In honor of Valentine's day:

1. South American Indians celebrated the harvest of this food. Today, a main ingredient for moles and desserts. Cocoa

2. This herb was used as a powder by Haitian wives. Today, a main Italian staple in every home. Oregano

3. This veggie will get your blood flowing. Today, it is a main ingredient in Mexican recipes. Cumin

4. French couples ate plenty of this green vegetable before their wedding. Today, in Asian cooking it is often stir fried. Snow Peas

5. Story goes, Attila the Hun enjoyed this on his honeymoon...so much so, that he drank himself to death. Today, bridegrooms in India receive this as a gift on their wedding day. Tea

6. The Latin church believes this veggie to be high in protein and increase fertility. Today, it is a staple side with rice in Latin countries. Beans

7. Medieval women scented their bath water with this intoxicating herb. Today, I use it to season my homemade pasta sauce. It's great coupled with garlic on a lamb roast, too. Basil

8. Aztec maidens were forbidden to help harvest this green veggie. Today, guacamole cannot be made without it. Avacado

9. Bavarian cows were decorated with this fruit in hopes of an abundant milk supply. This Valentine's Day, I recommend dipping this in the answer to question #1. Strawberries

10. This green veggie plays hard to get. Today is very popular deep fried. Okra

11. This seafood is loaded in zinc and many believe it to be a very romantic food indeed. Today, it is popular in chowder. Clams

Addie Sullivan grew up among the salty shores of the Pacific Ocean. The only child of the lighthouse caretaker and his wife, Addie never questioned her life until one day a stranger arrives at her family's door. Addie's quest to unravel the mystery of her past is the premise of this Christian mystery/romance.

If I wasn't obligated to read the entire book I would have stopped after the first chapter. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Christian fiction, but I would rather have a flawed heroine than one who is the picture of perfection. The best descriptive phrase I could use to describe this book would be "fluffy cheese." Any book that uses the line "I never lived before I knew you" earns a ten on the cheese scale. There are a lot of people who love this style and there's definitely a market for it, but it's not for me. I found myself saying "Give me a break. No one acts like that in real life." (Yes, I know it's fiction, but fiction needs to be believable, and this book was not.) The plot was reasonably interesting, but the characters were shallow and predictable. I found myself not really caring what happened to the protagonist. Needless to say, this is not a book I will read again.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.

If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for a good deal and an even BIGGER fan of free things. While browsing through a site of giveaways I noticed one for the new Sony Reader I just thought I'd give you a heads up if anyone was interested in entering. Of course if you win it and I don't I'll probably want to borrow it at least once.

It's like we're speaking two different languages. Why can't he read my mind? Why won't she just say what she means? Dr. Emerson Eggerichs attempts to help bridge the communication gap in his book The Language of Love & Respect. Eggerich claims that the root cause of communication problems is that we speak different languages – what he would describe as pink and blue. Neither is wrong; they are just different. Eggerich’s basis for Love & Respect is Epeshians 5:33 which states that husbands are to show love to their wives and wives are to show respect for their husbands. He claims that couples can learn how to communicate by implementing his “practical, step-by-step approach.”

I received a free copy as part of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program. Unfortunately I did not find the book to be all that helpful. In many ways it felt like a regurgitation of the book Love & Respect. Although the principles were true and in many ways helpful, I felt like the message could have been summed up effectively in less than 318 pages. I often felt like I was reading a very long infomercial for Love & Respect ministries – full of testimonials and acronyms. Although I did take away a few helpful tips, I frequently found myself checking to see how many pages were left. The information was good, but nothing new. If you’re a big fan of Love and Respect borrow this one from the library, but prepare yourself for a repeat of what you’ve already learned.

Have you ever seen a mom with a look of desperation? Perhaps she was walking lopsidedly with a screaming child dangling from one arm and that child's many accouterments hanging from her other arm. Perhaps that mother was me.

It's hard to believe that I'm someone's mom. Perhaps that's because I still feel like the same college kid I was a few years ago. Now I have this little man who depends on me for his everything. Life is certainly full of twists and turns. God is teaching me many things through these mommy moments, and I will do my best to share with you all the mommy adventures and misadventures as they come along.