The Promise by Susan Lantz Simpson: A Book Review

Psst! I received a free copy of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley.

Book Synopsis

In the beautiful spring warmth of Southern Maryland’s Amish country, love always finds a way to bloom . . .

 
Like most Amish young women, Phoebe Yoder has dreams—but not of a courtship—at least not yet. She dreams of caring for the tender-hearted alpacas at her Englischer neighbor’s farm and learning the business herself. But that longing falls away the moment her baby sister goes missing. In that horrifying instant, desperate for her sister’s safe return, she whispers a promise to Gott: she will give up her dreams and marry Micah Graber, a man she doesn’t love, but who is determined to make her his wife.
 
Benjamin Miller hasn’t been back in Southern Maryland for long before he meets Phoebe and begins to imagine what a fine life they could build together—beginning with an alpaca farm of their own. But he can see that Phoebe’s brash vow is all she will consider, no matter what her heart wants. As Ben falls for her gentle manner and sweet, sad eyes, he comes to understand his daunting task: to convince Phoebe that together, they can make a new promise that will never be broken . . .

My Thoughts

Seeing as how Susan Lantz Simpson was a new author to me, I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this book. I tend to stick to my favorite authors when it comes to Amish fiction. All too often I’ve read books where the authors clearly don’t research the Amish at all, or just barely, and the result is pretty horrible. Given that, I must say that I was seriously impressed with the writing - and couldn’t put the darn book down!

Simpson obviously knows her stuff and writes a captivating story. There are a few different characters and quite a few details going on in this story, which I love, and she manages to keep all the stories going and straight. I love her descriptions of her characters and how she understands the intricacies of the Amish community.

That being said, I must say that about 70 percent through the book I started to get a little frustrated with the main character, and when you read this book you’ll see why. But hold out until the end, because it’s worth the emotional roller coaster of a ride! I also wish the character of Belinda would have been explained and shown a bit more.

Overall, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and definitely plant to pick up Susan Lantz Simpson’s books. She has definitely made it onto my “go-to” list of Amish fiction authors.

Grab A Copy For Yourself Here!

Free Printable Planner Agenda For April 2018

One of my favorite things to do on a  Sunday is planning my week out! I have a slight to-do list and agenda obsession and can't get on with my day without writing a few simple goals down.

I modeled this printable planner after how I like to make my to-do list. It's divided into 3 sections which you can use however you like. I like to divide my day into morning/afternoon/evening. You don't have to divide it all - just make a list of what needs to get done. It has plenty of space for writing down everything you need to be done in your day - cause I know we're all busy!

It's made big enough to put on your desk, fridge or wall, so you can easily see it. You could even slip it into a binder. You could also either print out a few copies for each week of April or laminate it in a sheet protector and use dry-erase markers on it. Plus it has a handy little calendar at the top corner so you can keep track of the date.

I really hope you get some good use out of this printable! If you'd like anything on it to be different, I am totally open to feedback too :) Just leave a comment down below. I am planning to release a calendar every month, so I just might take on your ideas!
Get Your Free Planner At The Link Below↧

Get Your Free Printable April 2018 Planner Here

Pin it for later^

A Mother's Gift by Charlotte Hubbard: An Amish Fiction Book Review

Charlotte Hubbard is one of my favorite Amish fic writers. Her stories, characters, and settings seem to just pull you into another world. There is just something about the way she describes things that really sets up a great scene. 

Psst - I received a free copy of this book for being a member of Netgalley.com - Join free here!

A Mother's Gift is a wonderful story about many different mothers. The main character, Leah, falls desperately in love with a widower named Jude. Leah's own mother fears for Leah's marriage since she will be taking on a  houseful of kids and a persnickety mother-in-law. Leah herself becoming a mother is no simple task - she scares Jude's youngest son, still hurting over the loss of his own mother, and she can't find any way to get Jude's troubled teen daughters to like her either. Jude's own mother is another mom in this story, one who highly disapproves of Leah's way of managing a household, always comparing it to his previous wife's. But Jude's departed wife held secrets of her own that threaten the family even after she's gone. 

All in all, it's the story of how a mother's love can change people. For better or for worse. You're going to love how invested you'll quickly become in this story - I know I was! This book actually comes out today and I hope you enjoy the story as much I did. 

Get This Book On Amazon Here In Kindle or Paperback Editions

Free Easter Egg Hunt Printable

Easter is really early this year, and I can't believe it's just a couple weeks away now! Have you started your shopping yet? Because we haven't😅

One of the traditions we love most on Easter (and you might too!) is having an egg hunt. Since we have a teen and two younger kids, we usually hide some eggs in pretty obvious places and make sure some are really well hidden. And of course, we need to be sure there's none within the dog's reach!

I designed this egg hunt note to use Easter morning, and it can be used in quite a few fun ways!
First off, you can sign it either from yourself or the Easter Bunny. I made an example of each below

Then you can either tie it to their filled basket, leave it an empty egg hunt basket for them to find, or use it any way you'd like! Then just put in how many eggs they need to find and where the hunt will begin and end.

Download The FREE Printable Here

Please feel free to print and share this printable with your family and friends too! If you'd like to share it online, please link to this page, not the file is all I ask :)

Enjoy!

DIY Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese Spread Recipe

There is this absolutely wonderful teeny-tiny little box of cheese that my husband and I LURVE to buy once in a while. It's a pretty fancy kind, comes in beautiful packaging and is so NOT in our budget!

So when I had a little spare cream cheese one night before dinner (a very rare thing in our house), I decided to try my hand at copying that wonderful fancy-pants cheese.

There were a few things I knew I'd need to get down to make it right - the texture, which was light and airy, the taste which was a strong, perfect garlic with sweet herbs, and the look, because who doesn't want something pretty on their table!

And I got it! Seriously, on my first try, that first bite was perfection! The family agreed so too. Although the original cheese isn't made with packaged cream cheese, this version comes pretty darn close in flavor and texture!

And now I'm sharing my little recipe with you! It's super simple, really quick and sooo good on a nice baguette! It adds that nice extra touch to dinner when you're eating something light too. In fact, I think I could seriously just eat this for dinner!

Garlic Herb Cream Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt 
• 1/4 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp dill
• 1/4 tsp parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp thyme

Instructions:

Whip up all the ingredients together, being sure to mix them really well. If you have a hand mixer, you can beat it for a minute to get that nice, lightly whipped texture. Serve it in a nice little dish. Then just fancy it up with a sprinkle of extra parsley on top! 

You might also find you like less garlic in it, or more! Experiment and see how it comes out best. Either way, you'll be spending just 1/8th of what a wheel of that already-made cheese costs. 

Enjoy!

DIY Crochet Dog Sweater

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This Pattern is now featured on Crochet News! Check it out here along with other seriously cute doggie patterns!

A few years, you might remember, I did a post on a crocheted dog sweater for our dog Snowflake. I'm still amazed at how many visits a day that post gets, and how many questions too! I could never answer most of the questions, however, since I was mainly flying by the seat of my pants as a new crocheter when I made that pattern! 😅

So after a few years of making similar sweaters for Snowflake, I came up with this easier version and tutorial for basically the same pattern. Just modified - and better!

The great thing about this pattern is that it can be made to fit any size dog. Just take measurements as I wrote below, or try to guess some out using the dog size charts I've included. I worked pretty hard to put this all together, so I hope it's easy to understand and, most importantly, comes out great! If there are still questions, however, feel free to leave them in the comments!

So, here we go...

DIY Crochet Dog Sweater Pattern

Measuring Your Dog

First, you'll need to make all of your measurements.You can either measure your own dog or use the handy charts above from Pet It Dog Apparel to guesstimate the measurements. If you have a larger dog, then you can probably find some estimated measurements with a quick search :) Here is what you need to measure, along with a chart I drew up that might help:

• (A) Collar (around the neck, loosely) 
• (B) Back (from the collar to where you'd like the sweater to end)
• (C) Back Girth (around the back, leave out the tummy)
• (D) Tummy girth (from side to side of the tummy, leg to leg)
• (E) Tummy length (from bottom of sweater length to front legs)

Now that you have your measurements, you can begin crocheting!

1. Cast on your yarn and make a chain the length of the Back (B) measurement. Be sure your back ends at a good point for both the tummy and back - as in, you don't want your dog weeing on the sweater, so don't make it too long ;)

2. Now you can use any stitch pattern you'd like to create the back of the sweater. I single crocheted in back loops only to make mine. I like making this sort of pattern because it makes the sweater stretchier. Crochet in each chain across.

3. Now continue to crochet in each stitch across until you have a rectangle piece measuring the length of your (C)Back Girth measurement (as in the photo above). This is the top of your sweater that will cover your dog's back.

4. Now you're going to create the tummy portion. Begin to crochet in the next row as you have been, but don't go to the end - only go until you reach you (E) Tummy Length measurement. Stop here and turn your work.

5. Chain 1, and continue your stitch pattern on these shorter rows until you make this small square your (D)Tummy Girth measurement. You can what I mean in the picture above. Now you have to body of your sweater.

6. Now you'll sew the two ends together using your hook. Fold the tummy square over to the other side of the sweater so it looks like the picture above. Using your hook slip stitch the sides together. You can also choose to cast off first and sew the two sides together with a yarn hook, but I prefer this way since it's simpler and makes cleaner lines.

7. Now you'll be making your collar. Go to the front of your seater where the big opening is. Attach your yarn to the top of the rows (as shown) and crochet into the top of each row across. When you reach the end, chain enough stitch so that this whole side will measure the length of your (A) Collar measurement. Be sure to leave some extra lag here since you don't want it to be too tight if your dog ever gets stuck on something.

8. Once you have your length, attach your chain to the other side of the collar, where you attached your yarn. You now have a big circle the length of the collar measurement. Now you'll continue to crochet in rounds until the collar is as high as you'd like it to be. You can do one layer as I did, or you can make it longer and folded over.

And that's all there is to make this little sweater for your dog. As you can see, it's super easy to make for any size dog and can easily be adjusted with different stitch patterns to make it however you'd like. Of course, you could also add some cute buttons, embroidery, or mix up different colors of yarn.

I'm including a few graphics down here to help you out in remembering the steps so you can Pin them for later. Once you've made this sweater once it's actually really easy to make again and again!

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Amish Promises by Leslie Gould - My Review

Amish Promises by Leslie Gould

My Book Review

Description

When Joel and Shani Beck arrive at their new home, they're looking for peace. Shani is thrilled to have Joel back from Iraq, but he needs time to heal, and the quiet of Lancaster seems just the place. They can't imagine any trouble with their Amish neighbors, the Lehmans, but things get off to a rocky start when their son is involved in an accident that injures one of the Lehman boys. Eve Lehman has run her brother's household ever since the death of his wife, but Tim's a stern patriarch. Despite his protests, she's drawn to the new neighbor, Shani, and the two begin to form a strong friendship forged on faith and family. Things seem like they've quieted down until Joel's single and handsome army friend Charlie catches Eve's attention--a man unlike any Eve has ever met. Suddenly life for both families becomes more complicated than any of them could have ever imagined

My Review

I always enjoy Leslie Gould's books - I recently finished the The Courtships of Lancaster County Series - and love her style of writing. This book was a little different since it not only featured Amish people as main characters, but brought an 'Englischer' family into the story. Another twist I liked was the fact that the Englisch father had been in the war, bringing more complexity to the chapters where the strict Amish father next door had to deal with befriending a soldier - not something most Amish look highly upon. It brought out a lot of emotion and added a lot of interesting layers to the book.

I also liked that the book wasn't only following one storyline. It follows both families though their own struggles and emotions, while still keeping the whole story in context and interesting.
So, all in all I definitely enjoyed the book, and would happily recommend it!

You can pick up a copy of the book here on Amazon here:

Amish Promises (Neighbors of Lancaster County Book #1)

Or on the Baker Publishing Website here:

Amish Promises