Five for Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Bright on a Budget, Della Devoted, and BYBMG!

1. I stopped by Trader Joe's earlier this week and I had to pick up some flowers! We have pretty much been having spring weather around here lately (we're already had a couple of days in the 60's which is weird!) so a nice bouquet of spring flowers seemed appropriate! These were too pretty to pass up!

2. I placed an Amazon order yesterday. It's pretty nice you can just order a bunch of random things and have it show up in two days. Haha. I did order the mini waffle maker I talked about last week. It was only $10 and I think they will be the perfect size to make, freeze, then pop in the toaster. Have you ordered anything fun from Amazon lately?

3. Did you watch the start of the Olympics last night? We always enjoy watching. The opening ceremonies are tonight and I always find that interesting. What are your favorite Olympic events?

4. I finally got around to updating my About Me page. It's something I've been meaning to do for quite a while and just kept putting it off. I don't know if it's still quite done, it's hard trying to write about yourself!

5. In case you missed it I shared a book review on Monday and a review of my January Ipsy glam bag on Wednesday!

Hope you have a great weekend!

January Ipsy Glam Bag Review

ABSOLUTE NEW YORK Eye Artiste Single Shadow in VIP: This color was okay. I didn't really like it at first glance, but once I put it on and blended it with another eyeshadow it looked fine.  

CAKE BY CAKE BEAUTY Heavy Cream Intensive Body Balm: I wash my hands a lot which means my hands tend to get a bit dry so I am always looking for lotions that actually work. Since this is a balm it is a bit oily and doesn't rub in super well, but it is very moisturizing. It has a nice scent, although not a true vanilla. But overall I liked it.

CIATÉ LONDON Fierce Flicks Liquid Eyeliner: I didn't really care for this eyeliner. The brush is a bit long which makes it hard to be precise when using as it and it tends to want to make more of a squiggly line instead of a straight line. Basically it's just harder to use than it should be. 

VOID 5-Free Polish in Mauvelous: I wasn't sure about the color on this nail polish but once I put it on it looked nice. I did have to use about three coats for it to not look streaky. The brush was quite small and didn't apply quite as smoothly as I would have liked. While nail polish tends to have a very strong odor, I found this one to not be as strong as most others. I've had this on for almost a week and it just started chipping, which is quite rare for me!

PREVENTIVE MEASURES 101 After Hours Lip Balm: I liked this lip balm. The flavor wasn't my favorite (I don't dislike it, I just don't really like passion fruit all that much.), I have trouble finding lip balms that actually work. I find that most of them really don't do anything except dry your lips out more and I thought this one worked really well. I would definitely recommend this if you have dry lips.

Overall this was a pretty nice bag. It isn't very often I get a bag where I like almost all of the products so that was definitely nice! 

In Bloom: Trading Restless Insecurity for Abiding Confidence by Kayla Aimee Book Review

In Bloom: Trading Restless Insecurity for Abiding Confidence
Description from Amazon: 
Every woman is intimately acquainted with feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. Whether fueled by a culture of makeover shows, by the lingering memories of mean girls, or by events much more wounding to the soul, we can become so conditioned by self-doubt that it becomes our inner monologue.
What we want is to be free of shame and comparison, to turn our uncertainty into a bold confidence. But to flourish in our own skin, we first have to rewrite the narrative.
In this fearless, funny, and refreshingly relatable chronicle of her own metamorphosis from the insecurity that once held her captive, author Kayla Aimee unfolds the blueprint for women to:
 
• Identify the deep-seated sources of our assumed inadequacy and replace them with steadfast truths of scriptural affirmation
• Replace our need for approval with the enduring promise of acceptance
• Uncover our purpose, unlock our potential, and celebrate the God-given gifts in our unique personality
 
To every woman who longs for belonging, this journey through Kayla’s inviting prose, biblical promises, and journaling prompts will help guide her from restless insecurity to a beautiful becoming.

                                -----------

I have been lucky enough to be part of the launch team for this book and have so enjoyed reading it along with Kayla and the rest of the women in the group. 

I've been following Kayla and her blog for quite a few years now, since first hearing about her and Scarlette's story through a message board after Scarlette was born. (Which, if you haven't read her first book Anchored: Finding Hope in the Unexpected you should check that out too!)

So when I received the email looking for people to be part of the launch team, I signed up not really knowing much about the book but knowing if Kayla wrote it I would certainly enjoy it!

Little did I know how much this book would really resonate with me. Insecurity, feeling inadequate or inferior are feelings every woman of every age deals with, and I have definitely had my struggles with them. This book will force you to dig up past hurts, disappointments, and insecurities and help you to learn to see yourself as God sees you. 

This book had me literally laughing out loud at some of Scarlett's antics (like when she thought her new baby brother was a robot), cringing at other moments, and nodding along with the biblical truths found within this book.

I just felt like Kayla really put into words so many things I've felt but didn't know how to say. So many times she talked about  situations that felt so personal and close to things I've gone through or thought about some of the mixed messaging found within the church and society. 

The bible verses throughout the book are used well and come across naturally without sounding forced or in a beat-you-over-the-head-with-a-bible kind of way.

Overall, there is a lot I could say about this book! This book had discussion questions in the back and can easily be used in a book club or bible study. Kayla Aimee is someone every reader can easily relate to and I think this book is a great first step towards overcoming our insecurity and helping us to live and see ourselves how God wants us to.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come. (2 Cor. 5:17)

I received an e-book copy of this book from NetGalley and B&H Books in exchange for an honest review.

Five for Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Bright on a Budget, Della Devoted, and BYBMG!

1. I got some new Valentine's sprinkles last week so I had to bake some Valentine's cookies! 

2. I stopped by H&M yesterday and picked up this cute shirt! I wasn't able to find it online otherwise I would have linked to it! I am always on the lookout for a nice floral pattern, so this was a win for me!

3. I also stopped by Target where I got these boots for only $8! For some reason the online listing has a much higher price, but all of the boots in store were $8 (they had quite a few different styles all on clearance.). They had some really great clearance prices on tons of stuff. Unfortunately the store I was at was pretty picked over. But I did get the boots, so that was nice! I have a pair from a few years ago that I wear all the time that really need to be replaced, so it was nice to find these so cheap!

4. Did you know they make mini waffle makers? I keep seeing them popping up all over the internet and I kind of want one. That's not to say I don't already have a full sized waffle maker, but mini waffles would be fun! 

5. In case you missed it, earlier this week I shared some of my favorite pictures from 2017 and a book review! 

The View from Rainshadow Bay by Colleen Coble Book Review

The View from Rainshadow Bay
From back cover:
Her photographs capture the beauty of Puget Sound. Do they also expose a darkness that someone would kill to keep buried?

After her husband, Jack, dies in a climbing incident, Shauna has only her five-year-old son and her helicopter charter business to live for. Every day is a struggle to make ends meet and she lives in a constant fear of losing even more than she already has. 

When her business partner is murdered, his final words convince Shauna that she's in danger too. But where can she turn? Zach Bannister was her husband's best friend and is the person she blames for his death. She's barely spoken to Zach since. But right now he seems her only hope for protecting her son. 

Zach is only too happy to assuage his guilt over Jack's death by helping Shauna any way he can. But there are secrets involved dating back to Shauna's childhood that more than one person would prefer to stay hidden.

When I first saw this book I was quite intrigued. The cover was really pretty and it's set in Washington state, which is where I'm from.  While I enjoyed the story, it wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be. It was a bit slow at times and it took me way longer to get through than I would have expected. It just wasn't a real page-turner.

The characters were okay. There were a lot of characters to keep track of which made it a bit confusing at times as I couldn't always remember who each of the minor characters were. I also didn't really connect with Shauna or Zach. Shauna was the one I had the biggest issue with. She is supposed to be a Navy veteran yet none of her actions reflect that. For instance, she doesn't want to have or use a gun. I can maybe understand that she might just not like guns or something, but I would think wanting to protect your son from a killer would outweigh that fear. She was too much of a damsel in distress. Not capable to taking care of herself and always needing a man to do things for her.

The killer was another big issue for me. It was fairly easy to figure out who it was early on, and while I can live with that, the killer was just so inconsistent. He kills multiple people without a second thought, and then other times he has a conscience and doesn't want to kill. Each time he kills he does it in a totally different and extravagant way. And considering he wasn't a trained assassin, it just really made it unbelievable. Some instances being completely impossible to pull off.

There is also an instance where the killer is hiding out in Shauna's house waiting to kill her when she is home alone. Yet she is able to walk around, charge a phone enough to be able to look through it, and then leave and the killer never makes a move. I mean, come on! You have the perfect opportunity to make your move and you don't.

There were also quite a few inconsistencies in this book that frustrated me. One of the main ones being the plot line that is mentioned in the first paragraph of the synopsis is never finished. It's something that seems like it's going to play a big role in the story but then is never mentioned again.

Also the ending didn't make any sense. How exactly can one person overpower three men, tie them up, and keep a gun on them at the same time?

And while I did figure out who the killer was early on, the actual story behind what was going on was quite interesting. Without giving anything away, the plot revolved around something that was definitely unique (in a good way!) and not something I had ever really thought about before. I appreciated the author's creativity with it.


Overall, I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. There were parts of the story I did enjoy, and it had all the right ingredients to make a great story, but the execution just wasn't quite right. I've read quite a few of Colleen Coble's books and enjoyed them, but this one was just really lacking in a lot of places for me. I will probably pick up the next book in the series just to see where it goes.


I received an e-book copy of this book from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishing in exchange for an honest review.