Book Review ~ Alienation

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Jolene

I just finished reading the second book of the CHAOS triliogy, Alienation.  I was so excited after reviewing the first book, Invasion to be given a copy of the second book to review as well.

All Colt wants to do is return to his old life….where aliens don’t exist….where mankind hasn’t been targeted for destruction…..and where his parents are alive.  Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way.

The United States government believes Colt holds the key to our survival, so they’re sending him to the CHAOS military academy along with his best friends Oz and Danielle.  There they’ll be trained to defend Earth against a swarm of alien shapeshifters know at the Thule.  But someone is trying to eliminate Colt before he can lead that charge.  Unsure who he can trust, Colt is on the run…

This book was just as good as the first.  I was happy to see so many returning characters from the first novel, in addition to some new and interesting characters in this novel as well.  Colt, Oz and Danielle have left school in order to travel to the CHAOS military academy to start their training.  However, before they even get started, they learn of a conspiracy lead by a high ranking CHAOS official, involving the deaths of senators and other influencial people responsible for cutting funding to the CHAOS program.  And even more surprising to the trio is that Colt’s name appears on the list of people targeted for elimination.  Can Colt even survive long enough against a Thule hitman for hire to make it to the academy and discover who’s an enemy and who he can trust?

The characters are well written and there is not too much “flash-back” stuff to the first book.  Just enough to help this story move on it’s own.  I enjoyed the very descriptive elements the author uses, making it easy to picture everything for myself, from the uniforms the cadets wear, the super futuristic weapons the agents and cadets wield to the green, large eyed CHAOS instructor, who is secretly keeping an eye on Colt to keep him out of harms way.

I am very much looking forward to book 3 of this series, and hope I will be lucky enough to get to review that one for free as well.

I received a copy of this book for free from Booksneeze in exchange for my honest opinion of this book. 

Posted in Book Review | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Very random thought

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Jolene

ok, in case you don’t know by now…I often have very random thoughts….about….all kinds of things.  Last night I was riding home with my wonderful God given husband Paul when a thought occurred to me.  To him, I am sure it came from left field, but he has been married to me long enough now to just overlook that :)

The thought however, was not random at all.  We had just dropped our boys off at my parents for the night.  While we were there I asked my mom if she had any extra pants belonging to the eldest.  I had done (almost) all their laundry and only have 2 pairs of jeans for the boy.  Upon looking through the dresser there….yes, my mom has dressers especially for my boys and their clothes…and yes, I realized I am spoiled to have such wonderful parents…we discovered she only has 1 pair of the boys pants.  So she made a comment that I better get to Goodwill and get the boy some more pants.  So this lead to the thought about looking in the boys section at Goodwill for some size 10 pants.  Then I started thinking about sizes of clothing in general for both men and women.

“Why is it…” I asked Paul “that men and women don’t have the same numerical system when it comes to clothes size?”  I am sure many thoughts entered his mind at that moment…after all, we had been driving in silence for awhile….so again….this must have seemed to come out of nowhere to  him.  Had he heard or known about the conversation on clothing my mother and I had earlier, it might not have seemed so…”Jolene”  but, being the loving and kind man my husband is, he just shook his head and said “I don’t know honey”.

It is probably a blessing to men to have that ability to tune out their spouse at will because I then launched into a vocal conversation with myself about why this occurs.  I talked for a bit and then came to the conclusion that the reason they are different is that we women need to see smaller numbers on our clothes tags.  Even if the woman, like myself is a bit fluffy…our size number will still be much smaller than that of a comparable sized male.  It must be an ego thing for us.  That is the only (semi) logical reason I can come up with, because other than that, wouldn’t it just be so much easier if the sizes ran the same for both men and women like it does for boys and girls?

Posted in Randomness | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New Year….new ideas

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Jolene

So, it’s a new year.  How has 2012 been for you so far?  I love a new year.  It feels like a fresh start for everything!

Seeing it’s a new year, I have decided on some new “projects” in my life.  I hesitate to call them Resolutions as they are more life style changes I felt needed to be made.  A few Christian mom groups that I follow on line have been discussing the “word” focus.  You basically pick a word to represent something you would like to focus on for a set period of time.  Say for example the word LOVE.  Now, that could mean showing more love to certain people, it could mean learning to love yourself more, it could mean trying to love the circumstances you are in during this season of your life….it is a personal issue.

So, the word I picked for myself is DILIGENCE.  In particular diligence in keeping my house running smoothly.  To me that involves keeping the house clean, keeping up with paperwork, keeping up with schedules, the budget, etc.  Now, that at first seemed overwhelming to me.  But, I have made a discovery….when I concentrate on keeping the house clean…every day…I have more time to work on other things!  It seems crazy but I used to get up at 5:30 am and clean the kitchen in order to get ready to mess it up by making breakfast and packing the boys lunches.  Now, I make sure that the boys lunches are packed for the next day right when they get home from school and I make sure the kitchen gets cleaned right after each meal so that it is always ready to go!  Doing this has allowed me the luxury of not getting up until 6am if I choose!   I am also assigning my boys monthly tasks to aid in keeping the house clean.  This also frees up some time for me and is teaching my boys responsibility and cooperation.  When I free up more time, I can slowly tackle other projects that need my attention such as cleaning out closets and organizing kitchen cabinets!   Because we have been working together to keep the main areas of our home clean and organized, we have been able to spend more time together as a family in the evenings!  The other benefit of having our home cleaner and more organized is how relaxed my wonderful God given husband is now!  It makes my heart happy to see him smile more and I know it is because of how I am working on my word.

Have you made any new year life style changes?  If you had to chose a word for yourself…what would it be?

Posted in Randomness, Resolutions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review – Saving Grace

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Jolene

My latest review is of a book called Saving Grace by Annie Jones.

I did not realize until the end of the book that this is actually a sequel.  On that note, you don’t need to have read the first book to read this one, although I am sure a few things in this book may have made better sense.

Every year on the night of New Bethany’s Splendor Belle Gala, reclusive Grace Grayson appears on her porch in a tattered gown, waiting for the man who deserted her over 50 years before.  Rosemary, Naomi, Gayle and Lucy, decide to reach out and help her.  But they soon discover that playing angels to an eccentric old woman may destroy the special bond they share.

I was a bit conflicted on this book.  While I like that you are given glimpses into each of the characters lives and situations, about 3/4 through the book it seems to drag on and move quite slowly to me.  The women who had formed a prayer group (in book 1) have somewhat grown apart and taking on Miss Grace as they call her for a project brings them back together.  The trials each woman goes through ends up bringing her closer not only to her family and friends, but to God as well.  I never could truly understand Lucy, perhaps that is why reading book 1 might help, but other than that, the characters were likable and interesting.

I may look into reading book one and will most likely read book 3 if and when the author writes another of this series.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.  My opinion is my own and was not conditional on receiving the book.

Posted in Book Review | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review ~ Invasion

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Jolene

I recently had the opportunity to read Invasion, by Jon S. Lewis.  This is the authors first solo book, having cowritten other titles in the past.

Now, I am not usually a Science/Fiction type of person.  I do like Star Trek, the original just fine, but don’t care so much for today’s remakes and new shows regarding space, other planets etc.  However, after reading this book, I may have to change this opinion of SciFi.  Invasion has invaded my heart!

Colt McAlister is a 16 year old California boy who’s whole world is forever changed with a visit to a top secret, elite military prep school that as far as the rest of the world knows, does not exist.  In fact, it is so top secret and the students and agents who attend the academy and then proceed to protect the world from other planets inhabitants, cannot even tell their family what they do.  Many of Colt’s 7 brothers, his father and his grandfather are all graduates of the academy.  Colt’s grandfather as it turns out is a legend of sorts, having a whole comic book series based on his exploitations during WW II.

Colt soon learns more than he cared to know about C.H.A.O.S and other wordly creatures such as the Thule and other mutant hybrid beasts when his parents are killed and he relocates to Arizona to live with his grandfather.  Colt soon starts to learn the reason his parents were killed, and with the help of his new friend Oz, and his friend Danielle, Colt’s adventures of flying motocycles, jet packs and underwater wrestling matches begin!

I really liked this book.  The author’s descriptions of the chacters and aliens is so realistic, I can picture each and every one of them….and that is something I haven’t been able to do in a while in reading a book.  The action is good, the life from a teen boy perspective is interesting and entertaining and the story moves along at a good pace.  This is kind of like a Men in Black for teens.  There is no foul language or suggestiveness, which as a parent I appreciate.  I would let my 11 year old read this book.

I received a copy of this e-book for free from Booksneeze.com  in exchange for my honest opinion of the book.  I was not asked to submit a positive review…this is my personal honest opinion of this book.

Posted in Book Review | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Regret Free Parenting

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Jolene

I received this book for free from Booksneeze in exchange for my honest opinion of it.

I had the pleasure of being chosen to read Regret Free Parenting by Catherine Hickem.  I was a bit torn with this particular book.  While the author did make some wonderful suggestions throughout the book, she also is primarily writing as if mom is the main disciplinarian, for lack of a better word.  Now, I realize the majority of people who would most likely read a book like this are moms, but it would have been nice to see more of a father-head-of-the-household portrayal throughout the book, or maybe even have a few chapters discussing particular family situations such as single father, grandparents raising children, etc.

Hickem writes, “being an intentional mom and a regret free parent means you spend good time being intentional about yourself, your role as a mom and your understanding of yourself.”  She does cover this extremely well…intentional mothering, and to be quite honest I had never actually thought about the intentional part of it before.  The principles she address in the book made me think and evaluate my role as a mother and how I was performing…or failing.

Hickem is a psychotherapist and interweaves this knowledge with Biblical principles to try and get her points across, but instead it sometimes comes out a bit redundant as she on a few occasions repeats things in a few different chapters.

Overall, it was interesting to read her opinions and it did make me more aware of what I portray to my boys as their mom.  Is it a book I would go back and refer to?  Probably not as much as I do other books….but again, it was nice to be able to evaluate my role and try to be more conscious of my decisions and actions.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Book Review | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Meal Planning Challenge wk. 2

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Jolene

Ok, for the most part, I kind of stuck to our meal plan.  There were a couple days I had to switch things around because I forgot to thaw something in time, or an ingredient got eaten by the “Not Me” ghost in the house…and one day I completely didn’t follow the plan except for breakfast…I volunteered to help out at my boys school with a project, wasn’t done by the time I had to leave to pick up my youngest, so I volunteered to come back after we went home and had lunch.  No sooner did I tell them this when my mom called and needed me to take her to pick up her car from the repair shop too.  So, between running all over South East WI, I decided to swing through a drive thru and get us some lunch….sigh…the day before that my dinner plans went down the drain.  My second boy had a cross country meet in a city about an hour from our home.  Now, in theory I should have been home by 5:30 to relieve my mom who was watching my 3 other boys and it would have given me plenty of time to cook supper.  However, the bus with all the kids from our school on it broke down.  A few of us parents went out to pick everyone up.  This put about a half hour delay on the meet start.  Then, I felt I needed to stay until the entire meet was over, to make sure all the kids and the coach had a ride back to school.  I didn’t make it home until after 6:30, so it was a fast food night then too, as the supper I had planned to make was about an hour prep/cook.

This is why, it is so important, I have learned to take into account your kids nightly activities.  Not only that, but I have decided that on any night there is any activity in which I need to transport children somewhere, it will be a slow cooker meal night.  That way, no matter what, supper will be ready no matter what time we finally sit down to eat.

On that note, we have slow cooker twice this week.  Here is The Random Woman’s Meal Plan for week 2 of the Plan It, Don’t Panic Meal Planning Challenge:

Monday:   B – breakfast burritos   L – sandwiches and fruit  S - slow cooker sausage & potatoes 

Tuesday:  B – french toast & smoothies  L – grilled cheese, celery & carrots  S – Mexican potato casserole

Wednesday:  B – sausage & eggs  L – cheesy beef & rice  S - slow cooker easy cheesy chicken

Thursday:  B – breakfast casserole  L – alfredo & noodles  S – freezer meal

Friday:  B – cereal & fruit  L – sandwiches & fruit  S – homemade chicken strips & veggies

Meals in red are new meals for our family.  On a side note, the slowcooker applesauce chicken from last week did not go over very well with the family, so that will most likely not be making a reappearance.  I will let you know next week, how this week went.  

Did you start menu planning yet?  What have been some of your best and worst moments with menu planning?

Posted in Good Grub | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Meal Planning Challenge

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Jolene

Many of you have read me talk about meal planning or freezer cooking.  I love the idea of freezer cooking.  It is a wonderful and inexpensive way to prepare food for your family and have it ready to go in the freezer for the days and weeks ahead.  I also believe meal planning is a necessity in today’s busy life to help save money and to avoid looking like this at 5pm -Well, here is my problem with meal planning and freezer cooking….I don’t do them on a regular basis.  Sigh….I know you are shocked!  So, imagine how delighted I was when I got an update on one of the blogs I follow, Keeper of the Home announcing a meal planning challenge.  From Sept 26th – Nov 7th, hundreds of women from all over are meal planning and keeping their lives a bit less hectic.  Speaking of hectic, did I mention I missed the first week of the challenge?  Yep…not sure what happened there….but I got on the proverbial horse over the weekend and made our meal plan.  So, I know you are all holding your breath and waiting to know what The Random Woman’s family will be eating this week right?

Here is our meal plan this week:

Monday:  B –  Breakfast cookies  L – grilled cheese, celery & carrot sticks  S – slow cooker applesauce chicken, veggies

Tuesday:  B – Banana bread  L – sandwiches, fruit   S – meatloaf, corn

Wednesday:  B – cereal, fruit   L – vegetable soup  S – slow cooker freezer meal (something already prepared and in the freezer)

Thursday: B – homemade donuts, fruit  L – zesty chicken pasta salad  S – Lynette’s Alpine Meatballs

Friday:  B – homemade cinnamon rolls  L – sandwiches, fruit  S – leftovers

This week we are trying 2 new recipes with the applesauce chicken and the chicken pasta salad.  I am also going to try and make up some more cookies, cinnamon rolls, muffins, and maybe homemade poptarts for the freezer at some point this week, to make lunch snacks and breakfasts a bit more easy next week.  What does your menu plan look like for the week?

 

Posted in Good Grub, Randomness | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Imagine…

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Jolene

Imagine….that was the theme for this years Women of Faith event that I was blessed enough to receive 2 free tickets to in exchange for my blogging about the event.  No too shabby of a deal if you ask me! Some of the reasons I wanted to go:

- I need girl time away!  Not having regular female contact, I believe makes me a lesser version of myself.  There is just something about a room full of women that recharges me!

- Natalie Grant was going to be there.  I have seen her 2 other times in concert and LOVE her!  I did not know any of the other speakers scheduled….but I knew she was wonderful!

- I felt God leading me there.  I wasn’t sure why, but I knew I should be there.

I had the most wonderful and inspiring time this past weekend.  My friend Laura graciously accepted my invitation to come with me and bright and early Friday morning we left “mommy life” behind for downtown Milwaukee.  Neither of us knew what the next couple days would bring, but we were excited!

This 2 day conference was packed full of  laughter, tears, worship and love with wonderful and talented people like Lisa Harper, Nicole Johnson, Angie Smith, Luci Swindoll ( whom I loved ) and Sheila Walsh.  I could listen to Sheila all day long!  Along with these amazingly talented women we saw musical artists, Natalie Grant and Mary Mary.  Plus….there was actually a bit of testosterone for us this weekend.  Clincal Psychologist Henry Cloud was there with his perspective as a male and a doctor, about happiness and Comedian Ken Davis, who had all of us laughing until we cried!

This conference was more than I could have imagined.  It was inspirational.  It was a blessing to be a part of.  Thank you Women of Faith and Booksneeze.com for allowing me to be a part of something wonderful!

Posted in Randomness | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What do you say?

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Jolene

I assume you all know what today’s date signifies.  Ten years ago today our country was attacked.  I keep hearing….you’ll never forget where you were….and that is correct.  Some moments in your life are just forever seared in your memory.  My wonderful God given husband Paul and I were just discussing 9/11 this past Friday night.  I was at our place, getting ready to go to work and he called.  He asked if I was watching the news…which of course I wasn’t….the news I felt, and still do, is so depressing.  He told me to turn on the news because one of the Twin Towers had just been attacked.  As I sat there watching it, still on the phone with him, the second plane struck the second tower.  Over the course of the day at work, patients would come in and tell us what else was going on.  We had no TV in our office, but we had the radios quietly turned on and we listened.  I remember parents c0ming in with their children and some of them had tears in their eyes.  What do you say?  I didn’t know  how to offer these people comfort in that particular moment when I myself didn’t feel any.

Fast forward 10 years to today.  So much has happened since that day, but one thing remains….at least for me….what do you say?  What do you say when you meet someone who was personally affected by 9/11 more than the rest of us?  What do you say?  I am sorry for your loss seems so cliche.  How do you handle your own feelings of sadness, fear, and in some cases…prejudicial hate towards certain ethnicities? 

The only way I can deal with these feelings is to turn to The One who understands.  The One who can calm my fears.  I turn to Him when I start to feel so sad.  I remember He is in control.  The One who made the beautiful blue sky this morning.  The One who created the bright shining sun in the sky.  The One who made the birds that are chirping outside my window.  The One who blessed me with my wonderful husband and precious sons.

I turn to my Lord on days like today and know that He is in charge.  He will calm my fears and help me when I call on Him.  So, what do you say?  I say “Thank you Lord for being my Savior.  I don’t know if something like 9/11 will affect me on a more personal level like so many others, but I have Your assurance that I will be with you one day for all eternity.  I have sadness and heartache in this life, but this life is temporary and I will remember to spread Your Word of love and and gift of eternal life to those I can.  Thank You for loving me and please comfort our country today, especially those who did lose a loved one so many years ago….”

Posted in Randomness | Leave a comment