend where I watch all the Harry Potter movies back to back.  No I didn't do this, but does watching Harry Potter whenever it was on TV count?

Goal 22 - Take my nieces and nephews to the movies.  Didn't do this one, this will be on my list for 2011, maybe not the movies in particular but take them somewhere fun, maybe a museum....

Goal 23 - Commission an artist to paint my wedding dress.  Haven't done this yet, but I've found a lady on Etsy that I'm going to get to do this!

Goal 24 - Write a handwritten Thank You note to someone.  Yes, I did this more than a few times, I think it's such a nice gesture that people have gotten out of the habit of doing.

Goal 25 - Send out picture Christmas cards.  No we didn't do this, I was hoping to but in the end just ended up buying some regular ones.

Goal 26 - Go somewhere I've never been before - Yes, did this went to Dallas (for work)

Goal 27 - Have a mother / daughter day.  Yes, took my mom to the Outer Banks for her birthday and had a whole weekend together!

Goal 28 - Get all of my Christmas shopping done before December.  No way did that happen, I wish.  I always end up doing most of my shopping in December. 

Goal 29 - Get Pregnant.  Unfortunately not, but still trying and praying that 2011 is the year!

So there you have it.  My 2010 goals and the few I actually acheived, haha.  I'll share my 2011 list once I get it all compiled. 

Does anyone else have goals for 2011? : )

Christmas - 2010

 We had a great White Christmas this year!  And I'm so excited because I got a Nikon D3000!!! So I'm a picture taking fool now!

Yeah, I don'nt know what kind of face I'm making here!!

Hope ya'll had a great Christmas too!! : )

Now it's time to get this place cleaned up!  When Christmas is over I always get in the mood to go through my closets and do a good clean out, get rid of the clothes I don't wear anymore, make room for the new stuff (or the things I'll buy in the January sales!) and just get into organization mode to start the year off right! 

How about ya'll, does anyone else do this?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I wish nothing but the most wonderful blessings to everyone on this beautiful Christmas Eve!  May you be filled with the spririt of Christmas and wonder of the birth of our Lord Jesus!

Merry Christmas Friends!

Sarah and Hubby : -)

My 29 Goals in 2010

So back in January instead of doing the usual New Years Resolutions, like go to the gym more, never happens, I decided to do some goals for 2010.  These are things that I could work on all year long, which for me being a self proclaimed procrastinator were perfect! 

I'm going to share these goals with you and let you know if I actually was able to acheive them. : ) 

I'll also be doing another list of goals for 2011, that list will contain 30 (I chose 29 because I turned 29 this year) so the 30 list will have to be a doozie!

Now, I'm going to tell you right now that I didn't actually achieve hardley any all of these goals, so the one's the I didn't complete will be going on to my 2011 list.



Okay on to goal 1 and 2.

Goal 1 - Attend Church on a regular basis (I didn't quite acheive this goal I'm embarrassed to say, I did try a bunch of Church's out and ended up finding one that I really like that I've gone to a handful of times, so this will definitely make my 2011 list)

Goal 2 - Run a 5k (**Disclaimer - I'm NOT a runner, hate it, but I did start running back in February kind of gearing myself up for a 5k in April, but it never happened.  I've printed off the running plan From the Couch to 5k (google it, it's awesome) that I'm hoping will help me out.  This goal will also be making my 2011 list)

So there are my first two goals and as I'm looking through my list of goals I didn't actually acheive a lot of them, but they're good goals that I'll be sharing and adding to the 2011 list. 

Happy Tuesday!