The Fifth Petal (Book Review)

I have always been interested in the Salem Witch Trials because of my family history.So when I had the chance to read "The Fifth Petal" by Bruonia Barry I was ecstatic. The book synopsis is:

When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem’s chief of police, John Rafferty, now married to gifted lace reader Towner Whitney, wonders if there is a connection between his death and Salem’s most notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed “The Goddess Murders,” in which three young women, all descended from accused Salem witches, were slashed on Halloween night in 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims newly returned to town. Neither believes that the main suspect, Rose Whelan, respected local historian, is guilty of murder or witchcraft. 

But exonerating Rose might mean crossing paths with a dangerous force. Were the women victims of an all-too-human vengeance, or was the devil raised in Salem that night? And if they cannot discover what truly happened, will evil rise again?

I wish I could say that I fully enjoyed the book, but I found it really slow to get started. It wasn't until I was about 80-100 pages in that I really got into the book. Overall I would rate the book 3 stars because it does a good job in relating the story of what happened in 1989 with what happened in the year 2014.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Before I Forget [A Book Review]

Take a moment while reading this sentence and think to yourself of the number 5.2 million. That is the number of people that Alzehimer's has taken hold of. That number doesn't even take into a count the friends and family of the loved ones that are face with becoming caregivers to the person they love that is stricken with the disease.



I was introduced to the book "Before I Forget" by B. Smith and Dan Gasby. I love reading memoirs. But this one really takes the cake. Not only does the book give you a memoir into how Alzehimer's came about to affect their family, but it provides you with facts.

I love that this book gives you a mix of tips for dealing with the disease, but also the true account of a family going through it. To be placed in the role of a caregiver is not an easy thing. Especially when dealing with a disease that currently has no cure, only things that can help "manage" it.






I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Life Changing Magic Journal [REVIEW]

It's been awhile since I last sat down and wrote on my blog. Life has been what it is....chaotic.


Last year I was introduced to the Marie Kondo line of Life Changing Magic. I read her book about tidying up and started putting the words into action. I have gone through different things in my life numerous times to see if items really sparked joy.

One of my yearly resolutions is to get back into things I use to enjoy. The things that before I became a wife and mother, were part of what made me the amazing woman that I am.

One thing that sparks joy for me is writing. I have always had a love for writing. I had countless journals and diaries throughout my life, tons of notebooks for classes and just random thoughts. Most recently I have become a planner addict.....but that is a story for another time.

When I was given the opportunity to receive a free copy of life changing magic- a journal. I jumped on that chance.

The other day while cleaning out our computer desk to make room for a new one, my husband found this journal. I took a few minutes and flipped through admiring the quotes and then I began to use it. The act of taking a few minutes each day to record something that brings me joy is therapeutic.

I love that the journal allows you to use it for multiple years. It can be fun to look back on your past answers and see how much you have grown and changed.

I love that the journal has quotes incorporated into the start of each month. It's always nice to read a positive message and reflect upon it or use it for inspiration.

I can't wait to see where this journal takes me in sparking joy every day.

Dove Dry Spray Deodorant

Success is a great deodorant.

Elizabeth Taylor

Recently my husband and I received a VoxBox from influenster containing Dove Spray Deodorants for us to try. 

I have to say at first I was skeptical because I never really cared for spray products. Most of the time I just grab whatever deodorant brand I feel like using at the time and that is that. The first day that I used this product was the day I received it. I sprayed it on and it was COLD. Granted it had been sitting in my mail box for part of the day and it was a chilly day. 

What I really noticed about this product was the quality of how long it lasted. The day I put it on I was having some serious anxiety struggles. One of my calm down methods is to take a lot of showers. I noticed the next day that despite showering about 3 or 4 times the previous day I could still smell the product. That alone AMAZED me with this product. 

I also love the ease of use with this product. I have left it right by my bedroom door to remind myself to put it on and its easy. Just a quick spray under each arm and I am good to go. I smell fresh and clean.

I LOVE the scent of it. It's not overpowering or really perfumy. 

My only con to this product is the price. It's around 6 dollars a can at Target. Not too high of a price, but just something about it I can't bring myself to spend that amount of money on a deodorant.

Have you tried the Dove Dry Spray? What did you think?

Boy Meets Depression

Welcome to 2016. Let's try to get this post done a second time shall we. I had a long and wonderful post in the process just a few moments ago and technology worked against me causing me to have to restart the browser, losing everything. Add that on top of the EXTRA LARGE coffee my son spilled all over the floor today, and it is not a good day.

But bad days is a theme to this post, since it's about one of my greatest enemies, depression.

Recently I read Kevin Breel's memoir called "Boy Meets Depression." At first my reaction was I didn't like or love it. But after taking a night to sleep on it, I realized just how much the book and I have in common. In the book he talks about being diagnosed in high school. This was the same time that I was diagnosed. I am going to be 27 this year and I was diagnosed at 15. Twelve years I have been battling this nasty disease. It actually has been longer than that. Depression has always been in my life. It runs in our family. My mom suffered, my dad suffers, my sister is Bipolar, my other sister went through a period of depression when dealing with infertility, and so many more family members and friends suffer.

Along with depression I have a diagnosis of anxiety with panic disorder. Neither of these is very easy. Especially now when its the middle of winter. As soon as that sun sets around 4pm I become a completely different person. Not only am I surrounded in physical darkness, but a mental and emotional darkness washes over me. It has always been this way for me. The lack of sunlight and more often I just want to curl up in my bed under a blanket and fall asleep to stay warm and to pass the hours until the sun is shining again.

It is a nightmare to live when all you want to do is sit and relax, but your mind is telling you that you have to get up and keep moving otherwise you are going to have a panic attack.

One thing that I have found help that the book talks about is to reach out to SOMEONE. When days are really bad for me I will pack up my son and I, drive my husband to work, and head to my sisters house. We hang out for a few hours and then I am able to drive home, put my son to bed and head to bed myself.

I have also noticed myself owning up to things with my therapist more. I tell her when things are not good. I have learned that depression is a circular cycle. Sometimes you are in a period of green and things are happy and carefree. Then you fall into the red and things are so dark you wonder if you are every going to see that light again. But then you cycle back to the green and things are good. It is an endless cycle.

Another solution that is available for free 24/7 is 7Cups of Tea. 7Cups is an online site where you can connect with different people who will help you. They have trained listeners for a variety of issues. My experience with 7cups starts almost a year ago. I found out about the site through a friend who was going through postpartum depression. I signed up to be a listener and I would spend hours in the evening taking different chat sessions and helping people. When my mom passed away and my own mental illness picked up, I created my member account. For awhile it sat unused. Recently I have really put it to work again because it is a wealth of resources.

It is a place I can go to chat with someone night or day, which is helpful when I only see my therapist every 2 weeks. I can do mediations to calm and relax my mind. I can view supportive and encouraging posts in my news feed and share them with others. I have my own personal progress path to see just how far I have come on my journey.

If you are suffering, check it out. You can start using the site as a guest and if you end up liking it as much as I have, you can create a free member account. You could even signup to be a listener.

The last thing I love about the book is that it ends with mentioning the resource To Write Love on Her Arms. TWLOHA is a non profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, self-injury, and suicide. It is a wonderful way to get involved in the fight to support mental health.

The greatest thing that I can say is to setup your resources to help you when you are in those dark times. And check out 7Cups, To Write Love on Her Arms, and Kevin's book.


(I received the book for the purpose of an honest review.)

The Witch of Lime Street [Book Review]

It has been awhile since I have written a book review. I have been trying to do them more on my YouTube channel however right now our family is sharing Hands, Foot, and Mouth. My throat is super painful to talk, eat, and swallow. I have been putting off this review and need to get this over and done.

I was excited for this book for a few reasons. I got an ebook copy and hard copy. I was excited by this because I knew this was a book that would be of interest to me and some other family members. Which the hard copy comes in handy PERFECTLY for sharing. 

The book started out really great and interesting. Until I was about 60 pages in. At that point there just wasnt enough to hold my attention. I wanted to continue and to like it, but it just fell flat. 

HOWEVER, I will say I LOVED the cover. I did not realize it at first but after falling asleep on the couch and waking up in the middle of the night and going into my bedroom, the book was GLOWING on my nightstand. Everywhere that is green in the picture above (the border and around the photos) is glow in the dark 

Over all, I think this is an ok read. Its certainly not the best (I couldn't bring myself to finish), but not the absolute worst either

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Things I have said to my child!

In the process of moving this weekend, I have had quite an adventure. Saturday was spent moving my husband and I into our new apartment and today I am watching Lucas, my niece Paige, and nephews Mike and Nick. While I am here babysitting, the rest of the family is moving my sister Cat into her new trailer.

Earlier in the week since Stephen had to go to work I figured Lucas and I would spend some time at the apartment getting a few things setup as we had dropped a large haul of things bought from Walmart and Target off the day before. While in the new apartment I plugged the Winnie The Pooh nightlight into Lucas's room for him to view and look at while I was unpacking things. As soon as I had done so he pulled the cover off the light, leaned down and licked the light bulb! I promptly had to in a stern voice say "WE DO NOT LICK LIGHTBULBS."

When I was leaving the house earlier in the day to head to the apartment my dad passed me a package that had showed up at my sisters house for me. It was my latest Blogging for Book pick. I figured I would have it sent to her address because I did not at the current time have an idea of when it would ship and if we were going to be at our new place or not.

Oddly enough that night after putting everything away, I sat down on the floor (a house without furniture is pretty lame!) and opened the package. This was the book inside:

After the event I had that day this book could not be more PERFECT! It's not a long book at all, but more of a coffee table book with funny pictures. I could also see myself taking a few of the pages and framing them around the house.

 

This is perfect for any parent who needs a little laughter and to know they are not alone. We have all said something to our kids at one time or another that we honestly admit we never thought we would utter in our life. 

 

For me this book was a perfect 10/10 in everyway!

 

 

 

As always I received this book for free from Blogging For Books for the purposes of my honest review"