Friday, April 1, 2016

It's Spring!

Howdy folks! I'm back with my March highlights! :) Lots of random things to share with you all. :) 

This past month I did something a little different with my 'monthly highlights' post. Instead of writing this all today (or yesterday), I've been sticking random happenings in a draft post all month long. It's working nicely and instead of having a review of the past week or so, it's actually a review of the entire  month. (Because I honestly can't remember what happened at the beginning of March.) 



Life.  
Where we chat about my crazy life 

- It's spring. I know it, but worse yet the ants know it. They've came back from wherever they've been all winter (where do ants go for the winter months?) and have officially invaded my life. -_- Ack. 

- I followed the Iditarod!! Dallas Seavey won again, folks! A fourth win for him, three years consecutively! :D Following the race with a friend was so much fun!! 

- I donned Daddy's straw hat and traipsed off down by the creek with my little brother. 

- I tried to sing Gold with a cold. (Hey, it even rhymes!!) It didn't go so well, and I sure don't sound like Britt Nicole. XD 

- I watched Dad chase chickens out of the boat shed with a paddle... 'Twas very funny. B-) 

- We celebrated Tucker, my little brother's, birthday. :)


- I hid in Tucker's hideout by the creek with Bullet, one of our yellow labs. ;)

- sitting at the bar (not like bar bar. Goodness people, we are PKs.) with Tucker, discussing books and eating blueberry donuts. "Writers need motivation." 

- the dandelions are here!! *jumps for joy*

- I made a dress! :D It's a red polka-dot vintage-y dress with a gathered skirt and capped sleeves. It's not quite finished, but when it is I'm planning to do a 1940s photo shoot. If it turns out, I'll hopefully be sharing it with you all soon. :-) 




Writing. 
Writers block, challenges, and a word count 



- I started writing again! Okay, so I never really stopped, but I was horribly stumped for a disturbing amount of time. There have been times in the last two weeks or so I've been having to force myself to stop writing! (Only to go to bed or do school or whatever, of course. ;) ) 

- I participated in the Go Teen Writers 300 for 30 challenge!! There were several days I didn't reach the goal, but all in all... 

- ...I wrote about 10,090 words this month! :D That's really good for me, but when I think of people who can wrote 50K+ for NaNoWriMo...it sounds pathetic. :P 


Music and TV. 
Where I ramble about all the awesome stuff I've watched/listened to this month 

- I discovered my love for Britt Nicole's music. I mean seriously. Some of her songs are soooo beautiful! They aren't all favorites, but I like most of them. :)  



- I listened to alot of great music this month. The songs that ran on repeat are as follows... ;) 
King of My Heart by Love & The Outcome, Broken Together by Casting Crowns; Headphones, Still That Girl, All This Time, Gold, Look Like Love, Who You Say You Are, and Seeing for the First Time by Britt Nicole; Same Power by Jeremy Camp; Times, Healing Begins, Forgive Me, Hold My Heart, and For Those Who Can't Speak by Tenth Avenue North. ;) 

- I found two new favorite movies!! Return to the Hiding Place and 23 Blast. Hopefully I can write a decent review of each and post those soon. ;) (Warning. There will be oodles of fan-girling. XD) 


*saunters away singing Travis and Jerry's elevator song* 


Books. 
When I force y'all to read/skim (it's totally up to you...) lists of books. 

---Pinterest 

- I got oodles of new books this month!! ('Oodles' is kinda like 'lots', in case you were wondering.) Most of these books were thanks to Thriftbooks. Ya know, that super-awesome site that really should have a limit to how many books you can get a month. B-) It's so ironic. The girl who currently doesn't have a bookshelf is buying books... O_o What's up with that? 
But. Ironic or not, it's happened. 

First off, the books I've gotten from bookstores this month. :) (Yes, this is underneath the coffee table. I'm my Mom's favorite daughter. B-) ) 
Barnes & Noble ~ Aircraft of World War II by Chris Chant, The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron, The Story of D-Day by Richard Holmes, America at War by Stewart Binns and Adrian Wood
Christian bookstore ~ They Called Her Mrs. Doc and Tomorrow's Dream by Jannette Oke and The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer 
Won through a giveaway ~ When Sparrows Fall by Diana Blackstone 

Gift from a lady at church :) ~ War: A Photo History by Duncan Anderson 
From Thriftbooks ~ The Resistance, Prisonsers of War, and The Air War over Europe by Ronald Bailey; The Good Fight by Stephen Ambrose; Rosie the Riveter by Penny Coleman; Remembering You by Tricia Goyer; The Wings of Morning, The Face of Heaven, and Whisper of a New Dawn by Murray Pura; Love Finds You in Victory Heights by Tricia Goyer; Interrupted and Chasing Jupiter by Rachel Coker; The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins by Walter Dean Myers; Early Sunday Morning by Barry Denenberg; The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson; Captive Dreams by Cara Putman. 


---Pinterest 


- I've read/finished 14 books this month. :) Less than January, but the same as February. ;) 

Emotion Amplifiers by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
Princess Book Set (1-4) by Emma Right 
The Good Fight: How World War II was Won by Stephen Ambrose 
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie by Kristiana Gregory 
What I Want by L. N. Cronk 
Rosie the Riveter by Penny Coleman 
The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson
John 
A Gown of Spanish Lace by Janette Oke 
Pass Me Not by Faith Blum
Summer Promise by Robin Jones Gunn 
Third Time's the Charm by Liz Isaacson
The Path to a Modest Lifestyle by Amanda Leite
The Battle Plan of Prayer by Stephen & Alex Kendrick

And today I'll finish They Called Her Mrs. Doc by Janette Oke, a book I'm reading with a friend. :) 

Monthly Quotes. 

(discussing names for characters) 
Me: "Name him blueberry...email." 
Tucker:  "It sounds electronic, and it makes you hungry. It's like fruity and...wireless." 


Some of my plans for April include beta-reading, watching God's Not Dead 2, reading lots of books, and finishing a certain story. ;) 

So tell me, dearest readers. Have you saw the movies? Heard the music? Read the books? I'd love to hear! 
~Faith

30 comments:

  1. The straw hat down by the creek venture sounds like fun! ;) I want to join you! We don't have many creeks here.
    Okay, I need to come and "adopt" all your new books. You got some really amazing ones!!! I'm going to HAVE to make an order from thriftbooks soon. I just realized they have two books I've been looking everywhere for! So now I'm really exited. :D
    Oh, I can't wait to see your dress! I've thought about doing a 1940s photoshoot on my blog. . I definitely have enough siblings to make it interesting. ;) Post pictures just as soon as your dress is done!! :D
    *sings Travis's part of the elevator song with you* Both those movies are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!!!! I love them both oh, so much!! They're definitely going down as classics in my library. ;)
    GOD'S NOT DEAD 2!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhh, I am so excited about it!! Seriously, it sounds and looks so good! I wonder if it will have the actor who played J.D in "Do you Believe" on it. B-) I hope it does. He's amazing. ;)
    Have fun beta reading! Beta reading is always just so much fun!
    I was about ready to say something like "10,000 words and I haven't gotten an email?!" But then I remembered it had been 10,000 words is different stories, not just the one I am dying for. ;)
    I'm also super curious about the certain story you are going to finish in April??? Giving out any hints? ;)

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    1. Oh, it was. :) We have a creek running through our property and I love it so much. :) We can't really swim in it, just wade, but it's so pretty. :)
      Sure, you can "adopt" any of the books! One catch – you have to come get them. B-)
      Yes, Thriftbooks is so awesome!! :D I absolutely love it!!
      Oh, you should do a 1940s photo shoot!! Like those pictures you took of Kezzy as Joyanna? It would be so amazing! :-) I'll hopefully post pictures next week!!
      Haha!! You be Travis and I'll be Jerry. :P Soooooo, soooo AMAZING!!!! Agh, I need to watch them both again. ;) Oh, they're most definitely classics! =)
      ME TOO!!!! Hmm, yes, I'm quite partial to the actor that plays J.D. ;) I didn't see him in the trailer, but I did notice several of the people from God's Not Dead 1.
      This is my first time with 'real' beta-reading so we shall see. ;)
      Haha, right! Not 10K in WT or TWHH. :P But one of the things I did work on a lot this month may interest you... B-)
      You're curious?? Good, I succeeded! :D LOL. Just one hint – the abbreviation of the story is BLS... ;)

      Thanks for reading, Jess!

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  2. I can't wait to see that dress. Like seriously. B-)
    Britt Nicole is the best!! Sometimes I get her confused with other singers though because a lot of her songs have the same titles as other people I listen to. O.o
    And Tenth Avenue North is amazing, too! I saw them on tour at a Chris Tomlin concert and it was so awesome!!
    You'll find me on Thriftbooks a lot. xD

    ~Lydia~ <3

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    1. Hehe! :) Hopefully I'll have pictures up next week. :)
      Isn't she?!?! :D Really? I don't think I know any other songs by the same titles...
      YOU SAW TENTH AVENUE NORTH???? I'm so jealous. B-)
      Haha, me too!! It's so awesome. ;)

      Thanks for reading, Lydia!!

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  3. Oh, that's a great idea to start these kind of posts in a draft and add highlight to it during the month. Because at the end of the month it is kind of hard to remember everything that happened. ;)
    The Iditarod was super fun to follow this year! ;)
    I would love to see some pictures of your dress once it's done! It sounds like it will be really pretty. :) Also, a photo shoot sounds like a lot of fun!
    I've heard some of Britt Nicole's songs. Out of the ones that you mentioned only Gold sounds familiar. :) But I might've heard some of the other before too, I'm not sure. ;) I love Healing Begins and Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North!!
    Yes, 23 Blast is really good. It has been awhile since I've seen that one. I had somehow forgotten about the elevator song until you mentioned it. ;) That part was really funny! :D
    That picture/saying with Dory is hilarious!
    It looks like you got a lot of great books this past month. :) I've read: "The Fences Between Us", "Early Sunday Morning", "Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie", "A Gown of Spanish Lace", and "Summer Promise". But I guess you already knew that. ;) And I just finished "They Called Her Mrs. Doc". ;)
    I'm also really looking forward to seeing God's Not Dead 2!
    Thanks for sharing your highlights from March, Faith! :)

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    1. Yes, it worked really well. :) I know, right?! I can never remember anything. :P
      Yes, following the Iditarod was a blast! :-)
      Hopefully I can finish the dress tomorrow or Monday and do a photo shoot sometime next week. :)
      Gold is reeeally good. It was my favorite, but now "Still That Girl" is; I can really relate to the lyrics. ;) All of the Tenth Avenue North songs are sooo good!! :D
      23 Blast is absolutely amazing. The elevator song is so funny!! My brother and I have been singing it all the time. ;)
      Isn't it?! ;) I love finding things like that on Pinterest. :P
      *laughs* Yes, I guess I did know that. ;) LOL. "They Called Her Mrs. Doc" was soooo good!! :-)
      It sounds amazing! I can't wait to see it!! :D

      I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Rebekah! :)

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  4. Hey don't worry! Your word count is pretty close to mine! Your reading count on the other hand is much bigger! How do you people always have so many authors you can turn to for good books? I don't even know where to begin! I'm going to have to check out Tricia Goyer since her name keeps coming up ;)

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    1. Yay! So good to hear! :D
      Alot of these books were pretty short, but I still spent all my free time reading. xD All the books I read in March were either books that I was planning to read, or ebooks I happened across through BookBub and whatnot. ;) Yes, Tricia Goyer is a great author! I haven't read many of her books yet, but I can't wait to read more! :)

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  5. Neat post! I love reading about other book addicts! Shows I'm not completely crazy... B-) But anyway, on to a completely different note. Today I talked to Mrs. Marlow at the Cincinnati homeschool convention, where she has a booth. She said to tell you to ask her to put your story up on the CC blog. (I really hope that made sense!!) Yours was a really good story, and I told her that!

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    1. Haha, so do I!! :D Nope, we're not crazy...just bookworms. ;P
      Oh, thank you so much, Krystal!! Yes, it made perfect sense. :) I'll email her soon! Thanks again!

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  6. Fun recap!
    And bravo on making a dress and writing so many words!!! A 1940's photoshoot sounds lots of fun (I've done one before - included the Wings of Glory books in my pics. :D Hehe!), and I definitely want to see pictures of it!
    Ah books. I've been wanting to read the one by Kirby Larson (The Dear America - I lived on those books all throughout my early-mid teen years, and still will read one occasionally!). Have you read Kirby's books "Hattie Big Sky" and the sequel? I love HBS so much - read it more than twice. :)
    You have read a lot of books! I sadly only read 4 during March. =/ Hoping for more this month!

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    1. I'm glad you think so!! :)
      Thanks!! The dress was fun, as was the writing. ;) Oh, AWESOME!!!! :D I would love to see your photoshoot! (Is it on your blog somewhere?)
      That one by Kirby Larson was utterly amazing. I feel like it's 'my' book. With Piper being a PK and all I could reslly relate. ;) No, I haven't read either of the Hattie books, but I really want to. :) They look superb!!
      I have and I'm loving it!! I only read like 35 books all last year, so this has been amazing. :) My goal is 101 and so far I've read 49. (I finished two more yesterday.) :) Good luck with reading this month!!

      Thanks for commenting, Raechel!!

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    2. :) Yep, it's on my blog - https://godspeculiartreasurerae.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/19-in-the-1940s/
      It was a couple years ago, and not super huge, but it was fun nonetheless! :)
      Oh that's cool!! Now I'm REALLY itching to read it! Utterly amazing books are so fantastic!
      Nice!! And that's a great goal. On Goodreads, I've got 70 as my goal, but I'm *hoping* for 100. We'll see! Thanks! :)

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    3. Oh, I love it!! :D (I'll hop over and leave a long, gushing comment as soon as I'm done here. ;) )
      Yes, read it! ;) They are!!
      70 is still an amazing amount of books in a year! :D And 100 would be awesome!!

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    4. Thank you! :)
      So far I'm on track for 70. It's hard when some books are ones that you just slog through...the one I'm reading right now is that way and I'm debating just giving up on it...:P
      I tagged you :)
      Also I saw your recent post about the contact widget thing not always working -I had used it back when you had asked for people to send your brother bday cards; it must not have gone through, but I did try, so I'm sorry I missed that one! :)

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    5. *sigh* Yes, I know how that is. ;) It makes reading so 'unenjoyable', which I really awful because then you don't even want to read. >.<
      I saw that. *wink* Thanks, Raechel! :)
      Oh, no!! Ugh, I'm so sorry! It's always worked before, but apparently there's something wrong with it. :-/ Grr. Well, thanks for the thought!! :-)

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    6. Yep. But good news, the next book I have to read I am pretty positive I'll adore, so I'm excited. XD
      :)
      It's okay - I know how internet widget things have their quirks! :D

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    7. Oh, splendid!!! Books are meant to be adored. :)

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  7. Sounds like you had a great month! Do you highly recommend any of the books that you read? You know I am always looking for more good books!

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    1. I did! :D I highly recommend "A Gown of Spanish Lace" and "The Fences Between Us". Both were amazing books that I literally devoured! :-)

      Thanks for reading, Bethany!!

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    2. I will check them out! Thanks!

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  8. I really like your idea of putting down parts of the post throughout the month! It WOULD be a lot easier than digging through your brain at the end of the month and trying to remember everything that had happened ;) I shall try that this month! :D

    Britt Nicole! I love her music! Have you heard Stand, The Lost Get Found, and Set the World on Fire?

    Thriftbooks? That sounds so awesome! Do you know if they ship to Canada? Because if they do...oh boy!!!!!!!! XD

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    1. Ah, it was soooo much easier. :) I can never remember ANYTHING so I worked really well. :) Oh, I'd love to hear how it turns out for you!

      ME TOO!! *high five* I've heard Stand, and Set the World on Fire sounds familiar, but I haven't heard The Lost Get Found.

      It's so amazing!! :D Yes, they do ship to Canada!! They'll ship to anywhere in the world, but only the U.S. gets the $10+ free shipping. ;)

      Thanks for reading, Blessing!!

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  9. That's so cool that you follow the Iditarod! I may try that next year!
    We are PKs makes me laugh so much! Whenever we sing "drinking" songs like Roll Out the Barrel we always make a joke like Wow, the PKs singing about beer...
    You made a dress! That's awesome!!!
    Glad you had an awesome month!

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    1. Following the Iditarod is sooo much fun!! :)
      Haha, yes!! You get it. ;) PKs singing country music is strange sometimes too. ;)
      It was so much fun!! :-)

      Thanks for commenting, Ashley!! :)

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  10. It sounds like you had a busy month Faith! :) I think your idea of writing the memories in a draft post as they happened was a good idea. I look forward to seeing pictures of your dress! I made one for myself once and have plans to do it again this year...sewing is not the easiest thing for me (or something I enjoy) so you have my respect!

    By the way, I just tagged you for the Liebster Award on my blog. If you want to do it you can check it out here--
    http://createdbythecreated.blogspot.com/2016/04/australians-pizza-and-quirks-liebster.html

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    1. Haha, yes I did. ;) Writing things down as they happened helped so much in making a 'better' monthly recap. ;)
      Sewing isn't the easiest thing for me either, but I do enjoy it. :) I would love to see pictures after you make the dress! :)

      Oh, thank you so much!!!! :D I'll do it soon!

      Thanks for stopping by, Lydia!! :)

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  11. AHHH FAITH. I had so much to say in my comment while reading your blog post that now I've got to scroll up to remember it all. :)

    I adore Britt Nicole! My mom and I discovered her music back in the fall, and she's amazing. Your dress sounds beautiful! I made a red and white A-line polka-dotted skirt for myself this month, and I'm in love.

    I read The Hiding Place last fall and really want to watch Return to the Hiding Place soon! :) Happy April, Faith! - Emily @ forthebookish.com

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    1. Haha! I do that all. the. time! XD

      Yes, she IS amazing!! And I love her music videos. :)
      Ahhh, sounds amazing!! I love polka-dots. :) Especially red/white and blue/white. :)

      It's a really, really awesome movie! I could go on and on all day long. ;)

      Happy April!! Thanks for commenting, Emily!! :-)

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