Book Review: In Good Company by Jen Turano

Through the Bethany House Blogger Review Program, I received a complimentary electronic copy of Jen Turano's latest book, In Good Company in exchange for a review. I found the publisher Bethany House through Julie Klassen's affiliation with them, back when I mentioned her works.


Millie Longfellow is a quirky, yet competent nanny who can't seem to keep a job, and Everett Mulberry is a single, soon-to-be-engaged, society gentleman who's been named guardian of 3 children that can't seem to keep a nanny. Hilarity ensues and wrongs are righted as these two fall straight into a mystery and perhaps something else along the way.

Within the first 10 minutes Ms. Turano had Pride and Prejudice in the storyline, so I knew I was going to like it. I did have to suspend my disbelief that an employee would talk to her employer as matter of factly as Millie does to Everett (it's no wonder she can't keep a job!), however she has an unlikely benefactress named Abigail Hart that sponsors her, so I was willing to accept it. Millie's a cross between Mary Poppins and Amelia Bedelia, and you just can't keep from liking her.

If you're looking for a good summer read, this one's yours. This is apparently the second book in her A Class of Their Own series, so now I'm going back to read the first!

(ETA: I downloaded the first one, After a Fashion, yesterday afternoon and am loving it!)

Wedding Weekending

This past weekend my cousin was married in Waco, so we headed south last Friday afternoon. They asked Jack to be their ring bearer a few months ago, so we have been practicing his "Ringmaster" skills ever since, for that is what he called his position. In case you're wondering, Ringmaster skills include walking (not running!) down the aisle at the church with the ring pillow and smiling a picture smile at all times.

Friday evening after the rehearsal at First Baptist, my aunt and uncle hosted the rehearsal dinner at Manny's on the River. It was a perfect July evening for patio dining, and our whole party was seated on the deck behind the restaurant, right over the Brazos river.


Photo compliments of my selfie stick!
That night we stayed at the Waco Hilton. If we'd had a babysitter, we probably would've explored the area on foot quite a bit. Don't tell any Baylor Bears this, but we thought the area was slightly cool. We were directly across the street from the river on one side with a row of food trucks and across from the Spice shopping center on the other, with Ninfa's and a bicycle shop with rentals and such. Our room overlooked the pool and had a great view of the river straight across to the new McLane Stadium.


The water was a little cold, and she wasn't having it.
"I NOT get in the water. I put on my pink coverup, and I GO HOME."
The next morning Mr. G made a Shipley's donut run (we don't have them here at home), then we dressed and went to the pool wear our kids out in time for early naps. It was a 6 PM wedding, and Mr. G - an usher - and Jack had pics at 4. A bit of our fam was down there, so we had a good visit with them and the groom before the day got super busy.






My brother and me!
I had some credits from Rent the Runway, so I used them toward this gorgeous Kate Spade party dress. Lipstick is MAC Ruby Woo, a bright but not too cheap looking matte red. By the time I had everyone else ready, I only had time for a side pony. #momlife

It was a sweet wedding, officiated by my grandfather. The reception was at Knox Hall, where they had BBQ and dancing. I think it was one of the best visits I've had with my whole family in a while. We saw the bride and groom off in a shower of bubbles, then put our little folks in their PJs before driving back home to our own beds. I can't wait to see the photographer's pics; she got a great one of our family of four! It was such a fun time, and we're so glad to welcome Cari to our family!

Babies and More Babies

I've launched a new look today, thanks to Anna at Designer Blogs, so if you're reading through Feedly or another RSS reader, I'd love for you to click on through and take a look!

My friend was such a champ earlier this week. After laboring for 30 something hours, she finally was delivered of her sweet little guy. (I'm leaving out a lot of details here--she is wonder mom.) Annabelle and I were able to meet him and fell in love with his precious little self. She loved it for a few minutes, and then she'd had enough of her mom holding another baby and was done with that.


At the hospital, the topic of baby fever and whether I will have more little sweeties came up. (Current answer: no.) While this was a perfectly normal conversation to have in that company, I find it interesting when folks who do not have a close relationship with my family or me ask it. It doesn't bother me, but I do think it's quite a personal thing to ask. I would go so far as to categorize it with asking a childless couple when they are starting a family, which is incredibly annoying. If they are having trouble conceiving, it's not just annoying, it's hurtful.

Do you agree, or am I totally off the mark?

Taking My Pure Barre Hobby to the Next Level

Back in April I attended Pure Barre Instructor Training in Denver and have been officially teaching at Pure Barre Fort Worth since mid-May. That's one little reason I've been sparse in this space lately.

My love for Pure Barre is well documented here and here. I especially mention it a lot on instagram, although I try not to be obnoxious about it.

This is the longest I've ever stuck with one workout. It has changed my body in ways that I didn't think possible. When paired with healthy eating, I notice results in my biggest problem areas. Then of course, something comes along like a birthday, an anniversary, spring, summer, fall, winter, or a day ending in 'y' that I fall off of the wagon and start over again on the good eating. But Pure Barre is always there, assisting my big, long work in progress.

Teaching has changed my class taking a little. I'm taking less classes because I teach during some of the times I normally would've have been working out. But it's made me more accountable to challenge myself when I am working out, and that's a great thing.

Last 🔥before the 4th! 🇺🇸💥💁

A photo posted by purebarreftw (@purebarreftworth) on Jul 3, 2015 at 11:04am PDT

My BFF is Having a Baby!

Today I had the hankering to fire up the ol' blog and write out a few thoughts on my best friend having a baby tomorrow. Because I've been missing from this space for a while, I had the hardest time coming up with a post title. With the picture posted below, I don't want anyone to misunderstand: my FRIEND is having a baby. Not me.

(That's another topic, another day. Ha!)

I'm sitting here tonight having all the feels about my best friend having her first baby, a boy, tomorrow. I would consider him to be the closest I've come to a nephew, so I'm terribly excited! I'm remembering the first time Jack was placed in my arms--I had no clue what I was supposed to do. All of a sudden, every bit of medical staff had cleared the room. It was just him and me (Mr. G was going to get our parents) and all I could think was, "Do these nurses not know I do not have a clue what to do here? What are they thinking leaving me alone with a minutes old baby!?"

Of course, there is no truer welcome to motherhood. It's fast and furious and half the time you're making it up because you don't know what to do, all the while praying to God that He will give you the wisdom and the strength to make it. And that He will fix it for His glory when you mess up. I'm so thankful for God's grace each day.


Baby Luke's shower cake made locally by Leah's Sweet Treats
No words can prepare you for holding your heart in your arms. There is no crazier revelation than in an instant realizing every cliche about having children is true. It's such a rush, a sweet new type of honeymoon, and the most beautiful feeling in the world.

Congratulations, my friend, and welcome sweet baby Luke!

Regency Reading: Author Julie Klassen

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books. Sometimes I wish I hadn't read it just so I could read it anew, if that makes any sense. I even read Jane Austen fan fiction because I can't get enough. Here's what I love about it: the misunderstanding, witty dialogue, longing, love, a strong female main character, and a happy ending. That's probably my favorite formula for any story.

Last year, one of my Facebook friends mentioned that the Kindle version of author Julie Klassen's book The Girl in the Gatehouse was on sale at Amazon. She went on to say that if you like Pride & Prejudice, you would probably like this book. I downloaded it, then promptly forgot about it.


Image via Amazon
About a week ago, I read it and LOVED IT! If you love Regency novels, I think you would enjoy this. I've now read a second book of Ms. Klassen's called The Secret of Pembrooke Park, and I stayed up until 2 am finishing it. It has a mystery element about it that I had to solve!

Ms. Klassen is a Christian author, and there is a thread of redemption throughout both of these works--complementary to the storyline. For me, these were a great example of how we are in the world, but not of the world. I guess what I'm saying is: this is not cheesy Christian romance fiction. As a Christian reading it, the mentions of faith in Christ and walking in the ways of the Lord seemed a natural fit, i.e. "for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

Amazon one-click may get me into trouble because I can't wait to start downloading more of her titles. Definitely add these to your summer reading list!

Hi and Hello!

I can't believe it's been more than 2 months since I last posted! I'm not even sure where to start, so I thought today, while I have a few minutes to myself, I'll dive right in.

Since it snowed, it has now warmed up, and the heavens have opened up with rain and rain and more rain. The last time I remember it raining this much was June of 2008, when construction was finishing up on our house. It rained every single day that month. We needed it so badly!

We've settled into a good routine at home this spring, getting out to play some, "makin' projects" (my kids' description) at the kitchen table, and also going to school Tuesday/Thursday. Next week is the last week of school, so we'll be needing to find our groove again those days of the week. Swim lessons and the like all start up the following week!


In other news, I'm leading crafts at VBS. If you're Southern Baptist, you'll probably recognize Lifeway's theme Journey Off the Map for this year. I just turned my supply list in earlier this week, a few days early, so that was a big check off of my to do list. I'm also heading to camp with our middle and high school students. It's at the beach, so a swimsuit shopping post will probably follow this soon. Good times.

One of many things in our packed summer is my cousin Tyler marrying the lovely Cari. My little guy will be a ring bearer in the wedding, so I'm prepping him as much as possible to wrap his mind around walking down the aisle and standing up with the groomsmen. Occasionally I'll remind him of it, like one evening earlier this week our conversation went down like this:

Me: Do you remember what you are going to be at Cari and Tyler's wedding?
Him: Yes! I'm going to be the ringmaster!

Ringmaster, indeed. It was precious.

I hope you have a great rest of your week!