Rhonda's Doings !

 Review of A Christmas Home by Greg Kincaid  Todd McCray, hero of  A Dog Named Christmas , is now twenty-four years old and working at a local animal shelter, where he meets and quickly becomes best friends with Laura, a young volunteer. Laura, like Todd, has disabilities of her own, but her struggles are more physical than developmental. Their friendship is sealed when Todd—with the help of his trusted companion, the tenacious Labrador retriever named Christmas—trains a beautiful dog named Gracie to help Laura with the day-to-day life tasks that are difficult for her.              Life seems good for Todd, but all is not well in his hometown. Struggling families unable to make ends meet are abandoning more and more dogs, and the shelter is swelling to capacity.  The local government is struggling to meet its obligations too, and in early December, on the cusp of another holiday season, Todd’s bo...

Review of Healing Love (The Amish of Webster County) by Laura V. Hilton                             and GIVEAWAY Winner:                Karen Schulz  is the winner of copy of Healing Love Congratulations!   You will receive email--please send mailing address!   Welcome to the Blog Tour for Healing Love, the first in the new series, The Amish of Webster County, by Laura V. Hilton.  To celebrate this tour, Laura is giving away a basket of goodies, on her blog, all comments left on this blog or on her blog during the blog tour (November 1 -22nd) will be entered for the drawing of the Grate-Fall Basket.  Click on the picture below to go to Laura's blog to learn more about the participants and to enter the giveaway.  Don't forget a comment here also will give you an entry.  This book was provided by Whitaker House for review purp...

Review of An Amish Gift By Cynthia Keller From the author of  An Amish Christmas  and  A Plain & Fancy Christmas  comes a heartwarming novel of marriage and family, new beginnings and poignant homecomings—just in time for the holidays.   After her husband, Shep, loses his latest job, Jennie Davis is grateful to be in a car en route to beautiful Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Shep has inherited a house from a distant cousin, along with the cousin’s long-established bicycle shop. The move gives Jennie, Shep, and their two children a welcome chance for a fresh start.   While Shep dives into his new venture at the bike shop, Jennie carefully restores their broken-down house. She loves being a stay-at-home mom but yearns to find some fulfillment outside of her family—particularly as they struggle financially. On morning walks, she forges a friendship with her Amish neighbor, Mattie Fisher, who opens up about her modest way of life. Mattie’s unswerv...

Healing Love book giveaway!     by Laura V. Hilton  Enter now by leaving a comment with your email.  For extra entries, follow my blog, share on facebook, or twitter.   You can leave one comment telling me what you did to enter.  Good luck!    Contest ends at 12:01 a.m. on November 18, 2012.  Review will follow announcement of winner!!!    Life gets a lot harder for Amish midwife Kristi Lapp when a buggy wreck lands her in the hospital and leaves her with a pronounced limp. Among her biggest concerns is the well-being of her dog, Chinook, as she is no longer able to keep up with the high-energy Siberian husky. Adding insult to injury, she fears she’ll never marry for love, for what man would willingly wed a woman who needs help with even the most basic of household tasks?   Shane Zimmerman moved to Seymour for a fresh start. The veterinarian is still reeling from the loss of his young wife, who died in childbirth—an ...

Review of The Amish Family Cookbook  by Jerry & Tina Eicher From the home of bestselling author Jerry Eicher (more than 350,000 books sold) and his wife, Tina, comes this warm and inviting peek into an Amish kitchen, complete with.... Amish recipes: Hannah Byler's Pecan Pie Beat on low speed slightly or with hand beater:  3 eggs 1/3 cup butter, melted 1 cup light corn syrup  ? t. salt 2/3 cup sugar  Stir in: 1 cup pecan halves.  Pour into: 1 pie crust Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes. Amish proverbs: It takes seven to cook for to make a really happy wife. and Amish humor: The Englisha visitor suffered through a three-hour Amish wedding service, sitting on the hard backless church bench.  "Why does it take so long to tie the knot?" he asked afterward. "Well," the bishop said, stroking his long white beard. "So that it takes ?em a lifetime to untie it." Readers will laugh, pray, and eat robustly with The Amish Family Cookbook at their side. ...

Days 7 & 8 of NHBPM  Day 7:  Redesigning a doctor's office:   wow, could I really redesign the doctor's office?   There should be some really comfy reclining massage chairs in here!   Two of them--one for the patient and one for caretaker.    There should be soothing colors on the walls, lovely paintings or murals.    How about a television or computer to use while waiting?   Let's have videos/shows/computer games that educate us about the illnesses we are here to diagnose, discuss, and treat/cure!   This could alleviate a great deal of stress.  Music! Music! Music!  let's have some great music to choose from  to help us pass the time without stressing and our blood pressure going sky high.    I know you need all the medical things and that's okay.  Let's just have a few goodies in the room to make us less fearful and anxious.   It will make your job so much easier!   Day 8: ...

Review of The River                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ...