Becoming Bea Book Review

I got Becoming Bea (The Courtships of Lancaster County) by Leslie Gould through the publisher for my review.  I was excited to say yes to this opportunity and even more excited to see if pop into my mailbox.  I love to read Amish fiction and this is a series and author that I hadn't had a chance to read yet.  I knew that it was a little while before I needed to post my review but I had to read the book and couldn't put it off any longer.  I prefer reading the books and posting the review right away but I just couldn't help it!

In this book, Bea Zook knows she needs to learn patience toward others because she is quick to anger which is not common in the Amish community. When assisting a family overwhelmed by triplets proves surprisingly successful, her confidence in dealing with others, both young and old, grows.  She changes her own personality as she grows more confident.  One person she'll never be able to find peace with though is her childhood friend, Ben Rupp. Ben understands precisely how to antagonize her and frequently says things just to upset her and get her reaction. Their friends decide to try and bring the couple together to show them that the bickering is actually them caring for each other because someone you don't care about can't affect you as much.  Make sure you pick up this book and find out how it works out!!!

I enjoyed the book so much.  My biggest complaint is that it was so good that I had trouble putting it down and therefore, it was over too fast.  The great writing and great characters drag you into middle of the situation so that you feel like you are living in this small town with the other characters.  I am going to have to look for more by the author, especially the first three books in this series.  I am usually not one to start series in the middle but when given the chance to review this book, I jumped at the chance because it sounded so interesting.  I wasn't wrong and I wasn't disappointed!!  I hope that you check out this book and see if you need to add it to your reading list too.  Let me know if you have read this or any other books in the series so I know where to read next!

If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please feel free to click here.

More about the author: Leslie Gould is the coauthor, with Mindy Starns Clark, of the #1 CBA bestseller The Amish Midwife, a 2012 Christy Award winner; ECPA bestseller Courting Cate, first in the Courtships of Lancaster County series; and Beyond the Blue, winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice for Best Inspirational Novel, 2006. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Portland State University and has taught fiction writing at Multnomah University as an adjunct professor. She and her family live in Portland, Oregon.

**  I was provided a copy of this book for my honest review from Litfuse Publicity.

Review also posted on Amazon

Thrifty Thursday: Not Getting Off the Saving Track

I was trying to write a note this week about saving some money and I don't have anything to say except that I have been totally out of touch because we are working on buying our new house.  I don't know what I have done recently to save a little money but I know that I have to continue planning and make sure that I stay on track during this stressful time. 

How do you do it??  When things get busy, how do you make sure that you stay on track with saving money and not going over budget?

I have had a tough time sticking to a menu and making up things at the last minute before dinner.  When you are busy all day and then come home, it is the last thing that I want to think about to get in the kitchen and make dinner.  Especially since I have a five year old who isn't really interested in eating that much so we end up lowering what we are going to eat most nights to what is interesting to him so that he will eat it too. 

Do you have picky eaters at your house??  Any ideas on what works for you?

I am working to sell as many things as I can through Craigslist and eBay before the move to get rid of things and make a little money.  It takes a lot of work to do all of those things especially when you are already busy.  I have lots of baby stuff to get rid of and other things around the house.  We are hoping to take a big batch to Salvation Army before the end of the year on the things that haven't sold to get a nice tax write off too.

Any eBay or Craigslist tips?  Any ideas on hot things that I should be looking for to sell?

I am also looking forward to the holiday season.  We have Thanksgiving coming which we are going to my sister in law's house so we are out of most of the work but I will probably be bringing some sort of food with us.  The great news is that I have the stress off of me for that.  I am going to most likely have guests for Christmas so I am sure that things will be a little crazy.  I try hard to make good decisions and not go crazy with holiday shopping but I think that with all of the house things going on that this might take a back shelf and I am worried.

What do you do to make sure you stay on track for the holidays?  Do you set a budget for the holiday or just a list of the people you need to buy for??

Any tips to get me to stay on track will be greatly appreciated!!  Hoping that buying lots of things for the house and the busy schedule isn't going to throw me off track so comment and give me great ideas on what to do to stay on track.

October Budget Review

This month was a little crazy in the shopping department and I can't really figure out why except there were a lot of good deals out there that I didn't seem to be able to pass up.  I tried to make it to the store to get most of the deals although the end of the month came a little too quickly and the expiration of many of the coupons that were burning a hole in my pocket.

I was hoping to get a few more trips in to get some freebies but then the month got even more busy when we walked through a house and found our new house!  We wrote the contract and amazingly it got accepted and ratified quickly (which in this area is hard because there are multiple bids on all of the houses).  We did the home inspection and they found nothing major wrong with it so we did the happy dance and we are moving forward with closing on the 14th.  I can't believe how quickly this is moving but we are excited to start our new life in the new house!!

Sadly, this is putting some confusion in the shopping plan because we don't know when we are really going to be moving.  We are going to be doing renovations on the new house while still living in the old one so it is going to be a little bit still but I am hoping to cut down on the shopping trips for the next couple months but I do have to buy a turkey when they go on sale this month for Christmas dinner.  This is the time of year that I usually stock up on baking supplies so I am trying to make some decisions between getting the items on sale and having to move 40 lbs of flour.  I guess you will have to stay tuned to see what wins!!

$47.40 Aldi

I seem to need a once a month trip to Aldi's and I get most of the items I need for the month like lettuce, potatoes, butter, crackers and some chicken fingers in this trip and they lasted for most of the month.

$14.38 (and $10 on gift card) Giant

I needed to get toilet paper and paper towels so I was looking for a good deal so that I could get something with my $10 gift card and it turns out that I found a deal if I bought three things so it took me a little bit to put together the best deal but I was excited to get this and spend so little out of pocket with the instant $7 savings, sale prices and coupons.  I was a little sad when I realized that I forgot to spend the $5 off $15 that I had in the car!!  Saved it and used it at Harris Teeter because they take competitive coupons.

$2.98 CVS

We were out of the Advil and I was going to get the small size which would have been free after coupon but they were totally out and it was the end of the coupon.  I grabbed two of the regular ones that were buy one, get one half off and I used my ECBS, coupons and another coupon that came out of the machine to get a bargain of a deal since these are $7 each.

$13.27 Harris Teeter

Last day for the Giant coupon so I worked really hard to get my total after coupons up to $15 which is a challenge.  Before coupon total was well over $60 so I thought I was fine but it came down to $11 so I had to grab another whole chicken which ended up being free after the coupon for $5 came back off.  Should have used it at Giant when I had the chance but we got lots of great deals and saved over $100 on all of this!!

$28.63 Harris Teeter

I might have gone a little overboard on this deal but I got a bunch of Christmas presents for my cousin, brother in law, and mom so I am still putting it up to a good deal.  As well as getting a deal on toilet paper which we need to stock up on and my son's oatmeal.

$0.97 Harris Teeter

I used a rain check for the apple sauce, Domino Quick Dissolve, Lipton Family Size Tea Bags and black pepper on this transaction to get the most bang for my buck during super doubles. I bought the Dove to use the overage to pay for the rest of the deals (mostly the pepper).

$1.76 Harris Teeter

I couldn't pass up free microwave popcorn, hot sauce, hair spray, tissues, rice and shampoo.  There was some overage so I had to get a few things to fill the difference like the Windex and the Domino (used a rain check).  I actually had to run back in the store and get the Domino's because my total went negative...not sure what happened but great excuse to get some sugar because it will never go to waste in this house.

$4.33 Harris Teeter

I used a rain check to get the applesauce and the Mazola spray because there still weren't a lot of deals on the shelves because stock was low.  I got the deal on the pierogies which are a yummy new flavor.  I got to the end and didn't use all the coupons so I added the three Glade plug ins which were free after coupon and the hot sauce.  Sadly, I messed up the other parts of the deal.  I should have had another ZVR come off the Excedrin to make it a good deal but I didn't return it because at least it wasn't full price and I know that I am going to need it.  I got the Bertolli meal and the Torta to try and get the rebate back from Checkout 51 for $2.50 but I messed it up!!  I got $1 for the Torta but the other one was supposed to have two meals to get the other $1.00 and then if it wasn't done by that day then I lost the bonus $0.50 for having them together but the good news is that even though they weren't the bargain that I was aiming for, we ate them already during our busy nights so they got enjoyed.

$2.10 Harris Teeter   

I used a rain check and coupons to get the Applesauce free and the Finish super cheap.  The Puffs were on sale and free after coupons so this was a really great deal and I got to stock up on Finish which we are almost out of!!

$1.26 Harris Teeter

I went to another store and got a few deals that my store was out of including the Vidal Sassoon shampoo and conditioner.  I used the rain check to get the Domino's Quick Dissolve and GoGo Squeeze Applesauce free.  I got one box of Lipton and one Bayer and the Puffs free after coupon.  I wanted to get the Sierra Mist since we were going to have a few people over and it seemed like a fun drink but these were still pricey after coupon so I got the Jif Hazelnut Spread with a rain check to get the overage from the ZVR to put money towards the Sierra Mist.  I had some trouble at the check out because they didn't want to accept my rain check but I got some sort of approval and they took it after much debate.  Then my Sierra Mist coupon didn't double fully and I tried to explain how I would still be paying and the coupons was doubling to the price of one and not two.  I was about ready to give up and give them two more coupons so I could at least get the right price from the computer when another manager came over and gave me the additional $1.50 that I was looking for.  Thank goodness and this is why I always go to the same store because I know that they understand and I very rarely have any trouble.

$0 Giant

I got a coupon in the mail to get a free reusable bag.  There were reports everywhere that they were out of them and they wouldn't get them back in until after the coupon expired so I headed to the store to get the one thing while I was out because I knew that I still didn't have my act together for the trip that I should be doing.  I had a hard time to deciding but the one with the orange had an apple on the other side and the eggplant had lettuce on the other side.  I decided on the fruit instead of veggies.  What do you think??

$0  ($8.56 on gift card) Giant

I went to the store to get lunch meat and corn tortillas but it turned into a race to the finish line when my contractor called and said he was at the house early.  I had to grab what I had and run to the checkout.  I got five ham, one turkey and the tortillas and the price was crazy high because I couldn't find the coupon for the turkey.  Oh well, I have a gift card and I went with it because I hadn't had lunch meat for my husband in days.

$0 ($1.29 on gift card) Giant

I went back to use my rain check for the spaghetti sauce when I realized that the coupons were going to expire on 11/1.  It is a good thing that I went through all my coupons before the end of the month or I would have missed 10 jars of free pasta sauce.  I also grabbed another package of Mission tortillas which had a coupon on them for $1 off so they were only $0.99.  I luckily still had some gift card left so there was no money out of pocket.  I only have $0.15 left on my gift card :(

$2.16 Harris Teeter

It was the last day of the month and there were some big value coupons expiring so I ran to HT to get some money makers to pay for two Red Baron pizzas.  I was excited to get a bunch of freebies which will most likely be used for Christmas gifts.  I am super glad to have two emergency pizzas in the freezer for some busy nights coming up in the next few weeks at a great price.  We might have already eaten one :)

Total Retail $792.36

 Total Savings $673.12

Total OOP $119.24

After the month is over, I am happy with all the things that I have gotten and super excited to see how much I saved.  Here is hoping that I am not sad in a few months if we have to move lots of food.  I know that I got lots of great deals so I might be donating a bunch with the upcoming Scouting for Food where the Boy Scouts come to the door to pick up things for the local food pantry and my favorite charity with other things around the house.  I hope that you had a great month too.  Even if you didn't have a good one last month, this is the perfect time to have a good November!  Good luck and best wishes!!!

October Reading Review

I got off to a slow start with a very busy month but it ended up being a pretty good month with reading.  There is one book that I read this month and the review isn't going to posted until next month so there is no link to the original review but the rest will have a link to the original reviews in case you want to see what they are about and whether you are going to add them to you list.

The Secret

by Beverly Lewis

The Missing 

by Beverly Lewis

The Telling

by Beverly Lewis 

The Promise 

by Robyn Carr

Becoming Bea

by Leslie Gould
(link not active until Nov 8th)

When the Treetops Glisten

by Tricia Goyer, Cara Putman and Sarah Sundin

Books Read for 2014

January     8

February    9
March       6
April          6
May          8
June          13
July          10
August       9
September  9
October     6

Total Books   84

Currently Reading:

Raging Heat
by Richard Castle

Menu Plan Monday 11/3

Monday- Breakfast for Dinner- Pancakes and Eggs
Tuesday- Salsa Sloppy Joes and mac and cheese
Wednesday- Chicken something (maybe chicken and rice casserole)
Thursday- Chicken Nuggets with homemade fries
Friday- Three Cheese Pasta with meat sauce and garlic bread
Saturday- Leftovers/Whole Herb Roasted Chicken with stuffing and corn
Sunday- Leftovers/Soup and Grilled Cheese

My parents are headed through town and will only be here one night for dinner so I am taking that opportunity to make a whole chicken since I just bought four after using all of the ones in the freezer.  I have a little ground beef, chicken tenders, and whole chicken.  I am going to use up as much of the items in the freezer to try to clean it out before moving.  Now I am just hoping to come up with some ideas on what to make because it certainly has been me mostly looking at the blank sheet and trying to figure out what we are going to eat.  The rest of the week is a little more up in the air depending on whether I make it to the store to get a few essentials or have to make due with what is in the house until I have time next week because I am getting into the schedule with driving my son to his new school, have to take my sister in law to the airport and two days at work.  Hoping to come up with a good routine for this new change and see what I can get done with my "free" time.

Menu Plan Monday 10/27

Monday- Spaghetti with pesto
Tuesday- Chicken Fries with homemade fries
Wednesday- Leftovers
Thursday- Bertoli Torta (purchased at Harris Teeter SD) with side of pasta with garlic bread
Friday- Tacos
Saturday- Leftovers/??
Sunday-Leftovers/???

Okay, I know that I was supposed to post this on Monday for the plans for the week but I can tell you that I didn't have any plans for the week when Monday rolled around.  We were crazy busy here.  My husband took two days off of work at the beginning of the week just so that we could get through all of our appointments.  I am hoping that we have a little time to settle down and enjoy Thanksgiving but we have big news- We got a new house.  We are going to be moving sometime after the holidays and the remodeling into a new house.  We have to change my son's school and do all of the things that go along with a new house so I am super excited to get all of that finally moving forward since we have been talking about it forever and looking for what seems that long.  We are going to be having more interesting dinners with the busy schedule and going back and forth between houses but we are looking forward to this new challenge.  I am going to try to get everything up on the blog but if I go missing for a few days, please understand and I will be back!!

When Treetops Glisten Book Review

I got an email about Where Treetops Glisten: Three Stories of Heartwarming Courage and Christmas Romance During World War II by Tricia Goyer, Cara Putman, Sarah Sundin but I wasn't really sure when I read the description whether it was something I would like. But I love holiday books so I thought that I would take a chance.  I am super glad that I did because I really enjoyed the book and had to use a few tissues to make it through the book (which is a good thing at least for me).

The book is broken up into three different short stories but they were all about the same family so they tied together as a full story.  The stories are all about America's involvement in the Second World War and how that changes the lives of the Turner family in Lafayette, Indiana.

In Cara Putman's White Christmas, Abigail Turner is holding down the Home Front as a college student and a part-time employee at a one-of-a-kind candy shop. Loss of her high school love to the war has Abigail skittish about romantic entanglements which changes when she meets Jackson, a hard-working young man with a serious problem needs her help.

Abigail's brother Pete is a fighter pilot hero returned from the European Theater in Sarah Sundin's I'll Be Home for Christmas, trying to recapture the hope and peace his time at war has eroded. He is having trouble feeling anything and is dealing with being numb to all emotion when he encounters a precocious little girl in need of Pete's friendship.  He has to convince her widowed mother that he's no longer the bully she once knew in order to start a friendship with the little girl.

In Tricia Goyer's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Meredith Turner, "Merry" to those who know her best, is using her skills as a combat nurse on the front line in the Netherlands. Halfway around the world from home, Merry never expects to face her deepest betrayal head on, but she finds a lost friend in the most unusual place so far away from her home. 

I usually like to have one really long story when I am reading so I wasn't sure if I was going to like the three books in one idea.  Each story was longer then I was thinking it was going to be and they were all about the same family so it made it a cohesive story from different points of view.  I enjoyed all of them so much and I couldn't put the book down.  The characters and all of the writing were great.  Because you were invested in the characters, there was a lot of emotions in the book.  The stories are around the holiday and during wartime so there was lots of happiness and sadness with some who have died and others that fall in love so it was a roller coaster of emotion.  I hope that you check out this book and see for yourself.  I think that you will enjoy it and get into the Christmas spirit!!  I know that it worked for me!

Bonus there are some recipes in the back of the book for Grandma Turner's White Velvet Cutouts, Pete's Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies, Grace's Molasses Cookies and Linnie's Candy Cane Cookies.  They all look yummy so I hope to be able to make one of them!!  Let me know if you try one of the recipes and let me know which one gets a thumbs up.

About the authors: 

TRICIA GOYER is a prolific author of nearly forty books, including Chasing Mona Lisa, and a speaker and blogger. 

Website, Facebook, Twitter

CARA PUTMAN is the author of twenty books including Shadowed by Grace. She is the winner of the 2008 Carol Award for historical fiction. 

Website, Facebook, Twitter

SARAH SUNDIN is the critically-acclaimed author of the Wings of the Nightingale series, the Wings of Glory series, and the forthcoming Waves of Freedom novels.

Website, Facebook, Twitter

** I was provided a copy of this book from my review and honest opinion from the Litfuse Publicity.