2 Minute Book Review: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

Reading time for this post: 1 minute, 30 seconds. Read it Later

Book: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
Author: Susan Gregg Gilmore
Audiobook read by: Tavia Gilbert

Since I haven't written in so long I thought I'd ease back into the swing of things with a short little book review. I don't give a review for every book I read but focus on the ones I really liked (our didn't) that aren't already on everyone's summer reading lists.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was a sweet little story about a small town girl dreaming of escaping to the big city of Atlanta. But as she begins her adventure in the exciting metropolis she's brought back home by tragedy and life altering news, changing her perspective of the place she grew up.

What I did liked:
The characters I this story were likeable even at their worst. I found the main character, Catherine Grace a realistic portrayal of a girl. Too often I read stories where a character is exaggerated as a story device rather than a believable or relatable person. This book's characters have personalities that tell you their back story without needing the extra chapters and I appreciate that. It's as though the author is giving the reader a little credit for a change! I also appreciate an ending where you can assume the best but it isn't completely tied up with a big shiny bow.

What I didn't like: 

This story starts when the main character is in her early teens so the beginning felt a bit slow but was necessary for character development. Another gripe I had was that many of the characters names were very similar which made parts of the story a little bit difficult to follow but that is likely because up here in Washington, we don't typically use both our first and middle names in conversation. Also some, but not all, of the secrets were given away I felt a little too soon in the story.

Verdict: 
Read this one, it'll make you crave a dilly bar from Dairy Queen for sure but it's worth the temptation. This is a charming little coming of age story but with surprising depth and themes worth discussing with friends or in a reading group. 

DIY Jar Soap Dispensers

SUPER CUTE GIFT ALERT!

These were a hit at the baby shower last spring and this last Christmas and quite inexpensive to make. And who doesn't need soap? It's a nice way to personalize a little, one of the most impersonal gifts I think a person can give, lol!

You can make this as hard or difficult for yourself as you'd like, and as a life rule, I decided on the difficult route. Even the difficult route is pretty simple so don't panic.

Here's what you'll need:

glass canning jars (pint sized is great)
galvanized lids - pre-drilled (This is just my preference. See link for available options)
high-temp hot glue gun
high temp glue
sand paper
soap pump
*optional glass beads
*optional twine or ribbon

I have used the lids that come with the jars, but I don't think they are as nice as the galvanized lids available out there. There are many places to order lids for your jars, in wide mouth OR regular just make sure you buy the right size to fit your jars.

You can get a pack of 12 wide mouth lids from Factory Direct Craft.com for less than six bucks! But you will need to do some work to the lids. You can buy their pumps too and not have to worry about them fitting into the pre-drilled lids, but I figured, why waste money on something I will end up buying anyways, right?

Besides, I prefer the foaming soap dispensers and they didn't appear to have those available through the same store. The only problem with the foaming soap pumps is that they are pretty wide. The smart way to make the holes bigger in these galvanized tin lids would be to use a drill it attachment and quickly drill the right sized hole. That is not how I roll though...

In all my low tech awesomeness, I just used a set of pliers and sorta peeled back the edges of the hole until I had increased the width enough to insert the pump... no measuring. Just insert pliers, bend the edge back and test.I apologize for not having a pict of this part of the process but it seems I was so unhappy with all of the pictures I took of that part, that I deleted them and have none left. Oops!

Once the hole is large enough, just slip the pump through. Make sure the hole is not so big that there is a big gap you have to fill later with hot glue. I sanded the section of the plastic pump that shows through the hole so the hot glue will have something to grab instead of just slick plastic. Trust me, I did not spend much time or effort making this part of the pump look fabulous, and neither should you.

Before I glued anything down, I screwed the lid on the jar. This is sort of an important step if you car about the logo showing on the front of your soap dispenser. Then I put the pump facing the direction I thought was most pleasing and made a mark on the underside of the lid. This might require a little bit of hand coordination so as not to accidentally move or misalign, but if you care enough about this part then you will get it right.

All finished with that, I hot glued everything in place. I suggest that you use high temperature hot glue because it has a stronger bond. Hot glue will also cover the sharp edges that you will make when you resize the hole, adding a little bit of protection for your fingers when you get ready to refill.

If you used the pint size jar, you will need 16 ounces of soap, and that means TWO Bath&Body soaps, OR you can add some glass beads to help fill the dispenser. I got the glass beads from our local DollarTree store.

Then to pretty them up, I added some twine and some holiday bangles I had! Voilà! A pretty little gift you can personalize via scent and decorations. You can buy these ready made for upwards of $35-$60 dollars online, but why when you can make them?!

Leave me a comment or send me a message and let me know what you think! Maybe I missed a step or didn't describe something well enough? I am happy to help!

Thanks!

Where did Summer GO? Part 1

So I can't believe how this summer has FLOWN by! It makes me a little sad even, to see the last post I had was in July. I have read/ listened to tons of books, at least six I can think of off the top of my head, and I might even review a few on here. This post won't be about books though, and it won't be about crafting, though I suspect I'll be doing more in the coming months. I have ambitious plans for this Christmas, but more on that later!

July was crazy, but August, that is the one that flew by. What I think I'll do in this post is just share some of the pictures from my summertime adventures.

July was full of, (miserable) Jogging, Hiking and Biking... Although I didn't do any of the biking. I'll start first with the biking... My step-father did the Seattle to Portland Bike Ride and my mother and I were the "support staff" for him. (I was there to take pictures and just generally be impressed.)

This, in itself may or may not sound impressive except that the bike ride is 204 miles (328.3 km). Crazy.

My step-father did this in ONE day. Crazier.

My step-father is 70 years-old. Has had two knee replacements and a stint put in. Ridiculousness.

They wrote an article about him in our local newspaper. Complete silliness. (but also kinda cool.)

I will share some of those pictures, plus some my mom doesn't like. I don't care because she posts pictures on Facebook of me every now and then, where I look absolutely terrible and this is my payback. :) (I Love you mom!)

I don't know ANY of these people, but I have MUCH respect for them.
It was quite HOT out when they were riding.

View from the road. I think this is in Kelso...

This is the finish line. Hollowday Park in Portland, OR. When people arrive they
immediate find a place to discard their bike then locate the nearest Beer Garden.

My step-father, Corky, pointing out his next destination, the Beer Garden.

Mom and I on the Support Staff for Corky. We got t-shirts. We really did nothing
but follow him and shop our way south but we had fun, and we took video of him
when he crossed  the finish line.

 And then there was the Hiking...  I've been personally making an effort to lose some weight and I'm have some success. Partly because I am driven see fewer crappy pictures of myself showing up on Facebook (thanks to others who clearly hate me), but mostly because of my two motivators, Jenny and Candi.

These two young women have been at it maybe only a couple months longer than I, but they are doing fantastic! I can't even explain how well they are doing, but I know the pictures you are about to see are a month old now. A month is a LONG time in terms of the amount of weight lost between the three of us. I'm not going to talk about numbers, but I want you to know, these girls are my inspiration, and these pictures don't do anyone any justice. With that said, here are a few that I'm willing to share.

First there was the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Hike near White Pass in Washington State:

Caityn, our Mascot, couldn't seem to get this photo-op together...

I love this view because it's so lovely AND it has
Caityn, my cousin's yellow lab swimming out to
a stick in the middle.

Me, trying not to mess up the picture too much. This is Lake
Packwood or maybe it's Packwood Lake. Either way...

The view from the trail! It's Mt. Rainier!

I'm clearly not tired yet... this should be the beginning
photo. I don't even look sweaty yet in this shot!

And then there was Pete's Creek trail in Olympic National Forest... This one was a beast, and we didn't complete it. Photos never do the wilderness ANY justice. I am so impressed by the beauty of this area.

Colonel Bob - Pete's Creek trail side. Steep but shorter than the
Northern side.

This is the GOOD part of this trail.

This is part of the NOT SO GOOD part.

Rain forest trees are huge.

We stopped when we reached the wildflowers. Apparently about
half way to the top. I hear the view is spectacular though.

I am already planning my next hiking weekend. One last hurrah before the end of the summer. We have such short summers here in the Pacific Northwest. This year might be a little longer.

August, what a whirlwind month! So much happened that I think it's worth a whole separate post.