Day 15 of Books for Women by Women with Sara Connell

 Welcome Sara, I remember your story, as one of our family members asked me if I would carry her baby...lol. Did not happen, as I was way past bearing age. ( not really but that is my story) lol

I marvelled at your family's story....Today our Pauline from Quilt n Queen

who was our cheerleader in residence for Holiday Lane will be sharing her review with us all today! 

Bringing in Finn by Sara Connell

I love a true story...be it a book or a movie and some times they really hit close to home.  This is an surrogacy story, an extraordinary one that there are no limits to what one can achieve.  It is said one in eight couples will face a fertility issue when trying to start a family.  

This is a memoir of Sara Connell's journey to motherhood. She shares with you her relationship with her parents, how she and her mother did not have a 'close' relationship during her young adult life.  She goes into detail how she feels and what her body has to endure as she goes through IVF, not once but 5 times.   Statistically losing a child can be devastating to a marriage...their marriage was tested but remained strong.  When all else fails they consider adoption and even surrogacy. Her husband, Bill had just turned 40 and for adoption it could take years and was very expensive also, he said "I don't want to be in my seventies when my children are graduating from college".  To consider surrogacy the cost was even more...they experienced a "financial freakout" but got past that too imagining hilarious surrogacy scenarios. Bill still did not like the idea of a stranger as a surrogate but did not rule it out completely.   One day Bill and Sara received a letter from her mother...she rarely, if ever wrote a hand written letter to them and it got tossed on the desk, buried  and never opened.  Her parents came for a visit and asked if they had read the letter.  No....they hadn't, they found the letter...buried.  It was a proposal....to be their surrogate. This book is full of emotion and you feel both Sara's and Bill's pain as they experience one devastating loss after another.  They pass the box of Kleenex in the Dr. office many times.  You feel the joy as mother and daughter experience a transformation in a relationship.   You feel the love her father shares in supporting Sara's mother as she pursues her dream of 'being called to do something heroic'.  This book touches all emotions.  You feel, despair, hope, forgiveness, love...it is heartwarming, spiritual and a beautiful story of one giving life ....unconditionally.  

Kristine Casey delivered the greatest gift to her daughter Sara. Finnean was born at 37 weeks, 7 lbs 3 oz and 18" long.  She is the oldest woman ever to give birth in Chicago.  Kristine was 61 years old.

Quilt'n Queen

http://quiltnqueen.blogspot.com/

Way to go Pauline...great review and thanks for sharing your story with so many of us Sara....

 This book will be gifted today!   

www.avalontravelbooks.com | www.sealpress.com | www.moon.com 

Members of the Perseus Books Group | Distributed by Publishers Group West

Facebook: www.facebook.com/moonguides | www.facebook.com/sealpress

Twitter:  twitter.com/moonguides | twitter.com/sealpress 


                                       We Love our Sponsors..

A huge thanks to the following sponsors for offering up some very heartfelt presents for the month of December... Besides the featured Authors book each day, we will have weekly PRESENTS of the following..

From top to bottom.....Pellon is gifting 2 pillows, 1 batting for a throw, some  pillow stuffing, and some wonder under  to  2 winners who stick with Pellon!

Aurifil is gifting 4 boxes of large threads in a variety of colours to 4  lovers of threads....

Bag Lady is gifting 5 assorted frames for coin purses to 1 coin purse lover!

Reliable Corporation ( you can see close up here) is gifting 2 Sensor Irons to 2 quilters who love to iron.

Purdy's Chocolate is gifting 4 large boxes of chocolates...( I did not even peak under the wrapper, so I am not sure what is there )  to 4 lucky chocolate lovers.

Andover Fabrics is gifting 4 beautiful assorted fat quarter bundles to 4 fabric lovers...

And Seal Press will be gifting the book that is featured each day!

 Our whole month of December we cheerleaders will be celebrating all of YOU, who have been

with us for years. To our  new followers,  we will welcome you with all the warmth we can muster....

WE hope you will be visiting us and leaving lovely comments for all of our guests who have

made this month possible.... Take this time to thank those around you for all of our blessings...

It will be a very special month....

All those who follow will be eligible for all of our gifts.....and if we hit 5,000 followers, I have a very special gift for YOU....oh yes...wink... and all those who proceeded!

                      Whatever your wishes are this season,

 these are our wishes for you...!

With warmest blessings from our cheerleading TEAM...

Jane, Carol, Katherine, Marlene,  Wendy, Corrie, Linda, Cherry, 

Pauline, Christine....These are our cheerleaders...

and a new one who will be joining the team in 2013 Mary!

Congrats Judy B you won yesterdays book of the day...
soon you will know the LESSONS from the Monk ( she ) married.

Forgive me for not replying to all the mail
there are  thousands with YOU- our followers
and subscribers. I so appreciate
your comments and we will still
be choosing daily winners through R.G.
All the posts have been set up for weeks..
 I have family arriving very soon
and have plenty to get ready ....

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

YOU ALL MATTER!

Day 14 Books for Women by Women with Katherine Jenkins

Hi Katherine, I have known a few monks in my life....I cannot wait to hear

about your story....Marlene from Stitchin by the lake  did your review...

She will our cheerleader in residence for ITS all about ME ME ME! in January...

I’m always a little nervous about giving a book review.  After all, the words I write will convince some people to read it and others not to and that’s a great responsibility.  When I received the book Lessons From The Monk I Married by Katherine Jenkins, though, I thought “this will be a piece of cake!”  With that title it’s bound to be funny and uplifting, right?  Well, yes it was, but it was far more than that.

As a young woman Katherine, almost on a whim, decided to go abroad to teach.  Feeling very unsettled she started out looking for peace and for her life’s purpose.  Her journey took her to Korea where she met, and later married, a monk – and while I know little about monks it sounds to me like it’s the equivalent of a priest leaving the priesthood and marrying. 

As a woman of an “advanced” age I read with amazement the many times Katherine traveled long distances with little to no knowledge of her final destination or the circumstances she would be living in – apartments with no air conditioning or fans in sweltering heat, toilet “holes” instead of toilets, cockroaches in abundance and once in what she called a “love hotel” near the red light district.  I guess at twenty five you’re a bit more adventurous that you are at 65!

A profound truth that I (and she as well) gleaned from this book is that lessons learned on your journey don’t really come from the people you think they do but instead you gain wisdom from your experiences with those people.  Katherine learned to trust her inner voice, to treasure each moment of her journey, and that to be happy with someone you first have to learn to be happy alone. 

I learned a bit about Korea and a lot about the spur-of-the-moment see-the-world lifestyle many of our young people embrace.  A most interesting read!

Thanks Marlene...my days of adventure are way behind me too...

but there is no doubt Katherine and I have shared a few similar

stories...

 This book will be gifted for  today!  

www.avalontravelbooks.com | www.sealpress.com | www.moon.com 

Members of the Perseus Books Group | Distributed by Publishers Group West

Facebook: www.facebook.com/moonguides | www.facebook.com/sealpress

Twitter:  twitter.com/moonguides | twitter.com/sealpress 

                                       We Love our Sponsors..

A huge thanks to the following sponsors for offering up some very heartfelt presents for the month of December... Besides the featured Authors book each day, we will have weekly PRESENTS of the following..

From top to bottom.....Pellon is gifting 2 pillows, 1 batting for a throw, some  pillow stuffing, and some wonder under  to  2 winners who stick with Pellon!

Aurifil is gifting 4 boxes of large threads in a variety of colours to 4  lovers of threads....

Bag Lady is gifting 5 assorted frames for coin purses to 1 coin purse lover!

Reliable Corporation ( you can see close up here) is gifting 2 Sensor Irons to 2 quilters who love to iron.

Purdy's Chocolate is gifting 4 large boxes of chocolates...( I did not even peak under the wrapper, so I am not sure what is there )  to 4 lucky chocolate lovers.

Andover Fabrics is gifting 4 beautiful assorted fat quarter bundles to 4 fabric lovers...

And Seal Press will be gifting the book that is featured each day!

 Our whole month of December we cheerleaders will be celebrating all of YOU, who have been

with us for years. To our  new followers,  we will welcome you with all the warmth we can muster....

WE hope you will be visiting us and leaving lovely comments for all of our guests who have

made this month possible.... Take this time to thank those around you for all of our blessings...

It will be a very special month....

All those who follow will be eligible for all of our gifts.....and if we hit 5,000 followers, I have a very special gift for YOU....oh yes...wink... and all those who proceeded!

                      Whatever your wishes are this season, these are our wishes for you...!

With warmest blessings from our cheerleading TEAM...

Jane, Carol, Katherine, Marlene,  Wendy, Corrie, Linda, Cherry, 

Pauline, Christine....These are our cheerleaders...

and a new one who will be joining the team in 2013 Mary!

Congrats Debra...you won yesterdays book of the day...

Dancing at the Shame Prom...

and Gracetlc1 

 you won a box
of Aurifil thread!

Forgive me for not replying to all the mail
there are  thousands with YOU- our followers
and subscribers. I so appreciate
your comments and we will still
be choosing daily winners through R.G.
All the posts have been set up for weeks..
 I have family arriving very soon
and have plenty to get ready ....

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

YOU ALL MATTER! 

Day 13 of Books for Women by Women with Amy Ferris and Hollye Dextrer

 Today we welcome 2 authors who co-wrote this book...

Welcome Ladies to a Q & A....

this is Amy 

and here is Hollye

Q&A with Dancing at the Shame Prom Editors, Hollye Dexter & Amy Ferris

1.    What inspired you to put together the stories in Dancing at the Shame Prom?

HOLLYE: Amy and I had numerous long phone conversations about the ways our own shame had limited us. We each began blogging about shame, and were overwhelmed with responses from readers who shared their own stories. We realized how alone we all feel when we are carrying these silent burdens, and how in sharing them, we form bonds with others and are transformed. We wanted to share this with many more people, so we gathered essays from other courageous women we knew, and voila—the book was born.

AMY: Hollye & I talked (and talk!) all the time. About our lives. Our fears. Our doubts. Our joys. Our victories & defeats. Everything from our marriages, to the importance of friendship. And we talked a lot about our shame. All the stuff that kept us small, kept us hiding. Talking with Hollye gave me great courage. I think we both realized (in almost the same moment) that by sharing all that pain & suffering we were able to loosen its grip. We both came to the realization that if we shared our stories, others would be inspired and join in... and that was pretty miraculous.   

2.   What do you hope readers will take away from the book overall?

HOLLYE: Shame is that sneaky little bugger that hides in your psyche and makes you feel that you are somehow not enough. Not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty or talented enough. Shame makes us feel we are defective. But the truth is, every one of us feels that way on some level. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to admit our frailty, our broken-ness, our flaws, we realize we are all just imperfect human beings. It frees us up to get on with the business of living a joyful life. 

AMY: I hope readers take away that what we share, what we have in common is far more powerful and important than what our differences are. There isn't a soul out there who doesn't have doubt, fear, worry, (maybe) guilt, a bit of self-loathing, and shame. If you stripped away all the externals, we're all the same—inside. I hope from the bottom of my heart that readers take away that by sharing our stories, by coming clean, we are giving others the permission to stand in their truth, speak from their hearts, and treasure and love their lives more. And mostly forgive themselves. 

3.   Which story in the book, aside from your own, spoke to you the most?

HOLLYE: Every story spoke to me. Although I hadn't lived their experiences, I could see a piece of myself reflected in every woman's story. I think that's what readers will realize after reading the book—that we are all far more alike than we are different.

AMY: Oh. I like them all. Each opened my heart differently. 

     

Amy and Hollye, we can certainly identify with so many things

you wrote about.. I love your quote..

"we are all far more alike that we are different"

We should be reminded of this daily in our interactions with others..

Thank you with all the warmth we can muster!  

This book is up for a giveaway today!  

www.avalontravelbooks.com | www.sealpress.com | www.moon.com 

Members of the Perseus Books Group | Distributed by Publishers Group West

Facebook: www.facebook.com/moonguides | www.facebook.com/sealpress

Twitter:  twitter.com/moonguides | twitter.com/sealpress 

                                       We Love our Sponsors..

A huge thanks to the following sponsors for offering up some very heartfelt presents for the month of December... Besides the featured Authors book each day, we will have weekly PRESENTS of the following..

From top to bottom.....Pellon is gifting 2 pillows, 1 batting for a throw, some  pillow stuffing, and some wonder under  to  2 winners who stick with Pellon!

Aurifil is gifting 4 boxes of large threads in a variety of colours to 4  lovers of threads....

Bag Lady is gifting 5 assorted frames for coin purses to 1 coin purse lover!

Reliable Corporation ( you can see close up here) is gifting 2 Sensor Irons to 2 quilters who love to iron.

Purdy's Chocolate is gifting 4 large boxes of chocolates...( I did not even peak under the wrapper, so I am not sure what is there )  to 4 lucky chocolate lovers.

Andover Fabrics is gifting 4 beautiful assorted fat quarter bundles to 4 fabric lovers...

And Seal Press will be gifting the book that is featured each day!

 Our whole month of December we cheerleaders will be celebrating all of YOU, who have been

with us for years. To our  new followers,  we will welcome you with all the warmth we can muster....

WE hope you will be visiting us and leaving lovely comments for all of our guests who have

made this month possible.... Take this time to thank those around you for all of our blessings...

It will be a very special month....

All those who follow will be eligible for all of our gifts.....and if we hit 5,000 followers, I have a very special gift for YOU....oh yes...wink... and all those who proceeded!

                      Whatever your wishes are this season, these are our wishes for you...!

With warmest blessings from our cheerleading TEAM...

Jane, Carol, Katherine, Marlene,  Wendy, Corrie, Linda, Cherry, 

Pauline, Christine....These are our cheerleaders...

and a new one who will be joining the team in 2013 Mary!

Congrats to Piece Peace...
( Patricia)

YOU won Run like a Girl from yesterday...