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Friends,
I don't know what else to do. I have reached critical levels and need to step back and evaluate.
I am taking a break from blogging for a few weeks to catch my breath and do some homework projects and teach some beading classes. I do have a few scheduled blog tours that I will post as they come up.
Thanks for understanding. See you soon!
Tami
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Here are the winners from the "Box of Books" giveaway number 3
Beyond the Night: Jen (singing Jen)
The Convenient Groom: Estela
Chocolate Beach and Truffles by the Sea: Jackie B.
Vanished: Jenna
Baby Chronicles and Oh, Baby!: Miranda
Distant Heart and Dangerous Heart: Lisa
Bayou Justice: Katrina
Lazarus Trap: Christina B.
Eve's Daughters: Adrienne
Begotten and Betrayed: Heather
The Black Cloister: Ann
Wounded: Kim V.
Levi's Will: Narelle
Finding Marie: Nicole C.
Art of Standing Still: Claire
Thanks to everyone for entering!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.
After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.
Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. Dekker's body of work encompassing seven mysteries, three thrillers and ten fantasies includes Heaven's Wager, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed, Blink, Thr3e, The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White), Obsessed, Renegade, and Chaos.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Would you kill an innocent man to save your daughter?
They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who’s abducted six young women. He’s the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.
Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan’s estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.
But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.
If your an avid Dekker fan, and would like wallpaper and counters for your blog, go HERE.
You can listen to an audio clip HERE
Watch the VIDEO:
If you would like to read the first chapter of Boneman's Daughters, go HERE
My Thoughts:
As always, Ted Dekker keeps a heart-racing pace full of twists and turns and suspense. The Boneman is one creepy dude, so it is not for the faint at heart. I enjoyed the exciting story. My only complaint would be that I would have loved to see another chapter to tie up the lose ends and see "where are they now."
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I'm so excited to have found this Youtube video! Ever since I saw Anita Renfroe do this song live at a Women of Faith conference, I've been telling people about how I laughed so hard I cried. Yes, it's a song about underwire bras. I hope you enjoy it.
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Hi Friends,
I'm doing some Spring cleaning on my book shelves. I need to make room for new books and am making myself get rid of some books. You are the lucky recipients! Here is a random set of books that I have decided to pass on and share with you!
RULES FOR ENTERING:
a. Post a comment to the posts of the books you'd like to win. List which books you would like to be entered for. You can enter for as many of the books as you would like.
b. Enter on or before April 22. Winners will be drawn on April 23. Claim your prize, if you win, within 10 days of being notified or I will redraw. (In other words, let me know you want the book and where it should be sent, should you find out your name was drawn.
c. Check back for the next giveaway! The books are: 1. Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky Description: They say love is blind. This time they’re right… 2. The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter Description: She wrote the book--literally--on finding the right mate. But does she really understand what love's about? Five hours before her Nantucket beach wedding--and on the eve of her big book launch--celebrity marriage counselor Kate Lawrence has everything in place. Everything, that is, but the groom. She might not have a career, either, when her nationwide audience finds out their marriage guru has been left at the altar. Enter Lucas Wright, who offers to stand in for the missing husband-to-be and marry her. Kate's desperate enough to agree--although she's sure this Mr. Wright is completely wrong for her. But can they pull it off? And why would Lucas marry her in the first place? Could it be that "Dr. Kate" doesn't know the first thing about love? 3. Truffles by the Sea and Chocolate Beach by Julie Carobini Description: Meet Bri Stone, a laid-back “beach chick” from Ventura, California. Bri has it all: the man of her dreams and their surf-ridin' teenage son, a chocolate-loving best pal, an adorable beach bungalow, and a kicky job as a Southern California tour bus host. She also has a few things she didn't ask for: a know-it-all friend, a snobby mother-in-law, and a Fabio-meets-Dilbert boss. Ack! All three of them seem eager to share their strong opinions and suspicions about Bri's relationship with her husband, Douglas. When Bri's rose-colored sunglasses crack after she finds evidence that Douglas has grown tired of her carefree ways, she resolves to win him back. Can she reinvent herself—and recapture her husband’s heart? Description: Gaby Flores has a penchant for drama and an unfortunate knack for dating Mr. So Wrong. After breaking off yet another relationship, watching her apartment building burn to the ground, and discovering that her dippy delivery guy has run off with most of her business, Gaby decides it’s time to turn things around. So she moves to a tiny waterfront loft and takes on a new motto: “Be gullible no more!” With help from her friends, she works to rebuild her flower shop—and her life. But when legal troubles and quirky neighbors and two surprising romances enter her beachy world, Gaby’s motto and fledgling faith are put to the test. Can a young woman prone to disaster in both work and love finally find happily ever after? 4. Vanished by Kathryn Mackel Description: When a terrorist bombing and a rogue experiment "displace" an entire community, police sergeant Jason Logan must keep order. As the rubble settles from a second explosion, the people find themselves in a primal land where nightmares take form, monsters roam, and demons battle angels. Can they prevail against enemies they've always known---and forces never imagined? 5. The Baby Chronicles and Oh, Baby! by Judy Baer Description: Whitney Blake left spinsterhood behind when she became Mrs. Chase Andrews, and marriage is all she'd hoped for. But when her friends Mitzi and Kim start going baby-crazy, she longs for her own little bundle of joy. Wouldn't it be fun if they all could embark on their baby journey together? And so begins The Baby Chronicles, Whitney's journal of pregnancy, recording every bump and blessing—and a few unexpected detours and discoveries— on the road to motherhood. Description: From the moment we met, obstetrician Clay Reynolds scorned my profession as a birthing coach. His scathing remarks left me crying on the shoulder of my potbellied pig, Gertie! It seems only the handsome doc's eight-year-old son, who thinks I hung the moon, can make Clay be civil to me. 6. Distant Heart and Dangerous Heart by Tracey Bateman Description: Toni Rodden has escaped a life of prostitution and vows she'll never let a man control her again. After months on the wagon train, she's finally earned her place, albeit grudgingly from some, and has found a surrogate family in Fannie Caldwell and her two siblings. For the first time she can taste freedom and the possibilities of a new life. But as Fannie prepares to marry wagon master Blake Tanner, Toni realizes how alone she is and questions whether she'll ever find acceptance, or true love. Despite Toni's conviction that no man will be able to see beyond her marred past, Sam Two-Feathers, the half-Indian wagon scout and acting preacher for the train, seems to know of a love that forgives sins and values much more than outward appearances. Will Sam have the confidence to declare his love? Will Toni be able to trust in a love that can forgive even the darkest past? Description: Growing up motherless with an outlaw father made Ginger Freeman hard and unforgiving—and for the past seven years she's been driven by a single goal: to make Grant Kelley pay for letting her brother die. Now that she's tracked the hated doctor to a westward-bound wagon train, her mission of vengeance is nearly completed. But the sense of family and community that suddenly surrounds her is unlike anything Ginger has ever experienced. And under the nurturing eye of Miss Sadie, the outlaw's daughter begins to lose her rough edges. Here, in the company of loving, newfound friends, Ginger feels herself becoming part of something much bigger than revenge. But catastrophe is in the wind when her pa and his gang arrive to infiltrate the wagon train. Will Ginger's new relationship with God tear her away from her family forever . . . and cost her everything she's now begun to hold dear? 7. Bayou Justice by Robin Caroll Description: Alligator conservationist Coco LeBlanc knew real fear when she found a body in the clutches of her beloved beasts. Fear turned to horror when she saw that it was one of the Trahan clan—and he'd been shot in the back. Her ex-boyfriend, Luc Trahan, had dumped Coco two years ago when she refused to give up her family's centuries-old voodoo traditions, and he didn't know about her newfound faith. Now, as they and their families become prime suspects in the grisly crime, they'll have to work together to clear their names before the Cajun killer strikes again. 8. The Lazarus Trap by Davis Bunn Description: For Val Haines, dying may be the chance of a lifetime. Awakening in a jail cell and bleeding from his head, Val Haines remembers nothing. Not even his name. As his memory slowly begins to return, Haines discovers that the world thinks he's dead. If his nightmares ring true, it may be for the best. Around him brews a conspiracy of embezzlement and murder for hire, fueled by the rage of personal vendetta. As he searches for a safe haven, enigmatic Audrey beckons, but can she be trusted? With nothing but a few personal belongings and a sizable amount of cash, Haines must run. With his past behind him, he'll do anything to claim a new life for himself. Or die trying. 9. Eve's Daughters by Lynn Austin Description: One bad decision can plague a family for generations. Emma Bauer realizes that now as she watches her granddaughter's marriage unravel. If she had only told the truth about her own troubled marriage, maybe she could have prevented her granddaughter's heartache. Is it too late to break the legacy of wrong choices and embrace God's forgiveness? 10. The Begotten and The Betrayed by Lisa T. Bergren Description: At the height of the Inquisition, a secret, half a millennium old, is about to be exposed - a lost letter said to have been written by Paul and part of what was to become the foundation of the Christian canon. It speaks of the men and women - the Gifted - with mysterious spiritual gifts that struck fear in the heart of the Church. Now the letter has resurfaced. The Gifted ones are coming together. Their prophecy is coming true. Description: an illuminated letter-long buried by the Church and prophesying a fellowship of men and women possessing powerful spiritual gifts-is the catalyst for a profound war that will bring either a new age of enlightenment or a darkness the world has not seen. As the Gifted gather and gain strength, following God's clues, their enemies grow more intent on controlling them. Now, their extraordinary mission continues . . . 11. The Black Cloister by Melanie Dobson Description: On Elise Friedman's eighth birthday, she lost her mother and any connection to her mysterious past. Raised by her loving stepfather, Elise has spent years trying to learn the truth about her mother, Catrina, and her birth family in Germany, but still knows very little. Now a young woman in college, Elise is traveling to her homeland of Germany to uncover her family's past, but what she finds is much more harrowing than she ever suspected. 12. Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney Description: If a miracle happened to you, wouldn't you tell everyone? What if they thought you were crazy? Poor in health but rich in faith, Gina Merritt-a young, broke, African-American single mother-sits in a pew on Ash Wednesday and has a holy vision. When it fades, her palms are bleeding. Anthony Priest, the junkie sitting beside her, instinctively touches her when she cries out, but Gina flees in shock and pain. A prize-winning journalist before drugs destroyed his career, Anthony is flooded with a sense of well-being and knows he is cured of his addiction. Without understanding why, Anthony follows Gina home to find some answers. Together they search for an answer to this miraculous event, and along the way they cross paths with a skeptical evangelical pastor, a gentle Catholic priest, a certifiable religious zealot, and an oversized transvestite drug dealer, all of whom lend their opinion. It's a quest for truth, sanity, and grace . . . and an unexpected love story. 13. Levi's Will by W. Dale Cramer Description: Fleeing his Old Order community, 19-year-old Will leaves behind a pregnant girlfriend and all things Amish. When efforts to reconcile with his father fail, Will spends years trying to make things right. Can he learn that love, not work, heals the past---before his own sons pay the price for his sin? 14. Finding Marie by Susan Page Davis Description: Marie Belanger, a naval lieutenant's wife, unexpectedly finds a computer flash drive in her carry-on luggage at the airport. Moments later the woman she had been sitting with on the plane from Tokyo is murdered. Suddenly her journey from San Francisco to her home in Maine becomes a nightmare as Marie is forced to run for her life. Her husband, Lt. Pierre Belanger, contacts his best friend, George Hudson, and together they set out on a search for Marie that spans the country. As hard as they try, they seem to stay one step behind their enemies, who are just one step behind Marie. 15. The Art of Standing Still by Penny Culliford
As a woman lies unconscious in a hospital bed, her husband waits beside her, urging her to wake up and come home. Between them lies an ocean of fear and the tenuous grip of memories long past. Memories of wonder. Of love. Memories of a girl named Madison and a boy named Paul…
Madison Foster knew she was going blind. But she didn’t want pity–not from her mother, not from her roommate, and especially not from her best friend Paul–the man she secretly loved.
Paul Tilden knew a good thing when he saw it. And a good thing was his friendship with Maddie Foster. That is, until he started to fall in love.
With the music of the seventies as their soundtrack and its groovy fashions as their scenery, Maddie and Paul were drawn together and driven apart. Then one night changed everything…forever.
And only now, when life tiptoes past the edge of yesterday, along the rim of today, can they glimpse the beauty that awaits them…beyond the night.
Clay is a great doctor and loving father. And we're finding a lot in common as we volunteer together at a free clinic. But he's still frowning at me in the delivery room.
So how can I convince him God gave me skills that complement his own? Maybe with a little help from above I can change Clay's attitude toward doulas in general… and me in particular
Description:
When the town of Monksford revives the tradition of medieval religious plays, reporter Jemma Durham takes a role to cover the experience for the Monksford Gazette. But the real story unfolds behind the scenes—a forbidden kiss, bribery, and tragedy! Jemma holds the power to destroy lives and advance her career, but at what cost?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Liparulo is a former journalist, with over a thousand articles and multiple writing awards to his name. Readers of his action-thrillers were not surprised when his visual storytelling style caught the eye of Hollywood producers. Currently, three of his novels for adults are in various stages of development for the big screen: the film rights to Comes A Horseman were purchased by the producer of Tom Clancy’s movies; and Liparulo is penning the screenplays for GERM and Deadfall for two top producers. He is also working with the director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, Holes) on a political thriller. Novelist Michael Palmer calls Deadfall “a brilliantly crafted thriller.” March 31st marked the publication of Deadfall’s follow-up, Deadlock, which novelist Gayle Lynds calls, “best of high-octane suspense.”
Liparulo’s bestselling young adult series, Dreamhouse Kings, debuted last year with House of Dark Shadows and Watcher in the Woods. Book three, Gatekeepers released in January, and number four, Timescape, comes out in July. The series has garnered praise from readers, both young and old, as well as attracting famous fans who themselves know the genre inside and out. Of the series Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine says, “I loved wandering around in these books. With a house of so many great, haunting stories, why would you ever want to go outside?”
He is currently working on his next thriller, which for the first time injects a bit of the supernatural into his gun-blazing stories. The story is so compelling, two Hollywood studios are already in talks to acquire it—despite its publication date being more than a year away. After that comes a trilogy of novels, based on the critically acclaimed short story he contributed to James Patterson’s Thriller anthology. New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry calls Liparulo’s writing “Inventive, suspenseful, and highly entertaining . . . Robert Liparulo is a storyteller, pure and simple.” He lives with his family in Colorado.
ABOUT THE BOOK
John Hutchinson thinks it's no coincidence that Brendan Page runs this modern Praetorian Guard, and that the billionaire military industrialist must have had something to do with the atrocities his son Declan committed in Canada. The Canadian and U.S. Justice departments disagree, but Hutch has been digging for dirt ever since.
Brendan Page has some dirty not-so-little secrets. he's built an empire on supplying futuristic weapons and highly trained soldiers to the world's most powerful armies. But he's saved his most destructive weapons for himself.
When Hutch discovers the secret of Page's success, Page decides to teach him a lesson. But the operation goes terribly wrong, and Hutch's son is kidnapped. While a lone man stands little chance against the best black op soldiers ever issued M-16s, Hutch manages to survive longer than Page anticipated. As far as Hutch is concerned, high-tech helmets, machine guns, and hand grenades are nothing compared to a man determined to save his son. It's a lesson he sets out to teach Page-and one that he can only hope works as well in the real world as it does in his heart.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Deadlock, go HERE
My Thoughts:
A very exciting book that will keep you on your toes until the very end. I love Liparulo's suspense and loved this book too!
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Here are the winners from my second Box Books giveaway. Box number 3 coming Monday!
The winners are:
Alexia=Fall of Candy corn
Sandra Jensen=Lying on Sunday
Narelle=Oak Leaves
Jennifer (knitting mom)=The Ultimate Gift
Anita Yancey=Unpretty
Lacey=The Summer the Wind Whispered My Name
'Nise=The Way of Women
Deborah=The Month of Summer
Jennifer (Quiverfull)=Sinner
Word Lily=The Shack
Lori Barnes=Too Good to be True
Sarah W=Fancy Pants
Heather=The Perfect Life
Krista=Splitting Harriet
Thanks for entering!
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Sorry the entries have been lacking lately. My kids are home for spring break and we are busy getting ready to have a bunch of people over for Easter brunch.
I will have another "box of books" giveaway after Easter, so be sure to check back then!
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Congrats to Alexia! Your name was drawn to win Blink of an Eye by Ted Dekker!
Thanks for entering!
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Want to help me make a decision that I need to make? I need some input!
Our church is having a girlfriend night on May 1. During part of the evening, there will be an opportunity for the women to learn different crafts. I have been asked to teach a workshop related to jewelry making/beading. I am having a hard time deciding which project to teach. I'd love to know your opinion! Imagine you were attending an event at your church, which workshop would interest you?
Here are my options:
1. Beaded pens.
2. A pearl bracelet.
3. A memory wire bracelet. There would be multiple color options.
4. A collage pendant, made with scrapbook papers and charms. I would have a variety of papers and charms and pendant shapes to choose from.
5. Fabric covered beads bracelet. Again, I would have a bunch of different fabrics to choose from.
6. Stamped metal charms. I have a bunch of different shapes for this, or initials are an option too.
What do you think? To help me decide, pick an option on the little survey below. Thanks a lot!
Tami
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