Review of the Winnowing Season

TheWinnowing Season is the 2^nd book of the Amish Vines and Orchard Series by Cindy Woodsmall. I have read the 1^st book and enjoyed both books and am waiting for the 3^rd book in the series.  

The books tell the story of a couple of Amish families who have to Maine to start a new apple orchard after theirs was damaged by storms. The younger members of the families struggle with the decision to remain in the Amish faith. Some of the other members have struggles of their own. 

Cindy Woodsmall has a great talent for writing in a way that makes the characters easy to relate to.  I have read many of her books and have enjoyed all of them.  

I received a free copy of the book from the Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging For Books reviewer program in exchange for an honest review.

I have been participating in the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge, click here for other books I have read this year,

$5 Taste of Home Cookbook/Kohls Cares

Taste of Home is one of the resources I turn to for many recipes.  They publish a monthly magazine with recipes, an annual cookbook of all of the recipes from the magazine for the entire year and there are recipes on the website and Facebook page.  The recipes are submitted by readers so they are easy recipes and use “normal” ingredients.  I usually receive compliments on recipes I make from the cookbooks.

Taste of Home is teaming up with Kohls Cares with the Busy Family Cookbook.  The cookbook is available at Kohls stores (near the registers) or online for $5.  100% of the proceeds will support kids’ health and education initiatives across the country.  The cookbook contains 275 fast dinner recipes.

Deal with Your Debt

I recently read the book, Deal With Your Debt by Liz Weston.  At the time of this post, the Kindle version is free.  MAKE SURE THE PRICE IS STILL $0.00 BEFORE ORDERING, prices can change at any time.  You can read Kindle books even if you don't have a Kindle device.  There is software you can download to read Kindle books on your computer, mobile phone or tablet.

The book includes information on different types of debt, ways to get out of debt and stay out of debt. It covers credit card debt, mortgage debt, student loan debt and other topics.

It is a good resource for people who are in debt and refresher information for others.

One of my goals for the year is to read at least one book each week of the year.  Click here for the other books I have read this year.

Life Without Limits Review

Life without Limits is by Nick Vujicic who was born with arms or legs and became an international motivational speaker. 

He travels the world sharing stories of his life, giving hope to others when they are ready to give up.  We may be going through difficulties and wondering why, but there is always someone that is suffering more than we are. Many of the challenges we face are temporary, unlike Nick’s disabilities that have affected his entire life. 

It is an inspiring book that shows if Nick and others going through tough times, there are reasons we are given the circumstances we face. 

In return for this review I received a copy of the book from Waterbrook Multonah Publishers as part of their Blogging for Books Program.

Check out other books I have read this year.

Purex Buy 1 Get 2 Free

This week through Saturday, June 22 CVS and Walgreens both have Purex laundry detergent on sale, Buy 1 get 2 free. The price at CVS is $6.49, so it comes to $2.16 per bottle.

Vacation photos into Wall Art

Today I stopped at a thrift store looking for something and instead found these plate racks.  I have been looking for racks like this to display my photo books from my vacations.  They were $1.50 each so I got 4 of them for less than the regular price of one.  On Amazon I saw they were $7 each.

I have four of them so I put two on each side of the door.

By doing this, I can display and enjoy my photos regularly instead of storing them on a shelf.

Checking the Bank

With direct deposits and auto payments that are available now, you may not be checking your accounts like you used to.  It is important to either check your bank statements monthly or check it more often if you have online access to your bank accounts.

This morning I happended to check my bank account, after making a deposit of my paycheck yesterday.  I was surprised to see it had not been posted yet.  I called the bank to check the balance to make sure it was right.  The deposit had not been recorded yet.

After some research they did find the deposit and it had not been posted.  It is also important to check your accounts to make sure debits are not taken from your account also by mistake.

Several years ago, there was a quite large deposit made to my savings account.  It turned out that it was supposed to be added to someone else's account.

If a deposit it not posted to your account, you may be writing checks or making other purchases that will casuse your account to be overdrawn.  If it is the bank's fault, they may refund overdraft fees but it would still be a hassle.

Even if you have bills paid automatically, it is also important to take a look at your monthy statement to make sure you are not being billed for items you no longer need or use.  There may be membership fees on your credit card that you know longer use but are still paying for.