Book Review: Oil Painting Essentials

I have always loved oil painting. It's been YEARS since I've done it. I have to admit that I am also intimidated by it - especially doing portraits. Landscapes are slightly easier - thanks to watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross since I was like 4 years old.

After reading the book, and deciding to make a go at it myself again, I can say that the advice given in this book is great for anyone that has a little working knowledge of some sort of art/ painting. I wouldn't recommend an complete novice to dive in to this. Of course, you will learn some great techniques, but for a novice painter, you really need to start with the basics.

Even though I haven't painted in ages, I was able to pick up the techniques outlined in this book. STILL extremely sketchy on doing portraits, but I'm willing to work at it! You won't get any better at it if you don't practice!

The only thing that I was kind of bummed about was that it focused a LOT on portraits. I would have liked to see more, or an even balance of all the subjects listed in the books. The landscape painting section got the least amount of attention. Overall, still a good reference book.

Book Review: Meditate Your Weight

I am always looking for something that can help me with my weight, or even just my well being. 
I recently took up meditation and yoga, while those still VERY novice, and hoped this would help me. 
For me, the book felt just like any other guided meditation and wasn't quite what I was expecting. While I like the short meditiation sessions in this book, I much prefer more in depth. This is great for someone that is just starting out and isn't able to focus for a longer period of time. I am able to sit for a full half hour at least, so the 3-5 minute sessions just didn't feel like it was long enough to really tap into anything. 

Book Review: Heart Made Whole

I remember back in the day when I used to watch Christa Black Gifford as a violinist for Michael W. Smith. I remember the passion and love she exuded for the love of her Savior.

I have followed her on Instagram and watched her go through the toughest trials in life that anyone shouldn't have to face.

I have watched her blossom into a role model, a  woman, a mother, and wife and have gained a lot of respect for this woman.

I couldn't wait to read Heart Made Whole. Christa isn't afraid to lay her thoughts and feelings out on page - she has nothing to be ashamed of and everything so many people grieving can grow from. Christa walks us through the darkest days of her little family's life - the death of their new baby Goldie.

Those that have faced experiences like this, understand the depths that those feelings run. Those that have have experienced any kind of heartbreak can also empathize from the words that are read by Christa's hand. She has a way to speak directly to you - almost like she wrote the book JUST FOR YOU.

My heart has been grieving because I have been going through some very difficult things in the last few years and her words of comfort, peace, grace, and understanding were what I needed. She is so easy to relate to and she is able to express what I cannot in moments of pain.

Book Review: Seasons of Glory

This was a great way to finish the end of the Remnant Series by Lisa T. Bergren. I read the first two books of this series again before I read this as a "refresher". It took me a little bit to get into the first book, but I'm glad that I continued on because this series did not disappoint.

Lisa's style of writing is very vivid and you can feel the characters personalities as well as the very descriptive situations that they get themselves into. This whole journey that Andriana, Ronan, and the gang was worth journeying on. The battle of good versus evil will always continue and it's nice to have a series that is safe for all readers.

For anyone that has read series like the Hunger Games, Divergent and the like, I think they would also enjoy reading this series. Action pact, extreme chase, and love story all in one. I highly recommend.

Simply Calligraphy: Review

I haven't done calligraphy in a very long time. I gave up after I decided to use an ink well and a quill pen. I was 16, so let's just say it's been a VERY long time.

I was excited when I got this book because I do a lot of art journaling and I have always loved reading old letters hand - hand written with parchment and quill. This book was very easy to follow. I practiced the instructions in a separate notebook. I love that it also includes guided practice - think when a child is learning to write. It helped a lot. I used my Micron pens to practice with and I will definitely not be afraid to pick up a pen and ink well again :)

Behold the Man

I was intrigued when I read reader reviews from other sites. A fictional novel about the ministry of Jesus?

I was a little skeptical at first but continued to read on. 

This is the third book in the series "The Jerusalem Chronicles". I have not read the first two ("Jesus Wept" & "Take This Cup", and I found it easy to follow along in this book. 

Each book is written from a different viewpoint regarding basically the same period of time--the few years between when Jesus' ministry begins until His death and resurrection. Jesus Wept is primarily written from Lazarus' perspective, and Take This Cup is the perspective of a young boy, Nehemiah, and his family. Behold the Man is written from the perspective of Claudia (Pilate's wife) and Marcus Longinus, a Roman centurion, with glimpses into the thoughts of Pilate and Claudia's servant as well.

This was an enjoyable, interesting read. A very different look at the trials of Jesus. Sometimes I think we forget about the people that witnessed this event, that were not either acknowledged or minimally acknowledged in the Bible. 

4x4

I'm always looking for new books in the "health" genre that haven't already stated things over and over again that other books have.

While this book shows similar things from other books, I like how Erin has it laid out that there are 4 main rules:

1. Remove starches after 4pm
2. Limit/ remove alcohol
3. Limit/ remove added sugars
4. Limit/ remove sodium

Sounds simple right? It was for the first hour for me. Temptation and will power extremely hard for me.

Also, don't be fooled by the 4 minute workouts. You still be will doing 20-30 minutes of work outs, but they are in 4 minute bursts called Tabata. Simple moves....but exhausts your body in a good way. I didn't know 4 minutes of working out could be so exhausting.