Audra Jennings

Thanks to everyone who took part in today's tour! It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe and the book: Pause for Power A 365 Day Journey in the Scriptures David C. Cook; 2 edition (November 1, 2010) ***Special thanks to Karen Davis, Assistant Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe is an internationally known Bible teacher and the former pastor of The Moody Churc

Last night, I said that I would post my Christmas tree updates throughout the night. Well, I BlackBerry sent them to Facebook, but was otherwise occupied to post to the blog. Here's the tree - any surprise the color of most of the ornaments? I'm still doing more decorating, so I'll get more pictures up once I finish. It's going to be a little while because my Command Strips are supposed to stick to the wall for an hour before I hang anything on them. I don't know if I like where I draped part of my lights over shelves or not. They may have to go!

Slowly, but surely. I'll make updates as I go along this evening.

I used to put up three Christmas trees here in my little duplex - 1 big and 2 small. Two years ago I got really down while doing it and told myself I would not put them up the next year, and I didn't. No one comes over here and sees them but me. I've decided that I will put one up this year, but I sure don't care to get my table moved, the tree assembled and decorated. If someone wants to come do it for me, come right on over. I don't really want to spend my time in that way, and my hands are itching just thinking about messing with the branches. Any one oozing with Christmas spirit want to come do it for me? I'm not there yet.

The cool front came through and it's no longer 80+ degrees in Texas. I won't have to cook a day and a half for one meal anytime soon. I have a nice peaceful home to come home to for some tranquility. There's no reason I should have to sit at the table and eat leftovers to a discussion on when the various generations of women in my family went through the change and the symptoms they had. Nothing against Aunt Eula Mae, but I'm thankful that my grandmother and both of her sisters weren't at my parents' house at the same time to have three differing recollections of their childhood to debate about. Anyone else that I am around this weekend will not be offended when I tell them that I've already heard that story in the past 24 hours. My parents are planning ahead to a vacation a year from now and a new tradition. Of course, I'm truly thankful for so much more than that. So many things that count and a lot that don't amount to much. It's just t

Because every time a thought crosses my mind, I think of something to do. Isn't that annoying? So, no blogging for now - I have too many things I need to do before going to bed early to start back at my to do list way early in the morning. ARGH!

I've been debating finally make the leap towards a smart phone for a while. I'd been debating the iPhone vs. the Blackberry Torch. All those commercials during the baseball playoffs didn't help. Go Rangers, but go my money too. Well, there's two commercials that caught my attention this week. The first is that Sister Wives is airing a new special tomorrow night. The second is that Blackberry Torches dropped from $199 to $99. Armed with some birthday money, and some of my own, I decided that Thursday was the day. I took Thursday off work for my birthday and after meeting up with Angie and Deacon for a birthday Blizzard, I went by the AT&T store. They were out of Torches since the price drop (the first day the guy saw the new price on the list, he called four people to make sure it wasn't a misprint). GRRR. I could get on the waiting list since I didn't like the red. From there, I went to CVS to vent my frustration at the photo lab yet again. On Saturday

I will be posting about why the guys that work at Radio Shack are the worst sales people ever and why they have a reputation in general, but that will have to wait. I know that is a tease that will be sure to grab your interest. Jenny and I are going to the Mavericks game tonight, and I'm going to leave here in a minute, but am waiting for an email to come through so that I can send off the last of my weekly reports. Until tomorrow!

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Jon Walker and the book: Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship ACU/Leafwood Publishing (September 1, 2010) ***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jon Walker has worked closely with Rick Warren for many years, first as a writer/editor at Pastors.com, later as vice president of communications

I'm trying to get caught up on all my book reviews. I'm really behind on posting about my latest reads. After working the book release on Heading Home by Renee Riva, I decided to go back and buy the first two books in the series that I hadn't worked on. These are really cute, funny, light-hearted books good for all ages - young and old alike. A.J. Degulio is a spunky, energetic young girl that you see grow up from age 10 to 18 throughout the three books. Think My Big Fat Greek Wedding Italian-style. Oh, well, throw some Greek relatives in too. I very highly recommend! Saving Sailor The year is 1968. After spending the first half of summer vacation driving her Italian family crazy with her fake southern accent, 10-year old A.J. finds a soul mate on the other side of the island to divert her attention. She is intrigued to learn that Danny shares her same burning desire to know God and realizes that few people her age think as deeply as the two of them do. However, the

About the book: For centuries, the legend of the Spider Rock treasure has lured people to west Texas with promises of unimaginable Wealth. And it just claimed three more victims. Did they fall prey to he legend's cruse or just get to close to someone else's discovery? To investigate the murders, the FBI calls in one its most promising up-and-comers-Special Agent Bella Jordan. What they don't know is that one of their prime suspects is deeply connect to the past she's been running from for fourteen years. As Bella begins to sift through evidence, another murder and threats to her own live convinces her she's hunting an experienced killer...and he's not working alone. To catch the suspect before he catches her, Bella must draw on all her skill and instinct and finally gather the courage to face the memories she's tired so hard to forget. Special Agent Bella Jordan is assigned to investigate a series of murders in West Texas that are linked to the Spid

You know what my problem is? Everyone of you reading this probably has a different that pops into your mind. I'm thinking of about 15 right now including my internet running so sluggish that it's driving me crazy and the fact that I went to see the local performance of "Hello Dolly" tonight and the incessant theme song will not stop running in my head. And I thought "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland was bad. My problem is that I had a long list of things I intended to get done today and I accomplished about 5% of that list, maybe less. Well, at least I did accomplish the most important thing on my list - buying toilet paper. On a daily basis, I accomplish so much less than I ever intend. I think my intentions are completely unrealistic. For example, there was no way that today I was going to be able to sleep until noon (I did roll out of bed at 10:15), run by CVS and pick up some pictures (I did do that but they printed bad and I need to go take it up with

Authors provide a dynamic strategy of encouragement and instruction for the journey to manhood In today’s culture, teenage boys are faced with navigating the turbulent journey to manhood, often without an inkling of what that really means or any direction of how to get there. What does it mean to be a man? Flight Plan: Your Mission to Become a Man offers a vision of godly manhood and a complete and honest guide into the adventures ahead. Flight Plan , written by Lee Burns and Braxton Brady, is a natural evolution of their original program, Building Boys, Making Men, a curriculum created by the authors for the 630 boys who attend Presbyterian Day School (PDS) in Memphis, Tennessee. Over the years, Burns and Brady, colleagues at PDS, have received numerous requests from youth leaders, pastors, parents, and teachers for access to the curriculum that was only available to the boys at PDS. Flight Plan is the answer to those many requests and the culmination of sixty years of research,

Bless the book review bloggers of the world. I can't bring myself to work on my reviews - trying to do too many things, and doing reviews is getting pushed way down the list while a pile of read books piles up on the coffee table. Anyone want to write some for me? I'll dictate or direct. Anyone? Anyone?

As usual, all comments made are strictly my opinion... It's a shameless attempt of spinning off of Dancing with the Stars. (spinning pun intended) FOX already did it several years ago as a rip off and no one cared. All I remember is Bruce Jenner was on it and it was bad. If you though there were no name stars on Dancing the past couple of years, Skating has a more pathetic assortment. If you thought people looked like klutzes the first couple of weeks on Dancing, just wait until these people get on ice. Now that I think about it, I think that I saw another take of Skating with the Stars on another network, and it didn't take off either. It might have done better at the first of the year leading into the Winter Olympics, but I'm not a marketing genius or anything... They are announcing the professional skaters after the stars... admitting that the professionals are a bigger draw than the stars. Surely, there will be old episodes of NCIS or something on the night thi

Here are more pictures... including the closest I saw of "The Ledge" of the Willis Tower Skydeck. Still disappointed about that. Of course, with the wind the way it was, the building probably was swaying three feet back and forth like it's designed to be able to do. This first picture is the home to the "American Pickers" TV show that was Dad's biggest want-to-do. I want to be a photographer when I grow up.

There would have been a lot better chance of me bloging about my vacation last week if I had an iPad, iPhone, Blackberry Torch or laptop or something with me last week as I went along. My summary a few days ago pretty much summed everything up. We did a lot, but nothing with big, long, drawn out stories. Here's some pictures though... I'll post more tomorrow!

Pause for Power Dr. Warren Wiersbe is a gifted Bible scholar with the ability to make personal and relevant application to God’s Word. This fall, David C Cook releases a revised version of Pause for Power: A 365 Day Journey in the Scriptures , a daily devotional that will allow readers to explore fifteen different books of the Bible with wisdom and insight gleaned from Wiersbe’s best-selling BE commentaries. Offering insight and encouragement, this devotional touches on real-life themes that include contentment, integrity, patience, joy, hope, ministry, love, and peace. Each day’s devotional includes a brief Bible passage, an excerpt about that particular passage from Wiersbe’s BE commentaries, and questions for personal reflection. A brief prayer ends each day’s Scripture meditation and purposefully commits the reader’s heart and mind to God’s direction. Pause for Power is a comprehensive update of Wiersbe’s original devotional and includes three additional books of the Bible