Recently, I received a copy of Mornings with Jesus 2012 to share my thoughts on and to use through out the year during my daily morning quiet times. This a great devotional book that is simply written but challenges it’s readers in a big way.

As a mother of two very young children, often there’s not a whole lot of time for me to sit in quiet and spend a little time with the Lord. I welcome this book because I feel that the publisher and the authors recognized that in this day and age there’s a lot of scrounging around to find the time to make everything fit into our days.

Each devotion in this book is only one page. A Bible Verse opens the devotion followed by a short thought or story from one of the seven authors spotlighted in this book which include Tricia Goyer, Camy Tang, Sharon Hinck, and a few others. Ending the devotion is a “faith step” that shares a practical way to apply what you’ve just read to your life that day.

In the back of this devotional book, there’s a meet the author section, scripture reference index, a topical index, and a note from the editors. Overall I encourage you to check out this devotional. It’s a great book to strength & encourage you in your daily walk with God.

If you would like to learn more about this book visit Guideposts at: http://www.shopguideposts.org/index.php/mornings-with-jesus-2012.html & you can also Read 7 Sample Devotions from Mornings with Jesus 2012 Now

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in exchange for my opinion of them. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

Last week, I finally dove into the world of Thrift and Consignment stores and boy what a discovery it has been! I mean, I’d been to our local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores on occasion but this time I checked out some local smaller thrift stores and a quite larger one a few miles away. Since I didn’t start my post with “I’ll never do that again or I was in shock!” you can guess that I had a fairly decent experience in thrift store shopping.

I went out this weekend without my husband or the kids to shop. And wow, I really need to do that more often. It was nice not to have to keep up with wandering children, feeling rushed as my husband stands around bored out of his mind, or my son trying to pull down my shirt to nurse in front of a crowd of people. My friend Lindsey and I had been wanting to start shopping for the kids next sizes and also for the spring and summer seasons way ahead of time. I think we are really just eager for the Spring to arrive. Living in Oregon where it rains for almost the entire Fall and Winter can be pretty taxing at times and is known to cause some real cabin fever!

The first consignment store that my friend I checked out is called The Red, White, and Blue.  And I really think I need to leave a review about it on Yelp because the ones on there are enough to make you not even check it out! We went on Saturday so we’d prepared ourselves for a crowd. I was only hopping I wouldn’t have to fight for items, get accused of eyeing somebodies merchandise in their carts, get jostled, and all the other scary things you can think up in crowded place to shop! It honestly wasn’t too bad and it was nice to be able to look around without constantly correcting my preschooler (stay at my side, don’t touch that, get off the floor, …the list goes on)  and making sure my baby didn’t grab or rip anything down while in his Ergo carrier since he’s at the perfect height for that while attached to me.

As we entered the store, I was pretty confident that I was going to find exactly what I was looking to get for my son and daughter but I was shockingly wrong! I could find almost nothing in my daughter or my sons size and I wasn’t being picky either, it just wasn’t there! One thing I really disliked was how the items in the store were organized, the clothes mainly. Instead of sorting them by size, they instead choose to group them in sections by color. And that was a pain to dig through. I was in shock to see a boys button down shirt for 3.95 with all the buttons missing! I mean I guess you could replace them yourself but it’s not worth the price of almost 4.00. I could easily get a brand new shirt off a clearance rack at Target for that much.

On a more positive note, I loved their toy/craft/book section! They had some awesome deals on toys and books that  I’ve actually seen on e-bay for much more in price! I have recently been looking to collect the Leap Frog fridge magnet sets and there was one there BUT my friend Lindsey got to it first! She was also looking to get these sets too. I let that one pass because I did have a Word Whammer coming in the mail and she saw/touched it first. No fighting among friends for toys or clothes. It’s funny though because we are both looking for similar things and the same sizes for our kids! I did happen to score a nice lot of five Preschool books for $1.95! One of the books is wipe-able so my daughter can practice writing her letters and numbers. I’m so happy with that find!

Honestly, I still can’t believe there was nothing there for my children clothing wise! I’ll have to check back when they restock and make sure the next time I go, it’s not on a weekend. It was pretty busy but at least the lines moved quickly to check out. I’ll have to always remember to keep cash on hand for spontaneous trips to that store because they don’t accept credit/debit cards. I did find their prices on used clothes to be a bit high at 8.00 for a ladies top and 10.00 and up for a pair of pants. After scoring an entire box of Ann Taylor clothes for 25.00 through Thred Up, I’ve become a bit picky at prices of used clothes!  So, after an almost unfruitful trip to the first thrift store, we headed to a much smaller thrift store in our area that is owned and run by a Christian family that I’ve visited by myself a few times now.