Bloom by Kelle Hampton

 I recommend playing Colbie Caillat's song, "Brighter Than the Sun" while reading this post.

I had heard from many friends that they enjoyed the book Bloom, but for some reason, I didn't feel that innate pull to read it right away.  For one thing I knew nothing about it, just that it was quickly turning into a best seller and soon after I learned it was written by a blogger.  I didn't know if it would be a good book for me.  I love mommy bloggers but an entire book written about a mom...could I relate?  I can't tell you exactly what made me sign-up for the pre-order or what e-mail or blog post did I see that led me that way, but I bought a copy through the paperback pre-order and waited.  When it arrived in the mail, I saw sweet Nella on the cover, exploring a beach.  I put the copy aside as I tackled in-processing at a new base. 

On my very first alert, I was incredibly nervous, anxious, and worried beyond all mental capacity.  Here I was in my role in the military and I'm sure my commander could sense that I was insanely nervous.  When it was my first sleep shift, I tucked myself into the bed mod with that copy of Bloom and fell in love with the Hampton family.  As Kelle Hampton share her family experiences, they helped calm as I did my first alerts.  If you've never read Enjoying the Small Things, you're missing out.  In that space, Kelle shares the trials, tribulations, joys, and laughter that her family goes through every week.  Bloom is just one segment of those memories, a time that starts when Hampton gave birth to her second child, Nella.  She starts her story with having the most perfect preparations in welcoming this new baby.  I had never heard of anyone not only being that prepared but even having a birthing celebration in order with champagne glasses in tow.  Her attention to detail and creativity was something that immediately picqued my interest.  However, when her new baby was welcomed into the world she found out that little Nella had Down Syndrome.  It was something that rocked Kelle to her core and kind of left her in an infantile state.  Her family and friends swarmed in to create this protective layer of love and support.  It was amazing to read that type of family dedication.  For me family means everything so it was beautiful to see that written out in a memoir.  I don't have any children, but I can imagine that anything that would create difficulties for your child or impair their development in any way would just hurt your heart. 

What I appreciated about Kelle was her brutal honesty about herself.  She was very upfront in how selfish she was at times and how in many circumstances she could only focus on her feelings because she had to take the time to wrap her brain around her new family dynamic.  A lot of her critics dislike that about her and in reading reviews of the book before I purchased it, a lot of negative comments were written about her.  Kelle touches on many similar comments in Bloom.  She wrote a blog post about her happy family and how DS wasn't going to bring them down right before they took a vacation to Southern Florida.  She had a difficult time enjoying that time off because of the comments that were made on that post.  I also saw similar comments where people basically denounced her experience.  It was almost as if people were saying because your child has x, y, z levels of DS, your experience is not reflective of my child's case of DS or what I've experienced with it.  Almost as if to chastise her on her life not being difficult enough.  That made me laugh.  It's her memoir in which she and her family choose to look at the optimistic points in their lives.  They incorporate that optimism into everyday events because they have a family and want each of their children to live life to the fullest.  Should she be sad and concerned and worried all of the time?  I certainly don't think so.  All that does is exhaust the body and mind. 

Personally I would rather spend that time enjoying what's beautiful in life.  With my job, that's what we focus on.  When we're off of work, we spend time with family and friends.  We sit outside and admire the sunshine and we laugh a lot.  Our job is exhausting and we spend more time away from our families than with them.  If we didn't choose joy, we would probably have mental breakdowns.  The term "embrace the suck" filters in and out of our minds, so we choose joy to combat those negative thoughts.

I love the dynamic that Kelle Hampton has with her family and I am so glad that she has chosen to share a part of that not only in the emotionally-stirring Bloom, but also in maintaining a blog.  She helped me out with a different situation and I'm sure she has helped thousands of people.  I am so glad that I ordered her book.  I want to read it again and highlight quotes that moved me.  If you haven't visited her blog, do so.  Her family is adorable and like I said, she is so creative!  One of my favorite "fun" posts is the Christmas party she planned. 

You should read Bloom if you want a true story that inspires and teaches perseverance.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think it was a beautiful book to read at this point in my life.

Literary Junkies Link-Up

What are you currently reading? Tell us about it!

I enjoy Kelle Hampton's blog and one day she was talking about her book going to its paperback version.  I didn't even realize that Bloom was her book!  I preordered a copy and have enjoyed reading through it and admiring the beautiful photographs.  It's Kelle's motherhood memoir and what it was like for her realizing after she gives birth to her second child that her baby has Down Syndrome.  The reviews of the book have received a lot of heat, but I think it's from critics of her blog.  I definitely plan on doing a review of my experience with reading it.

Let's learn about each others Reading Habits!! 

 Answer the following questions either with a simple answer or with lots of details! Up to you! :)

Amazon or brick and mortar?

I could spend hours in a brick and mortar. I love bookstores.  They are one of my favorite places in this big, wide world.  However, I also have an Amazon Prime account and the prices usually are way stellar than dropping $50+ at Barnes and Noble.  So I'm kind of stuck in-between.

  

Locally owned bookshop or big name chain store?

I love supporting a local business but the thing about Barnes and Noble is that you will always be able to find the book you're looking for there.  My favorite is going to thrift stores and scoring books for only a few bucks.  I currently have a Barnes and Noble membership and even though I shop there frequently, I don't really think the membership is worth it.  It only knocks $1-$2 off of the total.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

I usually use a bookmark (even if it's a piece of junkmail or scrap paper). I'm not a fan of dog-earring books.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

Usually by random assortment.  I'm sure Ryan has organized them in some way but I could care less, as long as they're out for my amusement.

Keep, throw away, or sell?

Keep! Although my husband would probably be yelling "sell"!

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

Keep! I love keeping books in great quality.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?

I usually keep mine on. I think with the Harry Potter series I removed the dust jackets a few times to make sure they stayed nice but I keep the entire book together.

Short story or novel?

Novel :)

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?

I haven't read these in awhile, although I'm more familiar with collections rather than anthologies.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Stop reading when I'm tired. I miss the days that I would read into the wee hours of the morning because I absolutely could not put it down.  Now adult responsibilities call...le sigh

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

As a hopeless romantic I could go with either ;)  Once Upon a Time for a beautiful fairytale or even dark and stormy night for a bit more sensual of a story.

Buy or borrow?

Either is fine with me but lately I've been buying a lot more books.  I really need to switch it over to "borrow."

New or used?

I love both, especially finding a used copy of a fairly new release. 

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?

Book reviews and recommendation! If I'm a thrift store, you'll find me on my iPhone browsing through my Amazon app to check reviews.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

Depends on the author and the writing style.  If it can be expanded into a series without it becoming tired, definitely cliffhanger!

Morning, afternoon or nighttime reading?

Nighttime or traveling because it calms me and adds closure for the day as well as helps me to wind down.

Single volume or series?

Kind of the same with the cliffhanger response, it depends on the author and the book content.

Favorite series?

Harry Potter is always a classic but I loved Little House on the Prairie and I really want to tackle Game of Thrones since I love the show.  Of course I can't forget about The Hunger Games and although I enjoyed the first two books in the 50 Shades Trilogy, I couldn't get through the last because of the awful writing.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Nowadays I tend to read books off of recommendations or Bestsellers lists, so I'm sure everyone has heard of the books that I read.  I love checking out the recommendations from magazines and supporting budding authors :)

Weekend Recap

Weekend Shenanigans consisted of several things, one of them being a wicked fight with my husband which ruined most of a perfectly good weekend.  Oh poop on a stick.

I did, however, learn how to poach an egg to make Eggs Benedict, as well as learned how to make French Toast.  It helps when of my AF besties has a husband who is also a professional chef.  If said professional chef creates a cooking club, which he has, you know I'm already an earnest student!

Elle (Lynn) from WishinGoodLuck, sent me a book care package as part of a swap that I participated in, and it was fabulous.  It was part of the Sip, Read, Swap book swap (sorry, that gets a little redundant) and I had a great time.  Lynn is an awesome blogger and I highly encourage readers out there to check out her posts.  She was kind enough not only to send me a Tervis Tumbler mug, but also TWO books.  I scored with an awesome swap buddy. #wootwoot

Last weekend I came across this really amazing church that I've just fallen madly in love with.  In my past, there has only been one other church to create such an emotional reaction from me that was even remotely close to what I felt last Easter Sunday.  I really want to dedicate an entire post to this feeling of strong faith, so who knows I may end up doing several posts this Sunday.

I've also become really enamored with the idea of physically writing more in my life, whether it's through cards, letters, journaling, etc.  My friend Karla shared with me an organization called Operation Write Home that makes cards to send to our deployed military members.  This gives the men and women of our armed services the chance to send home decorative cards for special occasions.  Since I'm all about crafts, you know that I loved this opportunity!  I wrote in and received a special stamp to add their logo to the back of the cards that I make.  I'll share a few of them on here once I get to making them.  When my husband was deployed, receiving letters and cards from him made my entire week so I know that making these cards will truly bring joy to so many families.

To celebrate the art of writing beautiful letters, I recently became a member of the Letter Writers Alliance, based out of Chicago, IL. 

Source and Photorights: Letter Writers Alliance

It's an organization that celebrate the art of writing letters.  Totally up my alley, I signed up for the membership which was really inexpensive at $5.  I received a welcome letter, badge (which I plan to put on a cardigan), membership card, and instructions as a member on their website.  They put together letter writing socials and have fun benefits for those who become members.  It reminds me of old school cereal box memberships...kinda like getting a decoder ring ;)

A dear friend, who also was a sorority advisor of mine while I was in college, sent me a copy of a book in the mail.  It was a good week for mail folks!  I love receiving mail and packages so I'm all about being the sender and recipient of fun things through postage.  Regina sent me a copy of a novel written by a friend and I received Saturday.  I'm so excited to read it and pass it forward to another friend who may feel inspired by it.

In speaking with my sister Dwana for hours the other day, she filled me on the novel she is writing and I am so excited for her!  I may or may not have peer pressured her into publishing it- even if it's in an eBook format on Amazon.  I really want to read it and after hearing the entire plot thus far, I think it's going to be incredibly successful.  Talking to her inspired me to at least get to writing a couple short stories and I'm debating on sharing them here.  Maybe I'll make it into a biweekly sharing opportunity on my blog.  

The other day I spent a solid two hours in Barnes and Noble contemplating books, as well as journals.  I've become fascinated with the concept of doing a line-a-day type of journal.  The idea is to reflect on your day in one sentence and these books focus on the process spanning five years.  Barnes and Noble didn't have any that I liked and in Kim fashion, I opened my Amazon app to read the reviews.  That's when I saw this beauty:

 

A Jane-a-Day, 5-year journal and I quickly added it to my virtual cart.  I received it this week and am excited to start participating in daily sentences.  I'm trying to do more in "living life" and recording memories, whether it's through Project Life scrapbooking, a line-a-day journal, or simply writing letters.

 

This week I also received my pre-ordered copy of Bloom by Kelle Hampton.  It's a bestseller so I'm sure many of you have heard of it.  Kelle is a blogger over at Enjoying the Simple Things and so far I'm really enjoying the book.  She received a lot of heat when it came to the Amazon reviews so I'm excited to put together a post talking about how I felt about the book and maybe some of the risks you take being a blogger who is consistently in the public eye and then putting together a memoir.

I've saved the best for last because tomorrow we, as in my awesome team, are announcing the giveaway for Preview to Summer: A Blogger Book Swap!  I have spent probably two months planning this swap with the help of five other fantastic bloggers.  Registration will start Sunday, April 14th but if you're impatient like me, the giveaway will provide you with all the more reason to come back for more.  By "blog-hopping" you have the chance to win five different books.  I'll be giving away an eBook copy of The Great Gatsby.  It's one of my favorite books and with the movie coming out soon, you'll definitely want to read it before setting eyes on Leo DiCaprio as the notorious Gatsby.  This Blogger Book Swap is going to be incredible and we're implementing ways to make sure that you make the most out of your experience and meet other great bloggers.  I am so excited about this and I know y'all will just love my team of kick-a bloggers!