The Christmas Cookie House: one important fundraiser, the perfect venue and a conflict in interests with a dash of romance

The Christmas Cookie House by Jennifer Griffith is a romance with the Christmas season. Leela Miller is back in her hometown of Massey Falls to take care of her ailing father after her mother passed away. She fills her mother’s shoes as a member of the Ladies’ Auxiliary and volunteers to chair the all important Cookie House fundraiser. Leela needs to find a venue big enough and fancy enough to draw in customers and her only option is the now empty Layton Mansion. Jay Wilson has inherited the Layton Mansion and has spent the summer remodeling it in order to sell it. He needs the funds to pay for his partnership in a vet clinic. His only task left is to clean out the attic and Leela, eager to use the house for her event, agrees to help him. The only snag is the deadline to sell the house is the same night of Leela’s event. 

I looked forward to this story as the cover was so eye-catching and the premise sounded entertaining. And the story started off great until the conflict began between Jay and Leela. When Leela discovers that Jay is the new owner of the mansion, she is outraged, screaming that he deceived her. I was so disgusted by her immaturity. No, she wasn’t listening. Jay tried to tell her several times but she kept on talking about the event and how great the mansion would be as a venue. This is when I checked out of the story. I no longer cared about their romance or the conflict between selling the mansion and the fundraiser event. Even Jay’s dislike of the town and why he is so desperate to leave couldn’t keep my interest. Overall, I did not enjoy this story. I do not recommend The Christmas Cookie House. 

The Christmas Cookie House is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

 

Lost Stars: a Star Wars story that every fan should read

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…. Lost Stars by Claudia Gray is a youth novel as a part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens series. Eight years after the fall of the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire reigns over the known galaxy and any resistance is easily silenced. Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree grew up on the Outer Rim planet of Jelucan. Thane, from a aristocratic family, and Ciena, a rural villager. The two were worlds apart and yet fate made them unlikely friends. They would find ways to be together, to practice flying and to study as their dream was to attend the Imperial Academy. The two become inseparable, knowing each other so well that they often finish each other’s thoughts. But when Thane sours on the dream after he sees firsthand the horrifying tactics the Empire uses to maintain order; the two friends are on the opposite sides of the war. Thane puts them at odds when he joins the Rebellion and Ciena now must decide between her duty, her oath and her loyalty to the Empire and the man she has loved since childhood.

Lost Stars was given to me by my cousin when he learned that I had read Ms. Gray’s other Star Wars titles. I enjoyed Lost Stars much more than I did her other titles. Lost Stars takes the reader on a journey through the original trilogy through the eyes of the nameless characters fighting in the background. It was exciting, thrilling and opened the Star Wars trilogy in ways that I’ll see the movies in a new light. I loved the characters of Thane and Ciena. Ms. Gray has written two characters who felt like real people with strengths, flaws, love, conflicts, and moral dilemmas. They could easily be us as we face difficult decisions and must decide between conflicting loyalties. The blooming romance between the two was equally beautiful and while Ms. Gray kept much to the imagination, she wrote the romance better than most romance novels I’ve read. I am slowly working my way through the numerous Star Wars novels; Lost Stars is by far my favorites so far. It is a story I will revisit again. If you are a fan of Star Wars, I highly recommend Lost Stars!

 

Lost Stars is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook

A Letter from America: a book I could not finish

A Letter from America by Geraldine O’Neil is the story of the Tracey family in Tullamore County, Ireland. Oldest daughter, Fiona, is ready to make the leap and move to America for work. She would be leaving behind her parents, Sean and Nancy, and her sisters, Angela and Bridget. Everything is set until tragedy strikes and Fiona must put her plans on hold. As family drama brews, Fiona must make a final decision. Does she stay in Ireland and help her family? Or does she follow her dreams and pursue a life in America?

Unfortunately, I could not finish Letter from America. I just didn’t care about the characters, their conflicts or any resolutions that may come. I was almost 50% into the book and not much had happened, and the characters seemed to be stuck with no willingness to change. I do not recommend Letter from America.

Letter from America

is available in paperback and eBook

Emotional Eating: recognizing it and moving forward

Emotional eating is the tendency to eat in times of stress, anxiety, anger or sadness in order to deal with the situation. With emotional eating, an individual will suppress emotions with food instead of facing them. In recent months, I have taken a closer look at my eating habits. I realize now that I am an emotional eater. I tend to eat or not eat based on my emotions. If I’m angry or anxious or depressed, I don’t eat. I overeat when I feel guilty for eating the wrong foods. I also look for food when I’m bored. With this revelation, I was curious to discover more about emotional eating and what I can do to fight it.

First, recognize the difference between emotional eating and physical hunger. Emotional eating has a sudden onset while physical hunger is gradual. Emotional eating tends to crave certain foods, like sweets, and with physical hunger any food sounds good. Mindless eating is a clue to emotional eating and awareness with physical hunger. After emotional eating, there is no satisfaction once full and physical hunger, there is satisfaction. Emotional eating is often inside your head instead of your stomach. And most important, after emotional eating, there is often string sense of guilt, shame and regret. My biggest time for emotional eating is the idea of food is often inside my head. I’ll wake up at night with the thought that I am hungry. Often times I can fight it. I get up, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water and lay down again and fall asleep. Other times the thought is like a song that wouldn’t end. For instance, last night I woke up with the overwhelming desire to have a piece of cake that my sister baked for my mom’s birthday. The cake wasn’t gluten free and I knew the consequences if I ate it. Ate it anyway I did. This morning I woke up sick to my stomach. Due to the gluten or my guilt and shame? I think it was both.

Second, recognize the triggers which can bring on emotional eating. Stress is a big trigger for many emotional eaters. The need to temporarily silence emotions is another trigger. The need to avoid feelings of anger, fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, resentment and shame. Eating can be used to hide boredom or loneliness. Have you ever been home with nothing to do and you go to the kitchen thinking “I must be hungry.” And you eat simply to give you something to do? Emotional eating also can be from childhood habits. This is my biggest trigger. Growing up in a single-parent family, we didn’t have a lot of treats. So candy, chips and other treats were uncommon. When these treats were in the house or I was somewhere these were available, I hoarded. I ate mindlessly because I didn’t know when I would have them again. Instead of savoring the chance to have such treats, I gorged myself to the point that I would become sick and eventually overweight. You may eat to avoid conflict or conversation. Triggers can be one or all of the above. One method to figure out what your triggers are is to keep a food diary. Write down when you eat, how much you eat, what you eat, how hungry you were and what your feelings or moods were when you ate. Whatever one’s triggers may be, recognizing them is the next step to avoid eating because of them.

Once one has recognized the difference between emotional eating and physical and recognizes the triggers which brings on emotional eating, the next step is to figure out ways to combat the urge for emotional eating. In my research, stress management techniques such as yoga, meditation and deep breathing have helped calm urges. You can give yourself a hunger check: “Am I really hungry? Or am I bored, tired, etc.?” For me, if I’m not willing to fix food, then I am not hungry. If I’m looking for something to grab and eat, then I’m not really hungry. Having a great support systems through friends, family or even a support group is a great way to combat the urges. Having someone to call or reach out to in times of loneliness or depression can help relieve the urge to eat to suppress those emotions. Find an activity that you fill your time if boredom is a trigger or an outlet to relive the urge. A few examples could be exercise, crafts, in my case reading and writing. It is important not to derive yourself. Allow yourself a treat once in a while but focus on healthy eating habits. It is also important to forgive yourself for setbacks. Pick yourself up, brush it off and start fresh. You could even write down what to avoid in the future to keep a certain setback from happening again.

In conclusion, there are many great resources out there to help with emotional eating. I only touched on a few methods to combat emotional eating. The Mayo Clinic website is a great resources and your doctor can probably direct you to some support groups or other methods in your area. Bottom line is you are your greatest enemy as well as your greatest cheerleader. Your inner monologue will help or hurt you if you are listening. Being able to change those thoughts, get help and support when you need it and don’t allow failure to defeat you. You will falter sometimes. The important things is learn from the experience, pick yourself up and start over. For me, I realize that avoiding emotional eating is going to be a lifelong commitment. However, I know that I am not alone in my struggle and I will get better.

Resources:

Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/art-20047342

Emotional Eating.org: http://www.emotionaleating.org/links.html

Normal Eating: an online support group http://normaleating.com/supportgroup.php

Always and Forever: a story of the aftermath after an impossible choice

Always and Forever by Soraya Lane is the story of Lisa and Matt Collins who must make an impossible choice and struggle with the aftermath of that choice. The story opens as Lisa and Matt learn they are finally pregnant after years of trying to start their family. Things are going smoothly until Lisa gets a devastating diagnosis. Now the couple must an impossible choice: her life or the baby’s. As they make their choice, life as they knew it falls apart. Lisa falls into a deep depression and Matt struggles to return to the life they had before. They decide to go on a road trip, thinking that leaving home will help them leave everything behind. Will the road trip be the therapy they are looking for? Will they return to the life and love they had before? Or did the choice they made destroy everything they cared for?

Always and Forever is a wonderful story which features a topic and a choice which many couples never think they will face. A fast read which gets to the heart of the conflict between husband and wife. They both rationalize their choice in different ways. As I read, I kept asking myself what decision I would make. Which decision would my husband make? Would be able to live with the choice? I highly recommend Always and Forever!

Always and Forever

Is available at all major booksellers

Crisis of faith: the storm before the calm

     

Yesterday, I had what one would call a crisis of faith when life situations and life decisions caused an intense doubt and internal conflict and I often feel there is nowhere to turn. Recently, our landlord sent us a letter stated that they were raising the rent, which we knew they were going to do but it brought a decision that we weren’t expecting. We either have to sign another year lease and our rent raises only $60 or stay month-to-month and our rent raises by $110! We are planning to move after two years but to be tied to another lease is difficult because what if a new home opportunity came before us when our lease wasn’t up yet? Do we break the lease or do we let this home opportunity slip by? That’s the problem with crises of faith, a lot of “what if” scenarios come up that may be impossible but you can’t help but think of them. This led to my husband, Joe, talking about sacrifices in order to move and live where we would like. He talked about giving up things and he gave the examples giving up my cat, Kairi and having another baby. This made me very upset and shocked.

As I was left to those thoughts rolling in my head all day. And the more I thought about it, the more upset I became. How dare he make such suggestions especially this week when we marked my due date and honored the memory of Ziva! The tears came like waterfalls. I sat at the kitchen table, listening to uplifting songs on YouTube trying to feel better when I broke down and cried out to God to help me. Then I reached out to my friends on Facebook. The support I got caused even more tears and I knew that I wouldn’t feel any better until I talked to Joe. After we settled in for the tonight, I opened the conservation. And boy was I wrong! Joe was not asking me to give up my cat or my dream of having another baby. I felt better and after trying to go to sleep, I got up and did my usual midnight Internet search and I found some quotes which helped me.

1.      “Crisis are part of life. Everybody has to face them, and it doesn’t make any difference what the crisis is” –Jack Nicklaus, American golfer

It is so true and I often forget that we are not the only ones who face crises either it be financial, medical or family. Everyone has crises when the bills keep coming and they don’t care if your hours have been cut or you just had to put new tires put on the car. They want their money.

2.      “Come a crisis, we want other people.” –Danny Boyle, British film director

If life is going smoothly, we often think we don’t need other people but when a crisis hits we run for the nearest person. We need the comfort and support. We don’t need answers, at least not right away, we need the human contact and to hear that everything will be alright.

3.      “When some crisis occurs, couples don’t have the resources to deal with it because they’ve been so busy getting on with their lives. They haven’t learned how to sit down and discuss things.” –Janet McTeer, British actress

I learned this lesson the hard way. If you don’t confront someone and talk about what needs to be discussed, you’ll end up being resentful and it will build up until you explode. So if you’re angry with someone, talk to them about it. You’ll often find that the person doesn’t even realize that he or she hurt you.

4.      “Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth” –Susan Taylor, American journalist

Our faith grows with each crisis. Each time, I’ve faced a crisis and God has seen me through, my trust in Him grows. I know that God will not abandon me but you can’t stop the human brain from getting on the runaway train of “what ifs” and worst case scenarios.

5.      “God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it” –unknown

There are countless Bible verses which demonstrate this principle. Here’s a few of my favorites:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor   forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13

            So if you are in the middle of crisis of faith, don’t hold it in. Reach out and talk to someone who trust. Sometimes just talking about can help relieve the stress. It may not give you a solution but it give you support you’ll need to get this the situation. We can’t do it alone. God designed us to be social people. He gave us a support system to help us. He can even speak through these people. I have often prayed about something and the answer was given to me through a friend. I don’t think she knew she was being used by God to give me my answer but I recognized an answer when I hear it.