Fall Reading List Update

I added the Birth to Five book by Brenda Nixon to my reading list. She is so on the money when it comes to toddlers. Here are seven that are perfect for my 2 year old.

All toddlers are egocentric – it is all about Sean

Toddlers are risk takers – love jumping off the stairs – five stairs up

Are movers – I wish I had his energy

Consummate language learner – I wonder where he get’s his vocabulary

Can’t tell time – He wants to know when we’re leaving a million times

Are scribblers – Every wall and appliance has his signature over them

Seek Independence – loves to do it himself.

Yes I have two other kids, but this third one is like starting all over again. I’m enjoying reading Brenda’s book. I’m learning I’m not that bad of a parent. LOL

Books That Touch You Part 1

My love of books exploded when I was introduced to the romance genre as a teenager. How exciting it was to fall in love along with the couple I’m reading about. These books transformed my life and opinion about love. I enjoy meeting the couples and watching them fight to stay together and seeing them live happily ever after. I don’t know there is just something about reading a book that touches your emotions.

Today I want to talk about two books that touched me this month. The first was released this month and the next one will be released next month.

I met the first author at a RWA meeting. She wrote historical romances set in Scotland. She announced her blog tour on face book and I started following the tour and becoming intrigued about her new book - Highland Dragon.

Last Saturday I stopped by the RWA meeting so I could get my autograph copy.

I enjoyed this book. I laughed out loud so many times, I’m sure people around me thought I was crazy. The passion in the book gave me goose bumps. I could feel their love oozing off the pages. This is one of those books I call DELICIOUS.

I felt every range of emotions as I read this book. I so do enjoy a book that takes you along for the ride with the characters. I found myself sneaking to the bathroom, so I could read another chapter. I haven't done that with a book in a long time.

It reminded me of why I so love a good romance – they feature passion, falling in love, and a good story that ends with happily ever after.

Sometimes I need to know something is going to end happily ever after. Life is hard some days and that's why I read, to remind me that there is some good in the world.


HIGHLAND DRAGON
by Kimberly Killion
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Release Date: October 2009
6ISBN-10: 1420104411

A desire that defies all limits…
and a love that was meant to be…

Scotland 1502. Akira Neish has been raised as a peasant, her belly often empty and her family subject to the cruel whims of her clan's laird. To the clan’s children, the horned shaped birthmark she bears means she is a witch. But she is neither peasant nor witch—and now the man who knows the truth has returned to claim her for his own.

Calin MacLeod has kept Akira's secrets and to avenge his father, the sensual young laird must marry her. He is more than a match for the fiery nature of the woman he adores. Yet the passion they share—and truths that can no longer remain hidden—could rip all of Scotland apart...

http://www.kimberlykillion.com/

Read part two on Thursday.

Did you read a book this month that was Delicious?

FALL READING LIST

My book pile is growing taller and taller. I decided to pick out a few books to read for the fall. I'm hoping that I'll be able to add 10 more to the list.

Secrets And Lies - Rhonda McKnight

Sizzling Seduction - Gwyneth Bolton

Captured - Beverly Jenkins

Ideal Wife - Jacquelin Thomas

Lady Jasmine - Victoria Christopher Murray

My Son's Wife - Shelia Lipsey

Experiencing the Spirit - Henry & Melvin Blackaby

Making Great Decisions - T. D. Jakes

Never Make the Same Mistake Twice: Lessons on Love and Life Learned the Hard Way - Nene Leakes and Denene Millner

On the Line - Serena Williams and Daniel Paisner

Coldest Winter - Sister Souljah

The Bishop's Daughter - Tiffany L. Warner

Sex In The Sanctuary - Lutishia Lovely

What's on your reading list?

What To Do After You Attend A Conference

I’m getting ready for another online conference. This time I will be in attendance. It’s a good one too, Muse Online Conference. I’ve attended for the past three years. This conference is more hands on than mine and I love it. It’s like attending mini classes. I’m looking forward to participating.

I was reading an article yesterday and the author stated one thing you should do after a conference is write an article. I never thought about this, but she’s right. You can share about what you learned, or what went wrong or what you’d do different.

I have a few lessons to share from the online conference I hosted, so I need to sit down and write. Here’s the first lesson.

Lessons From Attending An Online Conference – Part 1

MAKE TIME

When you attend an online conference, you have to make time. Schedule some time in your schedule because most online conference consist of a lot of reading. You want to be able to read the posts and comments.

You can’t bop into a conference and think you’re going to get the full affect. You’ll miss a lot.

DON’T BE A LURKER

This isn’t the time to lurk. The conference hosts like to see comments, it let’s them know that you are reading. It is also your way to win prizes. You can’t win if no one knows you’re there.

DON’T HOG THE COMMENTS

Let others post. This isn’t your private conference. Share the comments.

Now this rule goes out the window if nobody is commenting. This might be your only chance to talk with your dream agent. If no one is asking questions, step up and ask away.

SHARE YOUR WISDOM

You might not be on the panel, but you might have something worthy to share. Don’t be afraid to speak up. I’ve learn a lot from those in attendance.

HAVE FUN

That what the conference is about, having fun. If it becomes too overwhelming, shut down the computer and come back tomorrow. Enjoy your time online and you’ll participate more.

That’s my first lesson, more to come.

Feel free to share what you do after you attend a conference.

Bebe and Cece Are Back

In my early twenties I wasn’t saved but as I look back over my life, I’m always amazed to see how the Holy Spirit was guiding me even though I didn’t know it.

One of my favorite groups back then was Bebe and CeCe. Something about their music soothed my soul. I had all of their CDs and when I wanted to be lifted from my funk, I’d pop one of their CDs in. I could always count on their music to take me to a higher space.

I didn’t know then that Bebe and CeCe’s music was Christian music. I just loved the melodies and they could sing. I’m thankful for their music in my life. I didn’t know it but they were sowing seeds in my spirit, showing me the wonders of God with their music.

It has been 15 years since they sang together. I heard they were making a new CD and it was releasing soon. This morning I had the pleasure of hearing the first single, Close To You.

I’m so looking forward to enjoying Bebe and Cece’s music again. I know their music will inspire and encourage me. I’m so thankful for the Holy Spirit guiding me to their music.

I hope you get a chance to hear their new music.

I AM NOT MY HAIR

I never thought I was my hair until I went natural. There’s nothing like a new do. You come out of the hairdresser feeling like a new woman. The best part is the compliments. That can make your day for weeks until its time for a new appointment.

When I went natural, I noticed the compliments didn’t come as easy as with the perm do. A lot of men aren’t into the natural look. I’ve seen the stares, it’s like they think you didn’t have time to get your hair fixed.

However I have noticed a lot of women approach me more than when I wore a perm. Some are curious about how long I’ve been natural or what made me decide to go natural. Some want to try but just can’t think of parting from their fresh hair styles.

It took me a while to get used to my new hair especially finding the right products to maintain it. I like soft hair, so I’ve been having a hard time finding products that keep my hair soft as cotton candy.

I did find a rinse that covers the gray for a few weeks and makes me feel young again. Now I’m trying different hair bands for different looks and back to finding big cute earrings.

I call myself the African Queen when I think I’m looking really fierce. I also noticed more compliments which I contribute to me liking my hair and wearing it proudly.

Yes some days we are our hair.

BLOG TOUR: If God Is Good

Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601421326

BLOG TOUR: Have a New Husband by Friday

Have a New Husband by Friday: How to Change His Attitude, Behavior and Communication in 5 Days
by Kevin Leman

Baker Publishing Group
Pub. Date: October 2009
ISBN-13: 9780800719128


Have a new husband by Friday? Is that even possible? Dr. Kevin Leman says it is. The New York Times bestselling author and self-help guru shows even the most frustrated wife how she can have a new husband by Friday. Leman reminds any wife that if what she's doing to get better behavior out of her husband isn't working now, it never will. So it's time for a change. That means it's time to change her own patterns of behavior. Here's how Leman suggests she handle it day to day:

Monday: Secrets Revealed: Cracking the Male Code
Yes, you're different species, but you can work together in harmony.

Tuesday: Creatures from Another Planet . . . or Creatures of Habit?

To understand men, you have to track 'em to their den.

Wednesday: Think about What You Want to Say, Then Divide It by Ten

How to talk so your guy will really listen . . . and listen so your guy will really talk.

Thursday: Think of Him as a Seal Waiting for a Three-Pound Fish

Why making love to your man is a key to who he is and how satisfied he'll be, and what's in it for you.

Friday: It Takes a Real Woman to Make a Man Feel like a Real Man

How to open your man's heart, revolutionize your love life, and turn him into the knight you've always dreamed of.

Dr. Kevin Leman is an internationally known psychologist, humorist, and bestselling author of The Birth Order Book and Have a New Kid by Friday. He is former consulting psychologist for Good Morning America and a frequent guest on The View, The Early Show, and Focus on the Family. He and his wife, Sande, live in Tucson, Arizona. They have five children and two grandchildren.

You Were Born For This Blog Tour

His New York Times phenomenon The Prayer of Jabez changed how millions pray. Now Bruce Wilkinson wants to change what they do next.

Anyone can do a good deed, but some good works can only happen by a direct intervention from God. Around the world these acts are called miracles—not that even religious people expect to see one any time soon. But what would happen if millions of ordinary people walked out each morning expecting God to deliver a miracle through them to a person in need? You Were Born for This starts with the dramatic premise that everyone at all times is in need of a miracle, and that God is ready to meet those needs supernaturally through ordinary people who are willing to learn how Heaven works.

In the straightforward, story-driven, highly motivating style for which he is known, Wilkinson describes how anyone can help others experience miracles in such universally significant arenas of life as finances, practical help, relationships, purpose, and spiritual growth.

You Were Born for This will change how readers see their world, and what they expect God can do through them to meet real needs. They will master seven simple tools of service, and come to say with confidence, “I want to deliver a supernatural gift from God to someone in need today—and now I know how!”


Author Bios:

One of the world’s foremost Christian teachers, Bruce Wilkinson is best known as the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Prayer of Jabez. He is also the author of numerous other bestsellers, including A Life God Rewards, Secrets of the Vine, and The Dream Giver. Over the past three decades, Wilkinson has founded several global initiatives, including organizations that recruited and trained thousands of Americans to address hunger, AIDS, and poverty in Africa . Bruce and his wife, Darlene, have three children and six grandchildren. They live outside Atlanta .

David Kopp has collaborated with Bruce Wilkinson on over a dozen bestselling books, including The Prayer of Jabez. He is an editor and writer living in Colorado .

Kiss Me Again Blog Tour

Kiss Me Again :Restoring Lost Intimacy in Marriage

Do you ever wonder why marriage can seem like the end of intimacy and sexual desire instead of the beginning?

Ever wonder why it was so hard to resist sex before marriage—and so easy to resist it now? If so, you’re not alone! Many married women genuinely want to feel more desire toward their husbands…and can’t figure out what went wrong. But there’s good news. In Kiss Me Again, Barbara Wilson shows how powerful “invisible bonds” from past relationships can cause heartache, disappointment, and distance for couples in the present. Then—with sensitivity, honesty, and hope—Barbara walks you step by step toward healing…and a rekindling of the closeness and passion with your husband that you really want.

You don’t have to live any longer with confusion, disappointment, resentment, or shame. You can rediscover desire. You can say Wow! again.

With assessment tools, write-in exercises, and gentle guidance, Kiss Me Again offers a biblical plan for rekindling the closeness and passion women long for in marriage. Because no past is beyond the reach of God’s healing touch.

In Kiss Me Again, Wilson:

· Shares her own story of healing and renewed desire
· Helps women forgive themselves and their husbands for past choices
· Shows readers how to break free from “invisible bonds”
· Explains God’s plan for helping a husband and wife to re-bond
· Includes conversation helps for both wives and their husbands
· Helps couples reignite the passion that they thought was lost

Barbara Wilson is the author of The Invisible Bond and former director of sexual health education for the Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Sacramento. She speaks nationwide to youth and adults with her message of sexual healing, and she teaches frequently in the women’s ministry at the multi-campus Bayside Church in Northern California. Barbara and her husband, Eric, have been married for twenty-eight years.

In Memory Of Patrick Swayze

I was introduced to Patrick as a teenager, he starred in “The Outsiders”. I had read the book and couldn’t wait to see who Ponyboy’s family was being played by. Patrick was the older brother and a hunk. I remember tearing his picture out of the teen magazine and taping it to my wall. My infatuation started.

I loved all the movies he played in, but my all time favorites are, Dirty Dancing and Ghost. I can watched them over and over again like I never seen them before.

I bought both soundtracks to the Dirty Dancing movie because I loved the music. “Do You Love Me” always reminds me of the time period of my life in San Diego.

I was heartbroken to hear of his death. I knew he had pancreas cancer but it still hurt to know his smiling face will never grace another movie theater. When I think of Movie Stars, Patrick face will always come to mind.

I’ll miss you Patrick. My deepest sympathy goes out to the Swayze family, friends and fans.

If you have a favorite Patrick memory or movie, share it here.


She's Like the Wind

She's like the wind through my tree
She rides the night next to me
She leads me through moonlight
Only to burn me with the sun
She's taken my heart
But she doesn't know what she's done

Feel her breath on my face
Her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes
She's out of my league
Just a fool to believe
I have anything she needs
She's like the wind

[SOLO]

I look in the mirror and all I see
Is a young old man with only a dream
Am I just fooling myself
That she'll stop the pain
Living without her
I'd go insane

Feel her breath on my face
Her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes
She's out of my league
Just a fool to believe
I have anything she needs
She's like the wind

Feel your breath on my face
Your body close to me
Can't look in your eyes
You're out of my league
Just a fool to believe
(Just a fool to believe)
She's like the wind
(Just a fool to believe)
Just a fool to believe
(She's like the wind)
Just a fool to believe
(Just a fool to believe)
She's like the wind
(Just a fool to believe)
Just a fool to believe
She's like the wind

(Just a fool...)
(She's like the wind)
(She's like the wind)
(Just a fool...)
(She's like the wind)
(Just a fool...)

Are You A Big Brother or Sister?

When I was in the Navy stationed in Pensacola, I signed up for the Big Sister program. I had a little sister and it was fun hanging out with her. On Steve Harvey this morning they said there was a need for more Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

Have you ever been a Big brother or Big Sister?

Please consider being one and making a difference in a kid's life.

http://www.bbbs.org/

Interesting Links I've Found

http://edittorrent.blogspot.com

She Said Yes

When my mother and father divorced, he started dating another woman and they later had a child together. I always wondered about this little girl. I knew her name but I didn’t know what she looked like, what type of person she’d grown up to be.

A few years ago I tried to find her online. I was able to find out she graduated from college and where she lived. I called her and left a message, but she didn’t return my call. Her brother called and said she wasn’t ready to meet me and my sister. We were disappointed and a little hurt, but we refuse to give up. She was our sister and we wanted to meet her.

Fast forward to now, I’m on facebook looking up old friends and the Spirit says look up your sister, to my surprise her picture pops up on facebook. She’s beautiful and she looks a little like our family. I’m so excited, I call my sister and send her the picture. She excited too because even if we never meet her in person we know what she looks like.

I send her a message and pray she replies. Two days past and nothing, my sister calls to see if I heard anything. NO

Today she accepted my friendship and sent a message. GOD YOU ARE AMAZING!

She wants to get to know us. YES! YES! YES!

I’m in tears at work, because this a long time prayer answered. I’m telling you prayer works. You just have to STAND and wait on the Lord.

To my sister if you read this, please know I’m excited to get to know you. I’ve waited a long time and I too believe this is God’s intervention. He knew when we all were ready to meet each other.

I look forward to getting to know you and I pray that we get to meet in person, because we owe you years worth of hugs.

For those still waiting on your prayers to be answered, STAND.

Hello September

I’m so happy to see September 1st. August was like going through the pits of hell and I’m so glad it is over. LOL

I survived a mother in a coma, and an online conference.

The mother is now in a nice rehab place, rehabbing. The conference was absolutely wonderful. One of the best I’ve attended.

If you missed the conference here’s the link you can check it out:

http://sormag.blogspot.com/2009/08/2009-online-conference.html

I’m starting September with a bang, I signed up for Dee Stewart’s workshop:

30 Days Book Blog. I’m learning how to improve my blogging.

I’m also working on a book to send to an editor. Yes you read that right, I’m submitting my manuscript to an editor and I’m actually looking forward to hearing what she has to say to help me improve my story.

To the ladies who stop by for the workshop, welcome :)

Praying for my mother

Dealing with a sick parent has taught me a lot about the power of prayer. In 2003 my mother was in a coma for a week and I sent out a prayer request and God opened my mother’s eyes and a week later she was talking and ready to go home.

It feels like deju vu this week. I stepped into the hospital room and my mother was hooked up to the ventilator machines and unconscience.

It is so hard to see her like this, but I do believe God is able again. I’m asking for your prayers again. Lift her up today.

I know prayer works and I know God can heal her again.

Please pray for me and my family as we wait patiently for her to open her eyes again. Each day is hard, but with the help of God we get through it.

For those who are praying and continue to pray, thank you. Your prayers on our behalf have truly blessed my soul, knowing other’s have your back, make the hard time so much more bearable.

Keeping busy helps me stay focus.

The Friends We Keep/40 Minute Bible Studies Blog Tour

The Friends We Keep

During a particularly painful time in her life, Sarah Zacharias Davis learned how delightful–and wounding–women can be in friendship. She saw how some friendships end badly, others die slow deaths, and how a chance acquaintance can become that enduring friend you need.

The Friends We Keep is Sarah’s thoughtful account of her own story and the stories of other women about navigating friendship. Her revealing discoveries tackle the questions every woman asks:

• Why do we long so for women friends?

• Do we need friends like we need air or food or water?

• What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships?

• Why do some friendships last forever and others only a season?

• How do I foster friendship?

• When is it time to let a friend go, and how do I do so?

With heartfelt, intelligent writing, Sarah explores these questions and more with personal stories, cultural references and history, faith, and grace. In the process, she delivers wisdom for navigating the challenges, mysteries, and delights of friendship: why we need friendships with other women, what it means to be safe in relationship, and how to embrace what a friend has to offer, whether meager or generous.

40 Minute Bible Studies

The 40 Minute Bible Study series from beloved Bible teacher Kay Arthur and the teaching staff of Precept Ministries tackles important issues in brief, easy-to-grasp lessons you can use personally or for small-group discussion. Each book in the series includes six 40-minute studies designed to draw you into God’s Word through basic inductive Bible study. There are 16 titles in the series, with topics ranging from fasting and forgiveness to prayer and worship. With no homework required, everyone in the group can work through the lesson together at the same time. Let these respected Bible teachers lead you in a study that will transform your thinking—and your life.

Titles Include:
•The Essentials of Effective Prayer •Being a Disciple: Counting the Cost
•Building a Marriage That Really Works •Discovering What the Future Holds
•Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past •Having a Real Relationship with God
•How Do You Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk? •Living a Life of Real Worship
•How to Make Choices You Won’t Regret •Living Victoriously in Difficult Times
•Money & Possessions: The Quest for Contentment •Rising to the Call of Leadership
•How Do You Know God’s Your Father? •Key Principles of Biblical Fasting
•A Man’s Strategy for Conquering Temptation •What Does the Bible Say About Sex?

Sarah Zacharias Davis is a senior advancement officer at Pepperdine University , having joined the university after working as vice president of marketing and development for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and in strategic marketing for CNN. The daughter of best-selling writer Ravi Zacharias, Davis is the author of the critically-acclaimed Confessions from an Honest Wife and Transparent: Getting Honest About Who We are and Who We Want to Be. She graduated from Covenant College with a degree in education and lives in Los Angeles , California.

Kay Arthur, executive vice president and cofounder of Precept Ministries International has worked with her teaching staff to create the powerful 40-Minute Bible Studies series. Kay is known around the world as a Bible teacher, author, conference speaker, and host of national radio and television programs.

He Has Your Back

Last night I was thinking about my time in bootcamp and how my bunk mate got in trouble and they moved us both to different spots. It was the first time I cried in bootcamp. I’d been trying to stay strong the whole time, but this move upset me because I’d made friends with the girl in the next bunk and she helped me get through the tough days. How was I going to make it for the last few weeks?

Back then I wasn’t saved, but I did believe in God and that night I prayed that I survived the next weeks and didn’t get set back.

As I lay in bed last night I realized God always had my back even when I didn’t know it. He moved me next to the woman who would become a lifetime friend. Lenore came in the Navy with her best friends, but the Navy changes you and she and her friends, didn’t hang out as much, so guess who she hung out with?

God knew we were going to be good friends. I can smile now because the person I was so upset about moving away from, I never heard from her again after bootcamp. However Lenore and I kept in touch. We wrote long letters and came to see each other over the years. I blogged about attending her retirement from the Navy.

My point to this blog, God has your back, even when you don’t even know he does.

Here I was upset about losing a friend and God already had a new one in the wings. I know now that he is the only one I can depend on. When I'm down, he listens. When I need a friend he's there and when something exciting happens, he's the first I tell.

Thanks God for having my back when I was scared 18 year old wondering why I’d joined the Navy and now at 42 wondering where my life is going.

Do you know that God has your back?

In a funk

This is my first time being in a funk. For those who have experienced one, my prayers go out to you. It has been hard pulling out of the funk. It started last year and instead of getting better it seemed to get worse.

I tried to write, but why I kept wondering. I’m not going to sale, why waste your time. My mind refused to listen. It continued to create characters in my head. It introduced me to different ideas for future books.

The good thing about this funk is my relationship with God. I think I’ve worn his ear off with our conversations. I’d been questioning my faith and my purpose in life.

The funk had me skipping church and staying home. I just didn’t have the desire to fellowship with others. I know that’s wrong, but at the time that’s how I felt.

Last week we had Vacation Bible school and it was like a revival for me. God whispered in my ear that it was time to step out of the funk and know he is still in control.

I have two weeks before the SORMAG online conference and I’m looking forward to a week of talking about books and writing.

How do you stay clear of the funk?

Blue Like Play Dough - Blog Tour

In the everyday stretch and squeeze of motherhood, Tricia Goyer often feels smooshed by the demands of life. In Blue Like Play Dough, she shares her unlikely journey from rebellious, pregnant teen to busy wife and mom with big dreams of her own. As her story unfolds, Tricia realizes that God has more in store for her than she has ever imagined possible.

Sure, life is messy and beset by doubts. But God keeps showing up in the most unlikely places–in a bowl of carrot soup, the umpteenth reading of Goodnight Moon, a woe-is me teen drama, or play dough in the hands of a child.

In Tricia’s transparent account, you’ll find understanding, laughter, and strength for your own story. And in the daily push and pull, you’ll learn to recognizes the loving hands of God at work in your life… and know He has something beautiful in mind.

Tricia Goyer is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including Generation NeXt Parenting and the Gold Medallion finalist Life Interrupted. Goyer writes for publications such as Today’s Christian Woman and Focus on the Family, speaks to women’s groups nationwide and has been a presenter at the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) national convention. She and her husband, John, live with their family in Montana .