Drop what you are doing now and get this book! This is by far the best book of the series. I give The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest an A+. Not only does the book answer so many questions from the first two in the trilogy, it also weaves in many new overlapping stories. As hard as I tried, I could not predict the outcome. Oh so good.
I was very hesitant to start reading this series when it was all the rage earlier this year. But I am very glad that I finally caved and gave the trilogy a shot. The books are extremely well written and throw so many curves you cannot possibly predict what is next. Too bad the author has passed, I would have loved to have read what he came out with next.
I am very ready for 2010 to be done, over, finis. The last half of this year has been a tough one with two miscarriages and a layoff all wrapped into a less than thrilling package. I am hoping for better things in 2011. However, the year was not all downs. I really do have much to be thankful for. I am healthy, I have an incredible hubby who loves me dearly, friends who make me smile and a family that I cannot even begin to put into words what they mean to me.
Believe me when I say these wonderful blessings are not ignored. Below is my recap of them:
January: Memories — ringing in the New Year at the cabin McCall, perhaps my favorite place of all February:UPWARD — being involved helped me see how something small can make a huge difference March: Laughter — my amazingly funny and talented girlfriends can always make me smile April: My Dad — always willing to lend a hand or a shoulder when I need it May: Life — welcoming my 5th nephew Connor into the world June: My Sister — sharing secrets and excitement like we were little girls again July: Love — jumping for joy when I found out Lindzee and Javier are engaged August: Our trip to Chicago — it’s incredible what a little travel can do to lift a down spirit September: My Mom — laughing and crying and laughing some more until I felt better October:I turned 30 with a whole lot of love — making it the most special birthday to date November:Health — finding out Grandma Rene was going to be ok and was released from the hospital December: My husband — for finding the light at the end of the tunnel, without him I couldn’t have weathered the storms of this year
So out the door with 2010…2011 I am waiting with welcoming arms!
We spent Christmas Eve with Mom and Dad, Cody, Bridgette and the boys. Mom cooked amazing clam chowder and we feasted on all the treats before heading to Papa and Grandma’s for dessert. After dessert we cruised back to Mom and Dad’s to open all our gifts, boy oh boy were we spoiled!! Merry Christmas Eve!
Then on Christmas day we drove over to Fruitland to celebrate with Trevor’s family. We had fun eating, relaxing, eating, playing games, and eating some more. I even walked away as champion of my new game Trivial Pursuit- Bet you know it! and Trev and I tied with the Bartos on our first round of Funglish, another super fun game. Merry Christmas!
I hope you all had a memorable Christmas as well with the ones you love.
Tonight we celebrated Christmas at my Grandma Budell’s house. She cooked an enormous feast for our largest crowd to date- 18 peeps! It was a lot of fun to see all of my cousins and catch up. And Grandma spoiled us all rotten, we even had a visit from Santa– woo hoo!
Cheers to a wonderful way to kick off our Christmas!
I have been craving lemon cookies for 3 weeks — every since Celia brought them to Lindzee’s cookie party and I ate my share that day. Oh my, they were amazing. So I asked Celia to share her recipe and she graciously did.
I altered just a few things and they still turned out delish. Below is the recipe, enjoy!
FROSTED LEMON COOKIES
Makes 4 dozen
Cookie:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
2 eggs
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs and butter in mixer. Mix until smooth.
3. Add in flour and sugar. Mix until well blended.
4. Drop dough (spoonful), 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.
5. Meanwhile, combine glaze ingredients in mixer and mix until smooth. Frost warm cookies with glaze.
Tonight hubby and I went with his parents, Larissa and her two boys to check out several different Christmas lights in our little corner of Meridian. And I am happy to report they were fantastic!! I am now officially full of holiday cheer and ready for the party extravaganza to begin.
I was able to video a few of our stops–you’ll have to excuse our commentary in the background, we were having fun!
Here is a helpful link in case you want to look up lights in your area.
Well my little Chloe is officially 4 years old today. She was super spoiled and opened up 2 more gifts this AM. So fun to watch how excited she gets.
We started outside so she could run around and play with her new toys.
Then one by one she brought them inside and guarded them. She is telling me to back off at this point, I was trying to take one away.
And just for giggles..here is the superfly clip art photo that Chloe's breeder had on the website. It is the first photo I ever saw of her. Look at that face!
Well, in approximately 1.5 hrs my little Chloe Bear will turn 4!! I can’t believe time has gone that fast. She is truly my little shadow and I love her to pieces.
For her BD I picked up a few Martha Stewart for Pets toys. I am the worst at waiting to open presents. I always want to give people their gifts early. I just can’t stand keeping a good thing secret. So tonight I gave her the little watermelon slice and she LOVES it. She has been toting it all over the house. Glad I picked her out one she likes.
From the beginning the novel is intense and suspenseful and doesn’t disappoint. Believe me, the book brings the drama right up until the last sentence. I promise you will want to have the third novel, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest on hand so you can start reading it immediately.
In the second book we learn so much about Lisbeth’s past and why she is who she is. I was never able to predict what was going to happen next, the book is full of surprises.
Fair warning…this post is a bit heavier than my norm…so for those looking for lightheartedness you may want to skip.
This past Sunday we attended church as usual. The topic for the sermon was how God steps into our broken world and brings healing, forgiveness and peace into broken lives like yours and mine.
He then shared something extremely personal with us. His son and daughter-in-law had lost their baby at the end of their first trimester that very week. He talked of how their hearts ached and how the pain at times just seemed too much to bear. Wow. A little all too familiar. But with the tears streaming down my face, his message reminded me of how amazing God is.
God’s ways of doing things don’t always make sense to me, but it’s hard to argue with God’s great power.
Pastor reminded me how incredibly lucky I am to have someone to take away my worries and my pain. Someone to unload to when things just seem unbearable. I pray every night with a thankful heart that God blesses me. As many of you know, my path to God was not one that was straight and easy – but one that had many curves and rocky roads, detours and dead ends. But with His amazing grace He led me to my husband who then led me to Him. I do not know if I would have made it out of my miscarriage the same person as I am now without the grace of God. It was knowing that He was holding my broken heart that made facing each day after bearable.
God’s great strength swoops up our heavy burdens and carries them for us. I am so thankful He is here to help.
Below is a video that was played at service that moved me and I thought I would share.
