Amy J. Bennett

The Swingset

October 8, 2011 by Amy 2 Comments

Just in case you’ve been thinking about our gigantic swingset, I thought I’d post an update.

It’s now gigantic-er.

Yes, it’s like a second house in our back yard. Huge! I can stand up straight inside!

Last night before Scott finished it we had a little pizza picnic for dinner. Lexi clearly is excited. Look how tall it is! Scott is almost 6’ and the base is at his chest!

The girls have a friend over this evening. They’ve taken a ton of toys out there to play.

Scott built a cute bench for them.

Tucker cannot stand that he hasn’t found a way up yet.

So that’s that. The kids love it. I’m sure the neighbors are rolling their eyes. Scott is taking lots of IBProfen tonight. But honestly? I’m super proud of him for doing that on the fly. His carpentry skills are one of my favorite talents he has. Now. If I could just get that pool cover stand I was after….

Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream Review

October 6, 2011 by Amy 3 Comments

Tonight we got to attend the Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream show. Since Scott was working, my niece got to come along and the girls decided to get dressed up.

They were so ready with their blankets for the cool air. They barely wanted to look at anything. They just wanted to sit in their seats!

The show started off with Princess and the Frog. I’m not a fan of the movie to be honest and I was holding my breath, worried what they would show from the movie. There was one scene with the voodoo guy and some scary costumes. My friend from The Carolina Clipper and I looked at each other like what is that? Once that was over though, they ignored that storyline for the rest of the scenes and it turned out great.

We were more than excited though to watch Cinderella unfold. We loved singing Bippity Boppity Boo. And Lexi thought Prince Charming was just so handsome.

All the squeals of delight though came out when Flynn came on the scene. And I do mean came on the scene. He came straight out of the sky and dropped in to steal the crown. He had the crowd’s attention from the first second.

We really enjoyed seeing Rapunzel and her iron pan.

And they really surprised us with some beautiful acrobatics

The girls had a great time. My niece who takes figure skating lessons seemed mesmerized the entire time. And I do also love that they fit in jumps and holds into the routine. I also loved that all the voices are prerecorded so you really felt like you were with the original characters unlike what happens sometimes with live shows.

All in all, a great night out with the girls and I recommend you check it out. Don’t forget to use the discount code ICE when you check out!

James Read-along Week 5

October 5, 2011 by Amy 5 Comments

Another short one for this week but I’m so glad it fell on this week, just a day after I announced I’ve written an eBook. This verse?

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:15-16

That in a nutshell is what my eBook is about. I went through a really hard time but I’m ready to share some truth. And most of all, I’m ready to help pray some women through their confession and healing. I love this post from Justin at RefineUs blog. There is no shame in admitting a failure. In fact, I believe in those words the truth will set you free. And it’s not just an inner truth, I think there is power in confessing it publicly. Maybe you don’t need to write an eBook or stand in front of a group but I wholeheartedly believe in this idea that we are truly healed when we confess to one another. Sharing this book with some of my family and friends has provided a freedom that I had not found to date, even years after I had confessed to those I had wronged.

Before I write another eBook, I’ll stop there and just ask, what do you need to confess? Is there something I can pray for you about?

Things I’ve Learned Writing an eBook

October 4, 2011 by Amy 18 Comments

So I have something to tell you that I’ve been keeping a secret.

I’ve written an ebook.

If you’ve felt like this blog was suffering in content at all, it’s because I’m feverishly writing, planning and thinking about this ebook. Ebooks seems to be all the rage with bloggers these days. I see a new one pop up in a tweet or blog post almost daily. With the amount coming out, I thought the process must be pretty simple. Write a few blog posts, put them in a word doc, convert it to a pdf and ta-da! I was ready to share my story with the world. Not so, my friend. Not so AT ALL. I’m not quite ready to share my book yet but there are some things I’ve learned already that might help some of you considering one:

Writing the book is the easy part. Many of the chapters were written in one sitting. Just because I’m passionate about the subject and it’s something I’ve never written about, the words came tumbling out. That’s not to say they came out just right.
That said, making effort to increase youtube subscribers is hard. Who knew there was content editing, copy editing, ebook formatting, book design, web design and video editing all to think about when really you just wanted to slap a link to a pdf out into the world wide web?
Different ebook formats needed for the Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc are technically intimidating and confusing. And I’m a programmer for goodness sakes!
Writing marketing material is apparently an art I never learned.
Publishing an ebook is really expensive and I’m constantly weighing the cost against my incompetence to see if it’s worth the risk of not doing it well.
That said, sometimes it’s just not worth the cost-saving and leaving it to the professionals is worth every red cent.
I have some amazing friends that are so supportive. This book wouldn’t be happening without their encouragement.
I have some super talented friends. One of my favorite parts of this process has been to watch my friends do their best work.
Writing an ebook can be one of the most vulnerable positions to be in. This book will be my heart turned inside out and while I’m excited about it, it took and will continue to take a good dose of courage to share it.
God is so entirely amazing it blows my mind. He has shown up at every turn without fail. If He calls you to it, He. will. provide.

I can not wait to share this with you. Do I know when that will be yet? Not yet. But when I know it, I promise it’s a secret I won’t be keeping.

This post has been linked up to ohAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday

Weekend Recap

October 3, 2011 by Amy 3 Comments

My weekends have been busy but tame lately.
Friday night started out by picking up our rental. I begged not to have a little bug of a car like we did when we had hail and water damage in our neighborhood. Luckily he hired this company to help us fix our home, learn more about them here. We got a Dodge Avenger and I have to say I’ve enjoyed scooting around in it this weekend. After eating dinner at a local place we dropped the kids off at my parents for a last-minute sleepover. Scott and I were wiped and when we crawled in bed the clock said 7:52. For real. How’s that for an exciting Friday night?

Saturday I was up early and spent time time cleaning up, having a great phone call with my friend Liz and scooting over to Target to use a gift card all by my lonesome. I got some new sunglasses (since the dog ate mine), a new Welcome rug and wait for this one…12 pack of toilet paper. How bad is it I poured over the purses, clothes AND shoes and didn’t find a thing to buy?
Saturday afternoon I finally convinced the girls to come home to spend time with me. We spent time outside as we had beautiful weather. Saturday night we cooked steaks and had a great dinner together. But again, we were in bed by 9.

Sunday after church and dinner, the kids ended up spending time with their cousin. I spent the afternoon finishing up the purple paint in the girls’ bathroom, doing more laundry and grocery shopping. I even managed to cook Pioneer Woman’s meatballs and mashed potatoes for dinner. The four of us packed up and snuck out for Frosty’s. It was a great ending to the weekend and we were ALL in bed by 8:15 last night.
These weekends sound a little boring but I’ll tell you, I love being caught up with all the housework. I love being home and not feeling rushed. I love that we ate two great dinners at home. I’m such a homebody!
After going to bed last night so early (and the two nights before) I woke up starting at 2:30 and then every hour after that until I finally gave up at 5:45 and got out of bed. At that point, I’d had 8+ hours of sleep and I was ready to get the week started. I got up, got completely ready, got the kids ready for school and somehow I didn’t have time for anything extra but it was a nice way to start the week unrushed and with a smile on our faces. I think this early to bed/early riser thing certainly has its merits. Scott goes on night shifts this week which means he’ll be wanting to stay up late to stay on schedule so I don’t know if I’ll try to stick with his schedule or stay on this one. In any case, I think we had a great weekend and got a great start to the week. Hope yours was great as well!

Disney on Ice in Charlotte – Reminder!

September 30, 2011 by Amy Leave a Comment

Just wanted to remind you guys that NEXT WEEK is the Disney on Ice show. I simply am stunned how fast September went by and by show time next week, we’ll be a week into October. Whew!

I already picked the winner of the 4 pack of tickets to the Dare to Dream show. Congrats again, Lana, can’t wait to see you! But don’t forget to use the code ICE to get tickets on your own.

DOI_Mom Blog Offer_2011

While you’re waiting on the show, here are some great Tangled trivia questions. There are some tough ones in there!

Why is Flynn Rider running from palace guards?

Answer: He stole a tiara from the castle.

What is the name of the tavern where Flynn and Rapunzel meet a bunch of Viking thugs?

Answer: The Snuggly Duckling

On her birthday, Rapunzel’s dream is to do what?

Answer: See the floating lanterns.

What is Flynn Rider’s real name?

Answer: Eugene Fitzherbert

What power does Rapunzel’s hair have?

Answer: The power to keep people young.

What is the name of the horse that chases Flynn?

Answer: Maximus

What type of animal is Rapunzel’s friend Pascal?

Answer: A chameleon

What weapon does Rapunzel use against Flynn when he climbs into the tower?

Answer: A frying pan.

The Nightstands of my Pinterest Dreams

September 28, 2011 by Amy 7 Comments

In case you missed it, a few months ago we finished our master suite addition we completed in preparation for our adoption. Here’s the picture of our bedroom just after we got the carpet. Basically, it was our bed and nightstands. It’s still just our bed and nightstands. But today? We got NEW nightstands.

We’ve had our nightstands for all of our 13 years of marriage. Actually, we’ve had that ONE nightstand for 13 years. Scott has either not had one or used that $10 metal one we got at a discount furniture store. Since putting on the addition I have been dying for mirrored nightstands but I thought they were all out of my price range. Please check my Pinterest Bedroom Idea board and you’ll see mirrored nightstands galore (and a good idea of what I want this room to look like). My mom lucked up on a set at a local place and while they were pricey, they were EXACTLY what I wanted and since we keep furniture around for a long time, I just knew I had to have them. I was expecting them to take up to 6 weeks to be delivered so I was pleasantly surprised when it’s not even been 2 weeks and they called today to say they were in.

Look what a difference! Go ahead, scroll up, down, up, down, up down.

They

are

gorgeous.

Week 4 James Read-along

September 28, 2011 by Amy 7 Comments

Today’s post is simple. The verses speak for themselves considering this.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14

Read more at MarlaTaviano.com