Book Review: His Steadfast Love by Golden Keyes Parsons

The year is 1820 and tensions are high between the North and South. There is talk of war and succession. There is talk of freeing the slaves.

Amanda Belle, daughter of the local Pastor, is content to raise her siblings and honor her dying mother's last wish. She has everything she needs on their small farm. Family, Friends, and a sense of purpose and responsibility. When she meets Captain Kent Littlefield, a Union officer, she finds herself wanting more.

When war breaks out, Amanda is torn in two, just like her country. She is pushed to remain loyal to her way of life in Texas, the only home she's ever known, and told to forget the enemy she loves.

Amanda's faith is challenged, along with her strength and integrity - and love for Kent Littlefield. Can she continue to bear the burden her mother left for her? Can she remain loyal to the South and love a man from the North? Should she risk losing her family forever for a man who may not even survive the war?

This book brings a renewed and personal perspective to the Civil War. You can see at a human level the impact on family life an the new challenges that arise. 

I enjoyed this book and found it to be a fairly quick and easy read. It was well written and the story flowed smoothly. The author did a good job of placing the characters at historically appropriate places, such as specific battles and towns. There was not a very deep level of challenging scripture, but the main character did have challenges to overcome and relied on God to do so.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a relaxing book to read that they can get throughout in a few days. If you love historical fiction novels, like I do, this book is for you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

What We Ate { the day before } Wednesday

Ingredients

SLOW-COOKER STUFF:
8 bone-in chicken thighs (about 4 lbs.), skin discarded
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup chopped scallions (about 6)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
OUT-OF-THE-POT INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup chopped scallions (about 2)


*Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in a greased 6- to 7-qt. slow cooker.
*In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup scallions, the garlic, soy sauce, honey, ginger and sesame oil. Pour the mixture over the chicken, cover and cook on low heat until the chicken is tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into a thigh away from the bone reads 165°, about 4 hours. Serve with the pan juices, sprinkled with 1/4 cup scallions

Delicious!

*picture and recipe courtesy of rachaelraymag.com

Who's Baby is This?

*My mom may kill me for sharing this photo, but I just can't resist. This is me and my mom...many years ago. 


I'm not very good at looking at babies and saying "she looks just like...", various people say The Caterpillar looks 'just' like me; you be the judge...

Wordless Weekends

What We Ate { Thursday, Instead Of } Wednesday

For those of you who love food as much as I do, I apologize for neglecting you the past two weeks.

The truth is, The Caterpillar was going through a growth spurt { which leaves me with very little energy } and now, we are on vacation. { !!! }

To make it up to you, I will share a very special family recipe...

I have no clue how you would spell it, but the pronunciation is as follows: g-wump-keys { AKA: cabbage rolls }

Filling:
Groundbeef
Cooked White Rice
Chopped Onion
Chopped Bellpepper
Salt
Pepper
Garlic (minced or powder)

*Mix all together

Other:
Crushed Tomatoes
Cabbage

*Take handfuls of filling and roll in raw cabbage leaves; in large kettle or crockpot, layer with crushed tomatoes; fill with water until all rolls are covered; cook at a simmer all day; eat.

*I didn't actually cook this. I called my dad 2 days before we left and asked him if we could have these for supper the first night we were at his place. Thankfully, he didn't put up too much of a fight! Since it's my grandma's recipe, she walked him through it. Now, we both know how to make them and a legacy can live on well into the future!

**They were amazing.

Wordless Weekends

A Gift for Sarah

I have a good friend getting married this coming weekend. She and I only worked together for just over a year but, between business trips and sharing an office, we got to know each other quite well. Add to that our mutual love of Excel charts, Grey's Anatomy and Starbucks... We were destined to be friends.

Sure, there are far too many 'inside' jokes, junk food binges on break, encouraging words, movies cried at together, and stories we don't retell, but that's what friendships are made of. Friendships are also made because you know you can count on the other person.

A little over a week ago, { via text message } Sarah asked me to make her something. Because I'm 'the craftiest friend she has', she asked that I make her a card box for her wedding, as her shower gift... the shower that was 2 days away. I was flattered to know she trusted me with this important task. She knew I wouldn't let her down; she could count on me.

I had a great time picking out the fabric and playing with shapes and textures. She gave me no direction except that the wedding colors are white, black and red. { I prefer to work with few guidelines. } 


I was pleased with the result, and knowing her, I knew she would love it. { She did. }

Here is the result:

Exciting announcement... After some encouragement from a few { unnamed } people, I am now offering custom Wedding Card Boxes in my Etsy shop, here.