In My Mailbox

One of my favorite things about doing reviews on my blog is checking the mail every day! I just never know what to expect... and I love getting lots of books to feed my reading obsession. In my Bloggiesta travels today I came across the In My Mailbox meme at The Story Siren where we can list all the goodies we have received during the past week. I usually post titles to my Shelfari account as soon as I receive them, so they'll show up on the shelf widget on my sidebar... but I thought this would be a fun way to share what some of my upcoming reviews will be. I received even more than usual this week because of being gone a week, and having my mail held at the post office. So this is really two weeks' worth. As best I can recall, here are the books I received this week:

To Review:
Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris
Jenna's Cowboy by Sharon Gillenwater
Angels by Dr. David Jeremiah
Songs of Deliverance by Marilynn Griffith
The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell
A Kiss for Cade by Lori Copeland
Plain Jayne by Hillary Manton Lodge
The Country House Courtship by Linore Rose Burkard
The Chic Shall Inherit the Earth by Shelley Adina

I Won!
A Separate Country by Robert Hicks (audio book) -- from All About {n}

From Paperback Swap:
Violet's Defiant Daughter by Martha Finley

I'm looking forward to a lot of good reading in the days ahead. Watch for my reviews!

Bloggiesta challenge

Sunday afternoon is my usual time to do blog maintenance and to line up posts for the coming week. What with being gone over the holidays and having an extremely busy first week back, I have some catching up to do. When I came across the Bloggiesta challenge at Maw Books Blog going on this weekend I decided to join right in, even if I am a little late getting started. With that as inspiration, let's see what I can get done this afternoon/evening! I'll report in again later.

Celebrating...

Who knew 17 years could go by so quickly? Our beautiful princess has brought us so much pride and joy! My "mommy heart" wants someone to slow the clock down just a little bit... but I am also excited to see what God's future plans for this beautiful young lady might be!

When Jesus sent you to us we loved you from the start
You were just a bit of sunshine from heaven to our heart
Not just another baby for since the world began
There’s been something very special for you in His plan.

Remembering...

Maybe it's a little strange, but I like to visit cemeteries. I don't mean to be morbid. I just think it's nice that we have a tradition in our culture of erecting permanent monuments in tribute to our loved ones who have gone before us. Even when I don't know the people I am fascinated to read their headstones, wondering what their lives were like.

Last week, when we were in Arkansas, I asked my husband if he would mind taking me out to the cemetery where my dear grandparents are buried. This was the first time I had been in the area since Granddaddy passed away almost 3 years ago, and I wanted to put flowers on their grave.

It's a remote little cemetery back on a dirt road in the Ozarks, not far from where my grandparents lived and ministered for more than 40 years. It was a foggy, frosty day so no one else was around. I enjoyed the stillness as I reflected on the Godly heritage my grandparents have left me and their many other descendants.

Today is Grandmother's 93rd birthday. She's been gone 11 1/2 years, but her influence on my life is as fresh as if she were still with us. As I strolled around their old home place (now my parents' home) those few days last week, I could almost hear her asking the children to help her out with a "little job"... or interestedly inquiring after the neighbors in the area... or praying fervently for various ones in the family...

When I grow up I'd like to be just like Grandmother!

The Weather Report

The last two winters I've enjoyed posting dramatic snow pictures on my blog. This winter (so far) I don't have any. The ground is brown and soggy, and the skies are gray and dreary. I've always said that if it was going to be cold and gray anyway, it might as well snow to brighten things up a bit. I'm surprised that I don't feel that way this year. I think I got enough of snow last winter and the winter before to last me awhile!

We thought we might run into some snowstorms on our trip. When you make a 3500-mile roadtrip in the winter, you pretty much have to plan for that. On Christmas Eve, as we were preparing to leave we heard of bad storms throughout the midwest-- just where we were headed. We changed our planned route at the last minute, and somehow managed to dodge the storms and bad roads.

The most dramatic weather we experienced on the whole trip was the night we stayed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on our way home. When we got up on Saturday morning to get back on the road we discovered that the temp was a frigid 28-below-zero!! Never before had any of us been in weather that cold! Lyle said he learned that gloves don't help much when it's that cold, if they've been left in the car all night. We were concerned that the car might not start. It sputtered and protested but finally turned over, and we were on our way. By the end of the day we reached Billings, Montana where the temperature was a balmy 48! That was a temperature change of 76 degrees in one day!

Now we're home again, where the temps are average for this time of year: high-30s/low-40s... and the sun doesn't shine much. The good news is, we've passed the equinox so the daylight hours are getting longer again! The cold, gentle rain which makes our yard soggy means it's snowing in the mountains... and that's good news for the girls because they get to start ski lessons again next week.

So, I'm content with the chilly dreariness. Not having huge piles of snow everywhere makes spring seem closer. At least we don't have to wait for that all to melt before spring can come!

Now that I've posted how "happy" I am with the weather, watch us get dumped on! But... the sun is coming up this morning, so maybe we'll get to enjoy a little sunshine for a change.