TSMSS: Fingerprints of God

I may have shared this before, but this morning I cuddling with my 3 1/2 year old. That doesn't happen much any more. Partly because he doesn't sit very long at one time. But also because I often don't sit down and invite him in my lap. (I need to work on that!) At first I thought he was going to sleep. But my husband and I both realized that he was just enjoying the time with Mama. Anyway, this cuddle time made me think of "Fingerprints of God" by Steven Curtis Chapman. I especially like the second verse.

Never has there been and never again
Will there be another you
Fashioned by gods hand
And perfectly planned
To be just who you are
And what hes been creating
Since the first beat of your heart
Is a living breathing priceless work of art and

Just look at you
Youre a wonder in the making
Oh and God's not through no
In fact he's just getting started

Check out the other songs at Then Sings My Soul Saturday.

Top Droppers!

I've been playing around with Entrecard for about 6 weeks now. If you don't know what Entrecard is, it's the yellow E bar under an ad on the right hand side of my blog.  Entre card is a free advertising trading site.  I'd like to thank everyone who has "dropped on my site this month!  Special kudos to the top droppers.

My top dropper (didn't miss a day all month!) was:

Parental Instincts

These folks didn't miss very many days:

The Junk Drawer

Mumsy

FickleMinded

Your Parenting Info

Rounding out the Top 10:

My Crazy Life with a Toddler

The Frugal Housewife

Paul's Health Blog

The Cool Mom Guide

Sports 2000

Bloggy Winner!

After conducting a scientifically random draw, which was overseen by the counting firm of C.David (also known on this blog as Chewie), the number of 104.  Which (after more counting) led me to discover the winner of the bloggy carnival giveaway... (drumroll please!)

Ginny from Mom of 2 Dancers (and a few other blogs!)

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back and check me out. I'm expecting to have a few more giveaways soon!

Special offer: Kissing and Cooking

Recently, I told you about a great new marriage book called Kissing and Cooking by Kim Reutzel.



When purchasing from Amazon today you will be given some wonderful bonus gifts. Click here to get all the details about this great limited time offer. Purchase Kissing and Cooking for only $11.69 (shipped from Amazon) and then receive some amazing bonus gifts. (The regular price for the book is $14.99.)

If you have already bought the book, e-mail Kim at kim@kimreutzel.com, and she will send you the download page.

Bloggy Carnival Again!

It's that time again! The Great Bloggy Carnival.

I know you are busy, and I appreciate you visiting my blog! I hope you take a few minutes to look around, or at least bookmark my blog so you can come back and visit.

I want to give a big shout out to Judi at Doodlebug Designs for the beautiful new look! Stop by and say hi! (Are my children adorable in the header!??!)

For my giveaway, I'm offering a Pedi-Relax 3 Piece Gift Set Value $20

Designed to pamper and protect, the Pedi-Relax 3-Piece Gift Set contains 4.2 fl oz tubes of Protective Barrier Cream, Exfoliating Cream and Intense Hydrating Cream. It's a perfect purchase for any occasion - buy one for yourself and/or a loved one TODAY! Pamper your feet with luxurious indulgence with Pedi-Relax foot care products featuring essential oils.

To enter, leave a comment on this post. Please say something (anything!) about my blog or about you. Please don't just say, "Enter me" or "I'm in".

For extra entries (leave me a comment for each thing you do):
* Follow me or subscribe to my feed
* Follow me on Twitter (Leave your Twitter name in the comment)
* Add my new button to your sidebar (Leave me a link if it's not in your profile)
* Post a relevant comment on any of my posts this week.

As always, please make sure your profile is visible or leave an e-mail address in your comment. If I can't find you, I'll have to pick another winner. US entries only.

Check out the other entries in the Bloggy Carnival.

Are you a blog addict?

I took a little quiz. Some of the questions were hard to answer. Like, how many blogs I read in a day. Some times I don't read any for several days, but then other days I may visit more than 20! And sometimes I post 1-2 times a week (or less) and other times I post 3 times in one day. So I went for the middle. But I have blogged "live" during a parade---from my phone. So...drumrolll please....

78%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

What is your score?

TSMSS: The Road to Zion

Today's song is presented in memory of my Daddy: Wayne Long. On Monday, Daddy will have been in Heaven for 10 years. When Daddy died, I was in my first year of teaching (he was a teacher) and I was at the end of my 20s. Now, I'm 1200 miles away; not a teacher, but still working with kids; and I'm getting ready to leave my 30's behind. I miss my Daddy so much, but I know that he is making music with the angels. And he's no longer in pain.

This song is special because I remember my Daddy playing it (never singing it though) on his mandolin. He would sit for long periods of time strumming this song. A few years ago, my brother asked me if I knew the significance of that song. He shared. We grew up listening to Christian music: southern Gospel and other "traditional" music. We also listened to classical and Irish music. But we didn't listen to any rock music. We were taught it was "of the devil". One day, when Daddy complained about some of the music he was listening to, Stephen challenged Daddy to actually listen to the lyrics. Petra lyrics were FILLED with Scripture references. After listening to and reading the Petra lyrics on More Power To Ya, Daddy realized that the music was, indeed, glorifying God. His "peace offering" was to learn this song.

ETA: My husband found the picture I really wanted of Daddy. He is here with his mandolin.



The video includes the lyrics.



Check out the other entries in Then Sings My Soul Saturday here.

New Look

During the Holidays, I won a blog design from Doodlebug Designs. A huge thanks to hostess: Jenn at One House School Room. Judi was a joy to work with. She sent me a questionnaire with lots of questions so she would know what I wanted. This was very helpful because I really didn't know what I wanted! I've been wanting a total blog makeover, but I just didn't know where to start. I had learned a few things along the way, but it was all piece-meal. Judi asked about my timeframe. I told her to take her time. With the Christmas Holidays, I didn't get my questions back to her until January 11th, and I sent the pictures for my header on the 17th. Two days later (January 19th), Judi invited me to view my beautiful new page. My new page went live last night (January 23rd). Even with me taking forever to get the things she needed (and with a "No Rush!" order, I was impressed with how quickly she worked.

My requests were pretty simple: 3 columns with tabs at the top. I gave color suggestions (pink) and showed some of the blogs I liked. She did the rest. And she did it perfectly.

If you need a facelift for your blog, check out Doodlebug Designs. You won't be sorry!

Fitness Friday

This hasn't been a good Pepsi week. I've been drinking a couple of water bottles every day, but I've also had Pepsi each day. :( It's hard to give up.

I've have at least done the Fitness Test on the Wii Fit every day. In fact, I have 2 1/2 weeks of marks on my calendar! I have done yoga and strength training at least 3 days this week, and I took a couple of walks. Tonight, I should hit 20 hours! (I am about 30 minutes away!!)

My weight continues to fluctuate. Almost every time I get on the Wii Fit, I have either gained 2.7 pounds or lost 3.2 pounds or something like that. I need to weigh at the same time every day. But it's so hard to get up early in the morning. (Heck! It's hard to get up in the morning--early or not!)

Check out the other Wii Fit Mommies at Fitness Friday.

Review: The Jesus Story Bible

I recently had the opportunity to review The Jesus Story Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago.



Wow! I was impressed! This is a hardcover book with about 350 pages. The book is divided into 43 stories. At the top of each chapter is the Scripture reference where the story came from. The stories are very easy to read. There were some artistic liberties (like God said, "Hello light") but I didn't think it took away from the story. The best part of the book, is that it truly does show how the story of Jesus is woven the Bible. This weaving starts with creation and the fall....

Before they left the Garden, God whispered a promise to Adam and Eve; "It will not always be so! I will come to rescue you!...."

After the Tower of Babel, the thread goes on....

People could never reach up to Heaven, so Heaven would have to come down to them. And, one day, it would.

After telling the story of Abraham offering Isaac, the story continues....

Many years later, another Son would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. LIke Isaac, he would trust his Father and do what his Father asked. He wouldn't struggle or run away. Who was he? God's Son, his only Son--the Son he loved. The Lamb of God.

Throughout the book, the Story continues.

The illustrations are very well done. The colors are vibrant, and the pictures are varied. Some pages just have "portraits" with the character names underneath. Other pages have illustrations that cover the entire two page spread. Every so often, you have to turn the book sideways because the two page picture is tall instead of wide. That said, the style of the illustrations are not really my style. I don't like the faces. But my kids loved the pictures.

The night I received the book, I sat down with my kids (11, 5 and 3) and started reading. After finishing the first story, we looked through the pictures. The kids were able to identify most of the stories from the picture. Each night since, we have read one chapter. (Well, some nights it was two because they begged for more!) Every time a statement was made about The Secret Rescue Plan or some other reference to Jesus' birth, my kids (well, the 11 and 5 years old, at least) were able to tell me what it meant.

My kids have a pretty good Biblical foundation already, but they enjoyed this retelling. My 11 year old did correct a few things, but he still asks for "one more story!" My 5 year old has gotten the most out of the stories. The 3 year old doesn't like to sit still for anything, but he did pay attention. Last night he wouldn't let me read until he was settled. I think this Storybook Bible would also be appropriate for someone with a limited (or no) experience with the Bible.

The Jesus Storybook Bible retails for $17, but both ChristianBook.com and Amazon had it for less.


Thanks to Faith Approved for this review opportunity.

Pictures of the kids

Just some random pictures of the kids. (Some of them will appear in my new blog header---coming soon!)

Winner: Kissing and Cooking

We have a winner! klp1965 has been contacted. Thanks for entering!

TSMSS: Give me words to speak

Often I feel like this with my prayers. I have nothing left to say. But lately, I've been feeling this way with my blog. I was putting pressure on myself to post something---anything---every day. The other day, this song just hit me. While my blog isn't always about God and His work in my life, I do want it to be a reflection of Him. I don't want to blog out of obligation. I want it to be an expression of who I am and who He is. So, from now on, I refuse to be driven my the obligation to post. I may post once a week, or I might post 3 times in one day. But, I'll only post if I have something to say!

So give me Words to speak
Don’t let my Spirit sleep
Every night, every day/ I find that I have nothing left to say
So I stand here in silence awaiting Your guidance
I’m wanting only Your voice to be heard
Let them be Your Words

Fitness Friday

Today, I am the featured guest over at Wii Fit Mom's Fitness Friday.

I have used my Wii Fit for 9 days in a row. A couple of the days I was only able to log in and do the body tests. But I'm trying to make sure I at least do that much. Three days this week (Sun, Mon, Tues), I did ALL of the Yoga and Strength Training sets that don't require floor space. I just don't have a place to do that right now. (And I'm not sure I'm up to the poses yet!) Also, for the first time this week, I added in some other exercise. I walked 30 minutes two days and 15 minutes another day, so I entered this on my activity log. (To do this, just click on the chart icon on the main screen.) I haven't spent as much time on the Balance Games or the Aerobics section.

On the water/Pepsi front.....I'm not drinking as much Pepsi as "normal" for me. But I have been drinking too much. I did avoid it all together on Monday and Tuesday. But I think I've had some every other day this week. :(

Emotionally, this has been a rough week. One day while walking (and very sore from yoga and strength training) I kept asking myself, "Why am I doing this?" I know my health with be better for longer if I lose the weight. I know I'll be able to play with my kids more. I know I'll be able to buy clothes that fit me and flatter me. But then the voices reminded me, my health is good right now. And I can run from the car to the store with my kids. And I have a closet full of clothes that fit me.

One thing I really struggle with is : This has to be a life altering experience. I can't look at this as a temporary fix to get me to goal and then life can return to "normal'. There has to be a new normal. I need to learn to like healthy foods, and learn to avoid or greatly reduce unhealthy foods----forever! I will need to exercise for the rest of my life. Maintaining won't be easy, but it will easier if I don't try to take short cuts on the way to the goal.

This week, my weight and BMI has gone up and down. Yesterday morning I weighed in at 268--one pound less than last week. But I've been up to 272 this week as well, so I'm not really sure where I ended up.

Last week, the Wii Fit Mommies passed on three blog awards to me. While I am thrilled to accept the award, I have decided not to "do" awards anymore because they cause me great stress. Last time I posted one, I spent several hours trying to figure out who to "award". I didn't want to bother someone. I didn't want to send it to someone who didn't know me or my blog. It just stressed me out. These are the awards I was given. And I pass them on to any of my readers who would like to take one.

How do you teach this?

Question of the day: How do you teach kids what "bad" words are. Whether you have words that are not acceptable in your home like "fart" or "darn", or you are wanting your children to avoid words that are deemed "profanity" in your society...how do you teach it? Do you sit them down and read a list of words and say, "I had better not hear you say this words--ever?" When a word is used while visiting Uncle Joe, do you stop and say, "Even though Uncle Joe said this word, we don't use this word in our home"?

This week, my 5-year old had to change her card because someone said she said a bad word in the cafeteria. She had no idea what she had said. We do not use profanity in our home. (Although you will hear my husband and 3 year old calling each other "fartknockers".) So she wouldn't have heard it there. Maybe she repeated something someone else said? I don't know.

But how to I "introduce" words I DON'T want her to say?

Lessons from 2008

Recently, while blogsurfing, I came across Robert Hruzek's Middle Zone Musings. He does a meme called "WILF: What I learned from...." where he gives a phrase to complete and post about. The first WILF I participated in was his Blogapalooza. The challenge was to go back through my blog posts for the year and share one lesson I learned from each month. Would you like to know what I learned last year? Of course, my biggest lesson I learned was that my husband loves me more than anything in the world (really!) I also learned about transformation, restoration and my own strength. Check out my full post at: Blogapalooza.

There is still time to join! Want to share what you learned this year? Check out the info post here.

Girls Night Out

This week I was invited to join some girls from church at Applebees for dinner and then a movie. I was thrilled. I love to fellowship, and I've been trying to get some stuff going with the women at church. Apparently these girls get together every 6 or 8 weeks. Last night there were about 20 of us. We had a great time of fellowship at dinner, and then we enjoyed "Bride Wars". I hadn't heard anything about it, but figured it was a "bridezilla" type theme. It was. And it was funny. Amazingly, there were no sex scenes. And the language was not too bad. The only violence was the brides attacking each other. :) A great time was had by all, and I can't wait for the next one!

TSMSS:

January is a good time to stop and reflect on our lives and see what changes need to be made.

Sanctus Real - Whatever You’re Doing
From the album We Need Each Other

It’s time for healing, time to move on,
it’s time to fix what’s been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong;
it’s time to find my way to where I belong

Chorus:
There’s a wave that’s crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender
Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there’s peace
And it’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see, but I’m giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills?
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything – I surrender

Chorus:

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out that I’ve wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but I believe …
You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life
Something heavenly, something heavenly

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

Label: Chordant (EMI)

Lyrics may not be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

Fitness Friday

It's Friday again. My resolve to not drink Pepsi had some snags. Last Friday, hubby took me to lunch and ordered me a Pepsi. Now, I can't blame him completely....I was standing at the register and didn't correct him. After a few hours of shopping, I asked him to stop for a Pepsi. He asked, "Am I supposed to put my foot down here and say, 'no'?" Nope. This time I need it! The next day was a rough day too. Before going to meet some friends for a play date, I grabbed a big jub of Pepsi. I had already decided that Sunday was my cheat day. We usually get a soda on our way home from church. But, i was good Monday-Wednesday. Yesterday, I had one soda, and today I had one. But I have been drinking lots of water.

I only used the Wii Fit 3 times this week. Sunday I got a great workout (a full hour!) including an 11 minutes jog. I did the 6 minutes advanced hula hoop (3 minutes each side). But, I had to pause 3 times because I thought I was gonna die! I only paused for a few seconds, but it was enough to get my breath back. Yesterday I logged a full hour.

Now for the weight....I was down to 269. Unfortunately, that is what I was "down" to last week. I went back up to 272 this past week. But I blame both the weight gain (and most of the loss) on my cycle starting yesterday. (TMI).

Check out the other Fitness Friday blogs at: Wii Fit Mommies.

Please vote for my vacation story!

I'm trying to win a trip! All you need to do is click the link. It should come up to me, but please check to see if it says "Julie Donahue". You need to enter your e-mail, and then confirm the message. Thanks a bunch.
Contest link You can only enter one time.

My Christmas list...

Is it too early to start my Christmas list? (Never!)

Last week, John and I were walking through Hobby Lobby and we saw the Cricut Cutter


If you haven't seen them, it's a pretty cool machine similar to the old Ellison Dye cutters from school. But multiplied. You can buy fonts and shapes and all kinds of stuff. John said, "I wouldn't mind that, if I could connect it to my computer and use my own images and fonts."

So today, I'm strolling around looking at sweepstakes and contests to enter. (Hey! It's never too early to stock up on Christmas presents!) And I found the the Silhouette Craft Cutter! According to Simple Finds:

It hooks up directly to your own computer which makes it easy to download images, save them and have the image cut. But how cool is this?... You can even design your own images and it will simply cut them for you. Cuts can be made from 1/4″ and 8 ” tall and up to 39″ long, that means endless possibilities for fun projects. Did I mention the Silhouette can cut everything from paper to vinyl?

I tell John this, and he is almost impressed--until I read that it requires a PC with Windows 2000 or Vista. (In case you don't know, my man is a Mac Man.) He wanted to create in Adobe Illustrator and cut. So I did what any self-respecting wife would do, I GOOGLED it! And I found out that while the software that comes with the Silhouette cutter is not Mac compatible, there is a free plug in that will allow Mac Users to use Adobe Illustrator. Hubby is impressed. (But he still wants to know why they didn't just make it Mac compatible too!?!?)

Moving?

The never-ending saga of the office move...(cue sound effect: dun, dun, dun...)

I've been living and working out of a box for almost 3 weeks. I packed up my desk, my cabinets, and everything else before Christmas--as ordered. But nothing has happened. Supposedly, the move will start tomorrow, but we aren't holding our collective breath.

It is amazing what you find out that is important when you move. My Daddy used to say that people should move at least once every 10 years. (I should note here, that while a wise man, Daddy did not take his own advice. Mom still lives in the house they moved into 38 years ago!) We packed our desk, trying to leave out the things we would need for an indefinite amout of time. Much of the stuff in my desk is fine. I would probably never miss it. But our biggest problem has been running out of pens! And paperclips. And someone's phone died, but her charger was buried. In a box. Waiting.

There of 7 of "me" in my office. (Meaning, we all do the same job.) When I started, I was #5 in an office designed for 6. It's a 10' x 15' square with custom shelving and desks lining 3 walls. The 4th wall has a computer table. About a year after I started, a 6th person joined our team. Our office was full. (Fortunately, we spent a lot of time "in the field", so we aren't too crowded!) Last year, our numbers grew such that we needed to hire #7. #7 had previously worked here (before me), but had move over to work at "The Company" with adult clients. The problem was where do we put #7? After many discussions, it was decided that a new wall would be built to house #7 and #1. A temporary divider was found, and we went back to work.

Fast forward to the fall. The Big Wigs decided that we needed to move our office across the parking lot into the Big Building (with all the Big Wigs). We resisted. We cried. We begged. But then we realized the Big Wigs would do what they wanted, so maybe we should try to get some say in the move. So, we 7, compiled a list of our concerns and our questions. We even decided to dream big: Can we get laptops? Can we work from home? We met with the top two Big Wigs. They answered our questions (like "What about the phones? Do we have to change our numbers?") and listened to our concerns. But they decided that they were going to move us.

We did learn that we will get 3 laptops! (Yippee!) The new office is exactly double the square footage of this office. We aren't sure how much "room" that will equate to since our desks will be along the wall. Oh yes...they are moving the custom desks and shelving to the new office.

So tomorrow is the big day. (Supposedly!) We have no idea how long we will be "homeless". The cabinets (about a dozen 3' sections) and the desks will all be moved. And then they have to set them back up. And then they have to finish setting up the phones.

Tomrrow, I scheduled myself OUT OF THE OFFICE all day. I'll see kids at daycares with a lunch meeting in between. When I come back, maybe I'll find a place to sit down to do my paperwork. Then again....maybe not.

TSMSS: I will be here

In about 6 weeks, my husband and I will celebrate our 22nd anniversary. Over the years we've been through everything in the wedding vows: better & worse, richer & poorer; sickness & health. But the thing that has carried us through knowing that we are in this for the long haul. And I know that "tomorrow morning when [he wakes] up....I will be here....."



Speaking of marriage, check out my giveaway of Kissing and Cooking!

Check out the other Then Sings My Soul Saturday entries here.

Fitness Friday

I had decided I as going to pick one day a week to keep my readers up to date and to keep my accountable to my goals for this year. Since the Wii Fit Mommies have a Fitness Friday Meme, I figured Friday's as good a day as any to post. :)

So today is the start. I told you last week that I was working hard to convince myself that I crave water. It's not quite working, but I did go 4 1/2 days drinking 5 or more bottles of water. I decided that New Year's Eve would be a splurge, and I asked John to pick up ONE bottle of Pepsi for me. Wanting to be nice he picked up two. :) I drank quite a bit of Pepsi (not to mention the wine/champagne!) on New Year's Eve and then on New Year's Day. But I'm back to drinking water. (I've had one bottle so far today.) I'm working on my goal of getting used to this one big change before I try to add to many more. (So I have had more chocolate than I need!)

My Wii Fit is not getting as much use as I'd like. It's really hard getting up early in the morning if I didn't get to sleep before midnight. And every time I turn on the Wii, the kids come running! They want to watch (which I don't mind), but they have trouble staying still. Last time I tried, Crunchy walked behind just as I was doing a leg stretched. I almost kicked her. I didn't want to hurt her (or me---if I fell off the balance board!) so I just turned it off. I've got to find a way to make it work with my life.

My starting weight was 272. The highest it's been in a very long time. :( This is really troubling after getting down to about 240 last year. This time I want to make it stick. This morning I weighed in at 269. It's a start. Until next Friday.....

Birthday Bash: Gift week

Welcome to the third week of my my HUGE 40th Birthday Bash. Each week, I will post a theme of giveaways. (Home; Books; Gifts; and Fashion). Each giveaway will last about a week (give or take a couple of days!) I will post one (or more) giveaway each day. Entries will be via a Google form. Extra entries will be available for joining my communities Twitter, Facebook, etc. or sharing the contest: Twitter; blogging, Digg, etc.

Giveaways for the week of September 21st through 26th

Monday, September 21st

$50 gift certificate to RuvaCards (ARV $50)

Tuesday, September 22nd

$25 gift certificate to Beau-Coup (ARV $25)

Wednesday, September 23rd

$50 gift certificate from Tiny Prints (ARV $50)

Thursday, September 24th

Cheers To You! CD+ the I AM POSSIBILITIES token + (for your pet) the I AM A GOOD KISSER token from The Good Cheer Company (ARV $28)

Possibilities Review

Friday, September 25th

PakNaks (your choice) from PakNaks (ARV $24) 2 winners! (Total ARV $48)

Paknaks Review

Saturday, September 26th

Copy of Pocket Doodle for Kids by Bill Zimmerrman (ARV $10)

Kissing and Cooking: Giveaway!

Recently, I did something I had never done before. I contacted an author and asked to review her book. I first "met" Kim Reutzel when I answered a HARO request to interview couples who have been happily married for more than 20 years. I answered her questions, but before I submitted them, I decided to check out her website. It turns out she is an author, speaker and pastoral counselor. As I checked out her website, I saw references to a new book: Kissing and Cooking I was intrigued. So I wrote Kim a note. I reminded her how I "met" her, and told her my husband and I are marriage mentors for our church. And I asked her if she would be interested in sending me a copy to review. I also gave her the option of sending a copy to giveaway. She did one better. She included a 3rd copy to give to our pastor who heads the marriage mentoring ministry.



Kissing and Cooking (which was released on December 30, 2008) is a small book (about 5" x 7") with 230 pages. It is an easy read. The book is divided into two parts: There are seven chapters with recommendations to spice up your relationship followed by twelve date night recipes. Each chapter is broken into subsections that are short bites (1-3 pages long) so it was easy to read a section at night, even if I didn't have time to read an entire chapter. (I absolutely hate putting a book down in the middle of a chapter!) I read the book over about a week before going to sleep. I think someone could actually read the seven chapters in 2 or 3 hours, if there were no interruptions. (If you are like me, you rarely--if ever--have 2 or 3 hours uninterrupted!) I read through most of the recipes in one sitting.

The chapters include faith based biblical advice on subjects such as: communication, turning conflict into compromise, controlling your thoughts, having realistic expectations, building on your differences, spending time together, and love.

One chapter, Let's kiss and make up!, focuses on fighting fair. "Conflict is inevitable; compromise is a choice". In this chapter, Kim gives some helpful tools to use to help resolve conflicts. Kim encourages you to focus on the issues, our temperament, our feelings and the real need to reach a healthy compromise. I like how Kim compares compromise to a golf game that is scored "best hole". For each hole, the team member who has the best score provides the score for the entire team. When you come up with a workable solution, you both win. "You either both win in marriage or you both lose". (p. 102)

The second half of the book includes detailed recipes and instructions for date 12 nights. The recipes vary from full 4 course meals to movie snacks. Each menu includes a shopping list (divided into three categories: pantry, produce, other); an open-ended question to answer during dinner; detailed cooking (and kissing!) instructions for each menu items (with kissing quotes mixed in); a Scripture passage; a table prayer; table topics (discussion items); The Marriage Planner's advice: and advice from other couples.

This would be a great gift for any couple: newlywed to long married. For the newlywed, it would be great to help them get their romance off to a good start. An "old" married couples could use a new spark to rekindle the romance.

Want to buy it?
Price $14.99 includes free shipping and free audio download of book. Visit Kim's store. (There are some other fun things there too!)

Want to win it?
I have an autographed copy of Kissing and Cooking for one reader!
To enter, leave a comment with one way you spice up your marriage (keep it G-rated please!). It doesn't have to be something you've tried yourself.

Want some extra entries? (leave a separate comment for each)
* Visit Kim Reutzel's website and tell me something about her or her products.
* Follow me on Twitter.
* Add my button to your blog (code on the upper right)
* Follow my blog (on blogger, Google (or anther reader), or my RSS feed)
* Blog about this contest. (leave the link)
* Tweet about this contest (leave the link)
* (Shameless plug for my husband's new ministry!) Visit Mac4Missions and post something that you learn there.

Entries will be accepted until Thursday, January 15th. I will contact the winner by e-mail. (Make sure your blog profile is public, or include an e-mail address in your comments.) Winner will have 3 days to respond or another name will be drawn.
(US shipping address only.)

Wii Fit Party

If you've been reading my blog, you know I have a Wii and a Wii Fit. I've been using it off and off for a while. This new year, I'm going to start using it more regularly. So I've joined up with a group of moms who call themselves the Wii Fit Mommies. We are working to keep each other accountable. There is a kick off Twitter party on Saturday from 6-8 MT. (Since I'm in Mountain time!). They are giving away a bunch of stuff for the Wii. Come join us.