This book made me a belieber. For real. I never really knew much about Justin Bieber – except that the girls love him and the boys hate him.

But … I have a lot of respect for Cathleen Falsani. She wrote Sin Boldly – a book that I adore (and need to read again). So, when I was given the opportunity to read and review Belieber, I took it. After all, if Cathleen Falsani took time to write it, there must be a good story there.

You should know before I read this book I had not seen the movie – Never Say Never. I had seen this precious video of him playing drums and have to admit I had a tiny celebrity crush on him because of it. But, I didn’t think the movie was worth my time.

Falsani does a terrific job of telling Justin’s story. I was hooked from the very beginning. His story is not one of sheer luck … he’s a talented kid. Who has a lot of people who love and support him. His is not a Mickey Mouse Club story … it’s a real life story.

I had heard murmurs of Bieber’s faith, but I didn’t realize how it really impacts how he lives his life. In large part because of the people who surround him – he is a good, grounded kid. Of course he screws up – we all do – but he is a pretty wholesome role model for teens and tweens. There aren’t very many of those around anymore.

After I read the book, I just had to watch the movie … and I did … three times! I told you … this book made me a Belieber. I sorta love him now … a lot.

We went yard sale shopping last weekend. It seemed like there was a different sale on every corner. People selling all sorts of stuff they no longer want or need. Nice things, ratty things, all sorts of things … after all, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure!

I wanted to ask the host of each sale, What do you plan on doing with the money you earn here? But I wasn’t so sure it would be a well-received question. I imagined some of the answers…

For the rest of this post, come join me over at Bibledude.net.

I had had some kind of day. Baby girl threw a fit in the car all the way to the chiropractor and all the way home. She did NOT want to be in her carseat. Then when we finally did get home, she was so stressed out about the car ride that she could never really settle for a nap. And neither could I.

D walked in the door from his first day at a new job and saw me standing … staring aimlessly … into the pantry. Before he could even say hi, I blurted out:

Please make the cookies. I don’t care that it’s cheating. I need them. Now.

Yup – it was total emotional eating – but it hit the spot. We made a whole batch, but they will soon go in the freezer so we don’t eat the whole bag. We’ve been known to do that with these cookies.

But … I guess if we were going to cheat, this was the recipe to use. No flour. Real butter. Whole grain oats and peanut butter. The only *fake* food in it was the sugar … and the chocolate chips. For the recipe, just head to your local Trader Joe’s and pick up their bag of rolled oats. The recipe is on the back.

And hey – give us a break – no one’s perfect. Especially not us …

We have, for several months now, gotten fresh produce delivered to us from Nature’s Garden Delivered. We’ve alternated between mixed boxes, fruit boxes, and veggie boxes – finally settling on a all-veggie box as our primary selection. We can exchange three items each week, so we add some fruit in that way. Overall it’s been great for us … we have tried lots of new veggies just because we couldn’t make any more exchanges! Best of all – D discovered veggies weren’t as bad as he once thought they were.

But the farmer’s market is just so much more fun…

Baby girl seems to like the market too. We carry her around in the Ergo and she makes friends with whoever she meets. Even when they think she’s a boy!

So we’ve decided to make the farmer’s market a weekly outing. It may be the only place we can actually find milk from grass-fed cows and true free range eggs that eat nothing but seeds and bugs.

And the strawberries … oh man … to put it in the words of my sister: “That tastes like candy!”

We have discovered that the farmer’s market is not always cheaper than the regular grocery store. But – the quality is by far much better than anything you’d find in any grocery store. And much fresher too. So we’ve decided the little bit of extra cost is totally worth it. I never knew fruits and veggies could taste so good!

I don’t know we’ll do in the winter when the farmer’s market goes into hibernation…

Have you discovered your local farmer’s market? What are your favorite finds?

And then I realized that the best love songs can be sung to that special one in our life AND to God. Because in all actuality, a healthy relationship should model God’s love for us.

Plus – this is just a catchy tune for any Monday morning! Enjoy!!

I really liked how the book begins with a general explanation of what it means to eat naked. For those of us who hadn’t read the initial book, this was a good way to keep us hooked from the very beginning. The authors also do a very good job of helping people see that eating naked is not as hard as it may initially seem. Sure – it requires more prep work – but it is absolutely doable.

But – I was a little disappointed in the recipes. There were a handful or so that I flagged to try, but for the most part I thought they were a little strange. Many required ingredients that are not readily available unless you check out a specialty store. I was hoping for a book full of recipes using common ingredients – but instead, I found a book that wanted me to restock my kitchen before eating naked.

Now if you need a good gluten-free cookbook – it is definitely worth keeping in your kitchen. So many gluten-free recipes have lots of extra junk in them … this cookbook is wonderful for cutting out the junk and making clean food.

I’m convinced that it is easy to eat naked. This cookbook gave me lots of ideas of new things to try – but overall, I don’t think it’s a cookbook worth keeping in my kitchen. If you can check it out from the library or borrow it from a friend, go for it. It’s a quick read – and well worth it.