Come See What the Fuss Is All About (Or How the Surprise Was On Me!)

Well, it’s official, The Good Life For Less is out in the world now! I have been so enjoying all of the photos that people have been tagging me in on Facebook with their copies of it! Can you believe all these amazing celebrities that are posing with my book? I can’t believe it myself!

I loved seeing these pictures being posted and then the comment threads that followed that got other people out there buying the book. That is truly the power of social media! I can’t imagine what it would be like to write a book and not get to see my friends with their copies of the book. It has been making my whole life.

My favorite siting yet was from two of my favorite bloggers, Claire & Lauren, over at TX M.I.L.K. It turns out even Willie Nelson likes my book… now I know that I have arrived.

The reviews have been rolling in on the book, which is so awesome to see!  I get so excited when I see the reviews being shared on Amazon & GoodReads from readers and my blogger friends have all been so generous to share about this book. Here are some of my favorite reviews so far!

Simplifying Meal Time (@ Dine & Dish)

The Good Life for Less Review (Hoosier Homemade)

Taking a Page Out of the Good Life for Less (Extraordinary Mommy)

Book Review: The Good Life for Less (This Full House)

The Good Life for Less (The Centsible Life)

The Good Life for Less (The Simple Moms)

The Good Life for Less (Beth’s Book-Nook Blog)

Review: The Good Life for Less (Northern Cheapskate)

The Good Life for Less: A Happiness Upgrade (Baby Toolkit)

The Good Life for Less (Hormone-Colored Days)

Review: The Good Life for Less (Mom’s Favorite Stuff)

Must Read: The Good Life for Less (Mom Generations)

I was over the moon with happiness and life was so darn good…and then I got the world’s worst stomach flu. I have not been this sick in years. Flat on my back, so dehydrated your eyes feel like sandpaper sick, the I’m cold, now I’m hot, now I’m shivering again sick. SO SICK. For an entire week.

I was dying and my husband was in a sheer panic about my sickness, but couldn’t let on how worried he was. Unbeknownst to me, he had been working for seven months with my best friend on the surprise party of all surprise parties to celebrate the launch of my first book and my 35th birthday.

We had a double date planned with my best friend and her husband for, what I believed to be, a silent auction. As my husband pushed me into the room, he whispered, “This is how much I love you.” Standing in the room were over 40 of our closest friends and family there to celebrate.

I have never had a celebration like that ever in my whole life. They rented a room at Legends for the big night, who catered all of the food for the event. He had been working with my publicist to have posters of my book made up for the evening, and the night of surprises wasn’t over.

1.)  He flew my brother in to be with me for the evening from New Orleans. I hadn’t seen him since last spring and I was beside myself with joy to have him there. This was a gift, not just for me, but for our entire family because we have missed him so much. He’s currently living out in New Orleans pursuing his dreams in the art world, and it was so special to have him there.

If you are into art or happen to live in New Orleans, please check out his Facebook page to find out how to commission a piece of art! It’s the Dark & Twisty Art of John Allen.

2) He managed to get my two childhood best friends to come in for the party. We are three busy women and it takes a near miracle to get the three of us together. I almost fell over when I saw them both there for the evening. Not many people can say that they have been friends since they were ten years-old and are still friends. These were my two best friends from church camp and we spent many a summer together that I will forever treasure in my heart.

3) Perhaps, the most amazing gift and demonstration of love ever given to me, my husband had been working since June, to teach himself how to DJ so he could be the DJ for my party.

We have been together since high school and I was infamous for making him a million mix tapes of songs for him and “ghetto mixes” once I became too “hood” for a traditional mix. Those mixed tapes were the inspiration for him to surprise me.

Ryan took all the music and those memories and managed to make that into the ultimate mix for me for my birthday, for a night of dancing with my girlfriends. It might sound a little corny to you, but I fell in love with him all over again. When you have been together since you were kids, it becomes hard to surprise each other anymore. To pull off three surprises? Unheard of.

In lieu of gifts, my friends remembered how important the Faith Mission Homeless Shelter was to our family. If you recall, a few years ago, we hosted a Big Give for the shelter. A wish list from the director of the shelter was given, and everyone worked on gathering donations to share with the women & children of that shelter. This was one of my favorite surprises of the night since caring for the homeless is such an important thing to our family. I can’t tell you how happy these gifts made me!

Behind every good man is a good woman. My best friend had been working tirelessly on throwing this amazing party for me with my husband. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a friend like that and I try to never take it for granted. I am still shocked she could keep this a secret from me for that long when we talk for hours on the phone daily. She is my other “sister,” and I can’t imagine my life without her.

Of course, my friends wanted to spoil me a little bit and all had pitched in for a gift that I had been dreaming about for years and years. I now have the most beautiful and epic sounding record player and they gathered a record collection to get me started. The morning after the party, I sat in my favorite chair and listened to my Simon & Garfunkel record…weeping uncontrollably.

In the words of my mom, most people never know what they mean to people. It is usually at their funerals, that they say what a special person you are or what you have meant to them. Few people get such a demonstration during their life while they are still around.  

I remember when my husband’s grandma passed away and the way my mother-in-law’s friends orchestrated this amazing feast for all of us and took care of her in such a difficult time. As we climbed in the car to head home that day, I cried and said how happy I was that she had friends like that. The kind of friends that would just drop everything for you and take care of you like that. What would that even be like?

I know now. God put the perfect people in my life and gave me the most incredible friends in the world. They know and understand my heart, they have no jealousy for these major career milestones, they are so proud of what I do, and they are the first to say, “What do you need? What can we do to help?” when things go wrong.

More importantly, I am reminded how loved I am by my husband and by our family. I had stars in my eyes all night for my husband and what he did for me.

I am the luckiest girl in the whole world.

Tomorrow I have my first book signing at the Mishawaka Barnes & Noble. I’m so excited that my friends are even coming in from Chicago & Indy for this special day. I hope you will accept my heartfelt invitation to join me at this signing. I want to hug and thank every single person that has supported us over the years. It would mean so much to have you there! I hope I see you tomorrow from 2-4PM at Barnes & Noble in UP Mall (Mishawaka, IN).

As you can see, life has gotten a bit chaotic. I promise to try to get back in the swing of things soon, but in the meantime, I hope you will pick up my book to read our family’s story and get inspired to get your finances back on track! I know you are missing some features here so I wanted to update you and let you know that I am just having a little trouble juggling it all by myself. I hope this helps explain things a bit more.

Thank you for your love and support!!

(Party Photography: Brittani Renee Photography. Party Dress: Flourish Boutique)