The year that was 2024

I thought I'd do a little summary of the past year as we say goodbye to 2024.

Reading:

I set  myself a reading challenge goal of 60 books, then upped that to 70. Well at final tally I've read 96 books! That is the second most number of books I have read in one year. Yes some of these were very short books (prequels to full stories) but each story was a good escape from the everyday routine.

Scrapping:

It's been another bumper year of scrapping. I've created 441 single layouts this year. I didn't even do one double! Most of these have been for the Creative Teams I've been on and also for challenges at the various sites I frequent. I have truly found my scrapping passion now with digital scrapping (5 years in!) and am enjoying it immensely. I have switched to purely scrapping using Affinity Photo on my laptop and can use psd files with this which is a bonus as this program costs a lot less than Photoshop.

I am still creating for ninigoesdigi, Rachel Etrog, MissFish Templates, Adrienne Skelton Designs, Buzzbee Scraps and Digital Scrapbook. Gina Miller seems to have taken a backstep from designing as she hasn't released anything since Sept, but I am still on her team so if she comes back I will post most with her designs.

There have been changes to some of the scrapping stores this year too and designers are moving around. One of the big changes for me is that The Lilypad has a new owner (they almost closed!) and so a lot of my favourite designers resigned and are moving on. I will therefore be doing challenges on more sites I think in the coming year as other avenues come available. For now it will be Gingerscraps, Sweet Shoppe, Digital Scrapbook, and then Oscraps which will be a new one for me.

Spotify:

Aaron has paid for a subscription for Spotify so I've been listening to my Christian playlist while driving around using my phone connected to the radio in my car. My year in music looked like this:

Family News:

Mom and I did our usual trip to Wyndford in March. In April, Aaron took his first solo holiday trip to Durban for his friends' wedding (he was a groomsman) and we got to see Keith's sister-in-law Marilyn when she came out from Canada to see her Mom. June saw the 3 of us take a lovely three week trip to Canada to see all the family... I am still trying to finish scrapping this so that I can print a book about our holiday. 

Aaron did do some flying this year to build up his hours towards getting his CPL but he still has a long way to go. I got to fly with Aaron in February and again in November, Keith went up with him in  October and Aaron also took some of his friends for a few flights too during the year.

Aaron worked at Kumon Boskruin for the whole year, putting in lots of hours and getting more responsibility having been there the longest, however he will be stopping at the end of January to do some studying. Another fun thing he did was learn archery and even invested in his own bow. 

Keith enjoyed his second year of retirement (besides 3 days when he almost went back to work in March but decided it wasn't a good idea!) by pottering around in the garden.

Aaron was involved in a car accident in September in which his car got written off... we had to say tata to his Tata! Thankfully he was not hurt at all. The upshot of this is that I used the insurance money and some savings and bought myself a bright orange Suzuki Spresso, and passed the Greenbug on to Aaron.

Mom has still been having the avastin injections for her eyes, but a lot less frequently this year. The doc is doing a treat-and-extend programme so each visit is a week further apart than the last... so we only went four times this year. So far this is working and Mom's vision seems stable.

So on one hand this past year feels like it was busy but then again it wasn't much more than work, eat, sleep and scrap. The highlight was definitely our trip to Canada. Next year will have adventures of it's own and for now we are thankful that God has brought us safely through this year.

A wrap up of 2023

The year has come to an end as as usual here is a look back at some of my highlights:

Reading:

I looked back on my January post and see I set a reading goal of 45. Well halfway through this year I upped it to 60... I read those and then some. A lot of the books I read towards the end of the year were short books so I could virtually read one a day. So my tally for the year is 111 books. I don't think I have ever read as much!

Scrapping:

At the start of the year I talked about the CT teams I would be on for the year... well some of those of still continuing into 2024 but some are not.

So this year I have made layouts for ninigoesdigi, Rachel Etrog and Gina Miller at The Lilypad, at Gingerscraps for MissFish and Adrienne Skelton, and then for Marisa Lerin at Digital Scrapbook as well as BuzzBee Scraps. I did layouts for both Cornelia Designs and Micheline Lincoln till mid year when they both took a break from designing kits for personal reasons. I also did a guest spot for Tracie Stroud at Sweet Shoppe.

I finally managed to print three photo books this year... for 2020, 2021 and 2022. I still have a few pages to finish to be able to print 2018 and 2019. Hopefully I will get to finish 2023 next year too.

In summary I did 476 single page layouts this year. Not nearly as many as I did in 2022 but it's still more than a page a day which has always been my goal.

Family:

Keith finally retired at the end of March. He has enjoyed being home since then tackling lots of gardening as well as a few projects around the house that have been piling up,

Aaron changed jobs in April... from Kumon Bryanston East to Kumon Boskruin. He is working more hours and 4 days a week and loving it. Another bonus is that it is much closer to home so he doesn't have to contend with too much traffic. 

He also continued with his flying this year too. Aaron changed flight schools in January... signed up at Aeronav Academy and proceeded to do his Night Rating... ie learning to fly at night in good weather. What we had hoped would take him 3 months ended up taking 10. He managed to do his final exam at the end of October. There were weather delays (perfectly normal), plane delays (some normal, some frustrating) and instructor delays (out of our hands), but at the end it all came together. Aeronav also held an awards day at the beginning of December and we were able to join Aaron there and see him get his certificate. 

The other exciting development of the year for Aaron was that he got a girlfriend. Aaron met Karla through the Young Adults at New Harvest Church earlier this year. They started going out in July. She is a lovely girl and they are very sweet together. 

Mom has had an up and down year with her eyes. At the beginning of the year she had a bleed in her right eye and needing a series of injections to halt that. Now at the end of the year her eye is improving and she is in a treat-and-extend program.... ie inject then prolong the time between injections so each cycle gets further apart. It seems to be working so far.

For me it's been a year of the normal work routine, lots of scrapping and reading and not too much else. I did manage to get quite a bit of private drawing work to do to which has brought in some extra money and kept me pretty busy.

We managed to do a few holidays this year too. Mom and I went to Wyndford in March, the four of us went to Hazyview for a week in May (our last timeshare holiday ever!) and Keith went to Ramsgate to see his friend Bruce in October.

Loadshedding:

This was the other buzzword for the year... we had more hours of no electricity this year than any previous year since loadshedding started back in 2007. We've had continuous loadshedding for months on end with a two week break in October (for the rugby world cup of all things!) and now a three week break over Christmas. 

In February Mom bought a huge invertor to run her fridge. This has been very helpful for her as where she stays gets lots of breakdowns as well as the loadshedding outages. The machine however had to go get fixed in September and now again in December... hopefully it will still work okay when loadshedding returns (which I am sure it will in January!).

One of Keith's projects for his retirement was to put together an inverter for our house... he had bought the bits through work a few years back. He did eventually get it all assembled and plugged in... just has a bit of an issue with charging the batteries (trips our house!) but in general it is working and is definitely better than the noisy generator. We really only use it to run the tv at night. I bought a ups for our wifi so that is on permanently unless the loadshedding is for 4 or more hours as it's battery only lasts about 3.5 hours.

And with that we bid farewell to the year that was 2023.

Happy New Year - It's 2023!

 

Happy New Year to you and yours. May the year ahead be one of blessing, fun, laughter, family and adventure. The year always stretches ahead as a blank canvas... let's pick up our box of crayons and colour each day with brightness.

My goals for this year are much the same as they have been for the past few years... more scrapping, more reading and more coffee... I am sure that I can achieve that. 

So on the scrapping front there are a few changes for some of my creative teams. Both ninigoesdigi and Rachel Etrog have jumped ship and joined The Lilypad. I am sticking with them and welcoming the change. I am also still on Gina Miller's team and have joined Micheline Lincoln's TLP team for the next three months. My other commitments are to MissFish and Adrienne Skelton at Gingerscraps, Cornelia Designs at The Digital Press and Marissa Lerin at DigitalScrapbook. So I think I will still be fairly busy scrapping with lots of lovely goodies this year.

Along with all the scrapping I foresee coming up, I still plan to spend lots of time reading too. I have set my goal for this year at a conservative 45 books... let's see how we do by the end of the year.

The goal of more coffee just goes without saying.... hehehe... hopefully the drinking of it will also involve a few more visits with friends this year as well as a couple of trips away.

May God go with us into this new year and may we all experience His many blessings, guidance and peace.

Looking back on 2022

Wow what a year it has been... looking back on it there has been quite a few things that have been accomplished and also some that were missed.

Family News:

We missed out on going on timeshare holidays in May (floods in Natal), June (car accident) and August (getting sick) but Mom and I did get to go to Mtunzini in February (LWM) and to Wyndford in April (LWM retreat) and again in September (Mom's birthday).

As a family we also changed church this year. We joined New Harvest Christian Fellowship and have really grown in our faith journey after a few years of spiritual drought. Aaron has joined the youth group and made some very good friends through that too, they even helped him celebrate his 21st birthday in November. He also started a parttime job in June working at Kumon... loves it! We managed to buy him a car with the insurance payout from our car accident.

Aaron hasn't done as much flying this year but he has written all his exams for his Private Pilot License. On the 16th of December, after numerous weather delays and rescheduling of the flight, Aaron flew his exam flight and passed!! He is now a fully fledged two stripe Private Pilot. I am soooooo proud of him.

Keith retired at the end of October having turned 63 that month... but in November he was offered a contract from his company so he has continued to work until they can find his replacement.

Mom has battled a bit more this year with her vision but she has been blessed with a great Opthamologist who has treated her so well over the past 9 years. He unfortunately has retired, but left her in good hands of the doctor who has taken over his practice. She has made lots of adjustments (sometimes daily) and has kept her very positive outlook on the situation. Each day is a new adventure.

We have had more loadshedding (planned power outages) this year that any other year in the past. Loadshedding actually is the word of 2022... how sad is that! We have learnt to work around the schedule... so long as the municipality stick to the schedule that is! Boiling the kettle and filling a flask is routine now. Thankfully we have a gas hob so I can still make supper. We bought a little generator which helps with being able to have wifi and tv (but it's needing to be fixed now as it hasn't been performing correctly in December). Torch light is great to a point! At least with summer here it is lighter longer. 

My news... I am still working mornings only, loving my scrapping and just going on day by day.  I got a new laptop on the Black Friday sale in November which has been such a great buy. My scrapping is quicker, downloading stuff is easier and I can use it when the power is out as the battery lasts!

Scrapping:

Having changed to digital scrapping in 2019 I have been doing more and more scrapping each year than at any time when I did paper scrapping. This year I was on 12 teams, some full time and some for just a few months at a time. I scrapped 618 single layouts and 1 double layout which is 620 pages, just over 1.5 pages a day! 

I even played with paper and made a few minialbums this month. On one I did the coptic binding technique that I have been wanting to do since 2020, so can cross that off my scrapping bucket list.

Reading:

I set myself a reading goal each year on the GoodReads site and keep track of all the books I've read. This year I made a goal of 52 books but surpassed that in October already. It's been a really good year in fiction for me... I've finished 66 books!! You can see a summary layout of my reading in this post.

And so that winds up this past year. Let's get ready for the adventure that is 2023!

The year that was 2021

As we bid 2021 farewell, here's a little summary of all that I have accomplished during this year.

SCRAPPING:

It's been a busy scrapping year. I've done only digital scrapping this entire year. I did make a few paper mini-albums in June and July to use up some of my scraps (they still need photos though!). Here is what I did make digitally though:

600 Single layouts + 3 Double layouts = 603 Total layouts or 606 pages.

This is definitely the most I have ever scrapped in one year. That's 170 more layouts than last year even. I reckon I've been creatively busy!

I served on 4 fulltime creative teams and was guest on 6 other teams throughout the year. These account for most of my layouts created. The majority of the rest were done for challenges. 

I have already got quite a few layouts done for January CT reveals coming up (added into the total for this year), but will hit the ground running tomorrow with the new challenges launching on all the sites I visit.

Let's see what 2022 will bring on the creative side of things.

READING:

Not only did I do scrapping this year but I also read a lot. I managed to reach my Reading Challenge goal of 45 books at Good Reads (actually read 51). 

As well as this I also did some sewing so kept up with all my hobbies. The only thing I didn't touch was quilling.

FAMILY:

Looking back on 2021's other news it's been a good year despite all the Covid dramas happening around us. I've had periods of working at home or part-time in the office and then from September have been back fulltime in the office. This has lead to a more "normal" feeling about things too. Keith worked the whole year at the office with no interruptions even with tougher lockdown restrictions in March and July. Both our work year end functions got cancelled/postponed due to the current 4th wave, but the good news is that we haven't been affected by the bug. Lots of family members though have... my brother in Durban, his daughter who lives in Jhb, as well as my Aunt and Uncle in Bulawayo.

Aaron had a good year. He finally got his driver's license in May and two days later flew his first solo flight. He has done quite a bit of flying this year... mainly by himself as he builds solo hours. The last month there has been no flying though due to the weather. Hopefully he will get more hours in next year. In mid-December Aaron got a part-time job working at Spar Tops but after much deliberation he quit as the hours were too long, the pay too little and it was not really the right place for him. 

We've also managed to have a holiday away as a family to Mabula in June and enjoyed two weekends at Wyndford. Keith even visited his friend Bruce, who lives in Ramsgate, in March for a week.

ONE LITTLE WORD:

I choose in January the word HOPE as my word for this year. I had lots of hopes for things to happen and some of them did. Looking back now it has been a good year filled with hope, joy and celebrations.  Not sure yet if I will choose a word for next year... will see what happens in the morning through.

My wish for you as we enter into the new year is health, happiness and plenty of time with family and friends.  I leave you with this verse:

You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands. Psalm 16:5

Cornelia Designs - Yearly Highlights

Cornelia has a super cute card set available today called Yearly Highlights. It's great for those summary type pages.. such as this one I made about all the reading I did this year.

I used Cornelia's Currently Reading kit and JimboJambo Onda template to create my layout.

Check these pocket cards out in the New Release section at The Digital Press

Wrapping up 2020 in stats

This year has come to an end much like any others but with a few added twists... like being back in Lockdown Level 3 for New Year's. Well one of the benefits of the Covid-19 lockdown is being able to stay home without feeling guilty. I've managed to get tons done this holiday season too which makes me feel accomplished.

Over the last few weeks I've sewed new lounge, diningroom and bedroom curtains, as well as made 4 blouses, altered a dress into a t-shirt and made 2 pairs of pants.

This year held lots of other achievements too for me as well as the family:

Aaron got his matric results in January and though it wasn't the results we were hoping for, it's been a blessing having him home all year. He started on his journey to become a pilot and has been flying every month since June (at least once a month). He has built up 14.8 hours so far. Also, he has been learning to drive this year... hopefully will get his license within the next month.

Keith had a good year I think. He spent the full lockdown at home (6 weeks) but went back to work fulltime in May. He has thankfully stayed healthy (besides a 24hour sinus infection in June) and hasn't really been affected by the Covid pandemic. A few work colleagues  did get the virus but they were quick on isolating them and warning the staff. He finished the year with lots of pottering around in the garden over this holiday.

For me workwise I worked from home throughout the full lockdown and from May was only going in to work one day a week. In September we went back fulltime. We've had a few cases at work too. The office got closed for the day for thorough cleaning and once safe we returned. I also had that same infection Keith had back in June and spent the weekend feeling sick... stayed away from everyone! To keep myself sane throughout the year I've tackled quite a few of my usual crafts and also read lots. Here's just a few of my stats:

Books read: 48 - I made my Goodreads reading challenge goal for the year.

Paper layouts scrapped: 12 single & 4 double = 20 pages

Digital pages scrapped: 411 single & 6 double = 423 pages

For the first year EVER I reached my goal of a page a day.... and actually exceed it too! I scrapped a total of 433 layouts this year which equates to 443 pages! So very pleased. Guess doing digital scrapping has a great benefit! I definitely won't be printing all those pages, only a select few once my books are done.

I have been on 6 different digital design teams this year... these have accounted for lots of the layouts I made this year. A big thank you to each of the ladies who took a chance on this novice and had me on their team.

And so as 2020 comes to an end, I wish for you and yours a peaceful New Year's celebration and all the joys of being with family throughout the next year. God bless you and keep you. May He lead you on the new path that lies ahead.

Books I've read in 2013

I haven't done nearly as much reading this past year as I normally do.... been busy with work, overtime work, scrapping and a few family holidays.  But still I think it's pretty impressive that I've read 25 books.  This is the full list by month.

JANUARY
1. Daniel's Den - Dodson, Brandt

FEBRUARY
2. Love Amid the Ashes - Andrews, Mesu
3. The Flight of Christmas - Paxmann, Rozanne
4. Diamond Duo - Gruver, Marcia

MARCH
5. The Vigilante's Bride - Harris, Yvonne
6. The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted - Asher, Bridget
7. Love Song - Stone, Katherine

APRIL
8. Fated Genes - Reich, Harry
9. The Deepest Waters - Walsh, Dan

MAY
10. Safe Haven - Sparks, Nicholas
11. On Sparrow Hill - Lang, Maureen

JUNE
12. The Shape of Mercy - Meissner, Susan
13. Waiting for Summer's Return - Sawyer, Kim Vogel

JULY
14. Where the Heart Leads - Sawyer, Kim Vogel
15. Amber Morn - Collins, Brandilyn

AUGUST
16. Journey to the Well - Taylor, Diana Wallis
17. Reluctant Burglar - Nelson, Jill Elizabeth
18. Reluctant Runaway - Nelson, Jill Elizabeth

SEPTEMBER
19. Interior Motives - Aiken, Ginny
20. Refiner's Fire - Bambola, Sylvia

OCTOBER
21. Ezekiel's Shadow - Long, David

NOVEMBER
22. Maggie's Story - Mackall, Dandi Daley
23. The Lightkeeper's Daughter - Coble, Colleen

DECEMBER
24. The Lightkeeper's Bride - Coble, Colleen
25. The Lightkeeper's Ball - Coble, Colleen

 I can definitely recommend these to anyone's bookshelf.  Happy reading in 2014.

Books I read in 2012

Keeping track of the books I've read over the last year... amazed at how many there actually are.

JANUARY
1. Missing Witness - Craig Parshall

FEBRUARY
2. The Appeal - John Grisham
3. Beguilded - Deanne Gist
4. The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly

MARCH
5. Hannah's Hope - Karen Kingsbury
6. Courageous - Randy Alcorn
7. Blue heart blessed - Susan Meissner

APRIL
8. One Summer - David Baldacci
9. Finding Jeena - Miralee Ferrell
10. The Concrete Blonde - Michael Connelly

MAY
11. Wisdom Hunter - Randall Arthur
12. Prevailing Love - Loree Lough
13. Triumph - Carolyn Jessop

JUNE
14. Learning - Karen Kingsbury
15. Longing - Karen Kingsbury
16. Loving - Karen Kingsbury
17. While We're far apart - Lynn Austin

JULY
18. The sweetest thing - Elizabeth Musser
19. Doesn't she look natural - Angela Hunt


AUGUST
20. Pearl in the sand - Tessa Afshar
21. The last song - Nicholas Sparks

SEPTEMBER
22. Under the hawthorn tress - Ai Mi

OCTOBER
23. Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist
24. The Homecoming - Dan Walsh
25. The coming Home - Karen Kingsbury
26. Sarai - Jill Eileen Smith
27. Covenant Child - Terri Blackstock

NOVEMBER
28. The other twin - Katherine Stone
29. A Great catch - Lorna Seilstad
30. Hidden Affections - Delia Parr
31. In Every Heartbeat - Kim Vogel Sawyer
32. Harvest of Rubies - Tessa Afshar

DECEMBER
33. Not in the Heart - Chris Fabry
34. Deadly Pursuit - Irene Hannon
35. Theodore Boone: The Abduction - John Grisham
36. Head in the clouds - Karen Witemeyer

Books I read in 2011

I decided at the beginning of 2011 to make a list of all the books I read in a month to see how much I actually read during the year... and so here is the final list:

JANUARY
1. Rain Song - Alice Wisler
2. The Hidden Flame - Davis Bunn
3. The Splitting Storm - Rene Gutteridge

FEBRUARY
4. When Crickets Cry - Charles Martin
5. Home Another Way - Christa Parrish
6. Everybody's Suspect in Georgia - Cecil Murphy

MARCH
7. Wrapped in Rain - Charles Martin
8. The Nightwatchman - Mark Mynheir
9. Almost Forever - Deborah Raney
10. Jillian Dare - Melanie M Jeschke
11. Pearl Moon - Katherine Stone
12. California Capers - Dana Mentink

APRIL
13. The living end - Lisa Samson
14. Watch over me - Christa Parrish
15. Hatteras Girl - Alice Wisler
16. Jordan's Wish - Karen Kingsbury
17. Mayhem in Maryland - Dana Mentink

MAY
18. Code Triage - Candace Calvert
19. Nosy in Nebraska - Mary Connealy
20. The Overlook - Michael Connelly
21. The Prince - Francine Rivers

JUNE
22. Breach of Promise - James Scott Bell
23. Leaving - Karen Kingsbury
24. How Sweet It Is - Alice Wisler

JULY
25. Damascas Way - Davis Bunn
26. Nightshade - Ronie Kendig
27. Inside Story - Susan Page Davis
28. The Oak Leaves - Maureen Lang

AUGUST
29. Between Sundays - Karen Kingsbury
30. Bathsheba - Jill Eilleen Smith

SEPTEMBER
31. The Unfinished Gift - Dan Walsh
32. Beloved Conterfeit - Kathleen Y'Barbo
33. Digitalis - Ronie Kendig

OCTOBER
34. The Amish Midwife - Mindy Starns Clark
35. Tender Vow - Sharlene MacLaren
36. A Promise to Remember - Kathryn Cushman

NOVEMBER
37. Sunset - Karen Kingsbury
38. Solemly Swear - Nancy Moser
39. Maid to Match - Deanne Gist
40. My Sister Dilly - Maureen Lang

DECEMBER
41. Beneath a Southern Sky - Deborah Raney
42. The Accused - Craig Parshall

Some months I seem to read more than others.... guess it depends very much on how much I have going on or how quick a read the book it.  I must say that I can highly recommend virtually all these books - lots of mysteries, a few love stories and plenty of uplifting notes in each one.

Now to see how many I can get through in 2012.

I bet you're sick of me saying it....

but how can I NOT say it when it's exactly what happened?  ..... and what is it, you ask?  Well............

I WON AGAIN!

This time I've won a book on The Book Club Blog.... super excited to receive my prize in the mail as I've been hunting high and low for another book by this author.

So, see... you have to be in it to win it!!  Maybe with all my luck, I should consider playing the lotto... might just strike it lucky, or what!

Good Reads....

Just to prove that I do do more than scrap, I decided to share with you three books that I've read within the last month...

first up.... John Grisham's The Innocent Man

This novel is based on a true story..... boy oh boy did it get me thinking!  We all know that our jails here in South Africa are horrid and overcrowded, but this book just shows that it is not only here that we have problems.  I don't think I would EVER like to land up in jail in America either.... the conditions do not sound nice plus the justice system is full of flaws.  It's not at all as portrayed by the tv programmes like Law & Order or CSI.... that's Hollywood.

Secondly I read.... Dick Francis' To The Hilt

A really good mystery in which the hero gets beaten up within the first few pages and triumphs over all evil by the end of the book.  Based in good ol' Scotland with lots of cold castles plus Dick Francis' signature horseracing.... this was a very quick read.

And this morning I just finished.... Dick Francis' Second Wind

Now this one does have horses in it, but is really all about a hurricane and finding people who are selling uranium and plutonium.... stuff needed to make bombs.  Another good mystery with a few twists and turns.  Written in the age before digital cameras and cellphones!

So if you haven't yet read any of these, get your hands on them and enjoy a good read.  All links above are to my favourite online bookstore... www.take2.co.za - it's like having Amazon in South Africa.

Sorry....

for the silence. I'm not ignoring my blog... just with being sick last week, scrapping over the weekend and visiting Aaron on Sunday... plus now back at work... I haven't had time to blog.

Oh plus I've just finished reading an awesome inspiring book this morning... The Centurion's Wife, by Davis Bunn.... it was sooooooooooooo nice to read a different perspective on the cruxifiction of Christ and the events that happened afterwards.

So I promise... I will still this week upload my scrap layouts from the weekend... just please be patient with me.

An interesting read

It's not often that a book will make me think and think and think some more... but this one sure did.... I finished reading it last night:

Escape by Carolyn Jessop is her autobiograph and describes her life as part of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS)... and in a polygamist marriage.

What really made me identify with her is that she is virtually the same age as me... born on 1 Jan 1968. So each time something happened to her I would say to myself... where was I at that age... etc.... scary!

By the time I had done matric and started college... she was married!

By 22 she had had a few kids already.... I had just finished college and started work

Her one son is the same age as Aaron.

She left the cult in 2003 and has had an uphill battle to survive since then too... single mom to EIGHT kids!!!

This book has really made me VERY thankful for the life I have... that I was brought up with Christian values in a Christian and loving home.

For more info... you can go here or here

Get this book and read it... it's eye opening!

Another book.. or more

Just got my ScrapScene update and found they are giving away a book.. well of course I entered to win it, but in case I don't I'm going to add it to my wishlist.

Death Swatch: A Scrapbooking Mystery (Scrapbooking Mysteries) ISBN-10: 0425224783
And while at Amazon I did a browse on this author (Laura Childs) and found some more....

Frill Kill ISBN-10: 0425217302

Bound for Murder ISBN-10: 0425199231

Keepsake Crimes ISBN-10: 0425190749

Motif for Murder ISBN-10: 0425217981

Photo Finished ISBN-10: 0425194345

Death By Design ISBN-10: 0425210006

So now there are a whole bunch more books to add to my already long wish list.. I best start saving! hehe