adam's wife's blog

Shannon Polson wrote an amazing account of her parents death, her own grieving and her wild adventure to the remote Alaskan arctic to reenact her parents last trip. Polson's parents were killed by a grizzly bear as they rafted the Hulahula river and camped in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2005. Polson, her brother and another traveler take on the journey to find healing and closure. Throughout the trip they encounter all sorts of feelings, adventures and trials. And Polson recounts memories of her father - both good and indifferent. She gives a very honest rendering of her greif and takes the reader on an exciting trip to the arctic. I recommend this book. It's a very well done memoir of the author's dealing with loss.

We Heart Grandma Mother's Day Card Create cute birthday cards & birthday invitations at Shutterfly.com . View the entire collection of cards.

What an amazing book. Honestly - I didn't expect Invisible , by Ginny Yttrup, to have much of an effect on me. I knew the premise of the book and the main characters were three women - one overweight, one depressed, one anorexic. I thought it would be a nice, fiction book and that I would be able to learn about the struggles of other women when I read it. However - I really learned a lot about myself when I read it. I'm not anorexic, overweight or depressed, but I do really struggle with my body image in general. For the longest time, I've brushed it off and tried to focus on what's inside - I've tried to work on being a good person and not superficial - pretty much ignoring my outer self. But while reading this book, I realized that I was avoiding something important - the Image of God  in which I was created. God sees me as beautiful - even though US Weekly  would never classify my looks as anything but pathetic. But Yttrup's book really gave me insight ...

Kim Meeder wrote an amazing book that really touched my heart. She wrote about the struggles we all face as we are bombarded with images of "beauty" all around us. Meeder encourages the reader to stand for what matters - and embrace the beauty within. She shared vulnerable moments in her life - times of great loss and pain. She shared beautiful stories of young people finding wholeness in their lives. She challenged the reader to look within and make decisions as to who and what to strive for. It was a great book - full of encouragement and truth. I recommend it and give it five stars!

So as a family, we've never had a Christmas tree. Honesty, it always seemed like a hassle and an extra expense. I loved looking at other people's trees and my kids weren't old enough to care - so I didn't either. But this year, I found myself wanting a tree of our own. However, without a tree budget, I didn't see a way we could afford it. But I reserved $20 and found a used, artificial tree on Craigslist.org. The seller gave me a deal on a 6 foot, fairly low quality, pre-lit tree. I was pleased as punch to get it too. Anyway, once I got it set up - I realized it would need some ornaments. I made popcorn garland by sewing hundreds of pieces of plain popped popcorn together - a rather tedious job that I won't soon sign up for again. Then I found a tutorial online that gave instructions for making little doves out of pages from an old book . That seemed free enough for me. The tutorial was great - but the birds required a bit more of a time investment than I h...

So this month, I have a slew of kids' birthdays to celebrate. Also, Christmas is coming up - and I loathe the idea of spending the money my husband works so hard for on worthless, plastic toys that my kids will adore for a day and a half - before they're added to an overflowing bin of forgotten toys. I decided to try and make some little gifts for the kids having birthdays this month. So I googled some homemade toy ideas online. I found some great ideas - but none that really stood out. Then I came across a site selling little homemade monsters . They looked easy to make - so it inspired me to create a monster of my own to give this year. This turned out to be one of the cutest and easiest homemade gifts I've ever made. Start to finish - my first one took about an hour. I hand sewed all of it. I used my machine for the bulk of the work on the second one and it took much less time. Here's a little photo tutorial of how I did it - and instructions for making your ow...

THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED (BY ME) IN THE ANSWER NEWSPAPER Well Written Historical Fiction By Amanda Wynant The Answer Staff Writer Book: Tangled Ashes By: Michele Phoenix Price: $12.99 Available: Amazon.com Lamorlaye, France - 1940: Meunier Manor, an elegant castle, is taken over by Nazi officials as they occupy the city. The Nazis make the castle their headquarters and the place where they'll institute their Labensborn program - a project Heinrich Himmler set up to promote the growth of the Aryan race by encouraging Nordic women and German Soldiers to conceive a child dedicated to Hitler and the Third Reich. French teenage girls, Marie and Elise are forced into work for the Nazis at the castle, to help supplement their families' income. The girls have no knowledge of the Labensborn program at first, but soon discover the horrible plans of the Nazis as they turn the winsome castle into a maternity home. The young Frenchwomen must make brave d...