The Saturday Six

One.

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I believe this qualifies as a true example of: It was the best of days...it was the worst of days.

Two.

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Anyone else ever watch Mad About You back in the day? I loved it so much in college and watched it all. the. time. I recently discovered it's on in the mornings, and I catch every episode I can. Paul and Jaime were one of my all-time favorite TV couples.

Three.

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Just learned about Transfercar this week. Have you ever heard of it? If you live in the right areas {which apparently we do not}, you can help rental companies transfer cars and RVs between their locations and give yourself the chance to travel for free/minimal costs! {They need to move the car, and it's cheaper for them to let you drive it there for little to no money than to pay for it to be hauled via freight.} A cost-effective way to travel!

Four.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, we had some tornadoes in our city this week. Lots of destruction just a couple of miles from us, but we were safe. I found this video with drone coverage of the storm's path, so I thought I would share it here.  

Five.

Found this list over on Jessica's blog and loved it so much, I wanted to share it with you. The most beautiful spot in every state. Obviously it's subjective, and you may not agree, but I think you CAN agree that the pictures are stunning. I've been to three {though I was a kid for one, so I don't remember it very well} and think a road trip is in order to see the rest! HA!!! 

Six.

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Gotta tell you about the book I read to review this week. And I have to say, I liked it way more than I thought I would, going in. To be fair, I asked to review this book, so I thought I would like it to a degree, but it was a book I asked to read more to broaden my topic horizons than anything else. Two chapters in, I started over so I could begin underlining and making notes, because I suddenly found myself wanting to keep this book as part of my permanent library.

Next Door as it is in Heaven by Lance Ford and Brad Brisco is a guide to exploring tangible ways we can live among and love our actual neighbors the way God called us to live. To an extent, I think we've spent so many years emphasizing that loving our neighbor means loving more than our ACTUAL NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR...and now we've forgotten to focus on loving our ACTUAL NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS.

The book starts out a little "researchy," as the authors share some background information on how - and why - the atmosphere of neighborhoods has changed in the last 75 or so years. The information is not too academic or hard to read, but the tone at the start is much more informational than relational. Then the authors switch it up and begin explaining how we can change the culture of the very neighborhoods in which we live, by changing our mindset and being intentional in our behavior.

Our recent move has put us in much more of a neighborhood setting than where we lived before, and that was one reason I wanted to read this book. I don't want to squander the opportunity I have to live among people who could be great friends. But I also wasn't sure how to do it.

Lance and Brad offer examples of how their families {and people they know} have met and established relationships in their own neighborhoods, and because the book is written by men, rather than women, it's not loaded down with ideas of baking cookies and establishing playdates. {NOTHING wrong with either of those things, and as a woman, I'd be all about trying both. I point this out simply because if you are a guy or you want to offer this book to a guy, there are lots of examples they could relate to...sharing tools, putting together a BBQ night or a shared home gym...stuff that appeals to men without losing the attention of female readers.}

I came away from this book really convicted to make some changes in how I relate to my neighbors and also how I view my actual neighborhood and the amount of living I do in it, compared to the amount of living I drive out of it to do. {That was one of the most interesting points to me - how in the "olden days," people lived, worked, went to church, and did their shopping all within walking distance. And now, we commute to pretty much everything...and as a result, we don't even know the people in our own backyards.}

In fair and full disclosure, there were a couple of points in the book that I wasn't sure I agreed with, but I am not sure if I don't agree with them just because my lifestyle is more conservative, or if they were points that maybe should have been left out of the book entirely. In case you, too, are conservative, I thought I would add this so you don't come away from reading the book wondering why I didn't mention it, but maybe the things that stuck out to me wouldn't even bother you! All in all, those points aside, I found good, thought-provoking ideas inside these pages and am excited to put into practice the things I've learned!

* Thanks, NavPress/Tyndale, for sending a copy of this book my way in exchange for an honest review. *