Who Likes Free Stuff? and Kevin's Monthly Review

Target is one of my favorite stores and next Wednesday, February 1st, I will be giving away a Target gift card to one lucky person!  All you have to do is become a follower of the blog.  Simply click on the link to the right and become a follower today.  This is just a small way for me to say THANKS to all of you who follow along as I ramble on about my own life journey.  I will be doing these once a month and each month's prize will get better and better!  Can you imagine what it will be like by December?  YOU GET A CAR!  YOU GET A CAR!  Wait - I'm not at Oprah's level (not yet at least!) so let's all think smaller - YOU GET A COFFEE MUG!  YOU GET A COFFEE MUG!  Yes, that's more like it.  I assure you that each give-a-way will be good.  They will always be one of my favorite things!  Target is a great way to start!  Don't worry - my family members are ineligible for any prizes (they don't know that yet).

   

I also want to include a review each month of a favorite book, movie, TV show - or anything that I have been a part of and think that you should as well!  I am trying to think of a good name for it - Kevin's Monthly Review?  Kevin's Recommendation?  Kevin's Critique?  If you have any good ideas, let me know!  This month it will be a book.  I recently read a New York Times Bestseller - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  This is one of those books that is so well written and it leaves such an impression on the reader.  The author is Jonathan Safran Foer.  This was my first time reading one of his books and I was instantly intrigued by his style of writing.  The story takes place during the September 11th attacks and centers around a nine year old boy named Oskar Schell.  His father is killed after being trapped in one of the towers and Oskar comes home to find five voicemail messages left from his father during what he refers to as "the worst day."  Oskar later finds a key left behind by his father and he begins a mission to find out what that key unlocks.  That is only the beginning of the story and there is so much more that it entails but I do not want to give too much away.  There is really SO much more to the story and it has such a beautiful ending.  There are themes of love, relationship, loss, dealing with loss, and the bond between father and son.  I found myself laughing and crying and looking for any chance to keep reading it.  I highly recommend it and hope that you are as in awe as I was by the end of the story.

The book has been made into a movie starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock and I did go see it a couple of weekends ago.  As with any book turned movie - the book is so much better and the movie leaves so much out.  But I did enjoy the movie and the kid who plays Oskar is an amazing actor - and it is his first time acting which is crazy!  I would recommend that you see the movie first and then read the book.  If not, then just go into the movie with an open mind.  They are both very moving, intense, and emotional so be prepared.  Below is the trailer to the movie.

 

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!


This week I am grateful for:  1.  Encouragement from readers of my blog that motivates me to keep going with this passion  2.  A great phone conversation with my sister Cara and hearing about all the good things going on in her life  3.  Time to work on my new book and excitement about the direction it is going  4.  Looking forward to being off work Saturday and actually having a 2 day weekend  5.  A great first month to the new year