Tree Swing Reading

My hormones are killing me!

Ever since I gave birth to our youngest (who is now 6), I have had trouble with my hormone levels.  For a long time after she was born I tried telling my dr that something was wrong.  I kept having feelings like an electrical current was running through my body and I'd have adrenaline rushes for no reason when I was trying to fall asleep.  She would listen and smile and nod in the way that doctors do when they think you are just an over-tired mom who needs a nice hot bath and a cup of tea.  But I kept coming back to her over and over again.  Finally after 2 years of struggling we tested my hormone levels.  Guess what...I wasn't crazy afterall!  I seem to have lost the ability to produce progesterone on my own.  My body was totally out of balance.  Finally an answer!  All will be well now, right?

Wrong!  It seems that there is no easy way to know exactly how to make my balance right again except through trial and error.  So I played around with different dose levels of the progesterone cream until I finally started feeling better.  For a while.

As my body adjusts to the stress levels I am experiencing, the levels of hormone I need also changes.  So some months I go back to the electrical current thing again.  This is one of those months.  I am frustrated and angry that I have to feel this way.  I know my wacky hormones have played a factor in my miscarriage and ability to conceive again.  I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself today.  Sometimes I get so frustrated with this earthly body and all it's failings.  Won't it be cool to be completely healthy in heaven?  Maybe I'll finally be able to carry a tune too!

Thanks for letting me vent.  You are good listeners!

Be sure to vote by Friday night!

No, this is not an election reminder for November.  This is a reminder to vote for your choice of books to be included in my next giveaway!  Be sure to vote by Friday (Oct. 3)!  Click here to vote if you haven't already.

Review of "John 3:16" by Nancy Moser

See more info on this book on yesterday's CFBA blog tour post.

I feel like Mikey on those old Life Cereal commercials--"He liked it, he really liked it!"  Remember those?  Anyway, I liked it!  I really liked it!  This book really took me in and kept me interested all the way through.  It was like six degrees of separation between its characters as they are become linked one way or another.  And through tragedy, they all end up changed.

Moser follows five different people's lives (and does a good job keeping the storyline running clearly between them):

Maya: the overly driven saleswoman who is desperate to have a baby and is caught using unethical sales methods at work in order to get the money for fertility treatments.  How will she react to being fired?

Roman: her boss who taught her the techniques but pretends he didn't. Father to football star Billy and devistated by his loss.  How will he recover?

Peter: Billy's roomate and friend who is torn between his wild girlfriend Lianne and his family expectations. What will he do with his future?

Lianne: seemingly wild and unaffected by life, but secretly hurting from the secrets her parents kept from her.  How will she react when more secrets are discovered?

and Velvet: running from her past, only to have it come and smack her in the face unexpectedly when her daughter that she gave up for adoption shows up to work for her and the baby's father shows up in town too.  Will she keep running from her past or own the secrets?

A great book with a wonderful reminder of how God can speak to us through both little subtle signs and big glaring slaps in the face.  I couldn't put it down!

Review of "Whispers of the Bayou" by Mindy Starns Clark

You can still enter to win this book if you enter here before Oct. 4.

Description:

Swept away from Louisiana bayou country as a child, Miranda Miller is a woman without a past. She has a husband and child of her own and a fulfilling job in a Manhattan museum, but she also has questions—about the tragedy that cut her off from family and caused her to be sent away, and about those first five years that were erased from her memory entirely.

Summoned to the bedside of Willy Pedreaux, the old caretaker of her grandparents' antebellum estate, Miranda goes back for the first time, hoping to learn the truths of her past and receive her rightful inheritance. But Willy's premature death plunges Miranda into a nightmare of buried secrets, priceless treasure, and unknown enemies.

Follow one woman's search through the hidden rooms of a bayou mansion, the enigmatic snares of an ancient myth, and the all-consuming quest for a heart open enough for love—and for God.

My Review:

In a similar style to her "Smart Chick" mysteries, Clark delivers another mystery filled with a nice balance of interesting characters, plot twists, and intrigue.   I enjoyed the subtle foreshadowing and perpetual sense that there was "more to the story" than was first being revealed.  I also enjoyed the southern cajun setting and historical references.

Miranda's development as a character is gradual and doesn't venture too deep.  The most important details of her personality that are highlighted are the mysteries of her past and the impact that those secrets have had on her ability to be close to others.  Deep down, she is afraid to get to close to anyone, even her husband. But once she begins to recognize it, then she can begin to change and open up.  In addition, as the secrets of her life are opened up, one after another, she begins to see that holding herself separate from those who lover her isn't the way she wants to live.

A wonderful story with lots of surprises and interesting story turns.  I always enjoy Mindy Starns Clark's novels!

CFBA Blog Tour of Nancy Moser's "John 3:16"

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
John 3:16
Tyndale House Publishers (September 9, 2008)
by
Nancy Moser

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nancy Moser is the author of three inspirational humor books and eighteen novels, including Solemnly Swear, Time Lottery, a Christy Award winner, and her latest historical, Washington's Lady.

Nancy and her husband Mark live in the Midwest. She’s earned a degree in architecture, traveled extensively in Europe, and has performed in numerous theaters,
symphonies, and choirs. She gives Said So Sister Seminars around the country, helping women identify their gifts as they celebrate their sisterhood. She is a fan of anything antique—humans included.

Find out more at Nancy Moser.com and Sister Circles.com


ABOUT THE BOOK

Five people looking for a reason to keep living are about to find it in the last place they expect... In my usual "big cast" style comes a story of what happens when one man puts his faith on the line and holds up a John 3:16 sign at a sporting event. Roman Paulson's life revolves around his son, Billy, a University of Nebraska football hero with a promising life ahead of him. But when Billy's coach encroaches on Roman's relationship with his son, Roman fears he'll lose Billy forever. Roman isn't the only one whose world turns upside down. He's one of five unsuspecting people whose lives intersect on a bright fall day.

If you would like to read the first chapter of John 3:16, go HERE

MY Review:

Just starting this book...looking forward to seeing where it goes!  Will post more on it later this week.

Like Stamping?

Hi!  Just in case any of you like to use Stampin Up stamp sets, I wanted to let you know that I am getting rid of all my sets.  Check out this link if you are interested: http://creativetree.typepad.com/boutique/used_stamps/

I've been tagged for this one twice!

I was tagged by Kim from Window to my World and Margaret from Creative Madness

Here's the rules for those I'm tagging. Check the list after my 6 THINGS to see if you're it then
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag sixish people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know he or she has been
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 Random THINGS about me:

I like to watch "Survivor," but I like to watch the end first so I know who gets voted out before I watch it.

I grew up in the northwest corner of Washington state, right by the Canadian border and the ocean.

I am obsessed with my fantasy football team and check my scores constantly.  I play with my brothers and nieces and nephews.

I hate having anyone near the back of my neck.  It gives me the chills!

I am terrified of driving in snow--a major problem in winters here in the midwest.

I have a ministry through my little craft/jewelry business (can't hurt to throw a link here, right? Creative Tree Designs) where I crochet "prayer covers" for people who are ill or grieving.

Now, you're it!

I am tagging:

Tara R. at Tara's View of the World

Deborah at Books, Movies and Chinese Food

CeeCee at Booksplurge

Stacey at Vader's Mom

Alexia from the Mommy Rambles

and Lace

Help make the choices for the next "You Make The Call" giveaway!

Do you ever find yourself worrying about the scenarios you read about?

Sometimes I have to be careful about the kind of books I read.  I am a worrier.  So sometimes when I read a fiction book I begin to freak about the possibility of it actually happening.  Especially the ones that are about crazy biological weapons or persecution of Christians or government conspiracies.  I want to belieive that overall people are good and these things won't happen, but then I'll read a book and start to worry.  Does anyone else do this?  I know I have to trust that God is in control of our future, but that doesn't make it easy.

So sometimes I have to choose not to read a certain book, just because I want to protect myself from random worries.  Does anyone else do this?  Just wondering...

Review of "The Rook" by Stephen James

You can still sign up to win this book before Oct. 4!  Click here.

Description:

The Rook (Softcover)

While investigating a series of baffling fires in San Diego, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers is drawn into a deadly web of intrigue where nothing is as it appears to be. With his own criminology research being turned against him and one of the world's most deadly devices missing, Bowers is caught up in a race against time to stop a criminal mastermind's trap before it closes around him and the people he loves.

Book 2 in The Bowers Files, this riveting look into the darkness that lies in every soul is the perfect follow-up to James's critically acclaimed bestselling thriller, The Pawn.

My Review:

Here's the short and sweet version: this is a great book!  If you like suspense and action, you will enjoy this book!  I couldn't put it down.  Even my husband couldn't stop reading it and he's not much of a reader.  He usually falls asleep when he reads about anything other than sports, so the fact that he loves this author will tell you how gripping his stories are.

Short and to the point: loved it!