Spring Faves

 

It's almost the end of March and Sunday is Palm Sunday which begins our Holy Week as Christians. 

I'm loving that April is almost here and that we are finally starting to see real signs of Spring.  I'm going to share FIVE of my FAVE blessings from this past week and most of them center around Spring!  Join in to share the things you're thankful for, by heading over to Susanne's site. 

FIVE FAVES 

our first 2026 SoulSteps hike! 
Big Bend Preserve in the ADK foothills
l-r: me, Shawna, Karen, Jay, Kathy, Joan, Jill
photo compliments of Maggie

our destination: Hudson River with a view of West Mt
Big Bend Preserve 

A lovely trail through the woods 
after the wetlands area

First day of Spring hike! 
l-r: Maggie, Faith, Karen, Shawna, Jay, Kathy and in front Jill, Joan

• SPRING HIKE!  The group I lead, SoulSteps, had its first of the year hike last Friday!  I had 8 people sign up and all 8 of us went. It started out at a brisk 28 degrees (the preserve is about 35 minutes north of my house).  It quickly warmed up to about 45 degrees and the rain held off until we were home. We had some sun but for most of the 4.6 miles hike, it was cloudy.  I'm so thankful for this group and that I have fun people to hike with. 

Wednesday morning sunrise 
photo taken from our deck 

• SPRING SUNRISE:  Dave goes into work on Tues-Wed-Thur (works from home Mon/Fri) so gets up earlier on those 3 days. For some reason, I was also awake earlier than 6:30 so I snapped this pic of the sunrise while having my first mug of coffee. It made me smile to know we would have a sunny, warmer day...and we did!  I'm so thankful for the beauty of God's handiwork. 

Spring set up

Easter flag in the front flower bed

Easter flag in the backyard near the fire pit

• SPRING CLEAN UP! Because Wednesday was such a nice, early Spring day, I did some clean up in the yard after my power walk. I only needed a thick sweater on and it was so lovely to pick up all the branches that had fallen from the cherry and maple trees after the last wind storm last week. The ground is slowly drying up from all the rain and mud and I even  took down my St Patrick's day flags and put up the Easter ones.  Both of them say "He is Risen!"  I also started to get the deck swept and put out a rug anda couple of the chairs for now. I still need to purchase another rug and a new side table and possibly another solar lantern.  But it's a start and it will be a couple of weeks before it's warm enough to sit out there with my morning coffee.  I'm thankful for the time to get little things done around the yard. 

• SPRING SERIES:  Dave and I don't watch F*x network at all but when we saw this new mini-series was featured on Hulu, we decided to watch Episode 1. The series centers around the following Biblical women:  Sarai (Sarah), Hagar, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah.  It was good. Mainly because Minnie Driver is the "driving force" (no pun intended) and the draw.  She's an amazing actress and I've seen her in just about every movie she's acted in.  However.  This is HUGELY  fictionalized and yes, at the beginning, there's an announcement in print that this series is loosely based on the historical Biblical content/characters. It's extremely fictionalized. BUT...there are parts that match what we read in Genesis and because we enjoy Minnie Driver we decided to give it a chance. Episode one was excellent.  I'm thankful Dave and I could just relax and spend the time together watching this show after dinner on Monday evening. If you watch it, and you know how it's presented in the Old Testament, keep in mind that Hollywood definitely fictionalized this. The thing it has going for it: the authentic costumes, setting, and some cultural (but not all!) content. And of course the actors are doing a great job. 

Shelf in the family room 

Decorative tray
on DVD cabinet in the family room

• SPRING DECOR: I've been putting out a few "spring" type things around the house.....I don't have a whole lot for Easter but what I do have I really like and each room of the main floor has a little touch of "Easter".  My favorite though is the wall shelf in my family room. You'll probably have to zoom in on the pic to read what the wooden signs say. I'm thankful for the Spring and Easter season when we celebrate our Savior-Redeemer! 

BONUS FAVE

After an online chat with Fitbit due to my Luxe giving me major issues for the last several months, and finding out I can no longer get support from them due to Google taking over (there won't be any more Fitbit products made after June or something like that) and that the Google Pixel watches are only compatible with android phones (I'm an Apple person all the way!), I decided to order the Apple Smartwatch SE as it's affordable and I don't need all the cellular data and fancy stuff like the higher end Smartwatches. I love love love it. It's easy to use, I love being able to have a better record of my sleep score, cardio levels, steps, and there's way more workouts to choose from than the Fitbit Luxe.  I'm so thankful the pick up process was smooth at the Apple Store in our city, as well.  

(This photo is the color of the one I ordered but I chose a different watch face. The cool thing? you can have multiple faces to choose from.  I have 3 I picked out from the app.  I may add a few more that I like. It's fun to change them up. )

Those are the blessings that made me smile and take note this week.  

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and Happy Palm Sunday!!

2026 Book Review #11:Sweeter than Honey Bible Study

 

Since the middle of January, the womens  small group I lead has been working in this workbook about how to fully immerse ourselves in studying Scripture.   This was an in-depth look at all the ways to study a Scripture or a passage of Scripture.   I highly recommend this for new Believers as well as for long time Believers.  

SUMMARY OF STUDY 

This study is centered around how God's word is sweeter than honey and the authors used bees and the honey making process as metaphors for how to study Scripture and why. 

There are six sessions (weeks) and each week has 5 days of homework/Scripture reading/anecdotal readings.  

The  sessions are:

1. Study the Word
2. The Unchanging Word
3. The Good News of the Word
4. Transformed by the Word
5. The Word in Every Season
6. The Word in Everyday Life

Each week, we had to use one of the study methods introduced in the Intro section of the book.

• Gathering Knowledge which includes cultural context, historical context, literary genre, people speaking, people listening, etc. 
• Digest the Big Ideas: this includes digging a little deeper into the finding the main idea or main points; summarizing passages of Scripture, and finding anything new we may have learned about God, Jesus, or some concept being talked about. 
• Grow in Godliness: this included more self reflective questions and a place to write out a Scripture that jumped out at you from the day/week and to write out a prayer (optional).  

The book centered around 4 main passages of Scripture:

Genesis (creation) 

Ephesians 1:1-11 where Paul addresses the people at Ephesus while in prison in Rome, just before his death. 

Ruth

John 15

There were Scriptures for cross reference and we learned how and which commentaries to use for comprehension and interpretation of the more difficult passages. 

We learned that there are different ways to study the Bible:

reading it from start to finish

reading it  chronologically

reading it by theme (I personally lean towards this method using my Soul Care Bible and reading passages in the NIV, NKJV, NLT)

reading it by topic (I also use this method via my Women of Faith Topical Study Bible) 

reading it verse by verse (meditating on one verse at a time). 

We also worked on using different spiritual disciplines to study the Bible daily:  meditation, prayer, worship.

We talked about loving the Word of God and why that's important as well as being in a community of Believers to grow in godliness.

There were Scriptures in other parts of the Bible as well for us to digest:  Psalms, Isaiah, I Timothy, etc. 

MY  THOUGHTS

This is a study with a LOT of writing work so I  chose only a few questions from each day's homework for my group to actually sit and discuss. 

 

I think it's a fantastic study but it's just a lot of work. You really learn to read each verse in the passage and "pick it apart" so to speak. 

I learned alot about using commentaries to help explain what Jesus/God was actually saying or what He meant. 

It's an excellent study for beginners in Christ but those of us who are more mature in Christ can get alot out of this study as well. 

In my opinion, this study is appropriate for ages 21 and older. 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.

WRAPPING up the WEEKEND

 

Friday morning sunrise
First Day of Spring

I'm stealing my blogging friend Deb's(she's a prayer partner too!!)  idea and doing a weekend wrap-up type of post. 

I sure hope she doesn't mind!  😉

Friday was the first day of Spring although it was still rather cold.  I won't share the hiking photos as I'll save those for the Friday Fave Five meme, but it was a great success and everyone, including me, had never hiked in the preserve before. It's actually now a part of the state park Dave and I have loved for years and not too far from our home. It's only about a 35 min drive north which is  considered the "foothill of the Eastern Adirondack mountains".   It ended up being a little warmer on Friday and we had an afternoon of rain. After the hike, I had time before dinner, to practice the Good Friday music I need to perform, along with some general tidying up in the kitchen, family room and guest room. I also did a thorough cleaning of the half bath.   Friday evening  was dinner at home which was pulled "pork" (Jackfruit), steamed green beans, and blue corn tortilla chips.  Dave loves BBQ pulled pork sandwiches but I haven't eaten pork since 2015.  I use the packaged Jackfruit instead.  Here's what it looks like before you add the BBQ sauce. Jackfruit looks and tastes just like pork without the animal fat/grease and calories/cholesterol! Jackfruit is native to Southeast Asia.  Dessert is for Friday and Saturday evenings only so we each had a custard sized dish of coconut milk chocolate peanut butter ice cream. It tasted so good!

I buy mine at Whole Foods or Hannaford

Jackfruit aka pulled "pork" 
it only takes about 6 minutes to cook before adding the BBQ sauce

Saturday morning was partly cloudy after a night of rain. For some odd reason, Dave and I were both up fairly early, around 6 AM!  Usually we sleep until 6:30/7 on Saturdays this time of year. He went off to buy fresh warm bagels and I sat with my Scripture study and the first mug of steaming Guatemalan coffee. I then did a stretching workout.  We had a bagel and fruit for breakfast and then I had some errands to run, one of which included doing a good power walk on the bike path in the town park. It was brisk but the rain held off for which I was thankful. When I got home from the errands, I had some cleaning to do in the master bathroom. I did some vaccuming as well upstairs and did some dusting.  The rest of Saturday was spent watching a couple of episodes of Virgin River season 7 on Netflix while Dave worked on a follow up missions letter. Dinner was chili made with Beyond meat "beef" and fresh grated cheddar cheese. The meal was plantbased/vegan minus the handful of shredded cheese we both put on our chili. I had also popped in some pillsbury crescent rolls and added some fresh purple grapes to the table. Dave  wanted to go to bed early, so I read almost to the end of a good book I had taken out from the town library. 

plant based chili

book review is here. 

Sunday was downright cold. As in I don't think it got above 38 degrees F. It was sunny when I was getting ready for the 11 AM service at church.  Dave left early as he was on the Production Team and had to be there at 7:30 AM for the 9 AM service. I had oatmeal, berries and walnuts plus 2 mugs of coffee for breakfast and a very small glass of Orange Juice. After breakfast I showered and got ready for church and was thanking God for the sunshine when it began to get cloudy again!  I did my Scripture study, listened to some MP3s for our vocal ensemble rehearsal.  During church, my friend Maggie (she's in my small group as well as the hiking group) got baptized!!  She was raised Catholic, came to Christ a number of years ago, and decided to partake in water baptism. Our site pastor had a really good sermon about life in the flesh vs life in the Spirit and the consequences of both. It was very good as was the worship music. After the service, 6 of us ladies (including my oldest daughter) went to our worship director's office to practice for the Good Friday service in which we will be singing.  It was a good, productive practice and by mid-afternoon, I was home, changed my clothes and bascially read most of the day. Dave had to run an errand to the mall so wanted to get food from a place he likes there. I chose to eat leftover chili.  Neither of us wanted a full dinner Sunday evening so we ate thing like cheese and crackers/hummus and fruit.  We were both so tired Sunday evening that we went to bed with our books and sat and talked and read and lights were out by 10:30!! 

It was a cold, mostly rainy, but very relaxing weekend over all! 

The rest of this week is much busier!

How was your weekend?

 

2026 Book Review #10: Our Last Resort

 

I read this author's debut novel, The Quiet Tenant in 2024, and now this latest one set in Utah and the Hudson Valley of NYS (where I live!). I'm pretty sure the author is basing the part of the story set in the Hudson Valley, on a real cult that was exposed a few years back. It's all very similar anyways, although the names are fictionalized. 

STORY SUMMARY

Gabriel and Frida are together again for the first time in nine years. Gabriel now lives in Seattle, and Frida continues to live in NYC. But they are at a luxury resort in southern Utah (Ara) in a desert area near the town of Escalante. They have a shared history going back to their childhood.  They were raised in a cult in the Hudson Valley area of New York State. They don't even know who their biological parents are, although they do know they are not biological brother and sister. They just have always called themselves brother and sister. They are the best of friends. 

After a horrible tragedy that ended in the death of Gabriel's wife Annie, Frida and Gabriel have grown apart. 

But now, at this resort, they are  ready to start over. There are desert hikes, dips in the beautiful hotel pool, and good food.  Everything feels like paradise....until a hotel female guest ends up dead. She was a beautiful young woman married to a very powerful, older and very wealthy, media magnate named William Brenner. 

The local police arrive but suspicion falls immediately on Gabriel.  This makes Frida relive the memories from their upbringing in that cloistered cult in New York State. Gabriel and Frida actually escaped from that cult, after setting  a fire.   There was a major scandal that followed them.  They were only 18 yrs old at the time.   Frida has always believed Gabriel is innocent of the scandal:  that he killed his wife Annie.  ( he had gotten married after just knowing her for a few months and at the young age of 22). Gabriel was never  formally arrested and charged  with Annie's death (her body was found in a river in NJ off a  trail where she liked to trail run) but he was a person of interest. 

But now?  It's beginning to look like Gabriel might have murdered this young woman named Sabrina. There's alot of  circumstantial evidence pointing to him, in any case. 

Who really killed Sabrina?

How did they survive and escape the clutches of Emile the leader of the cult? What happened to Emile? 

And will the ghosts from their past ever be put to rest?? 

MY THOUGHTS

This is another fast-paced novel (although I preferred her debut novel) with some psychological twists based on childhood traumas. 

The character development is strong and interesting.  I liked how the author describes the feelings and thoughts going through Frida's mind as she's growing up in the   cult community. 

It's a story of survival and secrets.  It asks the question: do we ever really know the people we love?? 

The setting is stunning in the way the author describes Escalante....a resort desert area about a half hour from the town. 

The similarities between the real cult NXIVM and its leader is striking to me. Also, the first book the author wrote was also set in the Hudson Valley. The author does live downstate in NYC. 

The main themes in this story seem to be: survival, identity, perseverance, emotional and physical scars from cult activity/being raised in a cult (childhood trauma), sexual assault, murder, depression, fear, suspicion, loyalty and the strong bonds of friendship. 

Some descriptions, although very mild and not offensive, could be triggering for people suffering from bi-polar disorder, survivors of cult activity including sexual assault, survivors of fire or survivors of emotional, educational, and physical neglect/abuse. 

I found no editing errors in this book although the use of the F word more than once is a turn off. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content). 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.