Year 2, week 27: High Achiever

This week's book:
High Achiever: The Shocking True Story of One Addict's Double Life
By Tiffany Jenkins

First of all, this is almost a week late and I'm truly sorry for that. My sweet husband and I went to Chicago for the weekend for a late Valentine's day/PTSD from many Valentine's days of the past. But anyway this week's book was not at all what I thought it was going to be like. Who has watched Juggling the Jenkins on Facebook or YouTube? The vlogs are by a mom that is always funny and uplifting. My personal favorites of her videos are one having to do with her buying some clothes at the mall and the other one is about being step parents. When I found out she had written a book I ordered it off of eBay litckity quick. (Barnes and Noble didn't carry it so I couldn't use my gift cards from Christmas).

I start reading the book right off the bat and guess what? The whole book is about her road to recovery (mostly about her time in jail.) I can be honest here that I really thought the book would be a silly mom themed book like her videos are. I knew beforehand that she had struggled with addiction. I had seen her videos and I had thought I knew her story, but I had no clue that was all the book was going to be about. Now I don't want to get in trouble here but I don't have a great track record with addicts. I know it's a disease and people need help, and I want all of the people who suffer from these addictions to get help. I want the war on drugs not to be a thing because I don't want anyone to suffer in any way. But I can also say that I have been lied to. The one who has had to help the loved ones pick themselves up when addiction has taken their loved one away from them. I have been the one that Christmas presents and borrowed items have been sold to buy drugs. I know it's a stumbling block for me and I should just get past it, because all addicts are not the same, I know  this.

I think this book is insanely well written and would be great for someone trying to get their life back after getting away from addiction or someone trying to learn how someone could use everyone around them. But personally if I had known it was only about her addition I probably wouldn't have bought it.

Year 2, week 26: A Human

This week:
A human
By my husband and I

Hello all! There is no book or quilt or even napkins this week. The reason I have gotten NOTHING done this week is because a. My first grader was a monster, and the b. I'm very tired due to being pregnant. Yes that's right, boys and girls, I am with child yet again. After two heartbreaking miscarriages in 2018, at the end of December we found out we were pregnant, and hopefully I stay that way. I had another doctor's appointment during the polar vortex and got to see the most active baby I have ever seen on a hand held monitor. Today I will be thirteen weeks pregnant, and our rainbow baby is due to arrive at the end of August.

Unlike my other pregnancies, I haven't been dying as much with morning sickness, only slightly dying. I credit the decrease of nausea due to the other two children not giving me enough time to vomit. Thanks to the two other kiddos, I have been extremely exhausted. Every time I stop moving I fall asleep. Due to the last two miscarriages, I haven't really haven't let myself be too excited. I don't know if i'll be fully excited until I see the little one above the curtin at the end of August. My sweet hubby wants to know what we are having but I want to be surprised, so let's see who will get their way. The kids are excited and hopefully we will be a family of five at the end of the summer.

I would definitely recommend having a baby with my husband, but none of you will ever get to try so bummer for you.

Year 2, week 25: Sparkly Green Earrings

This week's book:
Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn
By Melanie Shankle

Every so often as a mom/woman/human, you feel like you are drowning. Okay, maybe not drowning, but you seem like work and life will never be completely caught up. If you get one thing done, it's at the cost of something else. You can get all the dishes done but then the floor doesn't get swept. You can put away the thirty seven loads of laundry but at the cost of having a screaming three year old that wants to tell you about the “artwork” they are working on. You can can catch up on all those casenotes, but you might never get to quilt again. There are never enough hours in the day.

I have been sick for a week now. A cold that took my voice and all of the energy I may ever have. My son's school work, asthma and allergies have created a tornado that is trying to slowly make me lose my mind. My three year old has figured out she would like to be a CEO or some sort of boss who will never be taken advantage of, or a lead singer of heavy metal band (what my husband fondly calls “cookie Monster rock”) while screaming and demanding what she wants and wants it NOW! Whoever coined the saying “terrible twos” was full of poop, because it's the age of three that my children become some sort of Monster.

This week was a nice fluff quick read of a Mommy blogger who wrote a book. I don't always read mommy blogs, let's get real here I forget they even exist until they come out with a book. Don't get me wrong, I love mommy vloggers ( #imomsohard, Juggling the Jenkins, Mom Truth Friday and The Try Guys… ok that last one wasn't mommy themed, but they are my favorite thing on the internet right now, so I am putting them on the list). So don't be surprised if in the future you see some of these people's books being read by yours truly. But back to this week's book; I picked it up at a book sale or the GW and I had been putting it off for when I need a little pick me up. The author is a Christian and really funny. (Side note that I didn't think the book was too preachy about Jesus, just little bits and pieces) Sometimes mom books make fun of being a mom, or complain the whole time about what being a mom is like; not this author. She is honest and funny. Also, I know I completely complained for the first part of this blog, but I'm  just being honest here, sometimes Mamaing is hard. The author and her husband had a painful time getting pregnant and even had a miscarriage, right up my alley with what would have been the due date of our failed pregnancy in about a week. I love my little kids and they drive me crazy all at the same time.

When I brought the book up to my Mom2mom group at church our minister's wife said she had read many of the author's other books and they are just as good. So I guess I have to go out and get all of her works now, because I really enjoyed this book and want to read more of her stories. So I would definitely recommend this book if you're a Christian Mama.

Year 2, week 24: Killing Raven

This week's book:
Killing Raven
By Margaret Coel

This week's book is actually my book group's book for next month. I decided to try to finish it early so hopefully someone else in the group could read my copy as well. My original plan was to read it super early to give people even more time, but I'm going to be honest with you, I had a really hard time motivating myself to want to read the book. The novel is written fine and the plot is good enough but I don't know, I was having a hard time. It's a murder mystery and the ninth book in a series, so there's two strikes against it off the bat. I don't mind a little mystery, but I struggle with murder mysteries and I literally never see the motive of why the killer did it. I also have a hard time getting into a story when it's the ninth book of a series, I think you're missing a lot of the back story and character history. But I think the biggest struggle I was having is that it's been super cold recently and instead of curling up under a snuggly quilt and reading I have been just falling asleep everytime I get a moment to sit still.

I think I would suggest the book if you have already read the other books in the series or if you are a murder mystery fan, but personally I thought it was just okay.