Top Ten Thursday

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Today's Top Ten Thursday is Favorite Books and is hosted by In the Mommy Trenches. I'm super excited about this top ten because I love to read. It really gets in the way sometimes because I put off household chores to read...Anyway here are my top ten in no particular order:

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen- This book is by far one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's funny, sad, sweet, and has everything you look for in a good book! I had a hard time putting this one down.

Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer- If you haven't read the twilight books..just break down and do it. They make you feel like you're young and in love. And if you can't fall in love with Edward then we can't be friends....

Sara's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay- I'm really in to historical Fiction books and this one was really good. It's about a little girl who lives through the holocaust. It's a mystery with a love story twisted into it!

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory- This book was awesome! Again, it's Historical Fiction..My favorite. It's about Anne Boleyn and her sister and the reign of King Henry VIII. (She's the one who he left the Church for so he could divorce his wife and marry Anne) There are three or four other books that go along with this book and I highly recommend all of them, The Boleyn Inheritance and the Constant princess are the two I have read but there are a few more.

Rebecca-Daphne DuMaurier I had to read this in High School and Loved it so much I've re-read it and even read the sequel. All my friends made fun of me because in High School you are supposed to hate to read and buy the cliff notes instead. It's a great Love mystery that is very dark and mysterious.

The Time Travelers Wife- Audrey Niffenegger -Love this book!! I really want to see the movie now that it has been made. It's hard to put down and sometimes a little confusing but a very fun read and has everything you look for in a book, happiness, sadness,mystery, action, love, etc.

Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen Who doesn't love reading about Mr. Darcey & Elizabeth? I love this era of big dresses and fancy parties. This love story is amazing. The movie they made from this book was actually pretty close to the book, I enjoyed it!

Harry Potter-J.K. Rowling- I'm such a kid! These are so much fun to read! I started reading them when I was in Junior High and Loved the magic and fun it brings to the reader. The movies were all good but are nothing compared to the book. I can't believe how creative J.K. Rowling is!!

My Sister's Keeper-Jodi Picoult- This is a really good, it is a glimpse into lives of a family dealing with Cancer of a child. It's a real life story that is a tear jerker but with lots of laughs.

Zoo Keepers Wife: A war Story-Diane Ackerman Another historical fiction book, and it's actually based on a true story. It's extremely interesting and is about the zoo keepers in Warsaw (I think) during WWII and how they helped their friends and country.

Well That's my favorite 10 books, there are a million more but I just can't sit here and talk about books all day...

Wordless Wednesday

Today's Wordless Wednesday's Prompt is Fall. Since the Fall foliage hasn't hit us yet, I decided just to post some pictures of random people from this weekend at the rodeo. ...except for Sean in photo two..he's not random.







****Don't forget about my give away, Betty Crocker wants to give you some snacks!!! Click here to enter****

My Favorite things.

This week at I Heart Faces they are hosting a "my favorite things" post, instead of their weekly contest.

These are a few of my favorite things....
Rain drops on roses and whiskers on Kittens... sorry.. ever since I read that they were doing a "My Favorite Things" post I haven't gotten that dang Sound of Music song out of my head!!
Ok back to my real favorite things...
Birdie


Banjo

Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches on Gluten Free Bread (I;m pretty sure this favorite thing is why my bootay is so big.)

Books!! (just realized that three of the six books all have the word "wife" in the title..weird)

And House!!!

Those are a few of my favorite things. Wish I was better at snapping pictures of them but I'm learning! If you have any suggestions to improve these shots...please let me know!!

***Hey People!!! Sign up to win some goodies Here from Betty Crocker and a free necklace from me! I've only had one person enter so far so your odds are pretty good! All you have to do is leave me your name and if you'd like to tell me about your favoite childhood snack you can!! It's FREE to win****

God Slapped Me

A month or so ago I ran across a Verse that really spoke to me. Then not long after that MckMamma did a post on the same verse!
I just wanted to share a little with you about how it's opened my eyes. I've had the verse on my blog since I found it. It's Isaiah 55 8:9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

It's no secret that Sean and I as a newly married couple are sometimes having to roll change to buy groceries. I mean Sean hasn't had a "real" job in three months, and I don't make that much yet. They tell me it takes a few years to make money in the insurance business. Sean is going to rodeos and working on the farm but when it rains, he can't do much on the farm and it's been a really wet summer and we've had to rely on his rodeo winnings, and I thank God that he's winning.

So now that you have our story....oh and don't pity me. Don't feel sorry for me. I'm not asking for sympathy I'm wanting to be a witness for God in what he's doing in our lives..it's just taking me awhile to get there..sorry I'll hurry up.

Anyways.. I'm what you might call a control freak. I tend to get a little bit nervous if I don't have control of every situation in my life, which tends to be a problem sometimes... OK so it tends to be a problem all of the time. I've really learned a lot in the last few months on how to relax and be OK with not having complete control. I think it has really helped my marriage and my relationship with others.

I keep a very detailed excel spreadsheet of our finances. I know when every bill is due, where are money is going, and how much we spend and I know to the penny at all times how much money is in my checking account. Sean, on the other hand, has no clue how much money he has in his account, how many bills we have, or when they are due and to be honest, I like it that way. He relies on me to tell him and I have control and I like it!

In the first few months after Sean lost his job, I freaked out. I wasn't nice to Sean because I was stressed about paying the bills and Sean wasn't worried about it. It made me mad he didn't worry. He let me keep up with how much money he had so I felt as if the burden of worrying was on me. Which now I see was stupid no one is supposed to worry, it doesn't help. I was always worried, always upset, always mad a Sean, always wondering why God allowed this to happen. I was always griping and stressing about every bill until we somehow scraped up enough money to pay them. Sean and I hated each other, we fought constantly and I realized that Money really is the root of all evil.

When I read Isaiah 55:8-9 I realized that God had just slapped me in the face. This verse said to me.."Hey, Control Freak! Stop Worrying!! Your ideas and your 'way' sucks! You will never ever be able to control God's path for you and Sean. Stressing about paying the bills, and worrying that you aren't going to make it is such a waste of time and is just like telling God you don't believe in Him because you don't believe He can take care of you. God's ways are so much higher than you ever could be.. so get off your high horse and just chill out.!!!" I immediately asked God to forgive me for not believing in Him and to help me always remember He is in control.

I've written that verse on Post It's and hung them everywhere. I've shared it with all my friends. Since that slap in the face, God has provided all we need to pay the bills plus some! Just when I think we won't be able to pay the bill, God provides the money to us in some form or fashion and it all turns out fine.

Since I've learned to relax and not worry about things I can't control, my life has been a lot happier. My relationship with God has strengthened and Sean and I have gotten along perfectly.

I still have to stop and recite this verse when I start getting stressed out, and it has helped me so much!! Maybe it can help you too! Thanks for listening to me ramble about my problems!!

Don't forget about my Give Away! The People at Betty Crocker want to send you free fruit roll ups!!