Check It Out

My shop is the featured shop of the week over at Violet's Buds! Go check it out to learn a bit more about me and my shop! There is also a giveaway going on for one of my owl pillows that I am sure you will want to enter!

Also, I was a sponsor shout out on Not Done Growing at the beginning of the month!

Lastly, I did a recipe review over at Simply Homemaking at the end of May!

Swept Away by Mary Connealy

Swept Away is the first book of Mary Connealy's that I have read. It is also the first book in the series Trouble in Texas.

About the Story -
Swept away when her wagon train attempts a difficult river crossing, Ruthy MacNeil isn't all that upset at being separated from the family who raised her. All they've ever done is work her to the bone. She prayed for a chance to get away, and then came the raging flood. Alive but disoriented, she's rescued by Luke Stone...so unfortunately, there are more chances to die in her immediate future.

Luke is heading home to reclaim the ranch stolen from his family. But the men who killed his father are working hard to ensure Luke doesn't make it alive. He has no choice but to keep moving. Still, he can't just abandon Ruthy, so she'll have to come along.

His friends--a ragtag group of former Civil War soldiers--take a fast interest in the pretty gal. Luke thinks that's rather rude--he's the one who found her. And the more time he spends around the hard-working young woman who is a mighty good cook, the more he finds himself thinking beyond revenge and toward a different future. For the first time in a long time, Luke is tempted to turn from his destructive path and be swept away by love.

My thoughts -
At the beginning of the story I had a really hard time getting into the book, but as it went on the harder it was for me to put down the book. The very end was the best with all the action in regaining the ranch. I love history so I enjoyed the back story of how Luke and all his friends met when they were prisoner's in Andersonville Confederate Prison. They all then moved to help him regain his ranch that was stolen. I hope to get to know them better in the future books of this series. Ruthy was a wonderful character that had been through a lot and I loved seeing her get right in the action of it all.  If you enjoy western or historical fiction and romance then you will enjoy this book.

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers for an honest review.

The Guardian by Beverly Lewis

From the back cover:

When Jodi Winfield comes to Lancaster to house-sit, the last thing she expects to find is a disheveled little girl alone on the side of the road.  The young teacher is mystified when she learns there have been no reports of a missing child, and the girl herself is no help, since can't speak English.  It's as if the child appeared out of nowhere.
Then Jodi turns her attention to Hickory Hollow --and the cloistered world of the Old Order Amish -- in search of answers.

My review:

I am a big fan of Beverly Lewis and her books about the Amish.  The Guardian was another one of her great books!  I can picture myself being in the story with the characters in this book.  Jodi, who is not Amish, comes into the lives of Amish by an unfortunate accident where an Amish child fell out of a wagon.  Jodi is still dealing with the death of her sister and having a hard time still believing in God, and doesn't want to have children with her fiance once they get married even though he wants to when she goes to house sit for her cousin. Jodi finds the lost little girl which leads her to the Amish world. The Amish world just might hold the answers she needs to move on with her life.  Jodi is not the only one looking for answers and how to move on after death of loved ones. Maryanna, the mother of the child that fell out of the wagon, and Joshua the neighbor of Maryanna are both dealing with their own issues after losing loved ones. I loved how it ended even though it would be considered predictable.  I am just one of those that love a happy ending.  Look forward to reading many more of Beverly Lewis's books!

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers for a honest review.

Summer

Where has the time gone? I can't believe that in two weeks my kids will be out of preschool and we will start enjoying the summer.  This summer comes with a lot of mixed emotions for me.  My daughter is graduating from junior kindergarten and after summer will be starting kindergarten.  She is so excited about this, while I am struggling with it.  At times it feels like it was just yesterday that I had her, and now I am going to have to let her out into this big world.  My son will still be with me for another year while attending junior kindergarten four days a week for three hours each day.  I know it will be a big adjustment for him too.  He does not know what to do if his sister is not around.  Normally we always take a family vacation over the summer but we won't be able to this year since we went to Disney World earlier this year.  Since, we won't be going any where I want to make this an extra special summer.  I am all ready working up a list of fun activities to do this summer, and will make sure to share lots of them with all of you. 


Do you have any fun plans for this summer?

It's My Birthday and More!

 
Today is my birthday! We had a fun day planned, but the lovely never ending rain in our area prevented the fun from happening.  Ended up spending the day relaxing, crocheting, reading a book, and playing around on the computer.  One day it might stop raining and finally warm up so we can enjoy the great outdoors.  Tomorrow will be my 1 year anniversary opening up my store, Unique Creations by Tracy, on Storenvy! Can't believe it has been a year!  Thanks to all the have supported me through this journey! Look forward to seeing what year 2 will bring me. If you haven't seen all ready to celebrate today and tomorrow I am having a 30% off sale in my store.  Just use code 1STANNIV to get the discount which is good on all items in stock and custom orders. 

Interchangeable Headbands

My 5 year old daughter loves to wear headbands and bows in her hair.  I thought it would be nice to make one headband that she could switch out the colors of flowers to match her outfits.  When she saw what I was making she couldn't wait to wear them, that she wore one today to school. Here are some pictures I took today of her and the headband with flowers. I am not sure how many flowers I will put with each headband to sell at this time.

These will be available in the shop soon in sizes newborn through adult! How many flowers do you think I should sell with each headband?

Winner!

The winner has been decided in the owl pillow giveaway! Check the giveaway post to see if you were the winner.  If you did not win keep your eyes open because I will be having a big sale next week to celebrate my birthday and anniversary of the shop!