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ESV Illuminated Bible – Review and Giveaway

I received this Bible free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

About

The ESV Illuminated Bible places the full ESV text alongside over 500 elegantly hand-lettered gold ink illustrations by renowned artist Dana Tanamachi. Printed on thick cream-colored paper, the Bible’s single-column text setting and wide margins provide generous space for additional notes, prayers, and designs—inviting readers to creatively engage with and reflect on the beauty of God’s Word.

• 9-point, Lexicon

• Black letter text

• 2-color printing

• 64 full-page, custom book opener illustrations

• 50 full-page verse illustrations

• 250+ hand-lettered margin verses

• 100+ other illustrations throughout

• Illustrated by Dana Tanamachi, whose work has been featured by Google, The Wall Street Journal, Random House, USPS, and Target

• Thick, cream-colored paper

• Wide margins

• Single-column, paragraph format

• Smyth-sewn binding

• Packaging: Permanent Slipcase

• Dana Tanamachi is an American lettering artist, graphic designer, and illustrator whose exquisite typographic murals ignited the worldwide chalk-lettering trend. She has been commissioned by clients such as Instagram, Target, Google, Time Magazine, Nike, and West Elm.

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Review

I have trouble writing in books but this Bible encourages you to write in the margins. I like that there are illustrations already there, so I’m less intimidated at the thought of making notes in my Bible. I love that this Bible is ESV, since that is my favorite version, and while I just haven’t convinced myself to write in the Bible yet, I’m getting close. In fact, I may let my 9 year old break it in for me since she loves to highlight, underline, and make notes when she reads.

In my opinion, this makes a great family Bible where everyone is encouraged to make notes, illustrations, etc for the entire family to enjoy.

The paper is thick so it’s designed for writing on. The illustrations in the Bible are gorgeous. Even if I never end up writing in it, it’s still a beautiful book to read, and I just love beautiful books. Because of the thicker paper it’s a bit too heavy to easily carry to Church with me, so it’s more of a family Bible or study Bible.

I’m just loving this ESV Illustrated Bible and the interaction it encourages!

You can purchase these at Amazon or check out the Illuminated Bible website.

How We Made the ESV Illuminated Bible from Crossway on Vimeo.

And I get to give away a copy of this ESV Illuminated Bible to one of my readers! Enter below for your chance to win.

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Where We Belong – Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Where We Belong by Lynn Austin was an intriguing read about two sisters who grew up in Victorian age American but preferred adventure and travel in defiance of the expected social rules of the day.

In this story of adventure and challenge you follow two sisters, Rebecca and Flora as they search for an important manuscript. You’ll learn about why they’re here, how they got here, and be inspired by their love of adventure.

This book reads a lot like a historical fiction, which I found confusing at first until I found out that the author was inspired by a true story of two sisters who found an important manuscript. While this book is not historical fiction and really only takes the topic from actual history, it’s still very fun to think about how those women may actually have discovered things.

I enjoyed reading about Rebecca and Flora’s journeys to different places, and the dangers, the friends, and the adventures they encountered on their way.

This post does contain affiliate links.

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Crown of Souls – Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Crown of Souls – Ronie Kendig

This book is the 3rd in Ronnie Kendig’s Tox Files series and is my favorite of the three. Gripping from beginning to end, this book was fun and entertaining to read.

The book starts with Tox being shot and the action just continues from there. Tox is forced to face his personal conflicts all while hunting down a deranged killer and keeping his team alive.

When an old army friend goes rogue, Tox and his team have to find him and stop him. Can Tox find him in time, can the team stop what he’s doing?

As they pursue, Tox learns more about himself than he really wanted to know. And he has to make hard decisions about how to protect his team and those he loves without becoming the monster that he is trying to stop.

I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading number four of the Tox Files when it comes out.

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Jeremy Camp – The Answer – Review and Giveaway

I received this CD free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Jeremy Camp – The Answer

I love “Word of Life” by Jeremy Camp so I was super excited to review his new CD. Word of Life is the cover song for this CD, so I figured I would probably like the rest of the CD as well.

I love how his music is upbeat and fun to listen to and sing along with. With songs like “My Father’s Arms” and “Love so Great”, this CD is full of great music that me and my kids have been enjoying.

My 4yr old son is excited to have a new CD with a male singer. He has two older sisters who prefer female musicians because they’re easier for them to sing along with. I told him that the CD is his and he listens to it as much as he can. He’s so excited to have his own CD and I love that he has some new music that’s not only fun and child appropriate but that also has a great message.

And check out Jeremy Camp’s music video for Word of Life. It’s so much fun!

And, thanks to FlyBy I get to give away one copy of this new CD. It was released today, Oct. 6th so it’s super new! Enter below for a chance to win.

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Matt Redman – Glory Song – Review and Giveaway

I received this CD free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Matt Redman – Glory Song

My 4yr old son was so excited to get a CD with a boy singer, as he puts it. I like Matt Redman so I was excited about reviewing this CD.

Matt Redman teamed up with several of his worship-artist friends for this album, first releasing the track “Gracefully Broken (feat. Tasha Cobbs Leonard).” Tasha Cobbs Leonard also released her own version of this song on the same day!

The album also features Kierra Sheard, Guvna B, Madison Cunningham, and Kim Walker-Smith.

I put this in the car and we’re all enjoying listening to it while we run errands, drop off kids, pick up kids, etc. It’s so much fun to have new music that everyone likes. The music on this CD is upbeat but not too loud and really a great CD for in the car. My favorite song one “Greatest Hallelujah” the music and the words just go together so well in this song!

And Gracefully Broken with Tasha Cobbs Leonard is just beautiful!

You can download the music from iTunes.

And, enter below for a chance to win a copy of the new Matt Redman – Glory Song CD.

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How to Listen so People Will Talk – Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

How to Listen so People will Talk – Becky Harling

I don’t know about you, but I have a problem with not listening to people and then being frustrated when people aren’t listening to me. I have a couple of friends who are really good listeners and I’ve really been observing this year and trying to figure out what makes them people that I want to talk to.

I was excited that I got to review this book, because I really wanted to know. How do I listen so people will talk to me. My friends, my kids, my husband, even the random lady at the grocery checkout. Yes, all my life, random people will literally tell me their life story. Though, these past couple of years, having multiple kids seems to slow that down a little. And I started wondering if it was actually the kids, or is it me. Have I just gotten bad at listening?

I picked up several really good tips from this book. Though, my favorite was the section on “listen to another’s story”. Just thinking about how I listen and framing it around listening as they tell their story – because everything in life is a story – has really helped me actually stop trying to talk and just listen. It’s all about developing better listening habits. Want to know more about what it means to listen to someone’s story, you should buy the book.

There were several other really great tips in this book, and combining them with my focus of listening to another’s story is working really well for me. I’m not sure if my kids and husband are comfortable talking more, or if they’re talking the same and I’m just paying better attention, but I do feel like I’m hearing more of what they say, more of their story. And I’m happy to be hearing more from the people that I love.

This post contains affiliate links.

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The Assault – Book Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

The Assault: Cycle Two of the Harbingers Series by Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, and Alton Gansky.

This is Book two of the Harbingers Series. A while back I reviewed book one and liked it so I was excited to receive book two to review as well.

This book was much like the first, with each author writing a section from their person’s point of view. I do find it a bit jolting at times when I switch authors. Mainly because the book is more like 4 mini stories and not one large story, but also the switch between characters when I switch authors always takes me a second. I have to re-orient myself to whom is telling the story – since the stories are told in the first person, and each author writes for a different person.

As the darkness grows with these 4 gifted people be able to stay ahead of it or will it overtake them? The continuing story line is interesting and exciting to read. Because of the 4 different authors it’s a bit unpredictable what will happen to the 4 friends next and what the outcome will be, so it keeps me guessing. Which is always great for this type of book.

This book is easy and quick to read and very entertaining. I enjoyed reading it, and plan to read cycle three as well.

 

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Praying for Girls – Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review, all opinions are my own.

Praying for Girls by Teri Lynne Underwood – Asking God for the Things they Need Most.

If you have daughters and don’t really know how to pray for them, this book is perfect for you. The author has suggestions for praying for your daughters both young and older across 5 different areas of her life.

Each section has several chapters that break down the topic, and each chapter has suggested verses, prayers, and activities for you and your daughter so that you can pray and press into these topics with your daughter and pray some more.

The ideas for engaging with your daughter are simple, practical, and great conversation starters for pressing into some of the more difficult areas of growing up.

For my girls, they’re young, so I think just now beginning to think about their purposes – which is one of the areas covered. There are some great prayers and conversation starters for me to use to begin digging into this a little bit now and then I can add on as they get older.

Praying for Girls was easy to read and is a great book for me to continue to refer to as my girls get older.

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3Doodler Party and Review

This is a sponsored post. Thanks to Tryazon for this awesome party pack!

In our party pack we received:

I’d seen the 3Doodler sets advertised and really wanted to get one for the kids but hadn’t done it yet. I was super excited to get picked for this party. And the product didn’t let me down!

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My 8yr old loves the pen and had no trouble figuring out how to use it. Basically, you have a battery operated pen (rechargeable) that you feed plastic sticks into. The plastic is melted by the pen and you use it to create 3D objects. The melted plastic is warm to the touch but not hot enough to burn or harm you or your kids. And it solidifies completely in about 10 seconds. Even my 4yr old enjoys using the 3Doodler.

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At 4 he doesn’t quite have the fine motor skills to create anything very impressive but he has a blast doing what his older sisters are doing and crafting with them.

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I did make him a helicopter and he just loves it! It was actually way easier to make than I expected. The 3Doodler Start kit has templates included and it makes it so easy to create some fun 3D plastic items!

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Though, sharing is hard, but they managed! We’ve had so much fun with our 3Doodler both at the party and after. And the kids just love experimenting and discovering what new things they can create!

I enjoy crafting and I just love any product that gets my kids creating different things in different ways. This 3Doodler is awesome and so much fun for both kids and adults!

Check out these tips here for getting started with your own 3Doodler.

Or take a look at this YouTube video to help you get started on your first project. It’s so easy and fun!

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Using Cars.com to Find the Best Car

This is a Sponsored Post

First things first, when car hunting, you need to figure out what kind of car you want. My husband is considering a new car and what he wants is vastly different from the kind of car we looked for when we needed a new family car.

With 3 kids and one on the way, we have a minivan because we need the space. For my husband, he’s often driving his cars to meetings and its just him so we need something smaller, with good gas mileage.

We currently have an older BMW and love it, so we don’t feel the need to switch brands. Which helps narrow down what we’re looking for. It’s just time to upgrade.

So, now that we’ve figured out what kind of car we’re looking for, we have to narrow down our search. No one wants to run all over town looking at cars that they don’t want. So we head over to cars.com and start searching.

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Entering search criteria is super easy, make, model, price constraints, and distance from where you live. Everything you need to narrow your search down.

Once you start your search there’s extras you can add to narrow it down. Like, leather seats are a must for us, and since we won’t buy a car without them, there’s no point waisting time looking if the cars don’t have leather seats. And hubby really wants a keyless start so I selected that option as well. That leaves me with 12 options on my first search. By the time my husband looks at it and pares it down a little more based on color and any other particulars that he’d like to see, there’s only going to be a couple that we’ll end up looking at.

On each car’s individual page you can see pictures, contact the dealer, and even see the carfax report. There’s a list of car features, price comparison, and an estimated payments calculator for if you plan to get financing for your purchase.

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You can even research a specific car model and see what others say about it. What’s good about it and what people don’t like.

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If you’re wanting to research your car before you even start test driving cars.com is the perfect place to start.