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The Great Blue Hills of God is a memoir from the co-founder of Blackberry Farm, Kreis Beall.
The title comes from the rendering of the Native American name for the Great Smokey Mountains, the setting for Blackberry Farm.
This book chronicles not only the story of Kreis’ life, but but her journey toward God as well. It is a journey out of a disfunctional family and a childhood influenced greatly by her mother’s design expertise. Kreis also developed from that time a pattern of having an “exit strategy” for any situation in her life.
Kreis married Sandy Beall, the founder of the Ruby Tuesday chain of restaurants, back when the number of restaurants could be counted on one hand. Together they had a passion for buying, building, remodeling, designing, and selling homes. This became the framework of their marriage, as they moved close to 40 times.
Sandy poured his main passions into Ruby Tuesday and was usually gone during the week. Kreis poured her efforts into Blackberry and another restaurant, sometimes to the detrament of her children.
When they moved to Alabama, Kreis wasn’t working and she struggled to find her identity. At times she and Sandy kept her sister’s two boys, about the same ages as their own two. The begining of problems in their marriage started when Sandy made the decision to send all four boys to private school while Kreis was out of town. This even took away her job of mother.
Kreis began to develope some close friendships with other women. Kreis’ design skills rose to the top like cream during this time. She was not promoting herself, but ended up in at least three magazine spreads.
Eventually Kreis ended up back at Blackberry. She had endured the loss of a beloved home to fire, her husband’s infidelity and the subsequent loss of her marriage, and a devastating irrecoverable blow to her health.
Kreis’ pastor had been praying for her to become a Christian for many years, and finally the circumstances and time in her life led her to accept Jesus. One further loss awaits Kreis near the end of the book.
I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this as a Christian book because, like the Israelites who followed God during the reigns of the kings but refused to remove the high places of idol worship, throughout the book Kreis still made pilgrimages to an ashram. Nowhere in the book does she denounce this practice, which is decidedly not Christian.
Kreis is a woman of grace who has endured much. We are often more able to find God during the dark times of our lives. He is there at all times, and he requires complete allegiance.

#KreisBeall #GreatSmokeyMountains #Tennessee @blackberryfarm @penguinrandom #NetGalley #GreatBlueHillsofGod

“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Are you shopping for a backpack, either for yourself or as a gift? How do you know which backpack to buy? There are so many to choose from!

This comparison review will help take the weight of wading through all the hype off your shoulders, so you can make an informed decision that is right for you.

I have reviewed several backpacks in the past few months. The chart below looks at a sample of 10 backpacks for sale on Amazon. Important attributes are listed across the top, and the name of the backpack is on the left.

Links to the product page are in blue in the chart. Just right click on the link, then left click on “Open Hyperlink”. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Just click the lower right corner of the chart to expand it.

My reviews for each backpack are below the chart.

Acer Predator M-Utility

Do you like over-the-top? This backpack.

The Acer Predator M-Utility 1680D Ballistic Laptop Backpack for Up to 17″ Laptop, is definitely one of the top backpacks you can buy on Amazon, across all the main departments (33) which have backpacks. Not surprisingly, the backpacks that cost the most money have either one or both of these things in common: they are made by a well known brand name/company, and they are highly specialized toward a certain niche. Even though both apply to this backpack, at $149 it isn’t over priced for what you get.

This backpack is targeted toward gamers, those 18 to 49-years-old, more men than women, who report spending an average of 6.5 hours playing video games per week, and playing with friends and family members at least half of that time.

Acer, of course, makes the Acer computer. On the Amazon product page for this backpack is a suggested trio of products which includes the Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop, 15.6″; the HAVIT 5 Fans Laptop Cooling Pad for 14-17 Inch Laptop, Cooler Pad with LED Light, Dual USB 2.0 Ports, Adjustable Mount Stand; and of course the Acer Predator Utility Gaming Backpack, Water Resistant and Tear Proof Travel Backpack Fits and Protects Up to 17.3″ Predator Gaming Laptop. That little package wraps up at the tidy sum of $1,668.23.

Acer makes several backpacks which pair nicely with their computers, but the Acer Predator M-Utility 1680D Ballistic Laptop Backpack is the top-of-the-line. When I saw the word “Ballistic” in its name, I excitedly thought I was getting a backpack with bullet-proof armor, designed in response to school shootings.

Not quite. The term ballistic refers to the Nylon fabric that is used on this backpack. Nylon, developed by the DuPont Company as a substitute for Japanese silk, became very popular in the late 1930s as the new material for women’s hosiery.

But as what would become WWII heated up in Europe, DuPont shifted commercial production of nylon to military support. Nylon fibers were used as silk replacement in parachutes, glider tow ropes, aircraft fuel tanks, shoelaces, mosquito netting, and hammocks.

As America’s involvement in the war increased, DuPont scientists wanted to find a way to protect the men in the US Army Air Corp who were often wounded in the upper torso from shrapnel when their planes were shot or as they were parachuting. Another word for this shrapnel, flak, is a shortened form of the German word fliegerabwehrkanone, meaning anti-aircraft gun.

DuPont invented the flak jacket, the toughest nylon of the time with metal plates sewn into the lining. DuPont’s ballistic nylon didn’t stop bullets, but it did help save lives. The flak jacket has evolved into the sophisticated body armor, usually with some type of Kevlar, worn by today’s soldiers and policemen.

Two things distinguish the ballistic nylon from regular nylon: the high denier nylon thread and the ballistic weave. The denier is a measure of the thickness of the yarn. Ballistic nylon will be made from the higher denier nylon thread, usually 1000d and above. The higher the denier, the thicker, heavier, and tougher the thread will be.

More important to ballistic nylon than the denier is the weave. Certain weaves are conducive to preventing snags and tears. A dense, tight weave will resist rips and can be impervious to rain.

This is the ballistic nylon that the Acer Predator M-Utility 1680D Laptop Backpack is made with. It provides excellent protection in all kinds of weather. If your backpack gets stuck halfway in an elevator, bus or subway door, I’m sure you’d rather have the outer material made of ballistic nylon!

The interior fits up to a 17” laptop, with room for your gaming keyboard, headset, mouse, cords, and plenty of other accessories. The second interior section is compartmentalized with thick modular padding. This area also has one large and three small slit pockets, and nylon straps.

Two tall side pockets, a front pocket with a media port and a rain fly, and a top compartment make this the most over-built, extremely padded, roomy backpack I have ever owned!

I haven’t even mentioned the subtle teal trim accents, waterproof exterior zippers, well-padded shoulder straps, luggage sleeve, substantial zipper pulls, and the all-around bad-A vibe you get just being in the same room with this big boy. It’s intimidating, for sure.

AmazonBasics Anti-Theft Premium Backpack

• USB port on outside of bag, with wire inside that can connect to your device
• Anti-theft; they put a small combination lock through two of the zipper pulls
• Padded space for laptop or tablet
• Padded shoulder straps
• Water bottle holder on each side
• A strip of presumably faux leather across the back to dress it up
• A plethora of pockets, inside and out, slit and zippered

This last positive feature is what distinguishes this backpack from all the others. It is big enough to carry your laptop, your chemistry text book and lab book, and a change of clothes so you don’t smell like your chemistry experiment when you meet that special someone after class. Suffice it to say, you can carry everything you need and a little bit more with this backpack.

But along with that comes the negative feature. It is boxy looking and doesn’t have the cool vibe of the Camelbak Pivot Rolltop. So if you’re the pragmatic type who cares more about function than looks, this could be your top choice.

AmazonBasics Campus Backpack for Laptops Up to 15 Inches

Functional without frills

The AmazonBasics Campus Backpack for Laptops up to 15-Inches is exactly what it says, a no-frills, plain-jane backpack with a padded compartment for a laptop.

The exterior has a water bottle-type pocket on each side, a zippered compartment on the front segmented from the rest of the pack, and a side zip entrance to the laptop compartment. The shoulder straps are padded. There is no external USB port.

The front interior compartment is roomy, with a 6” deep zippered pocket across the width of the pack. On the front of the zippered pocket is sewn a mesh slit pocket, divided in the middle.

The next interior compartment is separated by the padded laptop divider, which has a wide elastic strap with Velcro closure to hold the laptop in place. The rest of that compartment is unremarkable, and could be well used for books.

While the outside is sleek and unpretentious, you get all the basics on the inside, just none of the “extras”.

CamelBak Pivot Roll Top Backpack – Recycled Materials – Hydration Ready – Reservoir Compatible

Stylish, Functional, and Socially Responsible

The first thing I noticed about the Camelbak Pivot Roll Top Backpack in Black is how light weight it is. No matter how much you carry, it isn’t going to be unnecessarily compounded by a heavy pack.

Next I noted that the outer back surface appears to be water resistant. Since 50% of this bag is made from repurposed material like plastic water bottles, this makes sense. There’s a side pocket perfect for a water bottle, and the opposite side features a zippered pocket. You’ll find a roughly 9×5″ rectangular slit pocket on the outer back. The buckle that secures the rolled top does duty by snapping together over the top of this pocket.

The empty bag holds 20L. You can easily stuff a change of clothes, your lunch, and maybe a book or two. A slightly padded partition allows for a small laptop or tablet. Above that is a zippered compartment just right for keys, a wallet, or an mp3 player. No worries if you don’t have Bluetooth headphones. There’s a small slit at the top of the left shoulder strap for ear bud cords, or a hydration tube.

The shoulder straps don’t have a lot of padding, but they are made of breathable mesh. The straps are lined with a nylon-like strap attached at intervals, so things may be attached by threading underneath the strap (lanyard, spring-loaded retractor, or molle accessory).

I give the CamelBak Pivot Roll Top Backpack high marks for style, functionality, and being socially responsible.

Cressi Heavy Duty Mesh Backpack

Handle Placement troublesome design decision

This bag has the capacity (90 liters or 25 US gallons) to carry all your SCUBA gear. It measures 15.5” wide and 28.25” high. The bag itself weighs 2.6 lbs.

The Cressi Heavy Duty Mesh Backpack has a drawstring closure, but there is also a zipper running vertically which allows access.

The padded shoulder straps make carrying all your equipment much easier than if you were using a simple gear bag. Sternum straps and a waist belt help keep the pack centered.

Two rugged carry handles, one located at the top of the shoulder straps, and the other mid-back, offer an alternative method of schlepping the bag. The placement of this second handle is a troublesome design decision. When the pack is full and worn on the back, there is the potential for the gear to press that handle into the wearer’s back. I anticipate this would cause discomfort of increasing significance the longer the pack is carried.

The majority of the bag is constructed of flexible, high-density polyester mesh. The bottom of the backpack is made of reinforced PVC for durability. A drain port about the size of a nickel with multiple small holes allows this dense bottom to shed excess water. This facilitates a rinse with a hose while in the backpack to wash off salt, sand or debris.

A zippered pouch on the outside of the main bag may hold smaller or more delicate equipment you do not wish to throw in with everything else. A drain port is in this exterior pouch as well. On the inside of the main bag suspended from the rim is a heavy canvas pouch with a zipper closure. Just as with the exterior pouch, it offers no view of what you may wish to store inside.

This is a specialized backpack designed by Cress, an Italian company with over 70 years experience in the industry. The bag is made in China.

Franklin Sports Team Licensed Street Pack Backpack

Well-made bag works best for sports, but can be used for school.

The Franklin Sports Boston Bruins Street Pack Backpack – Team Logo Hockey Bag with Hockey Stick Holder – NHL Official Licensed Product is a backpack made more for carrying sports equipment than for transporting a laptop.

If you had to, you could put a small tablet or laptop in the interior compartment. There is a small amount of padding in the back wall of the backpack which rides against your back. The backpack straps are also padded.

The zipper into the main compartment goes from the bottom right corner (facing the bag) to the top left corner. As mentioned, the interior has a very stiff lining and one interior divider.

There’s a front zippered pocket which gives access to the whole front panel. This is an odd design, as anything pushed into the upper portion (behind the logo) will immediately be pulled down by the force of gravity once the backpack is hoisted to the shoulders. The only thing I can imagine might work in this area would be long stiff shin guards or some similar piece of equipment which needs the 16” length of the panel.

Similarly puzzling is a mesh divider across the width of that same front panel, from the zipper down. It is not tight, and serves no obvious purpose that I can see.

An outside mesh pocket is sewn to the bottom right of the bag. The manufacturer designates this as for balls or a water bottle.

The team logo and the manufacturer name are embroidered on the bag. This is well done and looks very sharp. The zipper pulls have a 2-3” cord looped through for an easy grab. There’s a small window on one of the shoulder straps, where identification could be inserted. This is especially nice if your whole team decides to get the same backpack.

The most unique feature of this backpack is the hockey stick holder. These are two strips, roughly 5.5×1.5”, sewn on the left side of the bag, to strap the hockey stick in place. The outermost layer of the strip matches the polyester of the backpack, so when closed that is what is seen. The inner layer is a black soft padding material, perhaps rubber.  At the ends of the strip are opposing squares of Velcro to secure the strip and hold the stick in place. With one strap near the top of the bag and one near the bottom, the stick should be secure if properly placed in the straps.

This appears to be a well-made bag, designed more for sports gear than for academic pursuits, although it could be used for either.

TAJEZZO Sling Backpack Waterproof Crossbody Shoulder Bag Causal Daypack Chest Bag

Not large, but high quality

The TAJEZZO Sling Backpack Waterproof Crossbody Shoulder Bag Causal Daypack Chest Bag is made with obvious attention to detail. It has a luxury feel. The fabric is a fine weave. The outer zippers come together with a rubber-like covering. The padded shoulder strap can be reconfigured as a waist strap, or switched from left to right. The semi-hard front shell has a unique, attractive design. The back (worn next to the body) has a slit pocket. All of this can be discerned at just the first glance.

If you think of the TAJEZZO as a backpack, you are really going minimalist. Many women’s purses are twice the size of this bag. My 7” Kindle Fire with the bulky kid’s cover fit inside, barely. You would be hard pressed to carry a tablet or laptop any larger than that in this bag. You would need to be very selective about your reading material if using this as a book bag.

The TAJEZZO does have the external USB port. There’s an external zippered pocket, internally sectioned off from the rest of the bag, across the bottom half of the bag.

Internally you’ll find two more slit pockets, one on each side of the bag. The one toward the back is made with a leather-like (who knows? maybe it’s real leather.) partition embossed with the TAJEZZO logo. In front of that is a zippered pocket, with the inner back sharing the leather surface.

I haven’t tested the waterproof claim of this bag, but judging from the construction I would believe them to be credible. As for anti-theft, the only thing that would substantiate that assertion is the bag can be worn in the front making pick pocketing less likely.

I would recommend this bag for travel, for men or women, and for an alternate use as a purse. You may be surprised how much you can carry, but don’t plan to carry large items.

5 Stars.

Targus Sol-Lite Compact Backpack

Designed for Durable, Strong Protective Water-Resistant, and Comfortable for Traveling and Commuter fit up to 14-Inch Laptop

The Targus Sol-Lite Compact Backpack is designed as a streamlined travel/commuter backpack.

This bag will hold up to a 14″ laptop, and still have room for a few additional items. One main compartment dominates the design, but zippered pockets, some hidden, appear on the back side, top flap, and across the front panel. Most of these pockets can be described as narrow and not easy to reach into.

That’s also the case with the main compartment until you unclip the side cinch straps on either side. A laptop and tablet sleeve back against what feels like a hard plastic board covered with minimal padding. Both sides of the interior have web netting pockets; one is zippered.

The exterior is constructed of dense nylon fabric, with an even heavier nylon fabric used for the bottom and as contrast on the shoulder straps, making this backpack one that will stand up well to the elements. Deep water bottle pockets flank the sides; they are gusseted by an elastic band with a pleat of additional material hiding until needed for expansion.

The shoulder straps are well padded, and there’s nice padding on the back as well. A nylon strap handle is in the usual location at the top of the shoulder straps. We also see the newly popular vertical nylon strap sewn in place from top to bottom on the front panel, with a “grab and go” handle in the center. There is no luggage handle pass-through sleeve, but there are several molle-type anchor points, both stationary and elastic, on the shoulder straps, and two wide nylon anchor points on the vertical front panel handle.

Made in China.

WindTook 15“ Laptop Backpack

Trendy, savvy design will meet student needs

The WindTook 15“ Laptop Backpack for Women and Men Travel School College Purse Daypack in PINK has a unique and compact design.

The main compartment has the laptop sleeve against the outer wall worn to the back. Stacked on the laptop sleeve is the tablet sleeve. An elastic band with Velcro closure attaches to the tablet sleeve to secure both the tablet and the laptop.

To the right is a zippered opening through which the REMOVABLE USB charging port extends. Moving around to the front is a key ring, also removable. Below that a zippered interior pocket will hold most mobile phones. Outside of the zippered pocket and on the inside of the main compartment are slash pockets and pencil pockets. The interior is covered in green nylon fabric. The top of the bag is trimmed in black through which is a drawstring with a spring-loaded toggle clasp.

A (probably faux) leather flap flips over the top of the bag and secures with a magnet about a quarter of the way down on the front.

The rest of the exterior is pink canvas trimmed in pink or black fabric, and adjustable pink nylon straps and handle. There is a water bottle pocket on each side.

This bag is a take-off on the purse-backpack that was so popular several years ago, and I believe will fit right in with today’s boho, hipster trends. The pink adds a feminine flair for the girly girls who love their style.

WindTook Laptop Backpack

If bag decides who they are, they can become all they can be

WindTook jumped into the Luggage and backpack market with several offerings. Using quality materials and impeccable construction, consumers are recognizing value. This previously unheard-of brand is gaining a following.

The style I’m examining here is the WindTook Laptop Backpack for Women and Men Molle Travel Computer Bag School College Daypack Suits 15.6 Inch Notebooks.

Let’s break it down, according to the name. It is targeted for women and men. I suppose women are listed first because the featured color is purple, a traditionally female color. Not wanting to alienate half of their customer base, they added men too.

Molle (pronounced like Molly) is the webbing system on the front pocket of this pack. It consists of nylon straps anchored by being sewn in even intervals, establishing a grid pattern. The molle weave is accomplished when the long straps of the accessory you wish to attach are woven in and out of the grid on the pack, and then tucked back into the accessory. Alternate uses can include snapping carabineers over the webbing, or using pin-on or clip-on spring-loaded retractable gear keepers. There is also molle webbing as well as a D-ring on the right and left water-bottle holders.

Also on the front pocket, going across the width of the bottom, is a Velcro-like material you can slap opposing Velcro-like pieces to. WindTook suggests you could put a name tag there. I’ve seen a fly fishing company put the opposing Velcro on the back of a fly patch to have flies accessible, and let the just-used ones dry before shutting them up in a fly box. If you think about it, there’s no end to the possibilities…Velcro a small solar panel to soak up energy while you are hiking, then you can have power for your phone (whether or not you have a signal).

So far this has been treated as tactical gear. The gears change a little when the description continues with Travel, Computer Bag School College Daypack Suits 15.6 Inch Notebooks. This sounds academic or technical with perhaps the exception of Travel. When you travel you want to take everything you need. This bag has room-galore.

The main compartment does have a laptop compartment as described, and it is nicely padded.

Despite being called a Computer Bag, there is no charging port!

Riding piggyback on the laptop compartment is a tablet sleeve, also padded. Then there’s still room for notebooks, textbooks in this same compartment. The second interior compartment is cavernous and without dividers, but does have one zippered pocket on the wall to the outer pocket.

The front pocket has two main slit pockets, with places for pins, etc. This is one area I would like to see developed a little better. There are of pockets here, but I would like to see some zippers in this part, maybe a clip for quick access to keys, etc.

On the sides above the water bottle holders are expansion straps to cinch up any slack and keep things tight. The back and straps are well padded. Also in the back is a “hidden” zippered pocket which may be difficult for someone to get at if you are wearing the backpack. The zipper pulls are knotted nylon cord.

Conclusion:  This bag tries to be tactical and technical both, and succeeds at being neither. Still it has a lot of nice features I value in a backpack:

• Quality Construction
• Exterior Water bottle Holder(s)
• Space Galore
• Good Padding

Then some things I’d like to see improved:

• Decide who you want to be, and then embrace it
• Put in a charging port if you call yourself a Computer Bag
• Flesh out the front interior pocket with zippers, clips, webbing

Rating:  Four very strong stars.

Shout out to

Disclaimer: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”

These non-stick pots and pans are dishwasher safe. But the best feature of the Gotham Steel Stackable Pots and Pans Set – Stackmaster Complete 10 Piece Cookware Set is that they are stackable.

I don’t mean just that they can be heaped one upon another. These pots and pans have a purposeful design that allows them to be stacked together in such a way to prevent the non-stick coating from being scratched, and to compact the stack into the shortest possible piles.

The fry pans are grouped together and the pots are assembled separately. The lids fit closely upon each other.

Besides having a great set of cookware that takes up very little space, it isn’t hard to find the piece you need. Every pot and pan is organized and right where it should be.

I don’t know about you, but it makes me want to get in the kitchen and start making something delicious!

It’s a week until Thanksgiving Day, so there’s still time to order and have this set to prepare your Thanksgiving Dinner!

May you be blessed with a year of bounty!

#Thankful #spacesaving #cooking #ThanksgivingDinner

This book opens with a few words from Joni Eareckson Tada, a well known Christian quadriplegic. She learned to trust God to write her story, not at all one she would have written herself, but one she praises Him for now.

Both Robert Wolgemuth and Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth have extensive backgrounds in writing, so it’s no surprise they should write a book about writing a story. First they cover the parts of a story, information I was familiar with and not so excited to cover again.

Then they looked at a couple Bible stories – Joseph and Esther – which I was also familiar with, but now I was starting to see how to apply their premise: You can trust God to write your story.

Together, Nancy and Robert have an amazing story of their own to tell. Parts of their story are interspersed between the chapters of this book.

The book continued with examples from the lives of people they knew personally, in sections which titles start, “You can trust God to write your story when…”

Some of the situations looked at included, you lose your health, your children break your heart, when you lose a loved one, and when you’re facing death.

Suddenly this book to which I was just giving mental assent, engaged every neuron. The synapses were firing, saying back up and take another look at that part about trusting God to write your story when your child breaks your heart.

One Christian couple (not the first ones I’ve read about or known in my life) had a son who had followed the Lord, then announced he was gay. Another Christian couple had a son who had moved away – they didn’t know where – carried by addiction. They hadn’t seen or heard from him in years. They didn’t know if he was dead or alive.

My own broken heart wasn’t born from the exact circumstances of either of those prodigal children, but my children’s situations are close enough for me to seize upon the conclusions the gay son’s parents have arrived at (paraphrased):

1. My husband and I cannot change my child’s heart.
2. We are not responsible to fix our child. Our adult child is responsible for his/her own decisions.
3. We won’t stop loving them or praying for them.
   And to those I will add another:
4. I can trust God to write the rest of their story.
   Is my heart still broken because my children are not walking with God? Of course! But my perspective is changed when I trust God that He is good, and His plan for me and my children is good.
   Is there a chapter in your life you are wondering how it will end? Perhaps you can gain some insight from this book. I did.

#YouCanTrustGodtoWriteyourStory @robertwolgemuth @MoodyPublishers @JoniandFriends

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Holiday shopping time will be here before you know it. Even if you aren’t in the mood to buy presents, maybe you’d like to tighten up a little before Turkey Day. To that end I’m going to let you know what I found out when I reviewed three different yoga mats.

I reviewed one rubber mat and two foam mats. Let’s start with the rubber mat.

The AmazonBasics Rubber & Suede Yoga Mat, Blue 0.16“, is as its name implies, made of rubber with the top surface of suede. The rubber mat seems to have developed a loyal group of users. Many people prefer the suede surface for its stability and softness. They also like the rubber material because they believe it moves around less than a foam mat.

These two possible benefits do not outweigh the biggest shortcoming for me. A rubber mat like this one is at least twice as heavy as a foam mat. This may not be quite as important if you are doing your workouts at home and do not have to take your mat back and forth to class. But when portability matters the extra weight of the rubber can be a big drawback.

In its favor, the AmazonBasics Rubber & Suede Yoga Mat does come with a nifty nylon carrying bag. The bag has a large-hole, fish-net-like weave in the center portion to let your mat breathe, and maybe keep some of the funk from compounding as if it were shut up in a gym locker.

Also in this mat’s favor, in comparison to the standard foam yoga mat, this rubber and suede mat is half a foot longer. Although this does contribute slightly to the weight, if you are over 5’6” and laying on your back you may appreciate the longer length.

I gave the AmazonBasics Rubber & Suede Yoga Mat a solid 3 Stars. But if you work out at home and are tall, I can see a clear case for a higher rating.

Now let’s look at foam mats. First, the FILA Assessories Yoga Mat.

I like that the FILA Accessories Yoga Mat – Classic Exercise Mat with Carrying Strap Sling for Yoga, Pilates, Stretching & Floor Workouts is light weight and very portable. It comes with a string slip-knot sling to make it even easier to schlep to class, if that’s where you do your workouts.

The FILA mat seems to be made of some type of foam which gives it that light-weight property, as well as providing cushioning. It is 5 mm thick, which seems pretty standard for this type of foam mat.

The surface is designed with miniature bumps and has an element of tackiness, especially once it is moistened with perspiration. The manufacturer recommends it be wiped down after use. I did not detect any chemical or other unpleasant odors from the FILA mat.

Also standard for this type of foam mat is the 68 inch by 24 inch dimension, or about five and a half feet long by two feet wide.
Another nice feature of the FILA yoga mat is the price point, which at $19.99 is good in comparison to similar mats.

I awarded the FILA mat 5 stars. It held it’s ground in price point, weight, and features.

And finally, let’s take a look at another foam mat, the Gaiam Yoga Mat.

This Gaiam Yoga Mat – Premium Print 5mm Thick Exercise & Fitness Mat for All Types of Yoga, Pilates & Floor Exercises ranked highly in just about every category.

As a foam mat, it is very light weight and portable, which makes a difference if you are carrying your mat to class. Although it is advertised as being 5 mm thick, the foam seemed more compressed than the same thickness FILA mat.

If you are a self-starter, the Gaiam Yoga Mat offers a free download workout to get going. You don’t have the excuse of having to find a class or not knowing how to do the poses or exercises. This is a feature unique to Gaiam of the three mats I reviewed.

As a personal preference, I would rather not have the mandala design which is associated with certain eastern religions.

My Conclusions:

Of the three yoga mats I reviewed, FILA comes in as my favorite for being the lowest priced, tied for the lightest weight, and having the string sling. The surface texture has adequate stickiness and there is good cushioning. For me, there were no major drawbacks with the FILA.

See the chart to make comparisons of the features that are important to you, and pick your favorite.

Born nearly blind with cataracts, her family foreigners in Vietnam, there were no doctors to correct Julie’s sight. Her spirit-worshipping grandmother commanded Julie be taken to an herbalist who would concoct a potion to make her sleep…forever. Fortunately the herbalist refused to cooperate.

So it truly was a miracle that her family fled to America and Julie was able to get surgery that preserved some of her sight. Still legally blind, she felt she had to prove that she was just as smart and could do anything the sighted kids could. She traveled the world, studied, and eventually graduated from Harvard Law School. Julie even met the love of her life and lived the dream she never thought would come true; she married and had children.

Stage IV colon cancer came worse than a punch in the gut on a trip across the country for a family wedding. In a whirlwind of pain and emotions Julie experienced crisis with unfamiliar doctors, panic sparked by what her symptoms could foretell, transcontinental consultations with medical professionals, and urgent directives to transfer to a different hospital to have emergency surgery. In Julie’s mind, this is where her miracle life began to unwind.

Julie began keeping a blog, somewhat introspective, painfully honest, and real. As her followers grew, Random House took note and offered to edit the blog into Julie’s memoir. Thus the book begins, “If you are here, then I am not, but it’s OK.”

Available in Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, and Paperback.

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The Anova Culinary AN500-US00 Anova Precision Cooker, 1000 Watts, Black and Silver is a cooking tool that uses the sous vide method of cooking. Sous vide (pronounced “soo veed”) is French, and its literal meaning is rendered, “under vacuum”. If I hadn’t looked that up I might have guessed it meant, “You ain’t eatin’ anytime soon.”

If the microwave is too slow for you, the sous vide method will be beyond your tolerance. Most things take at least an hour and a half to two hours to cook. But, if you have the patience, you will be rewarded with gastronomic delights.

Perhaps also from the French are the precise, unhurried methods, meticulous preparation, and careful presentation of food that results in world renowned dishes, chefs, and restaurants. Plan for a good couple hours for meal preparation with your Anova Precision Cooker. If you are cooking a steak to precise doneness, you will have exact results – every time – but cooking may take a good two hours.

The first step is to affix the Anova Precision Cooker to the inside of a large pot, and add water to between the minimum and maximum levels indicated on the cooker.

Place your food in a vacuum sealed plastic bag. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can put your food in a Zip-loc bag. Push most of the air out of the Zip-loc bag and immerse the food under the water. That will cause most of the rest of the air to come out and you can zip the bag closed. If the food is heavy it may stay on the bottom. Otherwise weight it down, while also clipping the edge of the bag to the edge of the pan opposite the Anova Precision Cooker.

If a cookbook came with my cooker I must have misplaced it, but that’s not a problem in this internet age. I had two pieces of frozen salmon I wanted to cook, so I checked a few recipes and settled on a temperature of about 135 degrees F for about one and a half hours. The fish I bought already had seasoning on it, but you could add olive oil and your favorite herbs.

The time and temperature are easy to set on the Cooker. After setting it up and getting it started, the cooker heats the water as it circulates it in the pan.

I checked on the progress a couple times over the next hour, but I was working on something and didn’t want to stop when the timer went off. I assumed the cooker would automatically turn off when the time was up. Not so!

When I finally got to the kitchen, there was no burnt pan or ruined fish. The timer on the Precision Cooker was sitting on 00.00, but the cooker was still humming away and circulating the hot water. Neither the fish nor the pan was any worse for the extra cooking. The Anova Precision Cooker seemed just fine too.

Depending on what you cooked, this is the point where you would clean off any congealed blood and sear the outside, putting on some grill marks, and adding the final seasoning. My fish turned out flaky and tasty!

The best foods to cook with the sous vide method are eggs, and meat, especially the tough cuts of meat. High end restaurants frequently use sous vide to cook your steak to perfection. Pork does well, cooked by sous vide. Carrots are a vegetable that you can cook easily with this method.

You can also run your Anova Precision Cooker from an app on your phone. You don’t even need to be at home!

If you love food – not so much in the sense of stuffing your face – but love to cook, love to experiment, love to arrange presentation, love to deftly blend flavors, then I think you will love the ability this machine has to cook food precisely. You will be enthralled by the possibilities such a device will make available to you. Maybe “you ain’t eatin’ anytime soon”, but that’s not the important thing.

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The United States in 100 Words, authored by Nancy Dickmann and illustrated by Paul Boston, is a enjoyable children’s book which is so engrossing, they will learn about nature, industry, history, government, culture, American values, and the mathematical concept of 100, before they realize it. Icons at the top of each page show which category or categories that topic draws from (besides math, which permeates every page).

The concept of the book is based on 100. One hundred words were chosen to represent America, words like Plains, Canyon, Vegas, Prohibition, Woodstock, Volunteer, and Rosa (Parks). Each of these 100 words has its own page, and that word is described in – you guessed it – one hundred words. The descriptions are therefore concise and not overwhelming.  Each of the main 100 words has its own large illustration.

Dickmann herself acknowledges that the words she chose to represent our country are a reflection of who she is and her personal experiences, although she did try to reach outside of that realm, as well as into the future and back at history to get a list that would represent all Americans.

Resources in the back of the book include a Timeline, a map of the United States with all 50 states labeled, a short glossary, a short index, and a list of references where more information can be found.

 Much can be learned from this book. If you have a child who loves to soak up facts, this is a sponge waiting to be squeezed out in a delightful way.

#TheUnitedStatesIn100words #NetGalley @QuartoKnows

“Do Angels Really Have Wings? And 199 Other Questions about God, Life and the Bible” is a compilation of questions and answers collected over the past thirty years from broadcast and print content developed in association with The Moody Bible Institute.

Although the title, “Do Angels Really Have Wings?” may sound lighthearted, this book doesn’t shrink from also answering more serious questions related to the Christian faith. Don’t fear you will be bogged down in theology. All the answers are short and to the point, and are designed to give you a better understanding of some of the things Christians have long pondered, and things that have been a stumbling block to the world.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t do something about the pain and suffering in the world? What happens to babies when they die? How can a good god send anyone to hell? Where did Cain get his wife? Will I know my spouse in heaven? Did Adam have a belly button?

The questions can be searched by the subject or scripture indexes in the back of the book, making it not just good reading, but a useful reference. If you’re looking for a good answer book for yourself or possibly for a gift, I recommend “Do Angels Really Have Wings?”

@MoodyPublishers @TheMoodyChurch @MoodySeminary @Moody_Bible  @MoodyRadio  @notderosset  @wneelymoodyedu @EricCRedmond @reachjulieroys  #TodayintheWord

Born for This: My Story in Music is the memoir of Benjamin, “BeBe”, Winans. Born into the large Winans family of Winans Family Singers fame, BeBe was the youngest son of ten children. BeBe watched his older brothers work diligently under the tutelage of their father David, or “Skippy”, first in the church choir and then as they formed their own Gospel group.  

Skippy was strict but loving. They had to give their best for God, but there was to be no boastful pride should they succeed. BeBe longed to join his older brothers on the stage, to make singing his career too.  He worked hard and begged God and his parents for his chance, but was told he wasn’t ready yet.

Finally BeBe and his younger sister CeCe were allowed to travel from Detroit to North Carolina to audition for Jim and Tammy Bakker’s televised PTL program. To BeBe’s dismay his sister made the cut, but he didn’t. Since CeCe was still shy of 16 years old, BeBe offered to go to North Carolina to live with her so she could follow her dream.

The book’s title, Born for This, comes from a song BeBe wrote out of his disappointment. It is an affirming lyric proclaiming that God gave him the talent and would indeed use him as a singer.

BeBe was eventually hired by PTL to sing with CeCe, but he continued to work through the dissonance of desiring to be a star while staying humble. BeBe and CeCe matured in their professional lives while at PTL, also learning how to navigate in the sometimes tricky non-African American world outside of Detroit.

BeBe has an engaging story that I’m sure would be of interest to many, but his book is presented as a rambling, scattered tale that would make it easy to not finish. With some better editing this could become a first-rate memoir.