My very first BookSneeze book review - Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart

When I heard about BookSneeze - it sounded like the perfect situation for me!  They sent me a complimentary copy of the book Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart, in exchange for a quick review on my blog - win-win situation for me - I get a book (which I LOVE) and I get inspired to actually use the blog I have had for 2 years are written on three times!  When I got the book in the mail - it was like Christmas in August!

Love, Charleston is a  "christian romance novel" set in, of course, Charleston South Carolina.  I automatically assumed it was historical so I was pleasantly surprised to find that is was set in 2008/2009. The book follows two families whose lives are intertwined.  We have Roy, a widower Episcopal preist and his daughter Rose, who answer the call to move from a small, country church in his home town - to a large, very historical church in Charleston.  We also have Lish & Anne, sisters, and their cousin Della.  Lish has the "perfect" life - a doctor herself, married to a doctor with 2 kids (& 1 on the way) and a beautiful home.  Anne is single, a bell ringer at St. Michaels and waiting, sort of patiently, for God to bring someone special into her life.  Della is married to a great guy  who adores her - handsome & creative - but she is unsatisfied with their position in life.  She is a writer, but takes a full time job teaching English at a private all-girls school so that their daughter can attend there.  It is pretty hard to teach full time and try to write the next great novel at night in a roach infested house.  She wants more - more money, more comfort, more children and she doesn't think Peter can provide that.   Throughout the book, we experience the pain of depression, loss of faith, infidelity and more with these characters.  It is a great story of the strength of family and faith.

I actually really liked this book.  I thought that it was well written and draws you in right from the first chapter.  This is one of those stories that you are eager to finish, just because you want to know what is going to happen to the characters.  I felt like I knew the characters, and at one point told someone - "this guys is such a jerk!" as if it was someone real.  You cry with them and laugh with them and rejoice with them.  Keep in mind that this is not a deep, intense, earth shattering novel - but they don't all have to be.  This book would be a great beach read!  It is nice to be able to read a romance novel that you don't get embarrassed by the content.  It is also not completely unrealistic like so many others!  This is a very sweet story about the bonds of family.

I promise.....

To my sweet monkeys:

I can't believe that you are getting so big!  Starting 4th grade and 7th grade....wow!  The time has flown by....next thing I know you will be heading off to college!  But for now - I still have you here and can hold you and love on you all I want!

We all know that I am not the "perfect" mom, but this year...

I promise to remember to send in lunch money when you need it...
I promise to remember to fill out and send in all forms in a timely manner...
I promise to help you study for your spelling test throughout the week instead of on Friday morning...
I promise to help you with your homework when you need it (except math - sorry!)...
I promise to listen to you talk about your classes and your teachers and your friends and your day...
I promise to encourage you to look for the positive in everyone and in every thing...
I promise to always be there for you - no matter what...
I promise to take a few minutes every night for a little snuggle...
I promise to remind you to read God's Word, and to let you see that I struggle with it too...
I promise to take you to church, even when you are tired or busy...
I promise to love you more than my luggage...unconditionally...without end...

Wow - I am really bad at this......

Ok - so it has been 9 months since I checked in here.....obviously I am bad at this kind of stuff! It's not like things haven't been happening.....our lives so boring that nothing is going on....I mean - really we are talking about the Thorne family! So....not even going to try to catch up! Lets just say it's been busy as usual!

So - the next few weeks should be interesting. We are entering a whole new realm of Mom-hood. I will soon be the mother of a middle schooler.....wow...how is that possible when I am only 16? So - monkey #1 is really excited about this whole 6th grade thing. She told me this summer that she is "just ready for middle school". Apparently 5th grade had too much "drama" for her....hello? I think that it will defintly be an interesting time for all of us really. We will have to make adjustments for the increased homework - we may not be able to be as crazy as we have been, and that's ok. Maybe we need to be forced to slow down....we'll see. The thing that I am really not ready for is the other kids....my natural concern is will she have friends? How will they treat her? She has always had a challenge making friends as it is. She hasn't always been into the whole make-up, boys thing. She likes sports and likes to play - during recess in 5th grade she hung out mostly with the boys playing basketball or soccer. How will that translate to middle school? She gets so hurt by the way some girls have already started treating her, and of course when she hurts....mom hurts.

She is such an awesome kid. Yes - I am realistic, she does have a few issues - but she is a GREAT kid. She has a heart like no other - she loves people and always wants to help, or take care of others. She was the kid in elementary school that was taking care of the special needs students in her class, or helping the teacher whenever possible. Will that continue on, or will she turn into one of those kids that other mothers want to strangle (you know the kind I am talking about...)? I pray - everyday - that she is able to retain her kindness and generosity and compassion during these next few CRAZY years.

And of course there is the concern - will I be able to hack it as a Middle School Momma? Hmmmmm.....as previously discussed (no - it did not change over the last 9 months) - I forget things....forget emails, forget to make lunches or send notes to the teacher.....how in the world am I going to do this......

I guess it will be an adventure for all of us.

Diary of an Imperfect Mother.....

I took a step "out of the boat" this year and felt completely led to start working with the High School students at Clearview. I spent 8 days in San Diego on an Upward mission trip this summer with 7 of the most amazing youth and just came home craving more......I knew God was calling me. I do have a tendancy to not listen, but this time I did. Shocking - I know.... Anyway - after spending some time in prayer and talking to others God really laid it on my heart to get involved in small group ministry somehow. I scheduled an appointment with Matt and was prepared to talk to him about starting one.....little did I know - we already have one that he was looking to expand.....isn't God so cool! Well - I ended up being blessed to co-lead this crazy awesome group of 12 girls - 9th grade thru 12th grade - with this crazy awesome person I had NEVER met. We have been meeting now since September and we are just now really starting to dig in and figure this whole thing out. We met tonight and had some questions posed, mainly to the girls, just regarding our faith and our relationship with God and our families. It was so good to hear what these girls have to say and how they are feeling. There are a few girls in our group that I have always looked at as almost intimidating - they are those girls that you meet that just so seem to have it all together - but tonight I had a glimpse of a more transparent side of them that made me see that they are trying to figure it all out too. They truely want to figure it out - just like me - even with 22 years between us.

Most of the things that we talked about tonight really got me thinking.....which is unusual for me:) I am not a processor.....but today I am I guess!

It was asked of the girls what is one attribute if you will of God/Christ is the most difficult for us to grasp/understand.....is it that He died for us, or that He desires to be in a relationship with us imperfect humans, or the grace that He offers.....or just that He loves us unconditionally. The comment that really got me going was one of the girls talking about a conversation she had this week with her mom and how her mom was able to use the correlation of a mothers love for her children with Gods love for all of His children. I think that truely is a difficult concept to grasp unless you are a mother.... it is so huge to think that anyone can TRUELY love anyone unconditionally. But - I am a mother......I understand what her mother was telling her. I just forget sometimes that it is the same way that God loves me.

I truley have 2 of the coolest kids walking. I think they are amazing - in spite of their mother sometimes. I am excited in the morning for them to wake up, just so I can see their sweet faces and smell the sleep on them. I look forward to them coming home from school so I can hear about their day, and listen to them help each other with homework (that is always entertaining). I love to hang out with them on the weekends - whether it is at a soccer game or at home or driving to a birthday party. I cherish my time with them. This is how I feel about them in my heart. But - does my head always let them know that this is how I feel about them? When I am tired or had a bad day at work, or whatever - can they tell that I would give anything to be able to drop everything and just hang out with them? Big answer - NO. Should I be better about letting them know -YES! I love my girls with my whole heart. There is not a single thing either of them could do to make me stop loving them. Are there times I don't like how they act or what they do - sure - but I always love them. I really try to tell them, when I can - I don't like what you did - but I LOVE you. I think my girls know that I truely love them unconditionally. That may become more foreign to them as they get older, but today - they know I love them. They know that sometimes Mom lets things get in the way of my time with them, but that doesn't mean mommy doesn't love them.

I am a completely imperfect mother. Hence the name change on the blog..... I am the mom who forgets to send school pictures back in, who forgets to make sure the back pack was packed the night before, who doesn't always pack the tidy lunch box. I am the mom who makes my 7 year old and 10 year old fold their own laundry. I don't clean their rooms for them, I don't always remember to send notes in.....these are the reasons I say that my kids are amazing in spite of me. But - I love them with my whole heart. I would step in front of a speeding train to save them. I would rather give them up than be split in half..... I would die on a cross to save them from their sins........hmmmmm....I think I am beginning to comprehend just a bit more how much God loves me.

Catching Up and why do these things always happen to me...?

Haha! I started this blog with the intention of keeping up with it:) We can see how well I am doing that!

The girls had Fall Break last week - school was out Thursday & Friday! We had decided back in May/June to take them to the beach for the weekend. We were supposed to go to the beach back in the summer of 2005 with Papa and Nana, but that trip had to be cancelled unexpectedly, so the girls hadn't been to the beach since Hannah Grace was 1 year old! Way too long:)

We reserved a condo on Orange Beach - 2nd floor with a balcony overlooking the beach and the pool! We were so excited!

We let the girls skip school on Wednesday and headed out. We stopped in Millbrook and dropped the 2 little dogs off with Nana and headed down. We finally got checked in and to the condo around 4:30 - I think we were out on the beach by 4:45! you have to put your toes in the water first thing:)

On Thursday morning, the girls and I couldn't sleep. I made them go back to bed at first, but then as I saw the sun coming up on the horizon, I let them get up. How many times in their lives are they going to get to see the sun rise over the ocean?

We spent literally every minute we could on the beach! Poor Rob! The girls enjoyed playing in the sand and looking for shells. There was a bit of a sand bar so the water wasn't too rough right there in front of our condo. So nice. There was another family there that we are good friends wihth & it was nice to have someone to hang out with, but not feel obligated. Our girls had a great time with their kids and Mr. Kevin taught them to boogey board

......

One of the highlights for me was spending some time alone with the girls each morning before the others came out (we couldn't stand to be awake and not on the beach!). On Thursday morning, Abbi was trying to make a sandcastle and the sand kept crumbling and she made a comment about building a house out of sand. Opened the door for an awesome object lesson on bible story of the 2 men - one who built his house on sand and the other on solid rock. We had an awesome discussion on that. On Friday morning, we talked about creation and how amazing it is and how only God Himself could have created the world when you take into condsideration how things all work together and the beauty of it all. Saturday morning, the girls couldn't think of any one topic, so they just started singing praise songs as the three of us walked up and down the sand bar. What an awesome experience to be there in one of my favorite settings with 2 of my favorite singers and hear them singing "My God is Mighty to Save, He is Mighty to save...." at the top of their lungs. Wow. It was incredible.

We had amazing weather with just a bit of rain on Friday night. On Saturday, we took some time to actually clean up and take some family pictures on the beach. Coming soon to a Christmas Card near you:) It was such a great family vacation. We are so blessed to be able to do things like this. We are definitly going back next year - probably will do more cooking on our own rather than wasting time getting cleaned up and going out for dinner. Who knows! I do know that we will go again!

While we were there, I noticed a little rash under my arm. Thought it must just be a heat rash as it was hot and right where my swimsuit rubbed. I didn't think much of it until Sunday when I noticed it was very sore and my back was hurting as well, right around from it. By Monday, my brain was running the gammut! Working in the medical industry, you sometimes have just enought knowledge to be dangerous! I looked up rashes on one of our resource websites for the clinic, and self diagnosed with shingles - all the while holding out hope that I was wrong! When our close friends had their baby early Tuesday morning, I decided to get it looked at, just to be sure so that I could go to the hospital with a clear concience......no such luck! I was right this time:( so...... I have shingles. Anyone who has ever had chicken pox can get this & it is not contagious in that I could give someone shingles, but I could give someone chicken pox. Very strange thing. They say it comes out when you have been under a lot of stress....not sure how stressed I was laying on the beach, but I must have been before we went. So - needless to say - I couldn't go see the baby:( The biggest thing now is whether I can go to Denver next week to help Mom while George is still recovering from his stem cell transplant. He has a whole new immune system, so will have to be revaccinated.....but not yet. If my rash starts to clear up, i can go....please pray for that. Mom really needs some help. Why do these things always happen to me;) Just lucky I guess?

I have to laugh at myself sometimes when I get that attitude of Why me..... Sure, crazy things happen to us and our live have been one storm after another for the last 4 years, but....when I look at what other people deal with, I am quickly reminded just how blessed we really are. Storms come and things happen and we struggle just like everyone else - but God is still with us, still holding us up, still blessing us, still faithful to His promise....

Where do I begin.....

Oh my stars....what a life! I really don't know that anyone will ever read this, so it may be just more of a journal for me than anything else - well, with some great pictures of my awesome kiddos thrown in!

We are in such a crazy season in our family. We have been thru some pretty trying times over the past 4 years, but we are still standing tall. Of course we all - even down to 7 year old Hannah Grace - we all recognize that without God, we would be done. He has carried us thru these losses and held us all together firmly in His hand. I do wonder when we will have some rest from the drama......but God knows what we can handle - we just need to do a better job not trying to handle it for Him I think!

In spite of (or because of...) all of the craziness - we are busy busy people! Maybe we are volunteer junkies! How do we get ourselves into these things? Between our activities at church (don't ask me to list them.....there isn't enough room) and helping at the girls school, plus soccer, dance, gymnastics, tennis.......where do we find time to just chill? Haha! We are getting better.....trying to decide what the most important things are and working ourselves out of the things that are not. Yeah - need to work on that more!

So - as I said this will likely be more a journal for me - with a lot about the girls and Rob in there. Especially as we work toward the new things coming our way. I start school in January to complete my bachelors degree..... Abbi is finishing up elementary school this year and will head off to the wilds of Middle School....Hannah Grace is just Hannah Grace and must be mentioned on a regular basis! Should make for interesting journaling!