we ran out of diapers, now what?

i'm actually really surprised that it took over 2 years for this to happen for the first time.  it's probably because i keep diapers stashed all over the house, so typically when i run out in one area i know i have my other stashes as back up until i can restock.  well, the day finally came when all the stashes were empty.  now what?

it was nighttime and i'd just changed leah and put her to bed when i realized it was my last diaper for her.  halle grace was already fast asleep, and jeff was staying downtown for a work event, so a late night target run was not an option.  i figured there was nothing i could do about it now, so i'd just go to bed and me and my coffee would devise a plan in the morning.

morning came and after searching the house one last time, i decided to call jeff - i thought for sure he would tell me i'd forgotten about a secret stash in the freezer or something.  just kidding :) i don't keep a stash in the freezer.  although, maybe now i should!  his only advice was to check the stuffed animal bin, which i had already thought of.  leah loves to diaper her babies and animals.  unfortunately, curious george was sans a diaper.

still no plan.

it was only a matter of time before i would see movement on the monitor and leah sitting up in her bed like a little prairie dog, patiently waiting for me to come get her.  (i'm not even kidding about that, i can't make this stuff up)  here let me find you a picture.....

see?? haha!

i realize what you're probably thinking.  maybe if i would just potty train her, i wouldn't have to worry about this.  yeah yeah, i'll get there.  for some reason, potty training is just something i really dread.  bring me a strong will or a bad habit and i'll attack it head on with some good old fashioned discipline, my best chart and a pad of stickers!  not that i've fully conquered either of those, but i accept that challenge with more confidence than potty training.

so anyway, she prairie dogs it, i go up to get her.  her diaper from the night before definitely wasn't an option.  should i just have her go commando and PRAY the whole way to target to get some?  no, too risky, and i hate cleaning her car seat.  so i was left with one final option.  she was just going to have to squeeze into one of halle's.  i got it on her, and it was definitely super tight and two sizes too small.  she looked at me super confused, and kept patting the diaper saying "this halle dace's! this halle dace's!" so i said, "chin up, daughter!  this isn't the first time you're pants will be too tight and two sizes too small if you take after your mother." (don't you feel lucky that i let you in on these little pearls of wisdom and encouragement i pass along to my firstborn?)  plus it only takes like 3 minutes to get to target so i knew she'd be fine.  

so we go to load up in the van, and she for some reason, did NOT want to get into her carseat.  the poor thing inherited her daddy's bad allergies so her nose was all runny and she sounded all stuffy, and she was crying "no mama! i don't want to!" i felt so bad for her in her teensy diaper and stuffy nose that out of no where i said something that i immediately regretted.  i said, "leah, if you be a good girl and get in your car seat so we can get to target, (here it comes) i'll let you pick out a toy!" why on earth would i ever say such a thing??? now every time we go to target she's going to ask for a toy.  and she's at the age now where she forgets nothing!  well, it was too late to take it back now, and she was extremely happy about this and in a better mood so i figured i might as well go with it.  

so we get to target.  oh, did i forget to mention that she's in her pj's?  usually, when we leave the house, i slick 'er up real good, but this particular day we didn't have time for such luxuries.  so we get to target, and i go to get her out.  she's got on bright green and blue pj's, her hair is all amok and she's got on purple sparkly shoes that she insisted on wearing, runny nose, and a teensy diaper.  oh! whatta ya know.  i have a picture. (i take pictures of literally everything.  my phone often yells at me that i've use up all my storage space)

anyway, there she was, poor little thing.  she must've gotten bored on the 3 minute trek because her socks are off and her shoes on are the wrong feet.  looks like georgie took a spill, too.

so, we load up and head into target.  she's crying the whole way in because she wants to "waaalllk, mama!" she doesn't think it's considered walking if she has to hold my hand, haha!  so i tell her she can "walk" as soon as we get inside.  then she starts crying because she wants "chock-it milk".  i usually give her chocolate milk in the mornings (ovaltine, i've gotta get vitamins in her somewhere!) but i figured this morning i'd better forgo the chocolate milk with the diaper situation, or things could get real ugly.  so i finally make it to the back of the store, get the diapers, and get back to the front of the store, get her changed and situated so we could continue on our journey.  oh, as luck would have it - i have a picture!!

look at halle grace sitting up there just being a little angel.  she's just going along for the ride.  she has no idea of all the calamities leah and i have been through this morning.  actually, she probably does, and she's sitting up there laughing at us.  and yeah yeah i hear ya...you aren't supposed to put your kids in those nasty germy disease filled front carts.  relax, i wiped it down with a disinfectant wipe that my beloved target so generously provides when you walk in.  so there.  anyway, you'll notice leah has her precious "chock-it milk" in her hands.  i marched on over to the starbucks counter and got her one for being such a good sport.  actually, she was a terrible sport, but she's spoiled rotten if nothing else.

so i buzz through the store trying to get out as quickly as possible so i don't get disapproving glares because leah is still in her pajamas.  

one time, i took her to target in her pj's and some woman stopped to say hi to her and she said (to leah, but obviously totally directed at me) "ooooh honeyyy, you're still in your pajamas!"  like she was some poor orphan child.  so i gave her my best look of indignation and said, ma'am i can assure you she does not go without.  should i even happen to mention to her nana that she is in need of something, she makes it her personal mission to buy every article of said item in every shape, size and color this side of the border.  and then her mimi takes on the challenge of making sure she has a pair of shoes to go with every item her nana bought.  so just leave me alone!  ok fine, i did't say that at all.  that's just what i was thinking.  instead i just smiled sweetly and said "oh it's just a pj kinda day, isn't it leah?" and then i rammed her cart like we were in bumper cars.  ok fine, i didn't do that either, but i thought about it.

as we were moseying along, i spot the toy section up ahead and remembered my impulse promise.  i'm thinking, oh great, just what we need is another $800 stuffed animal.  anyway, right before we get to the toy section, i spot a $1-$2 toy bin!! "aaahhhhh" i heard the angels singing a beautiful chorus coming from that bin.  just another reason target is worthy of my love.  so, i pull her up to it and let her pick something out.  she went with a little mini disney princess magna doodle.  superb choice.  moving on (and praying she forgets this little incident). 

we finally made it through the store, and up to the check-out.  this is where halle grace usually starts to lose her patience, and is dunzo being in her carseat.  and it's really all my fault.  i just had to read that 12th greeting card to make sure i picked the perfect one, and i just had to stop by and smell the purex crystals (that i already have at home), and of course i had to browse the dollar section at the front of the store.  so yeah, i'd say she has every right to fuss at me at this point.  and it's usually the same two daytime check-out ladies at my target, so who knows what they think of me and my antics.  whatever, i don't care, i'm keeping their doors open.  so there :)  we load up with our purchases and with a cart filled with a fresh stock of diapers...we fade off into the sunset.  and by fade off into the sunset, i mean me sprinting while pushing the cart (and praying nothing or no one falls out) to get home as quickly as possible because halle has a zero to high pitch scream rate of about 3 minutes.  that little angel :) 

"careful" driver with a good record.

recently, i got a notice in the mail saying that our car insurance was being lowered because i have a good driving record.  well wait.  i might've just lied.  i don't know for sure that it said our car insurance was being lowered (i maybe just saw that on a commercial). if it didn't say that...it should've!  and even if it didn't, whatever.  i'm just so happy that the law (the law? the insurance company? i don't know these things) are on my side about me being a good driver.

you see, jeff thinks (and makes his thoughts known) that i'm a bad driver.  i always tell him, i'm not a bad driver i'm just a careful driver.  leave a girl alone.  i learned to drive in a small town with one four-way stop in the middle of town and no stop lights.  and you usually knew the other person at the four-way stop so you were too busy waving to be messing with turn signals and what-not.  see? he's just mad because i'm a friendlier driver than him.  plus, he should be glad i'm a careful driver since i'm always carrying around his precious cargo! :)

the day he got a jeep was just an all around good day for me.  when he had his fast little sporty car i'm pretty sure he thought he was Mario Andretti, and that didn't bode well for someone who gets car sick easily.  of course, now that he has a jeep - he thinks he's The Terminator...but i can deal with The Terminator i guess.  and actually, now that he has a jeep he's become a much friendlier driver, too!  when he was purchasing the jeep the salesman told him that he was now entering a super secret club that all jeep wrangler owners are in (i added the "super secret" to make it seem cooler, he didn't really say that).  i guess they all feel some sort of camaraderie for each other so they all wave at each other when they pass by.  he's totally embraced his new jeep owner status, and started waving at his fellow jeep owners right away.  i guess that's cool and all.  but sometimes it does get a little awkward when he forgets we're in the van.

so anyway.  when i got this notice in the mail saying i was officially a good driver, you better believe i started wearing that title around like a badge of honor!  now, whenever he corrects my driving i am able to remind him that we didn't see his name on the notice declaring him a good driver, now did we? (pretentious look) no, we did not.

i do realize i'm not a perfect driver.  i have recieved two tickets throughout my driving career.  although, one totally should've been excused or at least just a warning.  i got pulled over on the way to my bridal shower, where i was obviously the guest of honor, and i explained this to the police officer and he did not care (angry look), and then i was late (angrier look). i should've called his wife and told her what he'd done and she would've slapped him for me.  actually, he probably wasn't married.  yes, that must be it.

aaaanyway.  now that i drive a van, i figure i'm pretty much in the clear for getting pulled over.  surely, cops figure if a van is speeding it's for something important.  like someone's in labor, or a screaming child that's hungry or needs to go to the bathroom or something, right?  although, knowing my luck, as soon as i got pulled over my children would sprout wings and grow halos.

i do realize i talk about my mini-van alot.  but i can't help it! i'm obsessed with it.  it's seriously the best thing ever.  i feel like when i load up the girls to go somewhere, and we set out on our journey (usually target), that we can CONQUER THE WORLD!  i know most people think once you get a mini-van you've bought a one-way ticket to "lameville".  but too late, i was already there.  i don't see my mini-van as lame at all.  when i pull up to target and hit those double door open buttons, what you see.......

is this

but what i FEEL

is this!

so anyway.  all that to say...i'm a good driver.  the state of Illinois says so.  (or maybe just the insurance company, again, i don't know these things).  

hair shenanigans

for a while now, while skimming Pinterest (per usual), i have found the ombre hairstyle quite intriguing when i would come across a pin showing a picture of it.  for those who don't know what ombre is -  it's where you have dark hair on top at the roots and it gradually fades to light...here i'll just show you a pic.

super cute, right?  i'd been debating whether or not to do it for a while.  my hair is kinda my thang.  i've kinda got it figured out by now.  i know how to do it to make it look just so.  which those of you with curly hair know what i'm talking about, it's an art.  anyway, so i figured i better not mess with it.  i'll just stick with my safe "inside the box" highlights.  not boxed highlights like i do them myself.  that's just scary.  but i mean nothing risky or "outside of the box".  oh nevermind.

well anyway, one day, i must've been feeling really wild and crazy and i decided to go ahead and do it. and at a salon i'd never been to before.  who knows what i was thinking.  i must've been sleep deprived or something.  anyway, so i go on over to the salon.  the super cute trendy stylist that's going to do my hair welcomes me and assures me this is going to look super fab on me.  she insists on taking "before and after" pictures. (sorry, i thought about sharing them with you, but...ain't happenin) so, she takes my before picture, and i'm thinking ok! alright! lets do this.  i'm sitting there looking at it and i look like a typical mom with brownish blonde hair who could potentially drive a mini-van.  i'm very excited for my "after" pic because surely i'm going to be transformed into a young hip mom with trendy flowy locks like drew barrymore.

so after a couple hours of who knows what - she finishes my 'do and takes my "after" pic.  super-trendy-mom-with-the-flowy-locks - i do not see.  instead i look like a scared skunk wondering what on earth have i done?!  oh, i'm sure the girl did a fine job.  i just don't think i have what it takes to pull off an edgy trendy hairstyle.  i leave a little shell shocked, and once panic mode set in i convinced myself - it's ok.  i'll get home, wash it, and style it my normal way, and everything will be A-okay.  so i did just that.  still, i see the scared skunk staring back at me in the mirror.

so i call my regular hair lady, my savior, and make an appointment for some damage control.  thankfully, after i confessed of my shenanigans, she took them right in stride and confidently came up with a plan that would fix things.  and she did just that.  thank you, debbie.  i will never misbehave again, i promise.

i know what some of you might be thinking..."you should give yourself some credit, i'm sure you could pull off hip and trendy".  i assure you, it has nothing to do with not giving myself enough credit.  i'm just not hip and trendy, and that's ok.  i've embraced it.

i was recently even more convinced of this when jeff and i went downtown to see one of his friends play in a rock concert.  first of all, i do not belong in downtown Chicago.  supposedly, we were somewhere called "bucktown".  we were in Chicago.  why does a specific area need another name?  let's keep it simple Chicago, where i come from we didn't even have stop lights (still don't) and we made it just fine.  i'm still all sorts of confused as to why it is called "bucktown".  it definitely didn't look like an area where there was likely to be a 10-pointer spotting (ironically enough, people from "bucktown" probably have no idea what that even means).  and i didn't see any camo, so it wasn't a neighborhood of hunters.  which would have been really awkward since i'm pretty sure i saw a PETA parade a couple streets over.

anyway, sorry for the tangent.  back to the rock concert.  we are standing there, listening to the music and as i look around i'm surrounded by a bunch of youngsters who all walked there from their cool apartment in the city, in their skinny jeans and rimmed glasses looking all trendy, feelin' the vibe.  and i'm all, standing there proud of myself that i don't have any stains on my nursing tank top, thinking about how cool it is that i have a vacuum in my mini-van, wondering if it would be awkward for jeff and i to take a couples-selfie to document that we were out on a school night.  whatevs, we still had fun.  then it came time to leave, and the group we were with wanted to know if we wanted to go somewhere else.  i'm thinking...  'somewhere else?! oh, you mean like next week? surely they can't mean tonight.  if i leave right now i'll still be up ten minutes past my bedtime'.  see guys? i'm a lame-OOOO.  and that's ok.  i like it that way.  leah thinks i'm cool :)

my daughter, the genius, made a leaf.

yes, we are fully amping up for fall.  my house looks like a pumpkin exploded all over it.  but that's the way i like it.  i take after my mom.  only hers looks like 30 pumpkins exploded.  but a pretty explosion :) anyway.  today leah and i decided to make a little fall craft - a "stained glass leaf". found on, none other, than my good friend Pinterest.

here's the link should you feel so inclined.

http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/fall/fall-leaf-craft.asp  

i love that she's at the age where we can do crafts now.  i love all things crafty.  i could never homeschool because i would only teach art all day :)  anyway, the link above is pretty self explanatory.  only i used clear packing tape instead of clear contact paper because that's all i had, and it worked nicely.  she's pretty proud of it, as you can tell :)

here is a picture of some of our other decorations.  to which leah has appropriately named the big middle pumpkin the "daddy punkin" the bottom medium sized one the "mommy punkin" and the top one obviously the "baby punkin".  jeff and i just thought this was astoundingly clever that she came up with that.   it must mean that she's some kind of prodigy child.  and has nothing to do with the fact that i read her "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" the other night. 

i'm pretty sure that's normal for parents to think their child is a genius, right?  my brilliant bff is conveniently a school psychologist.  so she knows everything about a child's development and at what age they should be doing what, and all that goes with that.  she always assures me that leah is smart.  come to think of it, she's never once told me anything negative, so she's probably just trying to make me feel good.  and that's fine by me.  it works :)  

i think jeff and i take it to the next level though.  as we eat dinner each night i tell him all about our day, we both stare at her in wonderment when i tell him that earlier she got her shoes on the right feet. obviously she's going to Harvard, we concluded.  although, actually, i hope she chooses standford.  that way i can go and visit her, and i prefer California to Massachusetts.  

and who knows what wonderful places halle grace will take us to!  she's just a little angel on earth.  probably the next mother teresa.  she's a great eater, sleeps 12 hours, and lays contently on a blanket while i swiffer vac up after the messy genius.  yeah yeah, i know.  take off the "my children are perfect" glasses.  and usually i do.  but sometimes i don't. :) 

yes, we had a cat.

just thought i'd go ahead and put that out there since most who didn't know act shocked when we say we had a cat.  i think that's another country vs. suburbs thing.  people up here genuinely hate cats (obviously not all people, but alot).  the way they recoil you would think we told them we had a 10 pound sewer rat living in our house.

i don't see what the big deal is.  i like cats.  but that's no surprise i guess, since i'm a friend to the animals.  picture the opening scene of Cinderella where she opens her windows and the beautiful blue birds come in and help her make her bed and she sings them a beautiful song.  only, instead of beautiful bluebirds - i have ugly blackbirds. that stand in the yard and squawk at me in disapproval because it's taking me so long to fill the feeder.  and then, instead of singing them a beautiful song, i scream and make a mad dash for the house because they dart at the feeder so fast i'm afraid they are going to peck my face off.  anyway.  back to cats.

our cat's name was, Simba.   i chose his name because he was a cute little yellow cat that reminded me of Simba from the Lion King.  wait, that's a lie.  i specifally chose a yellow cat because I have always loved the Lion King and always wanted to get a yellow cat and name him Simba.  that will probably come as quite a shock to my husband when he reads this because when we were at the shelter i made it seem like that name came to me out of divine inspiration after meeting our new little fur ball.

anyway.  we no longer have simba.  he went to live on a nice farm.  (an actual farm. not like i'm just saying "nice farm" but i really mean he died).  we had to find a new home for Simba because he wasn't very friendly.  and by not very friendly i mean, when people would come over he would show his fangs and hiss, and go up on his hind legs like a praying mantis and bat at people like a kung fu ninja.  so anyway, as leah got older we knew we had to find a new home for him before she inevitably grabbed for a fistful of yellow fur and something bad happened.

i've been told he's doing quite well in his new environment, and has become an expert huntsman of mice.  (which i'm quite impressed with since he has no claws) yeah yeah yeah, i know declawing is inhumane, blah blah blah.  but it was either getting declawed (since that's the only way jeff would let me get him) or getting the needle at the shelter we rescued him from.  see.  not so inhumane anymore.  anyway, i'm sure he did have to become an expert huntsman.  he was probably forced to reinvent himself when he tried to show all the other big barn cats that he was a kung fu ninja.

anyway, the whole reason i'm even talking about Simba is because i was cleaning pictures off of my computer the other day and came across a picture of him.  so i thought i'd let you in on a little reminiscing. i'll leave you with one last story...

so jeff is (i'm pretty sure) legally blind.  he has an incredibly strong contact prescription.  like -7 or something like that.  even his newer glasses that they made the lenses "thinner" on are a regular persons thick.  don't worry, he won't mind me saying that. he's embraced it.  i think.  anyway, Simba used to like to get up on the nightstands next to our bed in the middle of the night and knock things off.  so one night i was minding my own business and leaned over to get a drink of water.  as i sat my glass back down and turned around to lay back down - there jeff was 2 inches from my face waving his hands over his head like he's being attacked by bees.  i scream.  he yells.  we both have mild heart attacks. after recovering, i say what in the world are you doing??? he says (in all his blindness) oh, sorry.  i thought simba was over there trying to knock your water over so i was trying to scare him off the nightstand without waking you up.  well, i guess he gets an A for effort.  :)

fall favorites

just a forewarning - none of the items posted below have anything to do with fall.  i just said "fall favorites" because it's fall.  and they both start with f's.  and because i'm not clever or witty enough to come up with cool blog titles.  so, fall favorites it is.

these are just a few of my favorite things right now.  kinda like oprah!  only i have like 87458234579 dollars less than her.  and i've never given anyone a car.  and i only live near chicago, not in it.  and i'm white.  fine, basically i'm the exact opposite of oprah other than the fact that i used the term "favorite things".

numero uno:  my iPhone 5

yeah i know, super cliche', whatever.  but i have to give a shout out to my iphone.  it's my lifeline.  my beacon in the night.  the extra limb i didn't know i couldn't live without until i had it.  i just love you, iphone 5.  you're my bff.  ok fine, slightly dramatic, but i do love it.  and i really do use it for, like, everything.  recently, my bff had something catastrophic happen to her iphone and she could no longer group text with me and our other bff.  it was like she died.  thankfully it was resurrected and we've gone on living life as it should be lived.  sorry, i can't help the dramatics when it comes to my phone.

P.S. just an FYI (are you supposed to P.S. and FYI at the same time? well anyway, i am) - that's not my hand above.  if it were my hand you would see my nails perfectly painted in....

numero dos: Essie Chinchilly

this color is the bomb dot com.  it kinda goes with everything.  i mean, i definitely don't claim to be a fashionista or anything - so i'm probably committing all kinds of fashion faux pas by saying that.  but that's my opinion and i'm stickin to it.  i used to be obsessed with OPI but now i'm a full fledged Essie fan.  i really have no reason why, i just am.  probably because target always has Essie beautifully displayed on an end cap, and i'm a sucker for bright beautiful perfectly organized things.  speaking of perfectly, i have no idea why i said my nails are perfectly painted earlier.  we'll just stick with painted.  and lets not even discuss the mess i make of my right hand.  

oh, by the way (i went with "by the way" this time to avoid the P.S./FYI confusion) - that's not my hand either.  who has time to "perfectly" paint their nails and take a pic of themselves holding the bottle? not me.  i'm too busy cleaning my floor with.....

numero tres: swiffer sweeper vac

like literally, how do mom's that don't have this survive?  i'm not even gonna save this for a "by-the-way-p.s.-fyi" - let's get one thing out in the open - that's not my floor.  ew.  1) what even is that stuff? and 2) leah prefers fruit loops to cheerios.  anyway, this little thing is downright amazing.  i'm mildly OCD (at best) about my house being clean.  so i use this handy dandy tool about 5 times a day.  i honestly don't even remember having to sweep the floor before kids.  i have no idea how that little pint sized blonde with the shirley temple curls i live with destroys my floor all day long.  i swear she has a contest with herself to see if she can drop more things than the time before each time she eats.  it's ok though! because i have my (insert cheesy commercial smile and thumbs up) SWIFFER SWEEPER VAC! 

number four: Urban Decay Smoked eye-liner

(i switched to english because i couldn't remember how to spell quatro/cuatro and spell check only checks english)

this is hands down the best eye-liner i've ever used.  it goes on so nicely, and i love all the colors.  plus, i found the name "smoked" appealing because i always pin those make-up pins on Pinterest that say "achieve the perfect smokey eye".  so i thought that by getting an eye-liner called "smoked" i would easily achieve that look.  not so.  i don't even know what business i have trying to achieve the smokey-eyed look anyway.  where do i have to go that requires a smokey eye?  the answer is: no where.  instead i end up looking like a raccoon driving around in a mini-van.  

number five: Purex Crystals

li-trilly obsessed. (yeah, i know how to spell "literally" but i like to sound british sometimes)

these things smell like pure heaven.  not to discredit God or anything.  I'm sure He can come up with something that smells 928734983475 times better than these in heaven, but for now...here on earth...i'm sure this is what heaven smells like.  all the colors are equally amazing.  i'll take any of them.  in fact, i have one of each in my laundry closet.  and sometimes...when i go to Target and pass by them...i open the lid of each and breathe in their wonderfulness even though i have them at home.  join me, won't you?? oh, and another (and possibly the best) thing about them - my good friend Pinterest told me that you can put these in your Scentsy warmer (if you have one) and your whole house will smell of their amazingness!  that was one of the best days of my whole life when i discovered that.

and, last but not least - number six: wooden pallets

nope, nothing fancy here.  just your regular old wooden pallet.  wooden pallet of ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES that is!!  my house is probably going to soon be covered in projects and crafts made out of wooden pallets because there are so many cool things to be made with them (of course all from Pinterest).  and i have super secret insider access to as many of these babies as i want.  for free.  I am currently (and by I - i mean my super handy husband) working on a project for the kitchen made out of one of these little gems.  I will tell you all about it once it's complete!  I'm sure you can hardly handle the suspense ;)

summer book review

i've recently started reading books on my iphone.  i've always been anti-electronic reading, but i have to admit - it's actually pretty convenient.  i don't ever have to worry about where my book is if i want to read somewhere random (like waiting for my husband to make a deal on a jeep - see previous post: jeep ≠ truck).  Don't get me wrong - i still love holding a real book, and nothing could ever replace the smell when you walk into a barnes and noble (yankee candle should really come up with a B&N scent) but these days more and more i'm finding myself choosing convenience over preference.  i bought a mini-van for pete's sake.  aaaanyway.  here are some of the books i read this summer:

 #1 - Confessions of a Raging Perfectionist by Amanda Jenkins: 

LOVED it.  one thing i loved was that her book actually started out as a blog and she turned it into a book. so it's super easy to read, and she's freakin hilarious.  another thing is that her topics are relevant to my everyday life so i can totally relate to everything she talks about.  not to mention she has amazing insight on how to overcome this perfectionism we all relentlessly strive for, yet continuously fail at because we try to do it on our own.  bottom line: get it.  it's amazing.  and it's not a one time read in my opinion.  the topics are something i doubt i'll ever fully conquer so i can keep going back for a refresher course.  oh, and did i mention she goes to my church? not that i know her or anything, but maybe one day i will and she'll want to be my friend because she seems super cool and i'm super cool so....it's not rocket science people.  oh, and you know jerry jenkins...author of the new york times best selling Left Behind series.  He's her father in law.  so, that's just a nifty little tidbit.

#2 - A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard:

i mean, wow.  i've been wanting to read this book since i heard her story.  it's definitely really hard to read in some areas because she went through some really unspeakable things - for those who don't know she was kidnapped at the age of 11 by a (psychotic) married couple who kept her prisioner in their backyard for 18 years. the story of her unfortunate journey and how she survived and was finally rescued is incredible.  if you're one for true stories - you'll like this, but it's not for the faint of heart.

#3 - The Duggars: 20 and Counting! by Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar:

I've never watched this show, but i've heard a lot of people mention it and obviously having that many children is intriguing to most people - and probably like mine, most people's first reaction is "they must be crazy!".  So anyway, my intrigue got the best of me and i got the book.  I have to say i really loved it!  Although having umpteen children may not be for everyone, i really believe their goal in life is to honor God.  and one of the major ways they do that is through how they raise their children - and who doesn't want to glean wisdom from parents who have the experience from doing so with this many children?? She offers many of her tips and tricks on raising kids in the book and i've already fully implemented "blanket time" with Leah (which i'll tell you about later).  Anyway, it's a fun & interesting little read.

#4 - I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella:

Ok, so i like myself a little chick lit every now and again, i'm not gonna lie.  and Sophie Kinsella is one of my faves.  She also wrote the best selling series Confessions of a Shopaholic (which i loved).  even though most of her stories are similar - a british girl living in or around London (who i always picture looking like either kate beckinsale or emily blunt) who finds herself in sticky situations and ends up in love - i still love them, and they are still hilarious.  So it was a good light read for the summer :) (i don't even know why i just said "for the summer".  i just always read that comment on other suggested reading lists. why do light reads have to be for the summer? i guess i better find myself some good heavy reads since winter is coming up. doy.)

#5 - Save me from Myself by Brian "Head" Welch:

Yeah yeah yeah, I'm sure you've got the same incredulous look on your face that my husband did when he saw me reading this.  yes, he's from the band KORN.  no, i don't listen to KORN nor could i tell you one of their songs.  (although it probably would be pretty funny to see me cruisin' down the street in my mini-van rockin out to death metal.  wait, are they considered death metal? see i don't even know.  anyway.) I love stories of lost people who have radical conversion stories of finding God.  It's such a great reminder that no matter how awful the things are that we've done - God still loves us unconditionally, and desires a relationship with us.  His story is pretty awesome, and one that tells the rich and famous obsessed world that nothing this world has to offer replaces the true joy in knowing Jesus Christ.

#6 - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:

oddly enough, this one didn't make it on my high school english literature reading list.  everytime i debate what book to read next, i always go to my list of classics i'd like to read.  and often people refer to the dark, romantic, handsome Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice, so i figured i'd pick this one up (eeerr, i mean download) to see what all the fuss is about.  i guess this book shouldn't even be on my "review" list since i haven't even finished it yet.  It's definitely slowed down my reading momentum as i honestly have no freakin clue what they are saying most of the time, and i'm only 1/4 of the way through it.  and Mr. Darcy is still a big jerk.  So...if you'll alloweth her ladyship to give accounteth of her unto hither knowledge unto thee at a later time of more convience, much obligeth would be hadeth.  see? exactly.