May books

These are the books that I've read in May, my "other" books.  Feel free to read the list of 12 books that I'm planning to read in 2013.  You can also see all the books I've read this year and find links to their reviews on my Pinterest page.  There are affiliate links in this post.

Echoes of Titanic

(I got this book as an exchange when I took back a duplicate Christmas gift.  I've been anxious to read it for a while and I'm glad I finally got it in.)

Synopsis:  In 1912, Adele Brennan becomes one of the few to escape the sinking of the Titanic with her life.  Adele rides the rescue ship to New York to live with a father she hasn't seen for 16 years and never looks back.  She uses her natural business sense (and a few secret sources of income) to bring her father's company safely through the Great Depression and into the new century.

Now Brennan and Tate is in the capable hands of Adele's great-granddaughter, Kelsey.  But when Kelsey's boss is murdered, Kelsey starts to investigate her own company and finds that things are not what they seem to be.  Can she find the murderer in time and prevent the hostile takeover of her company?  Will working with her ex Cole Thornton help her or hinder her?

My Thoughts:  As with all of Mindy Starnes Clark's book, this one's a winner.  Great plot, great mystery, great characters.  I loved it!

The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected

(I bought the Kindle version of this at the suggestion of my brother.  It was on sale when I got it, but it's definitely worth full price.)

Synopsis: The Insanity of God is the lifelong account of searching for how God works in the hard places.  After leaving Kentucky to become missionaries, Nik and Ruth Ripkin and their three kids (pseudonyms) endured 6 hard years in Africa.  It was the mid-90's and they had been asked to minister in Somolia to those ravaged by years of civil war and famine, a place so heart-breaking and needy that Nik found it hard to figure out which need to start with.

At the end of 6 years, all relief workers were kicked out of the country and Nik was left wondering if he had really made any difference at all.  He decided to embark upon a journey of discovery.  He spent the next 15 years visiting oppressed Christians in nations hostile to the Gospel, those who have to endure imprisonment, torture and hatred because of their faith.  How is it that Christianity is flourishing in these countries?  Is God still working in places where evil abounds?  In this book, Nik shares his thoughts and conclusions on those topics and more.

My Thoughts:  Absolutely phenomenal book!  Nik Ripkin tells story after story of those who suffer so much.  It opened my eyes to what a lot of people endure in the world just because they believe in Jesus and want to tell others about Jesus.  It makes me appreciate the freedoms we have here and makes me wonder why I'm not more open with sharing Jesus to those around me.  Very convicting book.  Should be required reading for every Christian.

Pinterest Power: Market Your Business, Sell Your Product, and Build Your Brand on the World's Hottest Social Network

(I won a copy of this book through an online contest.)

Synopsis:  Two successful small business owners tell how they have used Pinterest to increase their sales.  They give tips and ideas for marketing your products on America's fastest growing social media site.

My Thoughts:  This book really wasn't for me.  First of all, it was written last year, which doesn't seem like that long ago, but with social media sites, things change lightning fast.  Some of the specifics they write about the site don't apply any more.  The book is also very much geared towards someone with a product to sell.  Since I don't have a product to sell, I didn't get a lot out of it.

Too Busy Not to Pray Journal

(I've had this book forever, so I'm not really sure where I got it, but I'll bet it was on sale.)

Synopsis:  Are you too busy to pray?  Bill Hybels helps us slow down and remember to take time to talk to God every day.

My Thoughts:  This is my list book for the month (my fifth list book for the year, so I'm right on track).  I guess I didn't realize that this isn't actually "the book", it's a workbook that's supposed to go along with the book.  Since I've never read the actual book, I was afraid that I would be lost.   Thankfully, that was not the case.  This workbook was just wonderful and seems to be completely separate from the regular book.  It gives you a new prompt on each page with an idea for prayer.  Then it gives you space to write out a prayer for the day.  I found it was a good way to think of new and different things to pray about.  I haven't finished the whole thing, as it's more like a devotional, meant to be used over a period of time.

No More Perfect Moms: Learn to Love Your Real Life

(I bought the Kindle version of this book as soon as it came out.  I really like Jill Savage as an author and snatch up everything she writes.)

Synopsis:  Are you a mom who is tired of trying to measure up to those lives you see on social media?  Are you unable to survive the Perfection Infection that Pinterest brings?  Are you a tired, real mom wading through the child-rearing years needing a cheerleader?  Than this is the book for you.

My Thoughts:  I've read bits and pieces of this book before, but this time I read it from cover to cover (relatively speaking, it was an e-book - no covers :)).  This time Jill Savage, the author, hosted an online Facebook book club to go along with reading the book.  I had never participated in one of those before and it was a lot of fun.  We read one chapter a week.  Jill would then post discussion questions on Tues and Thurs and we would get to have a conversation with other moms in the trenches about that chapter.

I thought the book and the idea behind the book were both just wonderful.  I constantly feel that pressure to measure up to others.  My kids don't eat healthy enough. I'm not smuggling sweet potatoes into their brownies.  My house isn't spotless or decorated well. I don't take good enough pictures.  Jill addresses all these things and more and teaches us to change our expectations in order to fight the Perfection Infection. We don't have to be perfect to be good moms! There is a website/online group that goes along with the book, that includes videos and discussion questions for each chapter.  It was just really fun and encouraging to read this book along with others.  I got a lot out of it.

28 Days to Hope for Your Home (Not for the Mildly Disorganized)

(Dana White writes the humorous blog A Slob Comes Clean.  She offered an e-book sale one day.  I took her up on the offer and bought a book bundle that included this book.) 

Synopsis: After being overwhelmed by the mess in her house for years, Dana decided to do something about it.  Now you can too.  Follow her simple steps to a much saner existence.

My Thoughts:  What Dana writes about isn't rocket science.  It's coming up with daily cleaning routines and having the discipline to follow them.  In that sense I didn't learn a whole lot from this book.  However, the way she writes is just fantastic.  She's funny and conversational and you feel like she is right there in the room talking to you.  But as the title says, this book is not for the mildly disorganized.  It's really only for those who are covered up in clutter and mess and need help fast.  If that's you, read the book.  If not, I would just pass.

The Red Tent: A Novel

(I got this book through the Paperback Swap program. It's great, you should try it.)

Synopsis:  Told from the point of view of Dinah, The Red Tent follows the story of Jacob from the Bible.  It explores the lives of Jacob's four wives and their only daughter Dinah as she comes of age in a world of men.   See inside the women's tent, the red tent.

My Thoughts:  You know, I am torn about this book.  I thought the writing was great and the characters were even better.  The idea of seeing life through the red tent (the tent that women had to visit during their monthly cycles and for childbirth) is very intriguing.  But I can't get over the fact that she messed with the Bible in the sense that this book does not agree with the Biblical account.  Even though the author makes it clear that she is writing a novel and not a historical account, I still get upset when people mess with the Bible and reinterpret the stories.  I can't in good conscience recommend this book.  If it was just a fiction book about people not in the Bible, than I would have loved it.  But not this way.

I have read 8 books this month, the ones listed above as well as Take a Chance on Me.  That brings my total up to 33 for the year.  I think I'll make my 40 book goal.  Feel free to check out my Pinterest board to find all the reviews.

Here's to Summer

Hey everyone!

We have been having a good time this week just relaxing and playing, which is why the posts have been few and far between.

I could have taken the time to write more posts, but instead I was with these guys:

Relaxing -

and swimming -

I was also discovering that my kids love to cut up strawberries and that they want to build a strawberry factory in their grandparents' back yard (that's where the strawberries came from) and cut them up for $3 a batch, but Julie says the price is negotiable.

And I've been cheering the A's on at baseball games:

We have a 15-4-1 record at the moment.  I'd say that's a pretty good record for Little League ball.

And, unfortunately, today I'm taking care of a sick child.  I wish that stomach viruses would occur only in the winter, but, no, most of our worst ones have been summer ones.

Sigh.

Except for the sick part, it's been a really fun week.  Next week day camps start and it will get a little busier for a while.  If I don't post a lot, realize that it's because I've gone from watching kids 5 hours a day (at least 5 waking hours) and having 7 hours of non-kid time a day to watching them 12+ hours a day and having virtually no non-kid time.  So that means a lot less me time and a lot less blog time.

But I'm OK with that.  My number one job is to take care of my kids.  They grow up so fast and there won't be many more summers where they can play all day and where they still want to do some of that playing with me.

So here's to summer, to long, lazy days, to playing baseball and swimming in the lazy river.  Here's to more hours of daylight, and sleeping in, to popsicles and ice cream and dinners on the grill.

I'm ready to enjoy it!  How about you?

(Money Saving Mom has a great post on why it's OK to break the blogging rules.  It's a great read and goes right along with this post.)

Alternative Medicine: Alternative Therapy

Dreamstime stock photo - source

Other posts in this series:
What is an alternative medicine doctor and what do they do?
What testing do you get when you choose alternative medicine?

What is a detox diet and why do you do it?
What supplements and shakes do they recommend?
Results of the food sensitivities testing.

It's now been about 6 weeks since I've (knowingly) eaten gluten.  And I haven't felt too much of a difference.  In general I feel like my digestion is a little bit easier, less of the "overly full" feeling after meals, but I'm also on digestive enzymes and tons of probiotics, so who's to say which of those things is making the difference.  And if I don't feel better does that mean I'm not finding the right combination of foods to cut out or does it mean that food isn't really my problem?  Argh!

But first let me tell you about the rest of my test results.

Gut Issues

As the doctor mentioned on my first visit, osteopathic doctors concentrate a lot on the gut.  80% of your immune response comes from your gut.  Some people call it your second brain.  So, obviously, a lot of my testing revolved around my gut.  Turns out I don't have enough good bacteria in my gut.  No surprise there.  Remember back in November when I had that C-diff infection?  Yeah, that really screwed everything up in there.

I also have too much yeast in my gut.  Those two things go together, not enough good bacteria to kill off yeast, so it overgrows.  Then when I have too much yeast, all the sugar and carbs that I eat just make the yeast grow (like when you activate yeast to use in a bread recipe).  So, even if the not eating gluten doesn't make me feel tons better, at least not eating it means I'm eating less carbs and it helps stop the yeast from growing.  In light of those results, they "prescribed" high doses of probiotics in these little packets of powder that I mix in with my shake every day.  Hopefully it will even everything out in my gut and get all the bacteria in the right amounts again.  The doctor also recommended I drink Kefir every day, which is like pourable yogurt.  So I've been putting that in my shake too.  Lots of stuff goes in that shake.

OK, so what else is wrong with me?

Heavy Metals

Well, I did a test that looked for heavy metals in my blood.  And they found some.  Lead and antimony.  I have no clue how they got there.  I look at the lists online of ways that you can get lead in your blood and nothing on the list seems to apply to me.  But it's there.

So how do you get rid of lead?  Depends on who you ask.  According to the doctor in Atlanta, I need to do a process called chelation, which is an IV therapy.  They inject you with a chelating agent which binds to the heavy metal and helps it find its way out of your body.  The downside?  Chelating also helps other minerals that you need, such as calcium find their way out of your body too.  People have died from losing too much calcium after doing chelation.  On the flip side, the same article says that there is a "low occurrence of side effects when used at the dose and infusion rates approved by the US FDA as a treatment for heavy metal poisoning."

OK.  Then I have a doctor (non-alternative, regular doctor) telling me that heavy metals are quickly excreted from the body and I don't have to do anything special to get them out.  But my osteopathic doctor and my research online tells me that heavy metals are only slowly excreted and that they build up over time because of this.  Meaning that I need to do something extra, like chelation, to help them out.  So which one is true?  I have no clue, but it's hard for me to believe that I was recently exposed to lead and that it just so happens that I had high levels of it at the time of the test.  I don't know where I would have been exposed to it in the past, but I feel like that's a more likely scenerio than current exposure.  Argh!  I hate it when the "experts" disagree.

Viral Load

Lastly, they tested my viral load, meaning how much of previous viruses that I have had are still lurking around in my system.  Two viruses stood out and they both make sense.  The Epstein Barr virus, the one that causes mono and chronic fatigue syndrome, is incredibly high.  I had mono in high school and I've heard that it never actually leaves your system.  A high level can cause fatigue and low energy, basically as if you have chronic mono. 

The other is the micoplasm, or walking pneumonia, virus.  Seeing as walking pneumonia is very common in East TN and I've had it half a dozen times over the last 10 years that I've lived here, I can believe that my levels are high.  Once again that can cause fatigue and low energy.

How do you fix that?  Well, according to a traditional doctor, you don't.  You just live with it and all the levels will go down in time.  Seeing as I had mono 18 years ago, I kind of doubt that one will go down in time.  According to an osteopathic doctor, you do more IV therapy - oxidative IV therapy.  The websites that I have found about oxidative IV therapy say that they inject your blood with hydrogen peroxide, that it's all natural and it's all good.  Yet, the state of TN doesn't allow people to give out the therapy here.  Why would the state not allow it if there are no side effects and only benefits?

So I guess in all this I'm left with more questions than answers.  Is not eating gluten really making a difference?  Should I be cutting out all grains instead of just gluten?  Should I really do the chelation?  What about the oxidative IV therapy?  To do that, I have to pay a lot and drive to Atlanta a lot.  And the biggest question of all, is any of this really going to make a difference in my pain?

I don't have any answer to any of this right now.  If any of you have any advice or any experience with this, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Sunshiney Day

© Mc Moisei | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Summer has finally arrived!  No more worrying that my flowers will freeze at night. No more wearing jackets at baseball games.  It's 85 and sunny, baby.

But then there's that - the sun.

I've had a love/hate relationship with the sun my whole life.  On the plus side, I love being warm, I love the feel of the sun on my skin when I've just stepped out of a super cold, air-conditioned building.  I love the sunny glow that I get after spending the day at the beach.

But what I don't love?

Sunburn.  That skin that I love the warm sun on is pale, pale, pale.  And it's not the kind of pale that turns brown in the sun.  It's the pale that freckles and burns.  I am either white or red, never brown.  I burn when I just think about the sun.  I never, never tan.  Never.

So hello summer, hello sun, hello sunscreen and lots of it!

Tyndale Book Review: Take a Chance on Me

Take a Chance on Me by Susan May Warren

I'm participating in the Tyndale Blog Network where I provide an honest review in exchange for a free book.

(from the back cover)

Darek Christiansen is almost a dream bachelor - oldest son in the large Christiansen clan, heir to their historic Evergreen Lake resort, and doting father. But he's also wounded and angry since the tragic death of his wife, Felicity. No woman in Deep Haven dares come near.

New assistant county attorney, Ivy Madison, simply doesn't know any better when she bids on Darek at a  charity bachelor auction.  Nor does she know that when she crafted a plea bargain three years ago to keep Jenson Atwood out of jail and in Deep Haven fulfilling community service, she was releasing the man responsible for Felicity's death.  All Ivy knows is that the Christiansens feel like the family she's always longed for.  And once she gets past Darek's tough exterior, she finds a man she could spend the rest of her life with...which scares her almost as much as Darek learning of her involvement in his wife's case.

Caught between new love and old grudges, Darek must decide if he can set aside the past for a future with Ivy - a future more and more at risk as an approaching wildfire threatens to wipe out the Christiansen resort and Deep Haven itself.

My Thoughts:

I am either drawn to reading a book or turned away from it by it's cover design.  Petty, I know, but it's true. I, personally, thought this book had an awful cover design and I procrastinated reading it because of that.  In fast, I was supposed to post this review in April (a fact which I totally forgot - sorry, Tyndale).  But I can honestly say this is a book that you shouldn't judge by its cover.

I absolutely loved this book!  I couldn't put it down once I got started.  This is the beginning of a 6 book series (see Author Q & A below), presumably with each book about a different child in the Christiansen clan.  It is very reminiscent of several of the Karen Kingsbury series. (I loved them too, so that's a good thing.)

I thought this story about Darek and Ivy was sweet without being sappy.  It's a classic romance mixed with some real life heartaches.  The overarching theme of forgiveness shines through the book as does the theme of moving past your past.  Ivy shows that even though you don't have any control over the circumstances of your past, you do have control over how you handle things in the present.

I highly recommend this book.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Here are some additional resources you can read about the book.

Q & A with author Susan May Warren

1. This is the first installment in a brand new six-book series. Can you give us a bit of background on this series?

I love stories about families – watching the members interact and grow together through
challenges and victories – and I conceived this series as I watched my own children begin to grow
up and deal with romance and career and futures. I love Deep Haven, and it’s the perfect setting
for a resort, so I crafted a family, much like the families I know, who run a resort. They want to
pass on their legacy to their children…but their children don’t know if they want it. It’s sort of a
parallel theme to the legacy of faith we instill in our children. As they grow older, they need to
decide whether it is their faith too. It’s a saga about family and faith and what happens when
those collide with real life.

2. This Christiansen Family series is set in Deep Haven, Minnesota. Tell us about this setting.

Deep Haven, Minnesota is based in a small vacation town in northern Minnesota where I spent
my childhood. It’s located on Lake Superior, surrounded by pine and birch and the sense of small
town and home. Populated by everyone from artists to lumberjacks, it’s Mitford, or perhaps
Northern Exposure gone Minnesotan. Quaint, quirky and beautiful, it’s the perfect place to
escape for a vacation.

Excerpt from Chapter 1

Ivy Madison would do just about anything to stay in the secluded, beautiful, innocent town of
Deep Haven.

Even if she had to buy a man.

A bachelor, to be exact, although maybe not the one currently standing on the stage of the
Deep Haven Emergency Services annual charity auction. He looked like a redneck from the
woolly woods of northern Minnesota, with curly dark-blond hair, a skim of whiskers on his face,
and a black T-shirt that read, Hug a logger—you’ll never go back to trees. Sure, he filled out his
shirt and looked the part in a pair of ripped jeans and boots, but he wore just a little too much
“Come and get me, girls,” in his smile.

The auctioneer on stage knew how to work his audience. He regularly called out names from
the crowd to entice them to bid. And apparently the town of Deep Haven loved their firefighters,
EMTs, and cops because the tiny VFW was packed, the waitresses running out orders of bacon
cheeseburgers and hot wings to the bidding crowd.

After the show was over, a local band would take the stage. The auction was part of the
summer solstice festival—the first of many summer celebrations Deep Haven hosted. Frankly it
felt like the village dreamed up events to lure tourists, but Ivy counted it as her welcoming party.

Oh, how she loved this town. And she’d only lived here for roughly a day. Imagine how she’d
love it by the end of the summer, after she’d spent three months learning the names of locals,
investing herself into this lakeside hamlet.

Her days of hitching her measly worldly possessions—four hand-me-down suitcases; a loose
cardboard box of pictures; a garbage bag containing The Elements of Legal Style, How to Argue
and Win Every Time, and To Kill a Mockingbird; and most of all, her green vintage beach bike—
onto the back of her red Nissan Pathfinder were over.

Time to put down roots. Make friends.

Okay, buying a friend didn't exactly qualify, but the fact that her money would go to help the
local emergency services seemed like a good cause. And if Ivy had learned anything growing up
in foster care, it was that a person had to work the system to get what she wanted.

She should be unpacking; she started work in the morning. But how long would it take, really,
to settle into the tiny, furnished efficiency apartment over the garage behind the Footstep of
Heaven Bookstore? And with her new job as assistant county attorney, she expected to have
plenty of free time. So when the twilight hues of evening had lured her into the romance of a
walk along the shoreline of the Deep Haven harbor, she couldn't stop herself.

She couldn't remember the last time she’d taken a lazy walk, stopping at storefronts, reading
the real estate ads pasted to the window of a local office.

Cute, two-bedroom log cabin on Poplar Lake. She could imagine the evergreen smell
nudging her awake every morning, the twitter of cardinals and sparrows as she took her cup of
coffee on the front porch.

Except she loved the bustle of the Deep Haven hamlet. Nestled on the north shore of
Minnesota, two hours from the nearest hint of civilization, the fishing village–turned–tourist
hideaway had enough charm to sweet-talk Ivy out of her Minneapolis duplex and make her
dream big.

Dream of home, really. A place. Friends. Maybe even a dog. And here, in a town where
everyone belonged, she would too.

The Gratitude Project

My one word for this year is Gratitude, being thankful to God for all he has given me.  Join me in the Gratitude Project every Thursday.  I list what I'm thankful for and you tell me what you're thankful for.

Today I'm thankful that:

• Yesterday was the last day of school.
• I got to sleep in today.
• The rain held off long enough to let me plant some flowers that I have had sitting outside for several weeks.

It's the little things :).

Alternative Medicine: Food Test Results

Dreamstime stock photo - source

Other posts in this series:
What is an alternative medicine doctor and what do they do?
What testing do you get when you choose alternative medicine?

What is a detox diet and why do you do it?
What supplements and shakes do they recommend?

Last Thursday was the big day - the day I got the results from all the bazillions of tests that I took at the alternative medicine clinic in Atlanta.  Tim went with me this time, which was good.  He took notes while the doctor talked and I tried to absorb it all.

The tests with the biggest impact on my life were the Food Sensitivity tests.  The first one, the IgG blood test tested over a hundred different foods to see what I am most sensitive to.  (IgG is some kind of antibody your body creates when it feels attacked by an outside agent, like a food. You can read more about it here if you are interested.)

The test showed different levels of sensitivities, from "no reaction" up to "severe reaction".  Only one food showed up as "severe" for me - pears.  That means I am not supposed to eat pears for 9 months.  Then after that I can eat them sparingly.  That's really OK.  I'm not a big pear eater.  Next up, in the "high reaction" category - peaches.  What is it with me and fruit?  OK, no peaches for 6 months.  All that is no problem.  I can easily live without peaches and pears.

Then comes the biggie, the "moderate reaction" category.  Two foods showed up on there - chicken and tomatoes.  Um, that's a little harder to handle.  So now I'm not supposed to eat chicken or tomatoes for 3-4 months.  That means no pizza, no marinara, no salsa, no ketchup, and no barbecue sauce.  As for chicken, well, I eat it in probably half of all my meals now.  And that's all I eat at a fast food restaurant.  Cutting it out for 4 months does not make me happy.

In the "mild reaction" category were tons of food, such as all berries, carrots, cinnamon, lemons, plums, pumpkin and tea.  (Clearly I have issues with fruit, which is bad, because I love fruit.)  These items I can eat, but I need to limit them to 1-2 times a week.

Then comes the IgA test results.  IgA is another type of antibody that your body can create, this time in response to eating gluten.  These results came from my adrenal stress test.  I got to chew on a cotton plug 4 times during one day.  I put those spit-filled cotton ball things into a test tube and wrote the time of day on them and mailed them off to be tested.  Besides showing low adrenal function, i.e. no energy, it also showed my Gliadin IgA results.  I am highly gluten sensitive.  Normal ranges are 1.0-25.0 ug/mL.  Mine was 78.0, over 3 times the top end of the scale.  What does that mean?  I should not eat gluten any more. :(

The good news is that I am NOT sensitive to eggs, peanuts or dairy, which means I can add them back in.  Adding in eggs makes finding gluten-free items much easier.  And I just love cheese, so being able to add that back in is a relief as well.

I had some other results that I will tell you about in another post.  Right now I'm just trying to fully grasp what no gluten, no chicken and no tomatoes means for me.  Literally, that is every food I love and 3/4 of my current diet.  Just trying to figure out what I could have at a fast food restaurant is daunting right now - nothing with a bun, no chicken.  That pretty much only leaves fries...  Even fast food salads have chicken on them and they are premade so asking for something special to be left off doesn't always work.

Just like the last time I went to the clinic when they put me on the detox diet, I think after a week or two and some research, I will be fine.  But right now, I'm overwhelmed.

Any resources or recipes that you know of that are gluten, tomato and chicken free would be great!