Ready to leave one morning...

Anyway, as I would run, I started to look for pretty things to take pictures of.  I have my phone with me anyway, so stopping to snap a picture with Instragram doesn't take too long.  I became a hunter of beauty...scouring the ditches for pretty flowers, mostly.

I think that this is a wild morning glory.

There are lots of these bee balms blooming right now.

I'm not sure what kind these are? Maybe someone else knows.  But they are a rich yellow color and kind of remind me of a big buttercup.

We have lots and lots of wild raspberries that are ready for picking right now.

There are only so many flowers to photograph and I am not a good photographer by any stretch of the imagination, so I started looking around a little more, beyond the ditches to the trees and the sky.

One morning, it was foggy and the sun was shrouded in fog that it hadn't yet burned off.  As I ran towards it, I was struck by the beauty.

I decided to snap a few pictures and I was totally delighted with the result.

The funny part is, I took these pictures in full color and didn't make them black and white or sepia. I guess that this is just how the camera captured them in that lighting.  (This is part of the dirt road that we live along...where I do my walk/run.)

Just a closer up of the bird house.  I thought it looked really beautiful.

This was yesterday morning.  That little white speck in the middle of the picture is the remains of the moon that was still visible.

Our dog Stuey waits by the front door for me now and excitedly gets up and heads out with me on my walk.  It didn't take him long to learn my routine.  (you can see him up ahead on this picture -- Just a brown dot)

A grove of birch trees.  I always think that their white trunks are so pretty. Especially when there is a group of them together.

So yesterday I had snapped a few of these pictures and I got to thinking about what defines beauty?  I could say that I am a "seeker of beauty" in these walks...that I am looking for pretty things that catch my eye to photograph and share with others.

And that is good.

But who says what is beautiful and what is not?

There is a deeper something at work here. Because don't we all live our lives that way to a certain extent?

We want to categorize things as beautiful or ugly.  Even in nature.

Even in people.

We call things good or bad that God brings into our lives.

We turn ourselves in judgers who decide whether something is beautiful and good or not.

I know that God placed within us that desire for beauty.  The appreciation of things that are lovely. So it can't be a bad thing.

But, like everything else in this world, the devil loves to use things that God placed within us for good to his evil advantage.

If he can distort our love of beauty into us categorizing things are "beautiful" or "ugly" and as "good" or "bad", even though we know that God is all good and doesn't bring anything ugly or bad into our lives, then the devil can catch us in the trap of discounting and maybe even resenting any of the so-called ugliness that comes into our lives.

You have a relationship difficulty to work through?  Ugly.

A child who is going through a rough time?  Bad.

An illness of a loved one?  Wrong.

And while I am not saying that any of these things are fun or that we should/would wish these things upon ourselves or anyone else, there is a beauty that comes from these "ashes" if we allow our hearts to be thankful and if we acknowledge God even in difficulties. 

I cannot completely describe the span of my thoughts on this.  I feel like this is something I am just learning about and that there would be so much more to write if I could get it down in a way that made sense.

It feels a little suffocated inside of me right now and maybe its because I am just trying to process this all myself. It is a big subject. 

But I think within it lies a secret that I want to get to the bottom of.

So...I took a couple of pictures of things that I wouldn't have normally photographed.

Because I would categorize them as more ugly than beautiful.

Shriveled up and dying daisies.

Clover that is mostly dried up and brown.

My shadow in the morning sunlight...in which I look shapeless and somewhat large!

I guess part of my challenge to myself is to take the second glance.  To look beneath the surface of what appears to be ugly and see the hand of God in it.  To choose to open my mind and my heart.  To even be thankful for that which appears to be less than beautiful.

And we're not just talking about flowers here.

Since we didn't have much planned for the 4th of July (during the day) and Jeremy was working, I decided to make my own fun with the kids.

May I just say, my kids are at an age where I love to take them places with me and I really enjoy hanging out with them.  And then are all still young enough to think that going away with Mom is fun. May this stage last long and may the days drag, cuz it is one of the first times that I can truly say I am totally loving the ages my kids are.

We are dressed up for the 4th of July (red, white and blue, of course). Nikki's outfit was purchased that morning at good old Wal-Mart. I had nothing to wear with my dress, so I stopped and got July 4th flip flops at Wal-Mart. All day long I regretted that decision.  They TOTALLY did not go with the outfit (way too under-dressed footwear) and they were a size too big, so I felt like I was schlupping around in snow shoes or something.  I got quite a few compliments on the dress (that does not normally happen to me, so that was fun) but let me tell you... "Those flip flops really go with your outfit" said no one EVER!!

Nikki...waiting for the parade to start

Kendall...

Derrick...He's not crazy about posing for pictures.

The kids were disappointed that the clowns didn't make any balloon animals for them.

We watched the parade in the scorching heat (I had sweat in places that I barely knew I had places) and then we went over to the park where there was food and "clown tractor rides", among other things.

This poor lady clown and I had a conversation about how very, very hot she was.  In the temperature sense.

Just thought I should clarify that.

She said that if it continues to be this hot for the 4th of July, she is going to have to alter her outfit. I think I would have been cutting those sleeves off, at the very least.

So cute!

***********************************

We came home for a little while and then in the evening, we went to our friends Mike and Morgan's house for an hour or two and then headed out to the fireworks.

I always end up with at least one lame-ass picture of fireworks.  I don't know why I feel like this is important to document.  We all know what fireworks look like and a photo can't even begin to capture them anyway.

Morgan, feel free to cut and past this picture off of my blog.  This is her son and daughter...so cute!

More kiddos watching fireworks. 

 A picture of my beautiful friend Morgan and her son.

Don't the guys look so enthused?  Later, they got a bit more excited.  They both love the "boom!!" kind of fireworks.  Me, not so much.

During the Grand Finale.  It was awesome!

Morgan and I were talking about our favorite holidays...I am not even sure which one is my favorite (maybe Christmas?) but I know that July 4th ranks right up there. It is so much the essence of summer to me.

And that's all for now...I hope your 4th of July was happy and safe!

...Arguing vehemently with our friend Mike that such a thing as "Chicken Taco Seasoning" does not exist (ha, ha, Mike, you have no idea what you are talking about) and then going to the store and seeing it plain as day, right there on the shelf.  Turns out...crow STILL doesn't taste that good.

...Delivering firewood at Kwik Trip and seeing some money laying on the windowsill. It was 7 cents. At the same time I was about to say "No, Nikki, leave it there, we won't take anything that is not ours", Jeremy says "Go ahead, Nikki. You can have it.  Finders, keepers."

Seriously, dude?  I have been telling them for years not to take anything that isn't theirs. I told Jeremy this, but guess what?  The 7 cents still came home in Nikki's pocket. 

And then she left it in her pants and it ended up in the laundry. And now it is in our change jar.

Finders, keepers. Losers, weepers. 

...Sitting in the chair with Nikki and hearing her say "Hey, move your gluteus maximus!"  In perfect pronunciation. 

Apparently, her aunts in Ohio have been teaching her a bit about body parts.  Since I laughed the first time, she may or may not have said the phrase "gluteus maximus" approximately 30 times in the past 5 days!

...Hey, I made up a little rhyme for you.  (There's a little awkwardness for you!)

It goes like this:

This is my swimsuit...

This is me...

The two of us together,

You shall never see.

Ha, ha.

Now for the story.  Apparently, some random visitors from Pennsylvania who stopped in unexpectedly at our house about a week ago, DID get to see my in my swimsuit.

In our shop.  Trying to put air into a tube for the pool.  All kinds of awkward bending.

I had no idea they were sitting in our driveway watching me.

The best part (oh, yeah, wait for it...)

Them seeing me...

In my swimsuit...

Trying to run the air compressor...

Pulling the release valve by mistake...

Jumping like crazy when it made a super loud hissing noise...

And then high kicking it back into place with my right foot.

Wow!!  That's all I have to say.  Wow!!

Next time...maybe call first, people! Because I bet your nightmares of that scene are haunting you still.

...The fact that multiple times a day I hear this coming from my children's mouths:

"I like big Bibles and I cannot lie...

You Christian brothers can't deny..."

Yup...its the song "Baby Got Book"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI-xlbDzVbQ

Thanks again to the Ohio Aunts for this one!

Ok. It is pretty funny. You should watch it.

...The fact that Nikki wears this dress almost continuously.  To the point that my friends are starting to question whether or not I ever do laundry.

...Assuming (outloud. In question form) that an older man and older woman who were both at our church on a particular Sunday were married.  Wow! That was all kinds of awkward.

...The fact that I use my sports bra as an I-phone holder when I do my walk/run.  (Sorry. No picture!)

And to make it worse, I have taken to putting the phone into a plastic bag so I don't get it wet when I run in this humid weather.

Seriously.  I have no idea how many levels of redneck this makes me.

...Speaking of running...This is along my route.

Can you guess what it might be?

I thought it was a pile of straw that fell off of the wagon or tractor on the way to the neighbor's farm.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that straw does not have feet.

Or bones.

GROSS!!

Poor Mr. Porcupine.

May he rest in peace.

...Me stopping a lady in the grocery store (Never mind her crying baby...I had something important to say)  to tell her how much I Loved her July 4th outfit.

She had on the CUTEST navy and white dress with red accessories. (Shoes, sunglasses, earrings)

I am now super obsessed with that dress.

She told me she got it from Target but I am afraid she either lied (doubtful) or got it last year, because I just searched the Target website and didn't find it.  Dang!!

Anyway...Happy 4th of July to you!!

May your day be full of freedom and fun!

And no awkwardness.

This book has taken me a long time to get through. I'll admit it.  So I cannot sell you on the fact that it is a complete page-turner.

I probably started reading it at least a month ago.  And I am just now about to finish it.

I have been known to simply give up on books.  I value my reading time too highly to feel like I am wasting it on a book that I am not enjoying enough.

But...something kept me hanging on and there was enough of interest that I wanted to finish this book.

I think that the main reason I was intrigued was because of the style of writing. 

This is the book.  ^^   I most likely picked it up at a garage sale. When and where? I have not a club.

By a certain "Martha Moody".

I guess you know what it would be like to live with her, right?

If she was extra grouchy and you called her out on it, all she'd have to say is "Well, just livin' up to my name!"

The book traces the lives and relationship of two girls (roommates) from their college days until they are in their early forties.  One girl is from California, the other is from Ohio.  They don't like each other immediately, but over time they develop a special and unique bond that lasts over many, many years.

The author does a good job of keeping the story about the story (what I mean is...their friendship stays the main focus of the book, even though many other details play into the story).

The characters are interesting in a strange sort of way.  There is some of the brilliance and poignancy about relationships that I love to find scattered throughout books.  Its like free advice when you thought you were just reading a novel.

But...the most unusual thing about her writing style is that she forewarns you of things coming up in the book. Major things. Where other authors would always try to keep the suspense up, she will often let you know what is happening long before you get to that actual part of the story in the book.

For instance, you'll just be reading along, and then she'll say something like "But that was all before Ben died."

And I'm all like "What??? Ben dies??"  But I sort of feel grateful to the writer for giving me a little time to adjust to the idea before I actually get to the story of how it happens.

She does that all through out the book and I found it very odd but strangely endearing.  As is her attention to interesting and unique details.

A lot of crazy stuff happens in the book, so if you read it, just be prepared.  I don't want to give away too much, but there are deaths, more than one affair, heroin abuse, a very questionable business, and the such like.

But, like I said, the focus of the book is always on the friendship between Sally and Clare.  They are very honest with each other, yet they also keep some big secrets from each other...at least for a time. 

Bottom Line:  This book makes you think.  It is intrigueing and interesting.  The characters are colorful. The writing style is different in a cool way.  The storyline is unpredictable. 

Read This:  If you don't mind tragedy and loss in a story.  If you've ever had close girlfriends.  If you are willing to broaden your mind a bit beyond the normal and predictable. If you don't mind a little shock factor.

**** stars on "Audrey's Rating Scale"

I am linking up with Gypsy Mama again today for her "5 Minute Friday" where you write about the designated subject for 5 minutes. Unedited and no overthinking allowed.

GO

First off, a bit of humor.

My husband read this to me from a friend's Facebook status recently:

"Dance as if no one watching.  Or...just stop dancing in public, you freak!"

I found that pretty hilarious!

Since I don't know much of anything about the actual dancing and since I am a somewhat clumsy and uncoordinated person who couldn't even master a dancer-cize (thinking dancing and exercise and an instructor who was WAY too flexible and coordinated) class a few years back, I thought I would write about something that I can relate to a bit more.

The dance of marriage.

I think of that old John Michael Montgomery song "Life's a dance...you learn as you go...sometimes you lead...sometimes you follow...don't worry about what you don't know...life's a dance...you learn as you go."

Beautiful song. Even more beautiful words. 

I think the words of that song relate to marriage.  At least for me.

My husband and I have been dancing for 13 years and sometimes it feels like we are right in perfect rhythm and our feet are in perfect timing, and then other times it feels like all we are doing is stepping on each other's feet and tripping all over ourselves.

In a dance, there needs to be a clear leader, I am told.  Can that leader switch off from time to time?

I wonder.

It feels like there are times when I am the one leading...saying "Hey, is everything OK with us...and what can we do to get things back on track" and then sometimes he is the leader.  The strong and confident one.  The one who says "I believe in us and I'm willing to do what it takes to make our marriage stronger and better."

We are partners in this dance of life.  Of marriage.

But what about when the steps get off and everything seems all wrong and awkward?

How can we get things back into that perfect harmony? 

I don't know.  I certainly don't have all of the answers.

But I do know that "Life's a Dance...you learn as you go" and maybe that's where the joy and the wisdom is to be found.

In the mutual learning.

STOP

Since we were driving home from camping/picking up our kids on the actual Father's Day, and since the kids had been in Ohio with their Grandparents, I told Jeremy that we would celebrate our Father's Day a week late.

He seemed cool with that. 

So...the kids and I went shopping on Tuesday morning and bought all of the necessary items to do the Father's Day presents that I had in mind.  They were quite excited and had fun helping to shop for the candy bars, etc.

Jeremy is posing with the gift.  The idea of this, if you haven't seen it before, is that Jeremy would wear this shirt and the kids would drive cars on it, etc.  (like you see in the picture on the right)  Kind of a fun back rub idea.  And since Jeremy LOVES back rubs, I figured he would enjoy this gift.

The kids were all gathered around Jeremy for the presenting of the candy bar letter. Somehow, we always seem to have at least one shirtless kid in our Father's Day pictures.

(I love the looks on the kids' faces!)

We had so much fun buying all of these candy bars and then creating a story to go along with it.

Bonus:  Jeremy got to try some new candy bars that he had never had before. Like the "Zero" bar. 

His favorite of them all: The Snickers Peanut Butter one.

I also had the kids fill out a sheet with things about their Dad.  It was pretty funny how they answered some of the questions. Especially the fact the Nikki guessed that Jeremy's weight was 70 lbs.

We did all of this ^^ in the morning before church and then the rest of our day was busy with a parade in town and going over to a friends house, but I think Jeremy had a good Father's Day...all in all.

Jeremy is such a great Dad.  I think I take it for granted a lot:  His patience with the kids...the way he includes them in what he is doing and teaches them...his understanding of boys in a way that I don't always get...the way he works with me as a team to discipline and train them...his support of me as an authority figure in the kids' lives (the kids will often hear him say something like "That's no way to treat my Queen" or "You don't talk to my Queen like that!")...the way he teaches them about God and having a real relationship with Him (Another thing he often says is "Thank you, Jesus!" when a prayer is answered or God does something in our lives...whether small or great)...his involvement in the kids' lives and his interest in what they are doing...his desire to understand their hearts...

He's not perfect, but I think our kids are mighty lucky to have him as their Dad.

I feel like lately (maybe the last 6 months) I have been going through an {especially} intense time of trying to figure out exactly who I am.

I don't know if it is the age I am or a stage in my life or events that have brought this about, but I find myself constantly trying to assess myself and decide what box I fit into. (Did anyone else go through this in their early thirties?)

Am I an extrovert or an introvert?

Am I too quick to give advice?

Do I listen enough?

Am I a dramatic person?

How am I perceived?

When people think of "Audrey", what comes to their mind?

Are the perceptions I have had of myself throughout my life true?

I have this deep desire to be the best person I can be.  I want to grow and learn and change, where need be.  I also want to stay true to myself.  What does all of that look like?

You know how you grow up with a certain perception of yourself?  For instance, one of my perceptions could be that I am not a very gracious person. I don't have a lot of tact.

I have put myself in that "box", so to speak.  I often fear that maybe I will offend my friends if I am too straight forward. This is an insecurity of mine, especially in certain relationships.  Yet I know that my heart is good and that I rarely, if ever, intentionally mean to offend. 

I worry that people won't tell me if I do offend them.  But, having said that I always felt like I was not very gracious, I have sometimes been around others who make me seem like the queen of graciousness.

So where is the balance between just "being who you are" and trying to change certain things about yourself that might not be your most attractive qualities?

This probably part of what I have been dealing with a lot lately.

We all know people who are rude or someone who is just a jerk and they just excuse every bad behaviour by just saying "Well, I guess that's just how I am" and I find that kind of an attitude to be frustrating and a little more than slightly un-enlightened.

I don't want to be like that.

But I feel like I have crossed over to "the dark side" in that, recently, I have started to kind of question everything I ever thought I knew about myself.  I am also learning some new things.  It almost feels like a re-defining of how I think of myself, especially in relation to others.

For instance, I am learning that I am not easily offended and that I can take correction or advice a lot better than most people.  Which means that I also need to learn that people don't necessarily want ME to dish out advice to them.  Just because that is what I like doesn't mean others will.

I am learning that I intensely desire resolution in situations.  Intensely!! Like, I hardly know what to do with something that feels unresolved to me.  Yet, not nearly everyone wants to go through that process. How can I take care of me and what I need in a situation like that, but recognize and respect that someone else may not share my need to resolve and "kill the subject to death" like I do?

I am realizing that, without a doubt, I am an analyzer.  I have known that, but it has become more and more clear to me.  This definitely has its strengths AND weaknesses.  I feel like I am seeing more of the weakness side of this lately.

All of this over-thinking has started to make me lose my moorings a little in knowing where I stand in friendships and how others think of me as a friend. Are there things that I have been doing all of these years and ways of relating that are not that great, but I didn't realize it, because I was just acting out of what came natural to me?  Without regard for how someone else would want to be related to?

I have to remind myself that others perceptions of me are not really what matters, although I do care about that. What really matters is that I am a genuine person and true to myself (whoever "myself" is) and that I know what GOD thinks of me.

But...I have, for quite a while, toyed around with the idea of asking about 10 of my closest friends to answer this question for me...

"What do you see as my greatest weakness?"

And then, if I see a common thread in their answers, I can try to work on that area.  Or areaS. (Who am I kidding here?)

I have a somewhat irrational fear of being a person who has this huge issue that everyone knows about but that I am clueless to and that I will go through life causing problems because of this issue, but no one will ever tell me it is there and so I never learn to change it.

The only reason I haven't done this little questionnaire is because I feel like it would be awkward for my friends.  I think of my close friends and would I want to answer that question about them, even if they asked me?  I don't know. 

You never want to hurt someone you love and a lot of times, the things you would maybe point out, they probably already know and are trying to work on.

Sometimes too much honesty maybe is not a good thing.  But that doesn't keep me from wishing I could just know what the answer to that question would be. 

In our Sunday School class the other day, we had a discussion about whether it is good for Christians to point out the faults or issues of other friends/believers.

The Bible does say to "Admonish one another in love." 

But I will tell you what my life philosophy is about that:

"Don't answer questions that people aren't asking."

If someone really wants to become better, to change by having other's speak into their lives, they will, in some form or another, be asking those questions of those they trust.

If not, it probably will not go well if you try to point out their issues or faults.  And if you do, it is imperative that you focus on the last part of that verse.  The "In Love" part.  My Dad says this quote that is think is profoundly awesome "You cannot deliver a dump truck load of truth over a plywood bridge of love."  Think about that one for a while!

I think some people of a certain personality want to take a verse like "Admonish one another" and run with it...under the guise of "helping their fellow believers".  A lot of times, I think they get a certain pleasure out of being the one to point out the faults of others.

God just reminded me of this in my prayer time this morning:

"My job is to be a lover (of others), not a judger."

Period.

I am going to continue to strive to be that kind of a person. 

In the meantime, don't call the people at the nearest phsych ward when you read this jumbled mess that is my thoughts.  I really am sane. Most of the time.

Although maybe that's not how I am always perceived!

Maybe THAT is the question I should be asking of my friends!

 Sunday morning church...

The ruffled shirt was from Kohl's (I wear it a lot), the bracelet came in the mail lately (from a friend) and the sweater is a favorite of mine and I think comes from TJ Maxx.  Otherewise, shoes are probably from a garage sale and the skirt I have had so long I have no idea where I bought it. 

I felt really good in this outfit, but I have to say, the pictures made me feel worse about it. What I thought was super cute when I had it on turned into "quite ordinary" when I saw the pictures.  Does that ever happen to you? 

And then...

Little Miss Nikki with her Sunday morning fashion.  The bracelets are from her Aunt Molly's wedding. And the "choosing of the dress" was a little bit of a drawn out affair because she wanted to wear what I would call a "play dress" to church and it took a while to get away from that and choose one that she actually wanted.  Those girls...always changing their minds!!

There is something within a girl that makes her want to look pretty...whether 33 years old or 4 year old.

This past weekend we traveled to Indiana (with a stop at a scuzzy hotel...as I mentioned earlier) to pick up our kids from their Grandparents.

But, I was more excited than normal about the trip because we co-ordinated our trip so that we could meet up with some great friends of ours from Ontario, Canada at a campground near South Bend.

The Grandparents were willing to bring the kids to the campground on Saturday, since we had already driven more than 1/2 way to Ohio by the time we had gotten to South Bend.

We arrived at the campground at about 4 PM and our friends, Dave and Rach, along with their two little boys, had just arrived.

Super cool story:  Rach and I were good friends back at Maranatha Bible School in 1997. Yes, that is longer than 5 years ago, for those of you who, like me, consider the nineties to be very recent.

We lost touch for a lot of years and within the past 2 years, thanks to Facebook, we have reconnected and were able to get together a few times.  We introduced the boys to each other and they hit it off as well, which is always a bonus.

See...don't they look like they are super happy they met each other?

Well, maybe the one on the left look a little over-eager, but there is a story behind that.  It involves Dave's fear of getting too close to another guy and Jeremy trying to freak Dave out with coming on too strong! 

Anyway, we spent Friday evening, Saturday and most of Sunday morning at the campground.  This was the first time Jeremy and I have "tented it" since we bought our camper almost 3 years ago.  I remember now why we bought the camper!

It was a HOT and sunny weekend up until Saturday night, when it started to rain and our tent got a "tad" wet.  But we took it all in stride like good campers and we spread our sleeping bags out on the floor of our basement to dry out once we got home.

There was...

AWESOME camping food...

(Even the guys helped to cook.  Well, actually, I should re-phrase.  One guy helped to cook.)

...Fun in the pool

(This was on Saturday after our kids got there)

...Great times of just hanging out and sitting around chatting

...the filling of many water balloons

(Check out Jeremy's latest "statement T"...I'm so excited about it!)

...Cute Kiddos

...A breakfast at McDonald's before we headed out

...Awkward "morning after sleeping in tent and no shower for me" photos (Hey, at least Rach looks super cute with her trendy little hat)

...And last, but certainly not least...Dave wearing a beach towel as a scarf.

I think I sense a new trend in menswear coming on...

Also, there may or may not have been almost an ENTIRE giant party size bag of peanut butter M & M's (best candy in the whole world...can I get a witness?) consumed over the course of the weekend.

It was such a great time...laughter...just chill-axin'...eating...hanging out...reconnecting...

In a word:  Awesome!

This is the latest book I have completed:

(Sorry, you can't actually "click to look inside" -- you'd have to go to amazon.com to do that!)

Let me first say that I have been a Nicholas Sparks fan for many years.  Like, oh, maybe 10 years. I have read almost all of his books and one of my personal favorites was "Dear John".  Of his more than 10 books, I would say I have read all but about 2 or 3.

However, I feel like maybe Nick is getting in a bit of a rush these days.

I cannot even tell you how disappointed I was in his latest book, "The Best of Me".

The plot was largely predictable. The characters were not believable or even very interesting and the story line was boring.

I feel like maybe Mr. Sparks has gotten into a bit of a writing funk, but since he is known to crank out a new book every 6 months, or whatever it is, he felt the pressure and just kept writing anyway, even though he probably knew in his own heart that this book was definitely not among his best work.

I kept waiting for the book to get better. To hit it's stride.  Sad to say, it never did.

The plot sounded interesting.  A couple who were lovers back in high school...separated because the girl's parents didn't approve...living apart for 20 years...the girl got married, the guy never did...they reunite to attend the funeral of a mutual and trusted friend...sparks fly...happily ever after...maybe?

But it just all fell flat for me.  I wanted to like it. I really did.  I kept hoping for the book to "spark" my interest.  (Pun intended, ha, ha!)

If I hadn't been reading it for book club, I'm not even sure I would have made it the whole way through.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think maybe Nicholas Sparks had a ghost writer do this book for him.

I have almost nothing good to say about it, so I should probably stop complaining now.  I guess probably the only character that I really enjoyed was the main guy in the story (I already can't remember his name, but I think it started with a D.  Dustin?  Dawson?  Oh, yeah. It was Dawson.)  because his character was kind of mysterious and did some unexpected things.

I'm not saying I wouldn't read Nicolas Sparks next book, but reading this one certainly didn't have me holding my breath for what is to come next from him.

Bottom Line:  I think you probably already gathered this, but I would not recommend this book on any level.

Read This:  Only if you have completely exhausted the rest of your reading options and you are up for some dry and predictable fiction.

1/2 a star on "Audrey's Rating Scale"