Gravel Road Musings

I sit here. It's Sunday afternoon. It's 4:00. The house is quiet. The trees are gently swaying outside the window. The sun is shining. It's a perfect day outside. Inside, the house is still and I am sitting here at my computer, wondering if I should be typing out a post or going to read a book. A short post won the draw, at least for now. But the house is still and I need to take every advantage of that, but I'm just not sure how to take the fullest advantage of it. I want to savor every moment and store it up for the busy week ahead. It's funny really. This summer is shaping up to be the busiest summer we've had since we're married and yet, in some ways, it's also shaping up to be a really good one. I am baking for a farmer's market on Mondays and a bake sale Fridays and Saturday mornings.  When do I do all this, some have wondered, and I wasn't sure, but I think I know now. I do it when I would have been on the computer otherwise. I do it...

How to Ace an Interview, Change a tire, Talk to a guy and 97 other skills you need to thrive I think this book is intended for teenagers to low 20's, at least there seemed to be some parts that included high school yet. It is a big how-to book covering ten different categories: clothes and fashion, sports, food, guys and dating, wealth and management, social skills and so on. It covers some very basic things like how-to wash your hands, how-to shake hands, how-to set a table. It also covers some more in depth things like how-to change a flat tire, how-to respond after an accident, how-to pitch a softball, and how to oven-bake a whole chicken. It is all written up in step by step fashion. The beginning of each section has a small article giving some more advice or information and there are tidbits of info scattered throughout the book, along with some fact or fiction information as well. It's kind of a fun book, although I have to admit to not reading the whole book. There...

Embracing God's Vision for Lasting Love and Satisfying Relationships I'm not really sure why I got this book. It is for single girls trying to navigate male-female relationships. I think I thought it might be an interesting read and it might give me a good book to pass along to someone who might need it. It is a good book. I feel like the book is quite Biblically based and true. In the culture I was raised in, we really don't do casual dating. Dating relationships are generally seriously entered into with the final goal being marriage, so there were parts of this book that didn't necessarily apply to the culture I'm a part of. But, I do think Kristen and Bethany had a lot of really good things to say. In many ways, the qualifications they listed for a husband, the steps they took and the questions they asked were way more in depth than anything I asked or even thought about when I was dating. Questions like, how does he spend his free time? What are his pass...

100 Tips, Tricks and Ways to Make it Work on a Budget Let me start by saying this is a lovely little gift book. I love the vibrant colors. The inside accents are navy and orange and it just seems out-of-the-box to me and I just  love it. It also comes with a ribbon marker which is very nice as well. Now, it's definitely a gift book size, but I would recommend some caution with just randomly giving it to people. Giving someone a how-to book on something they may not be interested in could cause an offense, but if you know of someone who really does want to stay home with their kids but isn't sure how they can afford it or even someone who is already at home, but talks about budgeting and making ends meet, this could be the perfect gift for them. My advice is to exercise some caution here!! The book is divided out into a few different categories including: curb spending, eat well on a budget, DIY household products, shop secondhand and sales, and a couple more. Within these...

How One Family Discovered the Beauty of Sacrifice and the Joy of Giving This right here, this is a good book. I highly recommend that you go and get a copy, buy one, borrow one, anything but stealing one.  This book challenged my views of generosity. It's not just about giving money, though there is some of that, it's about giving your life: time, energy, talents, etc. for the greater good. It's a mindset that a person needs to have that is always looking for ways to help and ways to encourage and give. It's not about going to a third world country, like they do, it's about giving right where you live. Kristen gives four ways you can give generously with your family right here and right now, right where you live. 1. "See the people around you." In other words stopping to notice them, not being so busy always and rushing on by. 2. "Spot the needs in others' lives." This involves taking the time to develop relationships with the people ...

Grieving with Hope after Miscarriage and Loss Let me start by saying I recommend this book to everyone who has lost a baby, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, infant death, failed adoption, etc. This book gives you permission to grieve while also pointing you very strongly to one who will comfort you in your grief. I need to start carrying sticky notes with me when I read books like this so I can mark sections that speak to me. So often when I go back to find them, I can't find them anymore or they don't stick out to me like they did. There were just so many things in this book, I could resonate with. Having lost three babies as well, so much of what she said resonated with me. I loved that they named their babies, that they took the time and effort to find out whether they were boys or girls, and most of all, that they allowed themselves to grieve. So often miscarriage, especially in years gone by, has been such a hush hush thing. Nobody talks about, you are just s...

A 5-Year Inspirational Journal I love these kinds of books/journals. This is more than just recording memories, this book makes you stop and think and reflect too. You don't just write down a memory, though I'm sure you could, you are asked a question and each year for five years you answer that same question on that same date. It's interesting to see how your answers change from year to year and also how they stay the same, depending on the question. I am currently doing a book like this that's just general questions and I love it. I am in year three now and it is so fun to read back over the last two years and see what I said. Some things stay very similar year after year and some things change drastically. It all depends on where you are in life and also on your mood. I am not sure if I will do this book myself or gift it for a friend, but I'm leaning toward keeping it. I think it would be so interesting for my children years down the road to read my though...