Book Review

When I was in college, I had a friend I could share anything with. She was someone I felt comfortable sharing my humanness with, someone who would keep my confidences and not spread them to others. We had a mutual understanding that the struggles we shared were between us. We were there to support each other.

After graduating and moving, I missed that friendship in my life. It is hard to develop that close-knit friendship in a new place, surrounded entirely by people you have just met. Lisa Welchel (best known for her role as Blair on The Facts of Life) struggled with the same thing in her life and in Friendship for Grownups: What I Missed and Learned Along the Way she shares her journey to establishing life-long, two way friendships.

She shares about her surface friendships, her friendships that fell apart (whether from growing apart or from loss of trust) and her friendships that worked. She shared that she has always been a giver (many women are) and needed someone to pour into her instead of always giving. I really identified with her bucket vs. thimble theory.

If you are struggling with your friendships or are longing to create some meaningful, lasting friendships, this book might just be for you.

I was provided with this book free of charge from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a member of their booksneeze program.

One of my co-workers asked me to proofread a paper that her daughter had written for a class about her future. Reading her paper about her plans to go to college, become a Meteorologist and work for the weather channel made me reflect on how my dreams have changed over the years.

If I were to look at a paper that I had written when I was this girls age, it would say something about how in the next fifteen years I would like to have finished Vet school and be have my own veterinarian clinic. I would have a family with a lot of animals running around.

I think it’s very important to have dreams and goals. I also think it’s extremely important to have the confidence and faith in our dreams that we had when we were younger. As we get older and life starts to alter our view of reality, sometimes it’s good to look at someone else’s dreams for their lives and let them influence us.

I love to laugh and I love a good story that makes me laugh. “Happily Ever Laughter” is a book that compiles many stories that will make you laugh, especially if you can relate to some of the stories in your own marriage. While I am not married, this book does offer practical advice for sustaining great relationships.

Each chapter of the book is a short story about issues that have come up in that author’s marriage and resolving it. At the end of each chapter there is a “Laugh Lesson” which highlights how to make your marriage stronger.

I laughed out loud reading many of the stories and could relate to a few of the episodes in my own life. The chapters are very quick reads and would be ideal for spouses to read together and should create some discussion about episodes in their own marriage that reflect the topic being addressed.

This book was provided to me free of charge from Tyndale House Publishers. I am not compensated for either a good or poor review.

Ok, I admit it!! I’ve had a celebrity crush on one Matt Damon for about fourteen years now. He has always just seemed so down to earth and typical boy-next-door to me. I will watch him in anything (even the stinkers he is in–anyone seen “Stuck on You”?).

So, imagine my unbridled joy when I heard that Matt is going to be guest starring on the season finale of one of my favorite shows: 30 Rock. Does anyone remember when he guest starred on Will & Grace? It is a lot of fun to watch him in those comedic roles after he has been this action hero in all of the Bourne movies.

So, now I’m counting down the days until Thursday when I can watch Matt Damon and 30 Rock in one sitting!! Oh, and did I mention Invictus is out on DVD this week? Guess whose in that one :).

So I’ve been thinking a little bit lately about turning forty in a couple of years (I know, I’m really jumping the gun here but hey, it’s good to plan ahead, right?). And thought I’d share a list of things I would like to achieve before I actually turn forty. I was going to try and come up with 40 things to do before I am forty but that list got a little silly so I’ll just start with ten things.

Now there are things I’m not going to include on the list (things such as get married and win the lottery) because those are probably not going to happen and I can’t take any steps to make those things happen (well, I could actually buy the lottery ticket to increase my chance of winning but probably not going to happen).

I would love to knock everyone of these things off of my list but a lot of them are going to cost money and some of them take a lot of time to prepare for so I may only get a few of them completed.

Without further ado, my list of things to do before I turn forty:

1. complete another half ironman triathlon

2. figure out the coding to add pictures, etc to this blog

3. visit New York City

4. Leave the Country. Take a vacation outside of the United States

5. Visit Washington DC

6. Get to my goal weight (this seems impossible to me some days but I’m going to keep trying)

7. complete a century bike ride (112 miles)

8. visit some places in Tennessee I have not yet been to–The Smoky Mountains, Fall Creek Falls

9. Say the sinner’s prayer with one of my Sunday school kids

10. Buy my own house