A glimpse into our crazy life

So lately the summer boredom at work has led me to find ways of entertaining myself.  Since I never learned how to make those paper footballs in grade school, I’m left with the internet.  About a week ago I ran across swagbucks.com where I earn Swagbucks (fake online dollars) just for doing basic searches I typically use Google or Yahoo for.  This may include Lance Armstrong, Obama’s health care plan, or Taylor Swift rapping (hilarious).  I’ve searched them all.  Thinking I’m all trendy I found out soon after signing up that Emily’s been doing it for a month.  There’s other ways to earn in addition to searches such as following them on your Twitter page (which I’ve been sucked into) or Facebook (I’m still holding out), answer or submit polls, or follow the swagbucks blog.  Once you get enough swagbucks, you can use it to buy stuff in the online store like books, movies, music, etc. 

Thought I’d pass along the word, because who doesn’t like free stuff??!!!  If you’re intersted, click on the link.  Besides, you get 3 free Swagbucks just for signing up!   http://swagbucks.com/refer/fship1

My sisters and I wanted to do something special this year to celebrate my parents turning the big 6-0. Since we were already making the road trip to OK for the wedding, we decided to head down a week early and spend some quality family bonding time at Lake Murray State Park. It was a busy week of swimming, hiking, fishing, playing cards, horseback riding, mini golf, and good ol’  times with the fam. Although, I think next time we’ll opt for a locale with cooler temperatures- the 100+ heat was a bit much.

Last month, we treked out to Oklahoma for the wedding of my cousin, Sarah, and her new husband, Evan. It was a great chance to catch up with the extended fam and were definitely entertained by the dancing skills of all the nieces and nephews.

“Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young is a daily devotional with a unique twist- the devotionals are written in the first person, as though God is speaking directly to you. Young created the devotional by writing down whatever she felt God was saying to her during her daily prayer time and through her prayer journal. Relevant scripture references are also provided for each day. I was intrigued by the premise and thought the small size (approximately 6×5) would be great for bringing it to work. However, I found the daily readings disappointing. The devotionals are fairly brief and I thought they were nice, heartening “thoughts from God”, but not challenging in any way- they didn’t force me to reflect on my faith, which is something I personally prefer in a devotional. They were uplifting, but didn’t lead to much reflection or self-evaluation. Also, hearing guidance from God is such a personal experience and is most meaningful in the context of one’s one life; in this context, the words seemed too vague and impersonal. To sum things up, while it’s an interesting spin on the usual daily devotional, I wouldn’t recommend it.

That’s right- there’s finally going to be something other than dog pictures on this site…. book reviews! I heard through a friend that a couple of publishers will provide books for free to bloggers who are willing to post their honest reviews of the books on their blog. Since I’m an avid reader, am always looking for something good to read, and love to get free books (I dream of having a study filled to the brim with books, even if it goes against my typical tree-hugging ways), I decided to give it a try. I signed up with a Christian publisher and will be posting reviews from time to time here, with the first one up later today.

Happy reading!