1. My novel, Angela’s Song, has received its 100th review!  And the reviewer gave it 5 stars! Yay!  To celebrate, I’m giving away a print copy of the novel.  Go to my Facebook Author page for details on how to enter.

2.  My publisher, Full Quiver Publishing, has just signed on author Erin Cupp!  They will be releasing her mystery-romance novel, Don’t You Forget About Me, on November 1st of this year.  I’m so excited about this new addition to the Full Quiver family!  Erin is a talented author and I’m sure you will love her novel!

3. I just came back from retreat.  17 other women and I caravanned up to snowy, frigid, Wisconsin to praise and worship the Lord for 4 days.  It was a real sacrifice, because on one of the days it was close to 80 degrees back home, and we were having negative temperatures.  One of the days it got down to -6.  Brrr!   But, I have to say, the room where we met had floor-to-ceiling windows and it was easy to contemplate God looking out over the beauty and serenity of the snow blanketing the trees and lake beyond.  I missed the one glorious day of spring weather back home, but, in the chill and bleakness of winter, God was still there, waiting to be found…

4. It’s snowing again.  A light snow, but snow nonetheless.  The calendar says the temperature will be in the high 50’s for Easter.  I’ll believe that when I see it!

5.  Ah…the older I get, it seems the crunchier I get.  I’ve started making my own yogurt. I bought the Matsoni strain, which cultures on the kitchen counter.  Can’t get any easier than that!  So far we’ve made honey yogurt and also blueberry.  My girls are enjoying it.  As I write, there are 2 more quart-sized jars culturing on the counter…

6.  C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce was part of my Lenten reading.  If you’ve never picked this one up, I highly recommend it!  In his description of Heaven Hell and Purgatory, Lewis uses amazingly stunning visual imagery to paint a picture of the eternal consequences of our decisions.  There were scenes so beautifully written that I found myself going back over them several times so that I could enjoy them again.

7. After my retreat, we had a one-day reprieve before my husband had to go on a 6-day business trip.  So, Monday was catch-up day and now the kids and I are roughing it without Dad.  I’m striving to keep up with the laundry and have the house neat and orderly, like he always does for me when I’m gone.  It makes all the difference, after you’ve been away for days, to come home to peace, instead of chaos.  I have to say, it’s easier now that our children are old enough to pitch in and help.  After years of diapers, Cheerios, Goldfish crackers and sippy cups, our lives have calmed down considerably.  I do look back and pine for a baby to hold or a toddler to carry on my hip now and then, but this is where our family s right now, so I must enjoy what I have.  I don’t want to spend the present with one foot in the past or even one foot in the future; otherwise I would miss the beauty of today!