Justin McRoberts dares you to move beyond “it is what it is” thinking and become an agent of love and redemption in your household, neighborhood, and workplace.
“It is what it is”—a common phrase you hear and maybe even say yourself. But the truth is that there is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence that simply is what it is. Justin McRoberts invites you to embrace a new mindset: it is what you make of it.
• Publisher: National Geographic (March 2, 2021)
• Hardcover: 312 Pages
In this thought-provoking follow-up to his acclaimed StarTalk book, uber astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles the world’s most important philosophical questions about the universe with wit, wisdom, and cutting-edge science.
For science geeks, space and physics nerds, and all who want to understand their place in the universe,
About Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better at It?
Hardcover: 256 Pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 30, 2021)
My wife drives me crazy sometimes. My husband should already know what I need. Is our marriage in trouble if we fight all the time? Is it possible to learn how to fight?
For the last several years, Penn and Kim Holderness have done the hard maintenance and the research.
Former Today show host Kathie Lee Gifford draws on stories from her remarkable life to weave together a beautiful reminder that whatever circumstances we face, God is still dreaming big for our years ahead.
When Kathie Lee Gifford stepped down as cohost of the fourth hour of the Today show with Hoda Kotb, you might have thought her best days were behind her. It turns out, she was just getting started.
For a Rose That Blooms in Fire
For a Rose That Blooms in Fire is Isabel Rocio’s debut poetry collection. This collection discusses the harsh reality of being in an abusive relationship. Isabel’s poems are as raw as they get. She openly shares her experience of enduring a relationship that was both physically and emotionally abusive. Much like the mixed emotions one experiences within an abusive relationship, Isabel’s poems have a variety of themes.
Finding Freedom is the upcoming memoir by chef and entrepreneur, Erin French. Though Erin is the owner and head chef of the well-praised restaurant The Lost Kitchen, her journey to success was anything but easy.
Erin’s memoir highlights her life and her upbringing in restaurants from as early as age five. Being that her father owned a diner, Erin quickly became familiar with the food industry herself. She started working at her father’s restaurant at age twelve and learned all the basic kitchen skills.
The Genome Odyssey
If you’re a Grey’s Anatomy fan, The Genome Odyssey takes you on the real-life adventure of solving medical mysteries. In his new book, Dr. Euan Ashley, Stanford professor of medicine and genetics, shares his journey of diagnosing rare and unusual medical conditions through the use of genetic sequencing.
In The Genome Odyssey, readers are taken into the world of medicine and introduced to one of medical science’s newest innovations: the genome.
Lang Leav’s latest poetry book, September Love may be one of the few good things 2020 has given us. Much like her other poetry books, in September Love, Lang shares with us a collection of poems that are comforting, enlightening, and empowering.
September Love contains 224 pages of poems discussing love/unrequited love, heartache, closure, and personal growth. Through Lang’s words, you can tell she’s no stranger to these topics.
On Adulting by Katina Mountanos is an encouraging, inspirational, and enlightening book that deals with the real struggles within adulthood. For most of us, adulthood isn’t anything like we thought it would be. But, just because our current adult lives aren’t meeting our expectations, that doesn’t mean that they never will.
Creating Your Dream Life
In On Adulting, it’s Katina’s mission to help us live the life we always dreamed of.
What is our fascination with the other side?
Join investigative reporter Billy Hallowell as he delves into the strange phenomena of supernatural activity. Themes of demonic possession have overtaken Hollywood, with countless films and TV shows delving into the age-old struggle against evil. Why?
Yet, with so much focus on the topic there seems to be very little public knowledge and discussion about the real-life nature and reality of demons.
Image source: http://canva.com
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on tv. Any health advice here is merely a suggestion. You should always consult your doctor before making any major changes to your diet or fitness routine.
Losing weight isn’t easy, and it becomes even more difficult once you lose a certain amount and hit a weight loss plateau. But, don’t let that number on the scale coming to a halt discourage you.
Paying it forward, Karen is donating a percentage of each book sold to help support libraries and independent bookstores.
• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Hawktale Publishing (September 29, 2020)
From Karen Schaler, the writer of the Netflix phenomenon A Christmas Prince and Hallmark’s Christmas Camp comes this new heartwarming holiday romance. Mamma Mia meets The Bachelorette in
About Unlocking: A Memoir of Family and Art
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: She Writes Press; Illustrated Edition (May 5, 2020)
While recovering from a near fatal illness, Nancy Pressly discovers a treasure trove of family material stored in her attic. Haunted by images of her grandparents and her parents in their youth, she sets out to create a family narrative before it is lost forever. It takes several more years before she summons the courage to reconstitute a path back to her own past,
About the book:
How can we love our neighbors amid so much division and hurt?
Loving your neighbor as yourself would be easy if your neighbors were all people you understood, people you agreed with, people like you. But what about playground bullies, colleagues, refugees, online adversaries? They’re all our neighbors, and Jesus said to love them. Every one. But how?
Lauren Casper believes the key is the lost art of empathy,
The Dilemma is the second poetry book by Danielle Holian. This collection of poetry discusses three different stages of relationships; loving, breaking, and healing. In The Loving chapter, Danielle’s poems are optimistic, passionate, and romantic as she shares her inner thoughts of the man she adores. However, there’s a change of tone in the second chapter. In The Breaking, Danielle’s poems reflect her realization that the love she was giving wasn’t being returned.
Does the thought of joining a dating site invoke feelings of fear and anxiety—or, worse, insecurity or unworthiness? If so, then The Grown Woman’s Guide to Online Dating is the book for you. With practical advice about how these sites work, what to expect, and when to join and quit, along with proven tips for making the most of them, The Grown Woman’s Guide equips readers with all they need to take the plunge.
Cheers to four years!
As of today (July 29th, 2020), it’s been four years since I’ve hit that publish button on my blog. Since then, my blog has grown so much, and I owe a big thanks to those of you who take the time to read it.
Over the last four years that I’ve invested in this blog, I’ve created meaningful content on love and life,
From the star of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, now filming its eleventh season for TLC, comes a book and a life-makeover movement for women approaching fifty and beyond.
Move over, girlfriend, Lori Allen is here to help you say yes to what’s next! Star of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, Lori Allen uses her confidence, wisdom, and signature humor not only to help young brides on their most important day ever but also to model to them and their mothers how to live out the coming years as the best of their lives.
About All Things Reconsidered: How Rethinking What We Know Helps Us Know What We Believe
Popular podcaster and author Knox McCoy offers readers a unique blend of humor, Bible stories, pop culture references, and personal stories that show how asking tough questions and approaching life with a willingness to reconsider ideas can allow them to grow in their faith.
About Dream Big
From New York Times bestselling author Bob Goff, the creator of the popular Dream Big conferences, a wildly inspiring yet utterly practical blueprint for helping readers find and reach their biggest dreams.
Bob Goff is on a mission to shake people into the version of their lives they dreamt about before someone told them it was impossible or incorrect. He wants people to reconnect with the seat of their passion and their person.
Join us for this tour from Jun 8 to Jun 26, 2020!
Book Details:
Book Title: Signs in the Rearview Mirror: Leaving a Toxic Relationship Behind by Kelly Smith
Category: Adult Non-Fiction, 214 pages
Genre: Self-Help, Memoir
Publisher: Sunny Day Publishing
Release date: April 2018
Content Rating:
PG + M. This non-fiction self-help book has very mild if any swearing.
This post is brought to you by my sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. As always, the opinions expressed below are my own.
Week Four Update
It’s week four of following Joel Marion’s Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight! If you’ve been with me since the beginning,
This post is brought to you by my sponsor, “Always Eat After 7 PM”. As always, the opinions expressed below are my own.
For the past few weeks I’ve been altering my diet and changing my lifestyle habits with help from Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion.
As I’ve discussed in my first post,
Explore how to live a life of joy and fullness, especially in the midst of disappointment and broken dreams.
How do you live a full life? Perhaps the better question is, how do you really live when life throws you sucker punches, when you face obstacles that seem to snuff out your faith, when you lose something or someone precious to you? In The Fight to Flourish,
About The Opposite of Certainty:
What happens when we can no longer pretend that the ground underfoot is bedrock and the sky above predictable?
All Janine Urbaniak Reid ever wanted was for everyone she loved to be okay so she might relax and maybe be happy. Her life strategy was simple: do everything right. This included trying to be the perfect mother to her three kids so they would never experience the kind of pain she pretended not to feel growing up.
Keep Moving by Maggie Smith is a book full of quotes, essays, and affirmations. In Keep Moving, Maggie touches on many topics such as healing, creativity, acceptance, and starting anew. Taken from her personal experiences, she shares profound wisdom about divorce, change, loss, and life’s curveballs. Maggie’s words are words that you want to carry around with you, reminding you to live, forgive, and accept change.
Many of her passages I want to write on post-it notes and put them on my wall,
About Frances Mayes Always Italy
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (March 31, 2020)
The world’s favorite expert on la dolce vita (Under the Tuscan Sun author) guides readers through Italy’s iconic regions, replete with lavish National Geographic images.
This lush guide, featuring more than 350 glorious photographs from National Geographic, showcases the best Italy has to offer from the perspective of two women who have spent their lives reveling in its unique joys.
About 100 Drives, 5000 Ideas
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (March 3, 2020)
Buckle up for the road trip of a lifetime: 100 epic journeys through all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces offering thousands of sites and roadside attractions along the way. A sequel to the best-selling 50 States, 5,000 Ideas.
From a vineyard route through Northwest wine country to a winter wonderland on Alberta’s Icefields Parkway,
About Complete National Parks of Europe
• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (February 25, 2020)
Discover European wilderness–from Croatia’s coastline to Scotland’s highlands–in this comprehensive guide to pristine parks and wild spaces, full of photos, maps, and tips.
In these rich and informative pages, the travel pros at National Geographic bring you the premier guide to 460 national parks of Europe. Find your way to Snowdonia in Wales,
“Who listens to you?” NYT contributor Kate Murphy asked people on five continents this question and the typical response was a long pause. In her new book, You’re Not Listening, Kate shares her two years of research and insight related to listening.
While you may think listening is a straightforward subject, Kate Murphy approaches it from every possible angle. Her book is full of knowledge on why we have the tendency to tune others out and how that’s affecting us on an individual and societal level.
About Eat Sleep Work Repeat
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (February 25, 2020)
“An important reminder of simple everyday practices to improve how we all work together, which will lead to greater team and individual happiness and performance. Great results will follow.”—Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square
“With just 30 changes, you can transform your work experience from bland and boring (or worse) to fulfilling,
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on tv. Any health advice here is merely a suggestion. You should always consult your doctor before making any major changes to your diet or fitness routine.
With the new year fully in motion, new health trends are circulating everywhere. There’s no better time to shake up your routine than in a new decade, but not all trends are worth following.
Interview with Dr. Pressman:
1) Thank you for taking the time to do an interview with me. As someone who struggles with anxiety myself, I’m very interested in learning about your book. How does your approach to anxiety in Deconstructing Anxiety differ from other approaches to anxiety?
Love this question because it lets me summarize my own life story in a nutshell. As a young adolescent, I began asking all the usual,
About Groomed
Someone in your past sold you a false story about who you are and what you’re worth. It has been holding you back for too long. Take control of your future.
A staggering one out of three women in America was a victim of sexual abuse at some point in her childhood. No matter how many years it’s been, if that’s your story, those scars are probably still with you.
Book Details:
Book Title: The Permanent Weight Loss Plan: A 10-Step Approach To Ending Yo-Yo Dieting by Dr. Janice Asher; Jae Rivera
Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 308 pages
Genre: How-To
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Release date: January 2020
Tour dates: January 7 to February 3, 2020
Content Rating: PG
Book Description:
Diets come and go, and the scale needle swings as you drop pounds and then
gain them back.
Read More »
Now that most people have a smartphone with a camera, they often rely on friends or relatives to take photos for them at an event. Or, they may even do it for free for themselves. Amateur smartphone photography is likely one of the main contributors to the decline in the photography industry. However, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that its prediction of a 6 percent decline from 2018 to 2028 is at least partially due to companies deciding to contract with freelancers rather than hire their own.
Beautifully Chaotic is the debut poetry book by writer Danielle Holian. The collection is divided into four segments: Destruction, Purpose, Mourning, and Healing. Each section moves the reader through the painful yet important process of healing from heartache and trauma. These poems are full of raw emotion and powerfully discuss sensitive topics such as r*pe, and physical and emotional abuse, so read at your own discretion.
About Body Leaping Backward
•Hardcover: 240 pages
•Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (July 16, 2019)
The “mesmerizing . . . daring and important”* story of a risk-taking girlhood spent in a working-class prison town —Andre Dubus III
For Maureen Stanton’s proper Catholic mother, the town’s maximum-security prison was a way to keep her seven children in line (“If you don’t behave, I’ll put you in Walpole Prison!”).
As a society, we like teasing men when they have a cold. I’m not going to lie, I’ve been one to poke fun at men and their “man colds“. But, due to unfortunate circumstances, I now see things in a new light.
It’s no secret that when men are sick, they are far less likely to go to the doctor than women. In fact, 60% of men avoid doctor visits.
Lang Leav is back at healing our hearts and enlightening our souls through the power of her poetry. Her latest and sixth poetry book, Love Looks Pretty on You is full of poems that both your mind and heart need to hear.
Lang’s new poetry collection focuses on all things love; self-love, as well as the beauty, blindness, complexity, and acceptance of love. Love Looks Pretty on You contains 224 pages of poems.
The mid-twenties to early-thirties is a confusing time. Some of us may be looking for homes in Indianapolis, while the rest of us don’t exactly know what we’re looking for. If you fall into the latter category, you may be suffering from a quarter-life crisis.
I’m possibly the least qualified person ever to give advice on quarter-life crises seeing as I’ve been going through one for the last year or so.
Note: I am not a psychiatrist nor do I play one on t.v. so please remember that my advice is just advice and should be followed at your discretion. If your feelings of sadness go beyond just a funk and at all resemble depression, please seek out professional help.
No one is happy 100% of the time. And really, it’s delusional to expect yourself to be because sometimes life just SUCKS.
If you’re somehow unfamiliar with ghosting, consider yourself lucky. Ghosting is the act of disappearing on someone you were dating, talking to, or in a relationship with. It occurs when a romantic prospect or partner decides to cut off all communication with the other person. Sometimes, you can see it coming while other times it happens when you least expect it. Regardless of how or why it happened, there’s no denying that it’s an inconsiderate and cowardly way of ending things.
The Nick Box is a quarterly subscription service full of all things Nick nostalgia. Whether it be a plush of your favorite 90’s Nick character, apparel that allows you to cosplay them, or coasters in the shape of Rugrats, The Nick Box is full of fun, nostalgic, and sometimes useful items.
The Nick Box first debuted in the summer of 2016 and has created four fun-filled boxes since.
When some people think of Chippendales, they think of attractive men mindlessly dancing around wearing nothing more than briefs and a collar bow tie. But, the Chippendales experience is sooo much more than that! After attending a Chippendales show in Indianapolis earlier this month, I have newfound respect and admiration for the Chippendales men. Don’t get me wrong, I love eye candy just as much as the next girl, but the men who make up Chippendales have a hell of a lot more to offer than a pretty face and perfectly sculpted abs.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.
Hello and welcome back to my thoughts!
Today, I have a new makeup review to share with you brought to you by Covergirl! As a CoverGirl Insider member, I was given the opportunity to try CoverGirl’s newest product,
If someone told you that you could make extra money online, what’s the chances you would believe them? Naturally, you would probably be a bit skeptical and/or fearful that you would fall into a scheme. And while there are many schemes out there that you should be wary of, there are also some easy and safe ways to earn money online. Unlike most schemes, none of these methods I’m about to reveal to you require your credit card number or other super confidential information.
If you’re the type of person who loves The Walking Dead and/or would celebrate Halloween year-round, Zombie Burger + Drink Lab is your kind of food joint! Although I’ve visited Zombie Burger once before, I recently made another visit that reminded me why I love this restaurant so much!
Other than the food, one of the best things about Zombie Burger +Drink Lab is the ambiance. When you arrive at the restaurant in Des Moines,
Once, I shamelessly sent a text to a guy that said, “Show me your soul instead of your selfies.”
As expected, he quickly replied with a confused “Lol…what?!”
Although my text might have been worded strangely, or maybe was just plain weird, my underlying message still stands. I wanted to see more of him, but what I wanted to see had nothing to do with his looks.
I wanted to know his biggest secrets,