Inspirational Sunday: Lift Me Up

I am so grateful that I have a Father in Heaven that loves me and will LIFT ME UP when I need it most!

Book Review: Gracie, A Love Story

I just finished reading the book "Gracie, A Love Story" by George Burns.

I think it was a fun book to read and very enjoyable, although it wasn't a favorite of mine. I did LOVE reading how much George Burns loved and admired his wife and how he attributes all his success to her.

I also enjoyed the humor in the book and a couple of times was laughing out loud and had to tell my husband the jokes...

I am definitely going to recommend this book to my Grandmother because I think she would really enjoy it since she grew up with Gracie and George, but for me... I think I was too young to fully enjoy all this book has to offer.


Books on My List: (BOLD - Currently Reading; Purple - I finished it!)

Books on my bookcase I REALLY want to read:

• The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale
• Fishers of Men - Gerald N. Lund
• 101 Powerful Promises from Latter-day Prophets - Wayne Brickey
• God Wants a Powerful People - Sheri Dew
• Daughters of God - S. Michael Wilcox
• If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard - Sheri Dew
• Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey
• How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
• Saving Kristen - Jack Weyland
• Please Pass the Scriptures - John Hilton III
• 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know - Brent L. Top & Bruce A. Chadwick
• The Christmas Sweater - Glenn Beck
• Life of Joseph Smith - George Q. Cannon (added 2/4)
• The Five Thousand Year Leap - W. Cleon Skousen (added 2/4)
• The Peacegiver - James L. Ferrell (added 2/4)

Book Club Books:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• Gracie: A Love Story - George Burns
• The Wednesday Wars - Gary Schmidt
• A Train to Potevka - Mike Ramsdell
• Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
• Fine Old High Priests - Donald S. Smurthwaite
• Three Cups of Tea - Gary Mortenson
• Warriors Don't Cry - Melba Pattillo Beals
• Mayflower - Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Host - Stephanie Meyers I've read this one before and LOVED it but will do a quick review before book club

Other Books I'd Like To Read:

• Overcoming Under Earning - Barbara Stanny
• The Undaunted - Gerald N. Lund
• The Great and The Terrible Series (vol. 1-6) - Chris Stewart
• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
• Sarah's Quilt - Nancy E. Turner
• Forest Born - Shannon Hale
• The Best of Times: A Dickens Inn Novel - Anita Stansfield
• The Silence of Snow - Anita Stansfield
• The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks

Menu Plan Monday - 2/1/2010

Monday: Mushroom & Swiss Burgers/Tator Tots/Jello Jigglers

Tuesday: Honey Mustard Chicken/Rice-a-roni/Veggies

Wednesday: Chili/Rolls

Thursday: Spaghetti/breadsticks/salad

Friday: Ribs/Potato Salad/Green Beans

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Superbowl Party!

Pizza Sandwiches for Lunch?

The other day I made pizza sandwiches for lunch after Jaiden asked for them and thought I'd share them here...

My siblings and I grew up eating these (they were something even we could make!) for lunches or an after-school snack... When I called my parents to find out the history of them, I was told I was doing them all wrong... lol

My Grandma used to make them for my step-dad and he says that they might even go back further than that...

So I guess I'll give you the "original" recipe and just share with you what changes I make in the directions...

Ingredients:
- slice of bread
- slice of the Kraft sliced cheese
- tomato slice
- oregano or Italian Seasoning
- grated Parmesean Cheese

Directions:
1. Place a slice of cheese on the bread. - Dad says the bread needs to not be too big - otherwise you'll need to break another slice of cheese to cover all the bread. He also says that it MUST be Kraft sliced cheese - Me? I use regular cheddar cheese because I'm too cheap to buy KRAFT sliced cheese! lol

2. Place a thin slice of tomato on the cheese. - Me? I LOVE tomato so I usually put on 1 1/2 - 2 slices!

3. Sprinkle on oregano (or Italian Seasoning) and some grated Parmasean Cheese. - Me? When he told me this I remember the parmasean cheese growing up but had been forgetting to put it on! ugh! So it will now be added to my pizza sandwiches from this time forth! But I also remember putting on garlic salt... so I've always put garlic salt on mine...

4. Place on a pan in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes (until the cheese melts and the bottom starts getting toasted). Then broil for about 2 minutes (watch it because it will burn fast) to toast the top. Dad says it's done when the cheese starts turning brown. - Me? This is another reason I don't use the Kraft Singles - they will brown... I like my cheese melted but not browned... My dad? He likes his cheese brown... lol

Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

I blasted through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in 3 days so I would be able to go to Book Club...

I won't post the story because you can read it here (and as I mentioned before, I HATE book reports! lol)

I really enjoyed this book although it was hard for me to get started into it. I remember thinking that I probably wouldn't of finished it in the beginning except for book club, but by Part 2 of the book I was hooked! And the ending is fabulous!

I've always loved WWII books and stories, and I loved how this book gave a different perspective on the topic...

It was a great book to start with for my FIRST time at book club and I can't wait for future months!


Books on My List: (BOLD - Currently Reading; Purple - I finished it!)

Books on my bookcase I REALLY want to read:

• The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale
• Fishers of Men - Gerald N. Lund
• 101 Powerful Promises from Latter-day Prophets - Wayne Brickey
• God Wants a Powerful People - Sheri Dew
• Daughters of God - S. Michael Wilcox
• If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard - Sheri Dew
• Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey
• How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
• Saving Kristen - Jack Weyland
• Please Pass the Scriptures - John Hilton III
• 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know - Brent L. Top & Bruce A. Chadwick
• The Christmas Sweater - Glenn Beck

Book Club Books:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• Gracie: A Love Story - George Burns
• The Wednesday Wars - Gary Schmidt
• A Train to Potevka - Mike Ramsdell
• Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
• Fine Old High Priests - Donald S. Smurthwaite
• Three Cups of Tea - Gary Mortenson
• Warriors Don't Cry - Melba Pattillo Beals
• Mayflower - Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Host - Stephanie Meyers I've read this one before and LOVED it but will do a quick review before book club

Other Books I'd Like To Read:

• Overcoming Under Earning - Barbara Stanny
• The Undaunted - Gerald N. Lund
• The Great and The Terrible Series (vol. 1-6) - Chris Stewart
• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
• Sarah's Quilt - Nancy E. Turner
• Forest Born - Shannon Hale
• The Best of Times: A Dickens Inn Novel - Anita Stansfield
• The Silence of Snow - Anita Stansfield
• The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks

Read a good book lately?

One of my New Years Resolutions is to read more... at LEAST 2 books a month...

So I started compiling a list of books to read - I have a TON of books that are sitting on my bookshelf that I have never read, as well as some that I've been wanting to read... and then I decided to join the church book club, so that will keep me busy as well...

Books on My List: (BOLD - Currently Reading; Purple - I finished it!)

Books on my bookcase I REALLY want to read:

• The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale
• Fishers of Men - Gerald N. Lund
• 101 Powerful Promises from Latter-day Prophets - Wayne Brickey
• God Wants a Powerful People - Sheri Dew
• Daughters of God - S. Michael Wilcox
• If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard - Sheri Dew
• Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey
• How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
• Saving Kristen - Jack Weyland
• Please Pass the Scriptures - John Hilton III
• 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know - Brent L. Top & Bruce A. Chadwick
• The Christmas Sweater - Glenn Beck

Book Club Books:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• Gracie: A Love Story - George Burns
• The Wednesday Wars - Gary Schmidt
• A Train to Potevka - Mike Ramsdell
• Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
• Fine Old High Priests - Donald S. Smurthwaite
• Three Cups of Tea - Gary Mortenson
• Warriors Don't Cry - Melba Pattillo Beals
• Mayflower - Nathaniel Philbrick
• The Host - Stephanie Meyers I've read this one before and LOVED it but will do a quick review before book club

Other Books I'd Like To Read:

• Overcoming Under Earning - Barbara Stanny
• The Undaunted - Gerald N. Lund
• The Great and The Terrible Series (vol. 1-6) - Chris Stewart
• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
• Sarah's Quilt - Nancy E. Turner
• Forest Born - Shannon Hale
• The Best of Times: A Dickens Inn Novel - Anita Stansfield
• The Silence of Snow - Anita Stansfield
• The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks

I'm hoping to write book reviews (mainly for myself since my memory is AWFUL) but then again... I failed Literature in 7th grade with a 23% because I HATED to write book reports... so we'll see how that goes! lol

Inspirational Sunday: Do You Have Room for the Savior?

When I saw these muffin tin advents here at Sumo's Sweet Stuff and here at Somewhat Simple I just HAD to make one of my own!

And it was actually quite a quick and easy project!

Because my kids get PLENTY of sweets and candy, I decided to do activities in each day written on paper (I hurry and trade them before the kids pick if it is something that just won't work for the day)...

Need some ideas for activites? You can see my list right here...

This was definitely a fun and easy project that added to my Christmas Decor and that the kids LOVE!

Great Gift Idea: Crayon Roll

What a fun gift idea for your little ones? My daughter LOVES her crayon roll and it isn't even hard to make! (If I can do it with my limited sewing skills, you can do it!)

I followed the tutorial on Skip to My Lou (but cut out the ric rac trim because of my limited sewing knowledge, although I LOVE the trim!)

I had intended this to be for my daughter to take to church, but she uses it constantly and my son even likes it! They love that they can see all the colors in front of them...

And I love that we can fold it up and put it all away!

Menu Plan Monday - 12/14/09

I didn't do so great this week sticking to my menu... It was a busy, busy week... although this week should be better since all the holiday parties are done with and I have most of my shopping done! I'm hoping for more time to BLOG!

The only thing we ended up cooking from the menu was the Clam Chowder and it was excellent!

I will try to add the recipes as I cook them this week - I didn't do very good at that last week because I didn't cook! lol

Monday: Sweet & Sour Meatballs/Rice

Tuesday: Chicken Enchilada Casserole/Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Teriyaki Burgers/French Fries

Thursday: Swiss Bliss Chicken/Rice-a-roni/Green Beans

Friday: Out of Town

Saturday: Homemade Pizza - and I might make Alfredo Sauce and do an alfredo chicken pizza - yum!

Sunday: Tacos/Mexi Rice - I use the fresh tortillas from Sam's Club - YUM!