Despite my half-hearted efforts, my digital life just keeps expanding. Recently, I have added a new device and traded out another and I will be reviewing soon here on the blog.

What are they?

Yep, after deciding that the

Kindle Fire was not a good device for me

, I was surprised that I was willing to give this a chance. But it was so new and shiny and all the tech bloggers and podcasters were talking about it so I got sucked in too. I have no regrets and I’ll tell you why soon.

I was not so thrilled with my cell phone anymore and not so thrilled with my carrier anymore, so I decided both needed a refresh. I went in for the Galaxy Note but, even though T-Mobile has started selling the device, they haven’t actually stocked the stores in my area. I don’t know what that’s about. Anyway, I am now with T-Mobile and learning to use the Galaxy SIII. I’ve only had it a few days so I’m not going to be too quick to say anything, but I can say that I miss the user experience of the HTC product line. I have faith in HTC. I know they will bounce back. The question is, will this phone make me a loyal customer of Samsung?

Stay tuned to find out...

All books links provided (in the sidebar) are from Amazon where I am an affiliate, but please support the book seller of your choice. Sorry for the late reviews. My June wrapped up with me getting a new job and moving to the midwest! I still can’t believe it. More on that later. For now, I want to catch you up on the books I managed to finish before the life storm.

I am really enjoying the mind that is Joshilyn Jackson. She is such a great story teller and this book is no different. As with the previous book I read by Joshilyn, I listened to this title using my Audible account and, once again, the book was read by the author. The life lessons and thought provoking moments are well worth picking this book up. Just be aware that you will hear a southern woman speaking in your ear for a few weeks after listening (if you go the audio route). And that is definitely not a complaint.

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This book took me by complete surprise. I was gifted this book by the publisher during a promotion with Goodreads. It took me a couple of chapters to get invested in the story, but once I got it I was hooked. This was such an interesting and beautiful love story with a great sci-fi edge. You would never look at that cover and think this story is supernatural, but it’s there. Apparently, this took a lot of readers and reader by surprise and unfortunately led to some pretty negative comments. I think it is very well written and very well laid out. Don’t read this when tired though because you will get a little lost. I highly recommend this book and would love to see it made into a sci-fi channel movie.

Anyone that knows me closely knows that getting prepared for marriage has been a struggle for me for a number of reasons. That is one of the reasons you will see a lot of marriage prep/marriage counseling type books in my read-stream. This title was the first one that I purchased over a year ago and I can say it helped more that any other book so far. Prayer is an important part of my life and it was important for me to learn when and how and to what extreme I need to be praying for my future husband. I know it seems like you should just pray and all would be okay-who needs a book for that??? Trust me when I say, you need this book. If you have taken pre-marital counseling then you understand how much there is to discuss that you didn’t think to discuss. Well, there are so many things that need to be prayed for that you just don’t think to cover. She even goes into the prayer you need when you have a partner (as I do) that will completely ignore everything when the football game, pre-show, after-show, next day commentary, etc. are on. Yes, she even covers that. More than anything, this booked helped me to refine some of my expectations and realize what I was being unreasonable about. The biggest change in my relationship came when my fiancé asked what book I had just finished and I was about to give this title. He was so thrilled at that thought that I would be praying for him that he has become a little more easy to deal with in the difficult things. interesting, huh?

I picked this book up because it was written for people like me. I am a planner, a very detailed planner. Some would see this as worrying. I like to think of it as planning. When I’m honest with myself I do have to admit that my planning does go over into the realm of worrying, but you will never hear me admit it in public. ☺ This summer was an especially trying time as my unemployment was stretching much longer than I anticipated it to and the savings had run out and I was only surviving on help from family and prayers from everyone. This book came along at the perfect time to remind me that despite what is going on, I can still trust God. My troubles didn’t go away with the reading of this book but I can say I was a little more at peace and that kept me from starting my new job with an ulcer!

I can’t remember if Amazon brought this title to my attention or a friend did, but I am grateful either way. My grandmother and I have been talking a lot lately about how we have come to view our food in this country. We have gotten so accustomed to sweet potatoes being available all year round that we don’t know what the real growing season is anymore. We also have adopted so much convenience shopping and eating that we have lost some of our basic kitchen and homesteading skills. Short ebooks like this one are perfect for re-adjusting our lives and re-learning some of those skills. The author presents gardening, cooking, household cleaning/management, and financial in little monthly chunks. This is really a great way to get people on board who want to start eating better and living better without getting overwhelmed. I highy recommend this title. Look for a review on the other volumes/months soon.

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Yep, another relationship book…I warned you! Years ago, I read Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages book and was intrigues at how he thought about relationships. He was able to separate us not based on male and female but based on how we truly express love. That was a break through read for me so I was excited to follow that up by reading this title.I was disappointed. Apparently, everything you needed to know was in the 5 Love Languages book. He constantly refers back to it. He did go in to enough detail that this could be a stand alone book, but this didn’t offer anything beyond 5 Love Languages. So, I would suggest you read only one and honestly the 5 Love Languages is better written and more impactful.