If you couldn’t see this blog yesterday you are not alone! One minute it was fine, and then the next thing you know it said “server cannot be found” (or a variation of that message depending on what web browser was used). For 24 hours messymom.com came up blank! I panicked and immediately recruited my IT husband to get to the bottom of it.

It seems like every few years I run into a situation like this, but it’s usually because I fail to pay my bill. 5 years ago I went from themessymom.com to just messymom.com because I lost my domain name to some poachers the day it expired. Then two years ago I had my bank card compromised and cancelled, so the automatic draft didn’t go through to renew my site. The next day some nasty, I mean NASTY photos and web links took over my blog for a day until I got it all sorted out. That was fun. Not really.

This time wasn’t as bad. After some inquiring on Facebook I had dozens of people respond saying they could access this site just fine. Everyone except for those using a certain internet service provider. Which is weird. We still don’t know for certain, but I guess it was some technical problem with a DNS server… thingy… I think. I dunno. I’m back now, and that’s what matters.

So now that I’m back what am I doing? I am glad I asked. Every year I say this is going to be the year I make some big changes to my blog and it never happens. One of the issues I ran into when my site was down was that I had little to no control over the inner workings of this blog and no way to contact the people who do. Blogger.com is a free site, so you can only be so picky. On the other hand, if I want to go to self hosting we are talking about venturing out to an area beyond my expertise. Not to mention I don’t have any extra money to spend on a hobby right now so if I am going to pay to play then I need to be bringing in some return on my investment. In other words, if I am going to dump any money into this blogging thing then I need to figure out how to get some money back.

J and I talked whenever this debacle happened and he encouraged me to consider making that step. I agreed, and looked at this server nightmare as a bit of a confirmation that now may be the time to pursue some of the ideas I have been tossing around for the past 7 years of this blogging journey. It’s exciting and nerve wracking. We’ll see if I actually do anything about it, but I just posted it on the real live internet so that’s worth something right?

Effective immediately, I have been networking a little. I was featured in the 4 Real Moms newsletter this month! Remember my blog post about Taking Pictures Alone VS. Taking Pictures With Your Family? Here is a little cutout of my spot in the newsletter-

You can view the entire newsletter HERE and subscribe to the monthly 4 Real Moms newsletter HERE. That was an exciting opportunity that I hope to do more of. Then next month, on Tuesday February 24th, I will be doing a guest post on Holly Barrett’s blog sharing some of my testimony. This will be a first for me and I am definitely looking forward to it. On top of that I just scheduled some guests post on this site as well, and I am super pumped about that.

Lot’s of stuff in the works. I could use all the prayers and encouragement I can get and if you are a WordPress user or you monetize your blog then please comment, message, or email me! I would love need to hear from you.

That’s all for this little announcement, but stay tuned as the proverbial ball slowly starts a rollin’.

Thank God for the printed word! This world would be a very different place without it.

I am one of those old fashioned readers that loves to hold a book in my hand. I like pages. I like libraries. I enjoy taking notes in the margins and spilling coffee on the cover and having wavy pages. A stained tome with a bent up spine that smells like dust makes it all the more valuable, if you ask me.

I am also a sucker for instant gratification and multitasking which can sometimes trump my love for the nostalgic. So while I may be marching along with the librarians screaming Long live the hardback! I also may not be as committed as I sound. I’ll admit it. I am a fan of digital and audio books. If I decide I want to read a book and I know I can download it and read it right now rather than order it and wait for it to arrive in the mail. Or even worse try to figure out how I can contain my children while hunting down the desired title in a presumably quiet environment, like a library or book store.

Then come the times when I am trying to engineer some sort of concoction that can hold a book in front of me while I cook, fold, or bath. I’ve never really been successful with any of these attempts so that is where the audio book comes in. Perfect for car rides, exercise, baths, reading in the dark, and yes cleaning.

There are just a few problems that I have with the audio book though.

1. Sometimes I don’t like the voice of the narrator.
2. There are times you really want to read your book, but headphones aren’t really appropriate.
3. I like to stimulate my mind when I read and I feel like audio books interrupt that benefit.

The good news is the more I have tried audio books the more I learn ways around some of these pet peeves of mine.

1. Some voices just rub me the wrong way and when you have to listen to it for let’s say 12 hours, it’s important. The voice should be hearing the story not the voice, but it doesn’t always go this way. I am an a battle with audible.com right now over an audio book that sounds like a chipmunk is reading it. I won’t go into the details, but I was told I could exchange the book. Then I was told I couldn’t. Then I stewed for a few days. Then I sent out one last email and we’ll see how it goes. Either way I am not going to finish the audio version. It’s AWFUL. To avoid having to go through that again I think I will listen to the preview on iTunes first so I know what the narrator sounds like.

2. I posted a funny instagram about this predicament once. Because sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself.

 I have heard that there are ways that you can maneuver back and forth between audio book and digital book seamlessly with a kindle and that sounds fabulous. It’s nice to know I wasn’t the only one dealing with this problem and there are smart people out there inventing solutions. Now I just need a kindle!

3. It turns out when a book is being read to you, your brain processes all of it the same. There is no dumbing down with the audio route. Obviously reading is important, but from all the research I’ve read so is listening. There are some things that are better about actual reading, for example learning the spelling would be an obvious benefit. Then there are other things that would come from listening to a  book being read that you wouldn’t get other ways. Take enunciation for example. There is more to it than that, but it encouraged me to know that I wasn’t going to miss out with audio books. I still count them as books that I’ve read, and according to this article from Forbes and many others I read  that is totally fine.

Hopefully you’ve heard the phrase “There is more than one way to skin a cat” if not, than my title must seem pretty grotesque. The point is whether you choose to eat your macaroni with a fork, or spoon, or your hands it’s still macaroni and the same goes for literature. There is more than one way to consume a book. I like to dabble in a variety of options depending on my need at the moment. So now I want to hear from you. How do you like to read?

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1. A year without sugar 
by Eve O. Shaub

I wasn’t head over heals for this memoir, but it did inspire me to think about my health and my eating habits. I am definitely drawn to the theory that in the future processed sugar will be likened to cigerettes and alcohol. In other words, something that can be highly addicting and should be handled in moderation and responsibly, or avoided altogether. It bothers me that sugar has such a hold on me. Whether or not I will ever do anything about it is a another story. Anyway, the writer is really laid back (with the exception of her strict anti sugar challenge which is super intense). I can’t say that I would recommend the book, but I didn’t dislike it either. 

Mom Rating: PG. I almost put G, but if I remember correctly there are just a few cuss words and some spiritual stuff that is common in Vermont’s territory which is where the author lives. 


2. Bossy Pants
by Tina Fey 

Bossy pants is the autobiography of Tina Fey and if you get the audiobook it is read by Tina Fey and she really customizes it for your listening pleasure, so that earns extra points in my book. They even insert a clip from SNL to listen too. You wouldn’t get that in the hard copy! However, there are some gaps because the book actually has a few pictures in it and Fey will say something like “refer to the PDF to see the photo”, but I didn’t get a PDF that I know of with my copy. As far as my review about the actual content of the book, I feel like Tina Fey is brilliant. I love her writing style. I do not regret reading the book. I definitely laughed out loud. On the flip side, we have nothing in common. She’s very liberal. I’m not even a 30 Rock or SNL fan for that matter. So it’s a great book. It’s a bestseller. I’m just not going to put at top of my list.

Mom Rating: R. That’s one of the things that turned me off to this book was the language. At one point she calls another woman an extremely offensive word and I was shocked because she’s so feminist throughout the rest of the book. 

3. Seven
by Jen Hatmaker


This book was about a project that blogger/writer/speaker Jen Hatmaker implemented in her war against excess. Each month there was a different area that they would sort of fast in order to give back and focus outward. One month she only has seven articles of clothing to wear. That means she has to wear the same jeans all the time and no coat in the winter etc. Another month she can only eat seven foods and all the while she’s learning about social justice, poverty, and her faith in general. It’s similar to “A Year With No Sugar” in that it is written like a blog and it’s pretty much about self deprivation. Other than that they are totally different.

Anyway, everything I have ever seen of Jen Hatmaker I have loved. I love her voice, literally. FYI she does not read her own audiobook which is huge points off for me, but to each their own. Here is the thing I DON’T want to address. This book was not for me. At risk of sounding so holy, or desperate, or both, I will admit that I am just not living in a place of excess right now. 

At the end of the book Hatmaker even says who she thinks her readers are, and she describes them as middle to upper middle-class moms that have all their needs met and are struggling to find out how they can give back and where the balance is. I can understand that because that social class is all I’ve ever known. Until now. I am one of the richest people in the world statistically speaking, but as far as compared the Hatmaker family and the majority of her readers, or my old life- I’m just plain poor. I don’t have the luxury of buying fair trade, or local. I don’t even have a yard to keep a garden. I don’t have cable or a dvr. We rarely eat out We certainly don’t feel led to downsize (perfect time to plug my series on how the 5 of us manage just fine in under 800 square feet). These are just some of the things she addresses. I don’t want to sound like I’m so deprived because I am typing this on my MacBook Pro (it was a gift and it is for business, but it’s still a very nice amenity). I have my needs met. I’m just saying that while reading 7 I personally found myself very much like an outsider amongst her cool group of friends that she called the council. With that said, read it I’m sure you’ll love it. It’s not where I am at right now and that’s okay. 

Mom Rating: Definitely rated G. Totally appropriate for a variety of people and situations, there is even a study guide to accompany it. 





4. Call the midwife 
by Jennifer Worth
Where do I begin? I am the biggest call the midwife fan! I hesitated to start the show without reading the books first, and in this case I think I started the show and the book about the same time because the book was on hold at the library. The books are true life memoirs written by a woman who lived in the slums of England while still recovering from the hardships of world war II. The first book of her series was graphic and haunting, but so touching and insightful. The second book was equally as riveting . It focused on the absolutely diabolical, unlivable conditions of the work houses that existed back then. However, I feel like it went too far. There are some artistic liberties that were taken verses documenting actual events that happened and I have to say that in the end I did not like the book at all. I never read the third one either because it left such a bad taste in my mouth. See the mom rating notes for details, but be aware it could contain spoilers. 

Mom Rating: R. It’s definitely based on some heavy material. That doesn’t bother me. I did however feel like this book implied the justification of men having sexual behavior with boys in the work house as well as somewhat detailed depiction of a sexual relationship between a brother with his sister. It was painted very poetically, but deceptively. The show on the other hand touches on nearly all the stories from the memoirs but handles it in a much more delicate manner. 

5. Surprised By Motherhood 
by Lisa Jo Baker


I was pleasantly surprised with surprised by motherhood. Up until this point my luck with blogesque books was not fairing well. I loved hearing Baker’s story though. She reads her own audio book, South African accent and all. Some parts made me laugh, while others of course brought me tears, or an exuberant reaction that I never meant to say out loud.  The story is mostly about going from a somewhat jaded independent woman who was still struggling with loosing her mother to a place of healing. A transition takes place along her journey that softens her and gives her a new calling and a restored sense of hope. In short, I really loved this book, enough to want to own the printed copy as well. I have already recommended the book to several people and saw this on a friends wall on Facebook tonight.

“A Facebook friend gave this a good recommendation so I started making it the subject of my “Feeding time, Reading time”. So far an amazing read with fantastic insight for a new mom like me. Thanks for the tip Natalie! “  

I have a little bit more to say about the book, but I am saving it for another post. Hopefully that will be up later this week. 

Mom Rating: G The only warning I have for you is that she does talk a lot about birth and breast feeding in detail. I am not shy at all about these topics. It made me like the book more, but I saw one review online from someone who didn’t like that part of the book and said she just doesn’t get into birth stories. So if that is not your cup of tea then at least now you know. You’re welcome. 

These reviews are not all that I read in 2014, but I didn’t want to bore you with all the parenting self help stuff. I am reading Orphan Train right now and I have been researching all the books you guys have done such an amazing job of recommending. Keep them coming. I love hearing from you! 

I will leave you with this quote from Surprised By Motherhood, that really stuck out to me. 

I previously mentioned that I am not much a nonfiction reader. I feel bad about it. I can only blame myself  my dad. I grew up with a mother who devoured non fiction. My dad on the other hand is all about true stories. This includes movies. I am the same way. So I categorized my 10 book reviews into two parts. I was going to do fiction and non fiction, but it was too uneven. That is why I am calling this category “stories” because even if they fall under non fiction they are in story form. As I promised  yesterday, I will also rate how family friendly (or conservative-christian-mom friendly) they are. Don’t hold it against me if you think that I am off on some of the details here. I am just going from my memory and it’s been a while since I read most of these. 

Alright, here are my personal opinions on 5 of the stories I read in 2014. 

1. The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green  

There was such a buzz about this book. I couldn’t avoid hearing about  it, so two years after it was published I actually snuck in reading it cover to cover just before the movie was released.I actually liked this book. The young adult side of it was hard for me to relate to personally and made me roll my eyes here and there. Call me heartless, but I did not cry, and what’s crazy is that I am a cryer. I even enjoy crying sometimes. I might be vague here to avoid spoilers, but I thought the ending was brilliant except for one part, which was actually modified in the movie. So as far as that one little part I liked the screenplay better, other than that I liked the book better. 

I would rate it PG-13 just like the movie. It is typical high school stuff. There are some theological views that are touched on. It also has a few sexual things in it and some language. 


2. Divergent 
by Veronica Roth


Here goes. Despite what it may look like from this list so far, I am not usually into YA books. However, since I did enjoy the Hunger Games trilogy and what I already mentioned about Fault in Our Stars I thought I would jump on the divergent band wagon. For those that have read it you’ll know what I mean when I say I must not be dauntless because I couldn’t stick the landing with this book and ended up falling off the wagon. I finished the first one and I intended to continue on to the rest, but honestly, I probably never will. 

Mom Rating: PG-13. Again just like the movie. It was a clean book, but I wouldn’t listen to the audio version in front of my young children for what it’s worth. 


3. Glitter and Glue 
by Kelly Corrigan 

This book is the memoir of a women telling how her adventurous exertions to Australia get hijacked when she had to get a job as a nanny for a young family that lost their mother. It’s kind of like sitting down with this woman and hearing her story. It’s not that complicated, but I liked it. It’s the kind of story that mother’s are going to relate to in at least one way or another. If you are familiar with Surprised by Motherhood, it is a very similar theme. A women disenchanted with the idea of motherhood, suddenly finds herself “reconsidering her relationship with her mother, turning it over in her hands like a shell, straining to hear whatever messages might be trapped in its spiral.” 

Mom Rating: PG-13 I know you think you see a pattern here, but I may surprise you at the end! This book is very clean, but it is written from a secular perspective and there is some language and innuendos. I feel like such a prude for even saying that, but I know some of you are like me and would like to know up front. 


4. Unbroken 
by Laura Hillanbrand

You have probably heard of this book or movie by now. It’s the true story of an Olympic runner who became an airman in World War II which led to crashing at sea only to be rescued by the enemy. I’m not saying it is a book everyone would love, but I’m already fascinated with the World War II era. This is me at the Historic Union Terminal in Cincinnati for 1940’s weekend. I know, I am such a nerd! 

 So add that to my love for true stories this is book quickly won my attention and raced its way to the top of my personal charts as my current FAVORITE book. And I don’t just have a bunch of favorites, so it’s a big deal for me to say I love, love, love this book! It’s written by the same author as Seabiscuit and it’s just incredible how she paints the picture using TONS of historical and military facts accompanied with a 3rd person narration, and yet the whole time it reads like a novel not a text book. It’s incredible I tell you. 

 I saw the movie too. I go to the movies maybe once a year, but I loved the book so much I knew I had to see it. As someone who read the book I felt like the movie was a great supplement to the reading material. I like the book better, but I feel like the casting and the accuracy of the movie was great! Although, I’ve heard complaints that it was slow, or that they never felt like they really felt a connection with the main character. I can understand that. It’s slow because it was a really long time to be in captivity! There is a lack of dialogue because that’s the nature of what he went through. I don’t really see anyway around this. In other words if you are looking to have your entertainment bone tickled this may not be the movie to see. However, if you want to see a factual depiction of the heroic Louie Zamperini then yes, check it out. 

Mom Rating- R. Unlike the movie which is PG-13, I give this book an R rating. Only for violence though. The man the book is about was a devout christian. It is truly a redemptive and inspiring story, but it is intense. There were times I felt like I couldn’t take anymore of the gruesome depictions, but then the story would move on. I recently came across this young adult adaptation. This seems like it would be a nice alternative if you have older children that are interested in reading the story, but you aren’t sure about all the graphic details of torture in POW camps. 


5. The Time Traveler’s Wife 

I know, I know, I am over a decade late to the party on this best seller, but I polled instagram to see what I should read and that one came up, so I thought I would see what all the hype had been about. 

This book is a romance, but it’s also Sci-fi. It’s written from two perspectives and many different years. It bounces around all over the place. The male lead (Henry) was thirty-six when he meets the other main character Clare as a six year old girl, but when they get married Clare is twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. This is all explained because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder which means he randomly without warning travels through time. Every chapter starts off with what year it is and how old the characters are because you don’t know if it’s going to be Henry from the past, or future, or present time. I found the story to be unique, intriguing, and engaging. I can see why it captured so much attention. The first half, or first three fourths, were definitely better than the last if you ask me. I felt like it could have ended MUCH sooner. After reading it I checked out the movie because I was curious how it would be interpreted and portrayed. In my opinion it was lame. I couldn’t even finish it. So there you have it, I enjoyed the book more than the movie.


Mom Rating- XXX. Maybe that’s extreme, but there is no way they could show the book in it’s entirety in a movie form because it would have to be unrated. Most of the book was fine, or I would not have finished it. This isn’t 50 Shades of Grey or anything, but the erotic scenes that it did have (and they were a very passionate couple, ahem) where super graphic. It’s probably nothing to a lot of people, but I have pretty high standards and so for me it was just unnecessary and some of it really grossed me out. Let’s just say it involves his future self time traveling to his past self when he was a bored. Yuck. There was also plenty of foul language peppered throughout.

So if you were curious about any of these books, I hope my little blurbs helped. Tomorrow I’ll do part two, exclusively non fiction.

 I’ll admit that more times that not I fall short when it comes to accomplishing what I set out to do at the beginning of the year. On the other hand there are some really significant changes that I have made amongst all of those New Year’s resolutions. For example, for several years I had “read” (or read more, or read x amount of books etc.) as one of my resolutions. I just wanted to get into the pattern of reading, but it was often easier said than done. This is one of the first years I did not add reading to my list because I feel like I now have successfully made a habit out of it.

In all of the reading I have done this past year I haven’t blogged much about any of the books other than the parenting ones that were a part of my 31 day series. This week I want to change that and actually discuss some of my thoughts on certain books. Now. I am no critique, so don’t expect something too polished or professional. I often read these eloquently delivered reviews that are as thoughtfully written as the novels themselves. Not going to happen here.

One thing I do feel like I can offer that you may not find elsewhere is the rating for how clean the content is. I hate looking for a new book only to have a bunch of foul language and smutty content crammed into every other page. The only way I have really seen to get around this is when someone I know has already read the book. So, maybe I can be that someone for you. Or maybe you could be that someone for me! Please let me know what you are reading or plan on reading this year. Or feel free to suggest all time favorites. Even though I tend to lean toward non fiction I have ventured out a bit recently and I welcome any suggestions.

Here are the 10 I will be touching on over the next few days-

1. A year without sugar  

2. The fault in our stars 

3. Divergent 

4. Glitter and glue

5. Unbroken

6. Bossy pants 

7. The Time Traveler’s Wife

8. Seven

9. Call the Midwife Shadows of the Workhouse 

10. Surprised By Motherhood 

Tomorrow I’ll dive into what I thought about these books, but now it’s your turn.

I REALLY wants some ideas about what to read for 2015. Let’s Go!