Inklings Explorations ~ {November}

 After seeing last month's link-up on Heidi's blog, I knew I would want to join in sometime. When I saw this month's selection I was super excited! It's so quaint and Autumn-ish and Thanksgiving-y! :D 

So off I go, traipsing downstairs and hunting through the family bookcase for a poetry anthology. Okay, so there is only *one* poetry anthology in the house...so it wasn't that hard to choose one. ;) 

I returned upstairs with Anne's Anthology in hand. I should stop here and explain about this book. I saw this thick anthology everyday for two loooong school years - 7th and 8th grade. I didn't enjoy poetry then...at all. But now it's not so bad. :) 

So, anyway. I've chosen my selection for Heidi's inkling exploration and....(wait for it...) here it is! 

This month's selection...

~ A Giving of Thanks in Poetry or Prose ~

From Pippa Passes

Part 1, "Morning" 221-228

by Robert Browning (1812-1889) 

~Pippa's Song~ 

The year's at the spring 

The day's at the morn; 

Morning's at seven; 

The hillside's dew-pearled; 

The lark's on the wing; 

The snail's on the thorn; 

God's in His heaven —

All's right with the world! 

From Google images.

 Thanks for reading! :) 

~Faith 

Black Friday Sale ~ Indie Christian Books

Like most other bookworms, great books make their way onto my "things I'm thankful for" list every year. It's hard to choose favorites, but I went ahead and picked five books I read in 2015 and am thankful for.

1. Malachi (yes, I'm referring to the book of the Bible) ~ ~  I read this recently and loved it! It's now one of my favorite Old Testament books. :) We can never be thankful enough for God's Holy Word. 
2. Another Homecoming, by Jannette Oke ~ ~  Another Homecoming was the first book I'd read by this well-known author, though I'd quickly fallen in love with the Love Comes Softly movies. I can definitely say this book is a favorite! I'm thankful for this book because now I have a new author to look for more good books by. :) 
3. The Battle Plan of Prayer, by Stephen and Alex Kendrick ~ ~ I recently requested this book as a read & review from the publisher. Already it has helped me so much and I'm thankful. (There will be a full review posted on Chosen Vessels after I've finished reading this book.) 
4. A Memory Between Us, by Sarah Sundin ~ ~ I'm so very thankful that I found this book. Not only is it an amazing book from a wonderful set, but I've found (yet another) new favorite author. :) 
5. Avery's Battlefield & Avery's Crossroad, by Deanna K. Klingel ~ ~ (I know, I know. That's two books and not just one, but how could I leave either one of them out?) I love these two books so much. I go on and on about it all day, but I won't. ;) My mom got these for my brother several years ago but he doesn't really enjoy reading. I read them...and loved them! They're so, so good. They're actually books for boys, I guess, but I really liked them and now they've taken up residence on my bookshelf. ;D 

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to another great year of reading! Speaking of more reading, here's one more thing to be grateful for. Books on sale! In honor of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a group of independent Christian authors banded together to offer over seventy discounted books on Nov 27-30. There's literally something for everyone. Every single book listed on Indie Christian Books is on sale in one or more ways. Find discounted paperbacks, dozens of books offered with free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals and more. Even if you have a budget of $0, new reading material awaits you. Don't know what to pick? The fearless Indie Christian Books team created a quiz that will generate a book list perfect for you! Check it out!

What awesome reads of 2015 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2016?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as "Sold Out." This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good for her work organizing this sale, Gloria Repp for completing the time consuming job of uploading book info to the sale website, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

Planner Pictures!

Good day to all!! *waves cheerfully* 

My school planner this year has these cute little sayings at the beginning if each month. I've been meaning to share them here for awhile and I'm finally getting around to it. :) 

July ~ Be glad life doesn't come with a manual

My July definitely 'lived up' to this! 

August ~ On the road trip of life, always follow your heart {but make sure your brain rides shotgun} 

Oh, yeah. :) 

September ~ When it's cloudy remember the sun is always shining somewhere 

Again, describes my September! 

October ~ Enjoy {every} moment 

My October was wonderful! Lots of great things happened, starting with who I met and where I was on the 2nd. *wink, wink* 

November ~ laughing burns calories 

So, my goal is to have a lot of laughs this month!! :D

What do ya think? Did y'all enjoy these? Would you like to see the others as the next few months come and go?

Thanks for reading! Have a amazing day! :)

~Faith

Bookshelf Tour! ~B~

Isn't that cool?? :D Believe it or not, it didn't fall either! 

Hello all! I'm back for the next installment of the Bookshelf Tour!!! :D I realized that I forgot something in the first post so I went back and added it in. If you'd like to see that (it's at the end of the post) or if you missed the first post, click HERE. 

~B~

- Christmas Tidings (edited) by Louise Bachelder

- God Loves Me Bible by Susan Elizabeth Beck

- The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

- Polly by Mary Christner Borntrager

- Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World by Deb Brammer

- A Log Cabin Christamas Collection: 9 Historical Romances during American Pioneer Christamases by Wanda Brunstetter (with Margaret Brownley, Kelly Eileen Hake, Jane Kirkpatrick, Liz Johnson, Liz Tolsma, Michelle Ule, Debra Ullrick, & Erica Vetsch.) 

- Lydia's Charm by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Rachel Yoder: Always Trouble Somewhere series by Wanda E. Brunstetter

- School's Out! 

- Back to School

- Out of Control

- New Beginnings 

- A Happy Heart

- Just Plain Foolishness 

- Jumping to Conclusions 

- Growing Up

Brides of Webster County series by Wanda E. Brunstetter

- Going Home

- On Her Own

- Dear to Me

- Allison's Journey 

- A Cousin's Promise (Indiana Cousins trilogy, book 1) by Wanda E. Brunstetter

- Love Finds a Home by Wanda E. Brunstetter (includes Daddy's Girl, Dear Teacher, & Twice Loved) 

-Sisters of Holmes County: 3 in 1 trilogy by Wanda E. Brunstetter (A Sister's Secret, A Sister's Test, & A Sister's Hope) 

The Discovery: A Lancaster County Saga by Wanda E. Brunstetter

- Goodbye to Yesterday 

- The Silence of Winter

- The Hope of Spring

- The Pieces of Summer

- A Revelation in Autumn 

- A Vow for Always

Kentucky Brothers Trilogy by Wanda E. Brunstetter

- The Journey 

- The Healing 

- The Struggle

- Brides of Lancaster County (4 in 1. includes A Merry Heart, Looking for a Miracle, Plain & Fancy, and The Hope Chest) 

- Indiana Cousins Trilogy 3 in 1 (includes A Cousin's Promise, A Cousin's Prayer, and A Cousin's Challenge) 

- Daughters of Lancaster County by Wanda E. Brunstetter (The Storekeeper's Daughter, The Quilter's Daughter, The Bishop's Daughter) 

- The Hope Chest by Wanda E. Brunstetter (Brides of Lancaster County, book 4) 

- White Christmas Pie by Wanda E. Brunstetter

- The Celebration of the Simple Life by Wanda E. Brunstetter

- The Little Princess by Frances Hodges Burnett 

- The Secret Garden (revised Chik-fil-A edition) by Frances Hodges Burnett

- A Precious Moments Gift of Love by Sam Butcher (and Carol Steele) 

This is what I somehow missed doing in the last post. Oops! :)

Favorite book(s): A Cousin's Promise, White Christmas Pie, A Vow For Always, Under His Wings (from A Log Cabin Chirstmas.) If I have to pick only one, A Cousin's Promise. :) 

Books I haven't read: The Hiding Place, Polly, Daughters of Lancaster County (I've read the first two in the trilogy, but not the third.), A Little Princess

Book I've had the longest: God Loves Me Bible

Books in this post: 39

Books thus far in the tour: 105

And now I'm off to make Christmas wreaths.... :)

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment and let me know which, if any, of these books you've read! =D

~Faith

{ If you missed my Veterans Day post on Chosen Vessels, you can see that HERE. }

Bookshelf Tour! A's

Hello everyone! 

 After seeing this post on Shantelle's blog, I knew I wanted to do something similar. However, I knew I'd never find the time to take pictures and type out the titles and authors of all my books at once. So I thought of an alternative. :D My books are organized by the author's last name, so I'll post each letter separately. For example, today I'll post all the books whose author's last name starts with A. Get it? Sound fun? Then let's get started! :)

Y'all know how over-obsessive I am with stickin' in lots of pictures so hang with me. :) 

Here's the top three shelves of my six-shelves bookshelf. Any comments about all the clutter (especially on shelf-3) is not accepted. B-) 

I spread the books out on my rug beside the bed. Ain't it a pretty rug, by the way? ;) 

- Who was Anne Frank? by Ann Abramson 

- Ester Reid by Isabella Alden

- My Horse Scrapbook

- Poetry Potpourri  

- Camp AG

- Confessions of a Former Only Child

- Garden Glory

- The Good Vibes Club

- Summer Slumber Party

- Tickets for Two

- Friends for Keeps 

- ShowTime

- The Misadventures of Average Girl

- The Parsley Problem 

- Your A-Z Guide to Trying New Things

Let me stop here and explain before I go on. I have lots of American Girl books (AG). Instead of putting them on my shelf according to author's last name, they're all on there as "American". :-) I've did this with a few other sets, but I'll add that in when the time comes.  :) 

- Lanie 

- Lanie's Real Adventures 

- Aloha, Kanani

- Good Job, Kanani 

- McKenna 

- McKenna, Ready to Fly! 

- Saige 

- Saige Paints the Sky

- Isabelle 

- Designs by Isabelle 

- To the Stars, Isabelle 

Felicity: An American Girl series - 1774

- Meet Felicity 

- Felicity Learns a Lesson

- Felicity's Surprise 

- Happy Birthday, Felicity 

- Felicity Saves the Day

- Changes for Felicity 

Caroline: An American Girl series - 1812

- Meet Caroline 

- Caroline's Secret Message 

- A Surprise for Caroline 

- Caroline Takes a Chance

- Caroline's Battle

- Changes for Caroline 

 

(Yes, I switched to the other rug. :)

- Josefina Just for Fun

- Addy's Magnetic World (no, this is not a book. :) But I've had it for a long time, and I keep it in the shelf next to the book set.) 

- Kirsten Story Collection - 1854

Addy: An American Girl series - 1864

- Meet Addy

- Addy Learns a Lesson

- Addy's Surprise 

- Happy Birthday, Addy

- Addy Saves the Day

- Changes for Addy

(And then I moved to the bed. ;)

- Samantha Story Collection - 1904

- Kit Story Collection - 1934

- Kit, Just for Fun

- Really Truly Ruthie 

- Lights! Camera! Kit! 

Molly: An American Girl series - 1944

- Meet Molly 

- Molly Learns a Lesson 

- Molly's Surprise 

- Happy Birthday, Molly 

- Molly Saves the Day 

- Changes for Molly 

- Brave Emily

- Julie, Just for Fun

- Meet Julie - 1974

- School and Earth Smarts Planner

- Real Spirit 

- Doll School

- Flower Loom Crafts 

- Button Crafts 

- Beautiful Girlhood revised by Karen Andreola 

Favorite books(s): The Caroline series, particularly Caroline Takes a Chance. I also loved the Addy series. :) 

Book I haven't read: I haven't read all of the Kirsten collection. 

Book I've had the longest: The Molly series

Books in this post: 66

Have you guys read any/all of these books? Did y'all enjoy this? Would you like for me to continue? Leave a comment and let me know! :D

Thanks for reading! 

~Faith

What I Saw ~ 5

Hello everyone! Here is the What I Saw post to accompany the 5th Imagine This, as promised. :)

 Rachel cringed. He was so close she could almost feel the evil and the wickedness that controlled him. 

 Why did I come here alone? she harassed herself. Why couldn't I've just waited for the cops?

 A door, somewhere else in the old warehouse, creaked open. Barnard drug her along with him as he staggered out of the small room and over to the railing. A shaft of light fell across the cement floor, revealing the silhouette of a armed man. 

 “Will!” 

 He spun around and looked up. “Rachel!” he exclaimed when he saw her held captive by Barnard’s grip. 

 Rachel jerked against the atrocious being, knowing that she'd just became his hostage. She instantly stilled when the cold metal gun barrel brushed her neck. Barnard’s arm moved from her waist to her neck. 

 “Let her go, Barnard!” Will called out. “This isn't going to get you anywhere but prison!” 

 “Drop the gun and we’ll talk,” Barnard demanded. 

 "No, Will! Don't!" Rachel screamed. If he gave up the firearm there chances would lessen greatly. 

 Will ignored her and released the gun. It clattered to the cement floor. 

 "Will-" 

 "Shut up!" Barnard growled. 

 Rachel winced and instantly quieted as the gun tip dug into her back. 

 "You hear me, Holbrook?" 

 "Loud and clear," Will answered calmly, his eyes never leaving Rachel. 

 "If you want your gal back you'd be wise to do exactly as I say!" 

 "Whatever you want." 

 Barnard leaned close to Rachel's ear and whispered, "your husband is stupid. He's willing to do anything to get you back, when really all he's going to get is watching you die." 

 Rachel froze. He was lying to Will! He had never intended to let her go. Of course, not, she reasoned.  Not after everything I've saw. 

 As if reading her mind, Barnard added. "He ought to know by now not to believe me." 

 He then turned and yelled over the railing. "Listen up, Holbrook! If you want her you're gonna have to come get her. You leave the gun there on the floor where I can see it, and come up the stairs. If I suspect something or if you take too long, I'm not afraid to kill her." 

 "Alright, I'm coming up." 

 Rachel's heart beat faster. No, no, no! Her fingers curled around the cold metal in her right hand. Maybe there still was a chance… 

******

 Rachel and Barnard heard footsteps ascending the dark stairway. They stopped just around the corner. 

 "Come out where I can see you, Holbrook!" 

 Will slowly appeared, hands in the air. His probing eyes searched Rachel’s face after glancing at Barnard. "Has he hurt you?" 

 "No," she lied. 

 Barnard tightened his hold on her neck and drew her closer to him. “You played along like a puppet, Holbrook. I honestly thought you were smarter than that.” 

 “I’m surprised honesty is in your vocabulary.” Will’s words came out clear and strong with no sign of emotion. Rachel tried to catch his eye but he was watching Barnard. 

 Barnard ignored him. “I really liked you, Will. But now you're going to have to pay for your stupidity.” 

 While Barnard rambled on in a deranged manner, Rachel kept up trying to attract Will’s attention. When she succeeded, she motioned with her eyes towards her right hand. 

 Will’s forehead wrinkled as he watched her. He didn't understand. He didn't see it. Or maybe he couldn't see it in the dark room. Please, God, show it to him! 

 Once again she gazed at him and then down to her right. Will followed her eyes. His eyes were wide when he looked back to her face. 

 He understood. She sighed with relief, but this was far from over. Help us, Lord. 

What do you think will happen next? Should I finish this story and post it here? 

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment and let me know how I did. =D

~Faith

What's Been Going on in My Life Lately...

This is just a bunch of random pictures of what I've been doing lately... :)

                        

                               Schooooool! 

                         

                              Putting glasses on my brother's dog. 

                         

                              Falling in love... :)

                                       

                                           Daydreaming

                                      

                                          Making cookies!! 

                          

                            Pretty Autumn colors! 

                         

                           Eating blueberry-cheesecake on a plate that I made! ;D

                                      

                             Picking up the dinner set I made over the summer. 

                         

                 Spinach and Artichoke dip is TO DIE FOR!!!! I think I'll have some right now...*scampers off to the kitchen* ... Okay, I'm back. :) 

                         

                                Sewing problems...

                         

                              I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to look like that... :-3

So, yeah. That's what's been happening 'round here this past week or two. ;) The What I Saw will be posted tomorrow. Until then! :)

Thanks for reading! 

~Faith 

All photos are mine except for the 3rd and 4th. Those were borrowed from Pinterest. :)