Ashley Boulais

Today is day one of reading my next book - One Month to Love by Kerry Shook.  It's right up my alley - journaling and making people feel loved.  Two great joys of mine.  (I'm much better at journaling in a real live journal than I am in an online blog - have no fear.) I received this book for free on bloggingforbooks.com. At the end of each chapter there's a "Challenge" section.  Today's challenges? Pick three people on whom to focus during the next month.   Jessie Buske Mom Brandon Do a facebook fast once a week and write a friend a handwritten card or go for coffee. (deal) Think about inviting three or four friends to try this challenge. (eh...I don't know...) Day one was easy peasy.  Edit:  so as it turns out, you really need to choose people with whom you can have face-to-face interaction.  For that reason I failed to stay engaged in this process.  It would be fun to try again! 

 Okay, so it took me a few months - but step one of my goal to blog is complete!  I am finally posting a review of my first book, Cleaning House , written by Kay Wills Wyma.  I got a free copy on bloggingforbooks.com just for writing a review.  How sweet?! I know I got the idea for this back in January and we are now approaching April but I should note, just because I feel the need to justify myself, that I have also taken up spinning three times a week, am working full time AND I'm the best wife and mom ever (says my husband).  So yeah...three months isn't that bad, right? Anyway, I really think ya'll should check out Wyma's book.  If you have kids or are in any sort of ministry where you're helping kids or teens prepare for adulthood, just do it. **** Based on her own real-life experiment to stop enabling her kids to live in a self-centered, serve-me world, Kay Wills Wyma has crafted a witty, easy-to-read book called Cleaning House . Cleaning Ho...

I had a blog previously under this same name - creating a blog was a goal I had made for 2012.  I wanted a place to write about the many challenges and especially the joys of marriage and family life.  I wrote about date nights and posted beautiful pictures of places like the Chicago Botanic Gardens.  I posted pictures of my growing baby bump after I found out that I was pregnant in December 2011.  I cannot tell you how much busier and more rich my life has gotten with the two most amazing men in my life (my husband and my son).  I'm a full time working Mom and in my spare time, I like to nap.  So naturally, my blog fell to the wayside and I eventually deleted it.  Now I'm back.  This time, I have a different goal.  I want to begin reading more regularly again and a colleague of mine introduced me to something called "Blogging for Books" through which one can receive free books in exchange for writing reviews.  How perfect is that?!...