Switching Your Favorites To Bloglovin'...A Little How To...

Hi everyone!!  I hope you are having a wonderful start to your weekend.  The kids and I have been having a lot of fun this week swimming and hanging out together.  We are going to try and camp outside again tonight and see if mom can handle it this time.  Let's just hope I can get some sleep this time. ;)

As most of you already know, starting Monday, Google Reader will no longer be available.  I don't know about you but that is how I have been keeping up with most of you. I have now switched all of the blogs I follow over to Bloglovin'.  Now, every morning I get one email in my inbox with loads of posts from all of my favorite blogs.  I no longer miss out of all the great posts and what every one is up to.  If you have not switched your favorites yet hurry and do so.  That way you won't miss out either.  

What's that?...You don't know how to switch them over?...Well let me show you how....

*First, long in to Bloglovin.com. You can set up an account if you do not already have one.

*After you set up your account, or get logged into your preexisting one, click on the little  heart on the top right of your screen.

*Scroll down to "import from Google Reader."

*You will get a screen that looks like this...

*Click on Google Reader.

*You will then get a screen that looks like this...

*Clink on "Import from Google Reader"

*You should see this screen...

*When it is finished you are all set and read to go.  

It will then take you back to your dashboard where you will be able to have a peek at all the post that a there.  Some of your favorites might not be signed up for Bloglovin' yet.  If you don't see them in your list, pop over to their blog and leave them a message asking them to sign up so you don't miss out on their posts.  You can also manually search for your favorites by clinking on the heart as well.

I hope this helps you get all of your favorites switched so that you don't miss any posts.  I have unsubscribed from a lot of my email post that I was getting because I am now getting all of my updates through Bloglovin.  This has help with email reading as well. Plus not so many emails in my inbox everyday.

Well, I am off to do a little crocheting and play with the kids.  Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday for Monday Funday.

A Kingsbury Collection Book Review

I received a copy of this book from the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing group, through their Blogging For Books Program, in exchange for an honest review. 

This huge, 748 page book contains three of Karen Kingsbury's novels all in one book.  It includes Where Yesterday Lives, When Joy Came To Stay, and On Every Side.

 From the back of the book:

Where Yesterday Lives

Ellen Barrett is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with an uncertain marriage, a forgotten faith, and haunting memories of her picturesque hometown and the love she left behind.  The eldest of five siblings, she longs for the time, long ago, when they were a happy family.  Now Ellens beloved father is dead, and she returns to her childhood home to make peace-with the people who still live there, with the losses and the changes that time has wrought, and with the future God has set before her.

When Joy Came To Stay

Maggie Stovall is one of the golden people.  She has it all together...at least on the surface.  Ben Stovall is  godly husband and successful attorney.  He has no idea of the darkness about to overtake his life.  Amanda Joy is a child of society-abused, broken, thrown away.  But her trust in God is still alive.  When Joy Came to Stay is the heart-wrenching story of one woman's descent into the shadows of depression, her husband's search for understanding, and a precious child's unwavering faith.

On Every Side

Faith Evans is an up-and-coming newscaster, a woman of honor and integrity who must take a stand against the one man she never imagined would be her enemy.  A beloved, hundred-year-old-statue of Jesus stands in a small-town park--but some say it's a clear violation of separation of church and state that must come down.  Jordan Riley is a powerful attorney fighting for human rights and against God, but still reckoning with bitter boyhood losses.  Amid political intrigue, social injustice, and personal conflicts, will love be enough when the battle rages on every side?

These were the first Karen Kingsbury books that I had ever read.  I really liked all of them.  They each had characters that I could relate to.  When Joy Came to Stay was my favorite though.  Maggie has a secret that she has been hiding for years.  Not even her parents realize she has kept this secret for so long.  And poor, sweet Amanda Joy has had a rough life.  She was given up at birth by her birth mother and adopted by a nice, but not very loving couple.  Then a few years later they died in an accident and she was placed in foster care.  She has been shuffled from foster home to foster home being abused along the way.  When Maggie can no longer hide her secret her world crumbles around her as she sinks into a pit of depression.  This book has a wonderful ending that I will not spoil for you. All of the stories had me laughing and crying right along with the characters.  Each book is loaded with characters you will love and feel like you are a part of their family.  I can't wait to read more of Karen's books.

If you would like to read a FREE short story by Karen Kingsbury, you can download it for you book reader from HERE. If you have read these, or any of Karen's other books, I would love for you to leave me a comment  and let me know which ones you have read and what you liked most about them. If you would like to become a book reviewer please visit the Blogging for Books website for more information.  I hope you are having a wonderful week and I will talk to you soon.  Don't forget to link up for this weeks Monday Funday or this months Bloglovin' Blog Hop while you are here.

Bloglovin' Blog Hop # 7

Welcome to Bloglovin' Blog Hop #7

Hosted by

Mel's Daisy Patch

<a border="0" href="<a href="http://melsdaisypatch.blogspot.com/search?q=bloglovin%27+blog+hop">http://melsdaisypatch.blogspot.com/search?q=bloglovin%27+blog+hop</a>" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElxDCUm0751UYfQ3mfKcQiEAVjAOuatAYDpbVqBWhCUQEuny-VQ9K1Kz8SxMfCesIThwtgEADdjuPhewz0KStORg1LgvEcLQ3rgHg7faDkr0L8FjV_NrzGdhA9GVuC0MxdihoDFJp1b0c/s1600/Bloglovin+hop+mels+250+x+250.jpg" /></a>

 I'm changing things up a little this month. This weeks hop will be for your Bloglovin' account, your blog or both.

Rules

1. Grab the button above and put it on your side bar, in your linky list, or in a post so everyone knows where you link up.

2. Follow your host and co-hosts on Bloglovin' or their Blog. Please leave us a comment so we know you are new and can come visit you also.

3. Link up your Bloglovin' URL, Blog URL or both. Please do not link up a specific post just the blog URL.

4. Hop around and visit some of the other blogs listed.  Who knows, you might make some lifelong friends in the process. Make sure to leave them a comment so they can visit you as well.

5. Please visit our sponsors pages also. 

Your Host:

Your Co- Hosts:

 

If you are interested in Co-Hosting please contact the host by using the contact page HERE. THERE IS NO FEE FOR CO-HOSTING. I will add new co-hosts weekly and the hop will run for a month. If you would like to sponsor the hop, please contact me with the link above. Your ad will be placed just below the linkup image below for everyone to see and on the sidebar for the month. Sponsorship is $5.00 for the month and all you have to do is sit here on the post and look pretty. 

Link Up

Our Wonderful Sponsors

Monday Funday #37...I'm Back

Happy Monday everyone.  I've missed visiting with all of you.  What have you been up to?  What are you making/working on at the moment.  Link up below so I can see.

I've gotten back into my crochet again.  I didn't realize how much I had missed it.  I have made some cute little bunnies for the kids.  

Aren't they cute.  Boo's is the one on the right.  As you can see it has been well loved and is already getting warm and fuzzy. The other one is K's.  She got hers yesterday for her birthday. She is now 14...(sniffle sniffle).  Hers somehow turned out smaller.  I used the exact same yarn and hook for both.  She loves it that way though so it's all good.  If you would like to make one of your own, you can find the pattern HERE. I used Yarn Bee Soft Secret Yarn to make both of them.  I hope to have a couple more little goodies finished to share with you by next week.

We had a pretty busy week last week.  We took the kids to Branson, Mo last Saturday to White Water.  The kids had a blast right up until a storm started coming through and they made all of us get out of the water.  We ate lunch and hung around the park until everyone started to leave.  Then they decided to close the park down and gave the remaining customers rain passes to get back in anytime. Which means we will be going back for free another day.  Gotta love that!!  Hubby's birthday was Sunday, as well as Father's Day.  Wednesday(6/19) was our 20th wedding anniversary.  Hard to believe I have been married to my dear hubby for more than half of my life.  Then Miss Tootie turned 14 yesterday.  My babies are both growing up so fast!!  She was not excited about getting older.  She said "It's scary...I will be 18 in just 4 more years!!!"  When I was her age I couldn't wait to get older.  I'm glad she is taking her time!! Here is a picture of her cookie cake that we baked and I decorated.

We had to find a penguin online so I could put it on the cookie. Her favorite colors are pink and yellow.  I had a little trouble with it's feet because I forgot I needed orange and all I had left was some cookie icing that wanted to run everywhere.  Then we added sparkle sprinkles to make it even more special.  Here is the picture we used. 

I think it turned out pretty good.

On top of everything else, I found out I have IBS and have been put on a dairy free diet for a few weeks.  I went to the local health food store and found some dairy free cheese, butter, yogurt and ice cream.  There are a lot of wonderful products made from coconut milk now. I also got dairy free chocolate chips for the cookie cake.  If you have any dairy free recipes I would love for you to share them with me.  I found out that coconut milk is great in place of regular milk for making cornbread. 

The kids and I will probably go see the new Monster's University movie today or tomorrow.  They decided to wait and go a few days after it came out so that there might not be as many people. That's all I have for now.  I do have a few more pictures I want to share from our trip to the zoo and the house we stayed in last weekend, but I haven't even had time to look at them yet.

Now that I have shared all my news I can't wait to hear yours.  Leave me a comment or link up your goodies below.  Have a great week and don't forget to come back tomorrow for the Bloglovin' hop.  Now that Google is getting rid of so much we need some way to keep up with each other.  I have stopped following a lot of my favorite blogs by email and gone to Bloglovin'.  That way I don't have as many emails in my inbox but I still get to keep up with everything that is going on.

Bloglovin' Blog Hop #6

Welcome to Bloglovin' Blog Hop #6

Hosted by

Mel's Daisy Patch

<a border="0" href="<a href="http://melsdaisypatch.blogspot.com/search?q=bloglovin%27+blog+hop">http://melsdaisypatch.blogspot.com/search?q=bloglovin%27+blog+hop</a>" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElxDCUm0751UYfQ3mfKcQiEAVjAOuatAYDpbVqBWhCUQEuny-VQ9K1Kz8SxMfCesIThwtgEADdjuPhewz0KStORg1LgvEcLQ3rgHg7faDkr0L8FjV_NrzGdhA9GVuC0MxdihoDFJp1b0c/s1600/Bloglovin+hop+mels+250+x+250.jpg" /></a>

 I'm changing things up a little this month. This weeks hop will be for your Bloglovin' account, your blog or both.

Rules

1. Grab the button above and put it on your side bar, in your linky list, or in a post so everyone knows where you link up.

2. Follow your host and co-hosts on Bloglovin' or their Blog. Please leave us a comment so we know you are new and can come visit you also.

3. Link up your Bloglovin' URL, Blog URL or both. Please do not link up a specific post just the blog URL.

4. Hop around and visit some of the other blogs listed.  Who knows, you might make some lifelong friends in the process. Make sure to leave them a comment so they can visit you as well.

5. Please visit our sponsors pages also. 

Your Host:

Your Co- Hosts:

 

If you are interested in Co-Hosting please contact the host by using the contact page HERE. THERE IS NO FEE FOR CO-HOSTING. I will add new co-hosts weekly and the hop will run for a month. If you would like to sponsor the hop, please contact me with the link above. Your ad will be placed just below the linkup image below for everyone to see and on the sidebar for the month. Sponsorship is $5.00 for the month and all you have to do is sit here on the post and look pretty. 

Link Up

Our Wonderful Sponsors

No Post For Today.

Good morning everyone.  Monday Funday has been cancelled for today.  The family and I were away for the weekend and I am lazy today.

Besides that it is raining a nice steady, lazy, peaceful rain.  I hope you all are having a wonderful week and I will see you next week.

Melissa

Bloglovin' Blog Hop #5

Welcome to Bloglovin' Blog Hop #5

Hosted by

Mel's Daisy Patch

<a border="0" href="<a href="http://melsdaisypatch.blogspot.com/search?q=bloglovin%27+blog+hop">http://melsdaisypatch.blogspot.com/search?q=bloglovin%27+blog+hop</a>" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElxDCUm0751UYfQ3mfKcQiEAVjAOuatAYDpbVqBWhCUQEuny-VQ9K1Kz8SxMfCesIThwtgEADdjuPhewz0KStORg1LgvEcLQ3rgHg7faDkr0L8FjV_NrzGdhA9GVuC0MxdihoDFJp1b0c/s1600/Bloglovin+hop+mels+250+x+250.jpg" /></a>

 I'm changing things up a little this month. This weeks hop will be for your Bloglovin' account, your blog or both.

Rules

1. Grab the button above and put it on your side bar, in your linky list, or in a post so everyone knows where you link up.

2. Follow your host and co-hosts on Bloglovin' or their Blog. Please leave us a comment so we know you are new and can come visit you also.

3. Link up your Bloglovin' URL, Blog URL or both.

4. Hop around and visit some of the other blogs listed.  Who knows, you might make some lifelong friends in the process. Make sure to leave them a comment so they can visit you as well.

5. Please visit our sponsors pages also. 

Your Host:

Your Co- Hosts:

 

If you are interested in Co-Hosting please contact the host by using the contact page HERE. THERE IS NO FEE FOR CO-HOSTING. I will add new co-hosts weekly and the hop will run for a month. If you would like to sponsor the hop, please contact me with the link above. Your ad will be placed just below the linkup image below for everyone to see and on the sidebar for the month. Sponsorship is $5.00 for the month and all you have to do is sit here on the post and look pretty. 

Link Up