Book Review | The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

Rating: ★★ out of 5

This book had to grow on me. While I enjoyed the diary/letter format to see all points of view, I'm not sure the story is for me. The first half of the book was pretty slow and I wasn't sure where the rest of the book could take me, but then an event happened that did intrigue me.

This historical fiction book is set during world war II, in England, a hear before Pearl Harbor. It really wasn't about the war at all - it was about the ladies that were left behind. Mothers, wives, and children. It was an unique idea for a book, a side of the war I haven't really read.

I don't think I will be recommending this book to a friend. The reason for that is is this book just couldn't keep my attention. The book was pretty "event-less" in my opinion. There were a few plot lines that I did enjoy, but they weren't amazing. This was just a "meh" book. I have a hard time recommending books that leave me feeling this way.

I was given this book by Blogging for Books, in exchange for my honest review.

I was given this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.
I was given this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.I was given this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

1st quarter recap 2017 | Reading Challenge

I can't believe the 1st quarter of the year is over. But I have actually been reading a lot, compared to the past 3 years...aka before Jack.

I've got a new lunch routine that has really helped with my reading goal and it's helping my bank account. I'm bringing my lunch to work and reading in the break room. Before this, I was pretty flighty when it came to lunch - eat out, drive home, bring my lunch, take no lunch hour and just grab something from the Pizza place across from work... so I am just happy to have a consistent schedule.

I read 4 books this quarter, so I'm one book ahead of my goal of reading one book a month - yay me!

I read:
Potty Training in 3 days
I've got your number
The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
The mischief of the Mistletoe

I am currently on book 8 of the series I'm reading. After this book, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep going on the series or change it up on the story. I don't want to forget anything, but I also don't want to get too burned out on the storyline. I have figured out that there is a reason why books in a series come out about a year a part, you need time to want to pick the characters back up.

I also signed up on bloggingforbooks.com. So, what this means is I will be getting New Releases of Advanced Reader Copies of books to review! I'm very excited to start this. I think this will maybe help me read more diverse genres. Since I'm not spending the money on the books. You may want to tell me to go to my local library after what I just said...but my local library is severly lacking and dated. I know I need to give it another shot...it's been over 5 years since I've looked around the adult side. Jack and I have gone the the children's side and I can't complain too much.

So anyway, I will be posting my honest review of the books I get from bloggingforbooks.com. Be on the look out!

Here is my updated reading list after the 1st quarter of 2017:

2017 Popsugar Ultimate Reading Challenge

1. A book recommended by a librarian
2. A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long
3. A book of letters
4. An audiobook
5. A book by a person of color
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title
7. A book that is a story within a story
8. A book with multiple authors
9. An espionage thriller The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
10. A book with a cat on the cover
11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym I've got your number by Sophie Kinsella
12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read
13. A book by or about a person who has a disability
14. A book involving travel The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
15. A book with a subtitle
16. A book that's published in 2017
17. A book involving a mythical creature
18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile
19. A book about food
20. A book with career advice
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective
22. A steampunk novel
23. A book with a red spine
24. A book set in the wilderness
25. A book you loved as a child
26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited
27. A book with a title that's a character's name
28. A novel set during wartime
29. A book with an unreliable narrator
30. A book with pictures
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you
32. A book about an interesting woman The mischief of the Mistletoe
33. A book set in two different time periods Any of the Pink Carnation Series
34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel
36. A book written by someone you admire
37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven't read before
40. A book you bought on a trip

2017 | Reading Challenge

I miss reading.

I worked at a bookstore for 5 years (RIP Borders), and I used tp read all the time. I slowed down my reading when got really into running/losing weight/TTC about 5 years ago. Priorities...

Even though I still need to get back into running/losing weight again BAD; I hope to just balance my life better in 2017.

I've been getting back on my Goodreads account lately. I found out real fast that I am soooo out of the book loop. I added a bunch of books that have been released the while I've been MIA.

The reason for this blog post is a pinterest post that I found. After looking at this list, I thought to myself, "you can totally do this". Some of these are going to challenge for me, hence it's a CHALLENGE.  :) I'm just really glad my college roommate became a librarian. #1 is in the BAG! I've been trying to work through a 12-book book series. I'm on book 6. It's a historical fiction series, and the books are not going to fit in to a lot of these challenges. I'm also going to have to look for through my TBR (to be read).

I'm going to try to update this list every quarter and see what I've accomplished. I think this will really help me move forward with my reading. I will be using books to mark off multiple items of the challenge.

Please join me if you would like. It's just February. :)

2017 Popsugar Ultimate Reading Challenge

1. A book recommended by a librarian
2. A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long
3. A book of letters
4. An audiobook
5. A book by a person of color
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title
7. A book that is a story within a story
8. A book with multiple authors
9. An espionage thriller
10. A book with a cat on the cover
11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym I've got your number by Sophie Kinsella
12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read
13. A book by or about a person who has a disability
14. A book involving travel
15. A book with a subtitle
16. A book that's published in 2017
17. A book involving a mythical creature
18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile
19. A book about food
20. A book with career advice
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective
22. A steampunk novel
23. A book with a red spine
24. A book set in the wilderness
25. A book you loved as a child
26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited
27. A book with a title that's a character's name
28. A novel set during wartime
29. A book with an unreliable narrator
30. A book with pictures
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you
32. A book about an interesting woman
33. A book set in two different time periods
34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel
36. A book written by someone you admire
37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven't read before
40. A book you bought on a trip

lead is dangerous, people

With all the kitchen remodeling and re doing the guest room this past April, we have been doing a lot of trim board sanding. and by we, I mean Mike. Poor guy...he works so hard to make this house the home of my dreams. He's been doing it the safest way we knew how - take everything out in the detached garage, scrape and sand, fill and prime. We then brought it back into the house, nailed it up and 2 coats of our favorite "dove white" finished it off.

Well....

The one step we didn't think about and it was apparently a doosey, was when Mike came in from working, he came in with "contaminated" clothes and shoes on, walked around and sat on our clothes couches. UGH... why didn't we think about this....

So, back in April we had just finished our mini remodel on the guest room, just in time for 1st birthday guests. This was also the same time as Jack's 12 month doctor's appointment. They do a blood test (for a lot of things) and it came back that he had an elevated lead count in his blood. Normal is anything below 5 and Jack's came back at an 8. They had us check it again in a couple weeks and we was down to a 7. No one was really worried at this point. But we knew it would probably have to be checked again at his 15 month appointment at the beginning of August.

And then we started the Kitchen remodel and took our all of the old trim and refinished it....and you guessed it - came in with contaminated clothes and shoes. Jack had his 15 month appointment at the beginning of August, just when we were in the heat of the final touches aka trim sanding and his numbers skyrocketed to 17!!! (FYI, it doesn't get harmful until around 45.) We were told, my heart just sunk...what did we do??? Mike and I then immediately put two and two together. April's numbers made sense all of a sudden. And we just felt like we failed as parents - we put Jack's health in danger and it was all our faults.

And just FYI, if your lead number is above a 15 in the state of Missouri, the doctors office must call the health dept....lovely. We still aren't completely done with the health department, but after meeting with them, it made us feel a lot better and we knew they weren't going to take Jack away. I know that may sound silly, but that was what immediately went through our minds. It scared me to death that the heath department was called.

We have since got rid of all construction dust in the house and we are working on repainting all of our doors. This is actually what Mike is doing on this LOOONNNNGGGG Columbus Day weekend - and what made me think of writing this post.

Also, once we cleaned the house from top to bottom, Jack's lead levels dropped from a 17 to a 7.5!!! This was amazing news we got around labor day. Everyone was so happy with his progress. We were told this may be a slow process - lead lives in your red blood cells and red blood cells live 120 days, so we really weren't expecting a number that low. I just hope at he 18 month appointment in early November, it keeps going down. It makes me nervous trying to fix it, because you have to disrupt the paint a bit to sand it, before you paint it.

Fingers crossed for little Jack, he is what matters in this whole drawn out story. We would do anything to make him the healthiest little boy ever.

our wild land fire fighter

Mike's crew - Mike is in the 1st row, 2nd from the left.

Mike was called out for western wild land fire duty on the 1st. His tours normally go for about 21 days. This is his 5th year going out, but I really think this is the worst one on me. Last year, my mom came and stayed with me and Jack. I would not of survived it in a right mind if she hadn't came. Nursing/pumping for Jack took up so much more time than I ever thought it would. So since I was doing that, I would of been eating fast food and not cleaning my house...basically just surviving.

Well, fast forward to this year - Jack is eating what I eat and I have adjusted so much more to motherhood, that I felt like I could do this one on my own. And I think I've done pretty good. I think the reason why this is the hardest on me is that Mike is missing things with Jack - and I just don't have my whole family with me.

Communication is the worst when he goes out. Like I said, he's out for 21 days or so and I really only get to talk to him 3 times - right after he lands wherever the fire may be, halfway through, and then when he is about to board his flight home. UGH! I just hate that part. There is a federal website that is updated everyday on every fire that is currently going, so I at least have that to check and see how big his fire is getting, etc. Well, this year, his fire actually has a Facebook page - I love living in the age of technology! :) And someone is going around take photos of all the fire fighters and the fire. I'm so thankful for that! And just last week they posted a picture of Mike's crew. I was so full of emotion when I saw him; I'm glad I was at work so I had to keep it together. It was so nice to see him and see that he was doing ok.

This is a very proud wife right here and I can't wait until he's home.

It's very hard to comprehend that Mike is actually in this place.

a kitchen completed

This past June, we started the BIGGEST diy project we have ever tried to tackle - the kitchen. And it's finally complete!

Before. Goodbye 1938

Can you believe that is the entire kitchen?!?!?! Well, the one thing that is not pictured is the refrigerator, and that was located at the other end of the room where the computer is now. So you'll have to visualize that in the after photos.

When we bought this house in the beginning of 2010, I told my husband that I loved all it's character and the house in general but the kitchen had to go... We were actually ready last summer financially, but we had just had Jack and figured we should focus on keeping him alive for a year and then go after this beast of a project.....so after 5 years of planning, savings and little projects that had to be done before this - we jumped in guns blazing. 

We Mike ripped out the original 1938 cabinets that had about twenty layers of paint on them. That was followed by, going down to the studs, new electric, new drywall, mudding and sanding, wood floor refinishing, trim sanding and painting, wall painting... I tell you, my guy is a rock star. I was able to help him with a few things, but with Jack it was sometimes easier if Mike just did the work and I played with Jack.

So fast forward 12 weeks and our kitchen is finally complete. The last stretch was a killer - we had to wait on a garbage disposal flange for our think apron sink to hook up the drains and in turn the dish washer!!!

Tangent - We have lived with out a dishwasher our entire 7 years of marriage...until now. I'm so happy!! I will no longer waste time that I could be enjoying my family on dirty dishes. It's sad to say but the things I was most excited for were the dishwasher and an ice machine in the refrigerator.

HELLO 2015 - so glad to see you!!

view from our living room.

                                  

refrigerator and pantry

                                  

view from the sink
see how far away our refrigerator was!!!

we don't like the look of microwaves, so we hid ours in the pantry!!

view from the dining room

missing in action...for over 2 years

Hello - My name is Kristi and I blog deserter...

I can't believe it's been over two years since I last sat down and type about our lives. I feel like everything has changed and nothing has at the same time. One of the best life changes that can happen, did. Mike and I were lucky enough to have a little boy, Jack, in April 2014 (my birthday to be exact!!). It was a long road to parenthood for us. Maybe I'll do an entire post on this soon, if anyone wants to hear the story. Really, I need to write it no matter what, for Jack.

our new office space.

While we continue to make changes on our house, we are just now finishing up the biggest remodel we have ever tackled...the kitchen. I'm actually typing this on a brand new iMac on my brand new kitchen "office area".  We've had the plans for this for 5 years. And 5 years it took to save, save, save. It's my dream kitchen. I absolutely love to cook and bake. I hope to start sharing some of my favorite recipes on here as well. I used to be apart of a group cooking blog, but it just sort of stopped about 4 years ago.

I can't promise anything for the future for this blog. But I would love to post one a week - that would be the dream. With working full-time in operations at a bank, Jack,  a very small etsy shoppe, and just life in general; we will see where this blog can be squeezed in...

a big loser

So I have been radio silent for what seems like FOREVER, and I am sorry for that. I know I've said it multiple times - when you are doing things that are blog worthy (so to speak) you don't blog. I hate that I have missed out on blogging this past year, for myself. That's what this blog is for, for Mike and I, and our memories.

One of the biggest reasons I haven't blogged is because I am running! I started the couch to 5k program last Easter and with a few bumps in the road, I complete it at the end of August. I am now running 3.1 miles, 3 times a week. Wow! That is all I can say. I never thought I would be where I am. I needed to make a change in my life - I was heavier and lazier than I ever wanted to be. I had no one to blame but that person in the mirror. My life has completely changed - running and eating right has me currently 35 lbs. lighter. I'm not where I want to be, but I am headed down the right road.

hammock.

Mike and I bought a hammock in Mexico over two years ago. Well, we finally got to lay in in last weekend. :)

It was great. I think we spent a little of 4 hours in it. We just read, drank wine and took several little snoozes.

It was the perfect afternoon getaway right in our backyard.

wyatt's quilt

Mike and I became Aunt and Uncle for the first time last April. Mike's brother and his wife welcomed Wyatt into the world. We were very excited for them and couldn't wait to meet him. Unfortunately, with them living in North Carolina and us in Missouri, we didn't get to meet him until Christmas.

One of Wyatt's gifts was a quilt from his grandma (my mother-in-law) and me. We decided it would be special if we were able to make it together. So we found a pattern with 2 colors of blocks; she did the red ones, I did the blue ones. Once they were done, she brought her blocks to me and I piece the quilt together and sent it off to get quilted. I think it turned out pretty well, with 2 people doing the piecing. I don't know if I would do it again that way, but Wyatt sure got a special quilt that I hope he will enjoy for many many years.

pagami creek fire

While everyone sat and watched the fires in Texas this fall, I was a little more concerned with the one going on in the boundary waters of Minnesota. The reason was.....my better half was there fighting a wild fire.

We got a call the last weekend in August. A fire was developing up near Ely, Minnesota after lightning struck. Mike, of course, got so excited. See, foresters kind of live for their fire trips.  Not that want to put anyone in danger or lose their homes; it's just exciting. We talked really fast right after he got the call and about 10 minutes later, he was on the list to go. At 10a.m. the next morning, Mike was gone.

I was able to talk to him the next night, but he had some bad news....no more phone calls. There were going where there was most likely no phone service and the crew chief just didn't want phones; the rule was to keep it in your truck. They were going to be roughing it....camping for 14 days and canoeing everywhere between islands in the boundary waters. I knew Mike was excited for the adventure, I was a bit nervous about not talking to him for 2 weeks. We have never not talked for 2 weeks since we met 7 years ago.

I did, however, find a federal website that updated on the fire once a day. That was my life-line while he was gone. It never said anything specific about people, it just noted how big the fire was, what they were doing for the day, etc. It was a nice relief to get some kind of information daily.

Mike made it back all in one piece with lots of pictures and stories. I'm very proud of my wild-land fire fighter.

the bed that mike built.

The back story::

• I love pottery barn.
• I want I could live in their catalog.
• Mike know this, but thinks their prices are CRAZY.
• Mike also knows that I've specifically been in love with a certain bed of there's - but he won't budge.

the farmhouse bed. Need I say more???

So, about a year and a half ago, I came across a blog. A woman who makes knock-off furniture plans. Before pinterest. Before everyone knew her name.

Do you know who I'm talking about yet?
Ana White

If you haven't gone to her website - GO. Right now. You can finish reading this later.... :)

Anyway, I found this bed - Ana's version of the PB farmhouse bed. It wasn't exactly the pottery barn bed, but it was going to be a close as I could get. So there. Mike agree, and said when we buy a house, he would make a bed for us.

The present day::

• We have bought our home.
• We have remodeled our master bedroom.
• We still need a bed......

Mike held true to his word, he was going to make our bed. We revisited Ana's website to find she has "blown-up" in the Internet world. She has tons of plans for anything and everything. We then found this "fancy-fide" farmhouse bed and we fell even more in love; we knew that was going to be our bed.

All of Ana's designs call for construction grade pine, but we wanted a bed that would last forever. Mike then found a small business that sells solid wood and ordered some Ash. It took about a month to get the wood in. He ordered quite a bit - enough for our bed, 2 bedside tables, 2 living room side tables and a new entertainment/t.v. stand. 

early stages of the headboard.

day of staining.

Finished product!

with and without pillows.

simple foot board. love it.

After letting the clear coat fully dry, Mike put the bed together on New Year's Eve. It's very symbolic to me; new year, new bed. Back in October we bought ourselves a late anniversary gift, a QUEEN sized mattress. Yes, our first 3 years of marriage we slept on a full sized mattress. It was enough room, but now we have a little extra elbow room in the queen. It's nice.

Mike did an amazing job on this bed, I wouldn't ask for anything different. He is now working on our 2 bedside tables. I'm going to be so excited when those are complete.

bedroom built-ins :: complete

Soon after I stopped blogging, we finished our master bedroom's built-ins. Once the doors were added, they completed the look. The whole look changed once the doors were there; they were no longer just bookcases, they are built-ins that will stay with this house forever. When I think about leaving this house (at some point), I know that they will be something I'll miss.

 This is where we left off six months ago.

MY built-in.

Necklace tree.

I love that we have "His and Hers" built-ins. Mine is great for a "getting ready" station. I have my perfume, jewelry box, etc. I recently got this necklace tree for Christmas from my sister. I love it. :) I'm on the hunt for a small tilt mirror, nic-nacs and I'm wanting a new jewelry box. Again, with all decorating, it's going to take time. For the closed off area, it's great for an extra blanket, and I have my travel bags hidden away down there.

HIS built-in.

 Mike's side doesn't really have too much on it yet; just his cell phone charger and a little of his own decorating stuff. I'm not really sure about what he's put on it, but since I have nothing to put on there right now. his stuff will stay. Plus, if I leave his stuff there for a while, that might be a bargaining tool when I do want to change it. :) 

One thing that will stay for him is this "charging station" he made. We found this leather basket and then he made the wooden shelf out of solid Ash. I thing he did a great job! He didn't have any plans to go from, just numerous examples we keep seeing in magazines and online.

 We do have plans for Mike's underneath storage. It's going to be our little linen area for the master bathroom (whenever that gets complete). We pretty much know the layout of the new bathroom, and it doesn't come with much storage, so this is out solution for that. His built-in is deeper than the one on my side and that was done on purpose. It will fit at least 2 rows of towels deep, and leave us room for extra soap, hand towel and all the other random toiletries .

gracie's quilt

One of my cousins had a baby girl in October, Gracie. They had their baby shower over Labor Day weekend in Chicago land and I made the trek to deliver my gift and see family. 

I made a quilt, just my second.  It's a simple flying geese pattern, but I flipped every other strip to make it a little different.

I like baby quilt's that aren't too baby-ish. I don't like the fabric with ABC blocks, teddy bears, etc. This is definitely feminine but not extremely. I hope little Gracie will enjoy this for many years to come.

cosmo from ms. butler

Back in June 2011, I bought a new sewing book. It's Amy Butler's Style Stitches. I've made purses before, but nothing this complex. I wanted to try to make a real durable bag. I started with the cosmo bag in the book. It was just a weekend project for me and took just under 22 hours to make..... and I was in l.o.v.e.

my cosmo bag

inside. with a pop of green.

I took my bag to work that Monday, and the girls said, "nice bag." I said, "thanks, I made it." Their jaws hit the floor. I had only been working there for about a month and never told them about my hobby of sewing. I could tell they were impressed.

So impressed, that three of them wanted me to make them one. The girls chose their fabrics and then I ordered it and went to work. It took be about a month to complete all of them, which I was happy with.

Here is Dana's.

this shows off the side pockets.

i fell in love with this paisley lining.

Candida's purse/

The other Kristi's purse.

Her pop of pink!

I really did have a good time making this bags, but I do have to say, I got a little burnt out of sewing after that. I realized this hobby of mine will remain a hobby. I enjoy it as a craft, but if it was my job, nothing would be completed on time. It's the procrastinator in me. :)

twenty twelve

I got to uploading some photo to our computer and I realized it had been a while since I blogged. Well, I didn't think it had been SIX MONTHS; but it's true. I didn't mean to leave you hanging, and most of all, I didn't mean to stop this at all.

First and foremost, this blog is for Mike and I. It's for us to look back on and see what we've done and accomplished. And I failed....


Oh well, today is a new day. I can start fresh!

Today is just a lazy day for me. Mike is redoing the electric on the west-side of your upstairs (the two extra bedrooms), and I'm his gopher. So I figured this was the perfect day to get this blog back on track. I'll be typing and uploading photos in between running for this and flipping that switch, etc. :)   He's up in the attic running wire right now. This is a project that we have been waiting for cooler weather, and I do not blame him for that one. Who would want to be in a attic full of insulation in 90 degree weather - not me!

kristi....na

I am loving my new job. I could not image the difference in two banks being this great but it is. I actually like going in to work? Call me crazy, but that's not normal. :)

The one thing that has taken some time is my name. See, the teller supervisor's name is Kristi; spelled just like mine. I didn't think it really was going to be an issue since everyone calls her Kris, even her name plate is Kris.....but no, it was an issue. They didn't want 2 Kristi's especially since one's a supervisor and people would be calling specifically for her. So I'm officially Kristina at work.... :(

Don't get me wrong, it's my legal name and I like it. But I've NEVER been called that unless one of two things : 1-I was in trouble with my parents, and 2- it was the first day of school in every class and I told the teacher it was Kristi.

I told them at work it would take some getting used to because it's pretty much like calling me a name like Bob; it's just something I don't respond to. Shoot, I think my marriage vows were even Kristi, not Kristina.  But now after a couple months, I'm much better at the responding, but horrible at saying it. I answer the phone, "This is Kristi.....na" and just throw the n-a on the end after thinking about it.

Something else that's happening is when my co-workers ask for "Kristi" I turn and look. I know I look like I'm eavesdropping, but it' just that they said MY name. I did go ahead and explain that one to everyone I work with because I didn't want to be labeled the nosy new girl. :)

So it's Kristina at work, Kristi everywhere else. It's kinda weird.

a recap :: windows

My parents came to visit the first week in June and the plan was for the guys to install 4 windows. We did 4 windows to start for a couple of reasons: the cost, and that it was one whole side of the house. While going to some home shows, the window people told us if you can't do all your windows at once then at least do each side of your house together. Luckily, the side we wanted to start on had the least amount.....4.

Here is the side that we did - the bottom two are in the living room, the top two are in the new bedroom.

I just LOVE Abe in this picture. :)

old windows....

NEW windows.....so much better!

overall after picture of the bedroom.

We have definitely noticed a difference with these babies. Our living room and bedroom are cooler! :) I bet as we replace ALL the windows, we will definitely see a difference in our heating and cooling bills. I love the sound of that.

So, if you're keeping track...4 down, 22 to go!