Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson

I read Stephanie Nielson's new book "Heaven is Here" about a month ago. 'Nie Nie', a popular blogger, Mormon wife and mother, was in a terrible plane crash a few years ago. This book recounts her life before and her recovery. It was pretty heart wrenching to hear of her loss but triumphant to see your recover, grow stronger each day and share her hope and message of the love of our Savior and the importance of our families. It made me want to be a better mother, to be more patient and appreciative. And never to ride in a small plane! I know that's terrible but this book was really inspirational and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to change their perspective for the better.

Design*Sponge at Home

This was the biggest design book of 2011 in my opinion. I can't tell you how many blog posts I saw with this book perched carefully on the coffee table. The book itself is striking in person with the gold picture (subtle but gorgeous). As for the actual book, lots of fun photos, some DIY, lots of flower arranging. The before and afters were fun and if you were a blogger whose project was featured I bet that would feel pretty amazing. A lot of the book felt pretty contrived- the same mid century modern stuff every where. A couple good ideas but nothing life changing. I spent about a hour flipping through this and returned it to the library. I bet it will be pretty funny to see what was hot ten years ago when this book is at the thrift store, akin to the decorating books of the nineties that are pretty laughable now.

How Not to Be a Messie from Sandra Felton

I recently read The Messies Manual by Sandra Felton. The best thing I learned from this book is that the difference between a poor or a good house keeper is that when they walk by a little mess or thing to clean, the cleanie does it then instead of procrastinating. I've worked on that more recently and I think it's making a difference! She also suggests making a goal, then going room to room, cleaning out extra stuff, and eventually you'll have the skills to maintain a clean house.

Now I'm just trying to remember, "Our houses look the way they do because we give them permission to look that way!"