After days and days of seemingly endless rain...alternations between drizzles and downpours, today, the sun came out, like a long-lost friend. It's still bitterly cold, and the wind still raises goosebumps on the skin, but that bit of sun drove away some of the midwinter gloom that has plagued us over the past weeks. In the midst of lunch this afternoon, my aunt (and next-door neighbor) called us to their deck to see a radiant sunburst, with golden rays beaming down as in a painting. Beyond that, we could see the rain coming down in the distance, yet it stayed bright and dry over our house. I love grey, wet days, but it was nice to see the sun for a change.
On another note! Merry Christmas! I had been expecting to blog several times last week, but life simply got in the way of things. I had a wonderful (busy, but wonderful) Christmas--the Lord has truly blessed me with an abundance of amazing friends and family. I ate lots, laughed lots, and smiled lots. Christmas eve went by in a wonderful blur, spent making finishing up presents, altering Christmas dresses, and then the service at church, and a family gathering afterwards. Christmas day was much more leisurely, but still lovely...I loved watching my family unwrap the gifts that I had chosen/made for them!
And speaking of Christmas, the holiday link-up hosted by that Tori and I hosted ended early last week, and we chose our two favorites! All of the entries were so wonderful that I was torn between them...you ladies all have fantastic blogs! My personal favorite was Lauren's post on gift ideas, and Tori's was DIY Gifts, from Sabrina's blog. That means that Lauren will be receiving a $5 Amazon giftcard from me, and Sabrina will be receiving free ad space on Tori's blog! Congratulations, ladies! And thank you all for entering--I loved reading all your posts.
Have a wonderful rest of the year everyone! You likely won't be seeing much of me for the rest of the week, since, aside from New Year's services and celebrations, a lot is happening right now, and I don't want to overwhelm myself with trying to get blog posts up. But hopefully you'll be seeing a post or two later in the week.(:
This morning my sisters and I awoke to a light scattering of snow across the lawn. It wasn't much, and much of it had already melted by the time I got up at 10:30, but it was a wonderful unexpected sight. I hadn't expected to see snow before Christmas, and then, there it was! Of course, by the time I made it outside to take pictures, it was all gone, as though it had never been there in the first place. And it was bitterly cold...my mother says that although the temperature may be higher, it feels colder because of all the cold winds that we get here, and I think she's right! That wind is frightfully cold! Needless to say, these were some of the fastest outfit pictures I've ever taken! These tights are very nice, though...they're lined with a layer of fuzzy fleece! Oh my...I just want to live in them.(:
Oh! And I've been tagged again, this time by the lovely Vicki from Sunshine and Shadows. Thank you for tagging me, Vicki!!
Here are the rules:
1. You must post eleven random facts about yourself.
2. You must also answer the eleven questions the awarder has given you and make up eleven questions for your awardees to answer in turn.
3. Tag eleven fellow bloggers.
4. Notify them that you've awarded them.
5. No tagging back.
6. The eleven blogs you tag must have less than 200 followers.
Since I already posted eleven random facts awhile back, I won't be posting another eleven (I find coming up with random facts about myself to be exhausting!), but you can read those here, if you like.
Here are Vicki's questions:
1. What is your favorite kind of fruit or fruit juice?
I love most fruits, so this is actually pretty hard for me to answer! My favorite fruit juice, though, is probably lingonberry juice--I used to get that all the time at IKEA!
2. Did you have a dream when you were a child of what you wanted to be when you grew up, and have you achieved or are you achieving that dream?
Well, when I was a child, I wanted to be many things. First, I think I wanted to be a princess, who lived in a beautiful castle with an enormous library (really, I still would love that last part). Then for the longest time I wanted to be a missionary to cannibals (I read a LOT as a kid...can you tell?). Then I decided I wanted to be president, then it was a detective, then a teacher for a little while, then a novelist, and sometimes it was a lawyer (this kind of went along with the detective thing...I watched a lot of TV mysteries!), and for the longest time, an insurance investigator (after listening to the old radio program "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"). No really permanent dreams as a child, but God willing, after I get my bachelors degree, I would like to continue to law school.
3. What is your favorite article of clothing?
Sweaters. Especially giant, chunky cabled ones in the Aran style.
4. A random stranger walks up to you and hands you three plane tickets to your dream destination - where is that destination, and whom do you take with you?
Hmm...one of two places--London at Christmastime, or Venice. I would likely take my two closest friends, or perhaps my sisters.
5. If you are in college, what is your major? If you are not in college, what is one subject that you are passionate about?
I am in college (I just started winter break! Whoo!), and I'm a government/political science major with an emphasis in pre-law. I have been given many strange looks over this choice, and many objections like "But Vicki! You were going to be a writer! You have the wrong personality for a poli-sci major!" (it gets even more interesting when I say I want to go to law school...) Still, it's something I am passionate about and good at.
6. What is your favorite kind of weather?
Cold rainy weather is the best. I love being able to listen to the rain outside while relaxing by a warm fire (in a wonderfully chunky sweater), with a good book.
7. If you could attend any one concert of your choosing, whom would you go see?
I've only ever been to one concert in my life, so there are still many artists/groups I'd love to see. I've always really wanted to see Josh Groban in concert, though. I think that would be amazing.
Or Owl City.
8. What country/countries do your ancestors come from?
My dad always calls our family a family of "mutts" because we have ancestors from so many different countries! There's German, Norwegian, Irish, Scottish, and a smidgen of English blood in me! Predominantly the first three, though. Supposedly my uncle traced my mother's family heritage back to Attila the Hun...I'm not sure how accurate that is, but my uncle was practically a genius, so if he says we're descended from the Huns, I almost have to believe it!
9. Is there any one theological question about the Bible or something in it that has always puzzled you, and if it's not too private, could you share it?
There haven't been any really deep theological questions, just silly little things, where if I had read the text and the context and cross-referenced better, I never would have asked in the first place!
10. How long is your hair?
Weeell, as you can see from the pictures, it's getting longer again! It's down to my shoulder-blades now. I'm starting to wonder if I should get it cut again...
11. What was the last book that made you cry?
Oh my...hmm. I can't remember! I know there was one recently...I forget the title, though. :P I was reading a book (a stack, actually) on Abraham Lincoln for a research paper, and there was something in there (which I can't remember...haha) that just made me weep. I think it was reading one of his addresses--Lincoln was a truly brilliant and moving orator.
I am very much a history geek. I actually enjoyed that research and wished I had had time to delve deeper into the topic.
And since this post is starting to get pretty lengthy, I'll post my eleven questions for the people I'm going to tag in my next post. I have to keep you all in suspense, don't I?(;
And all the while, I sit in my room like Scrooge, studying away. Well, not quite...I've definitely gotten into the spirit of the season, baking cookies, watching Christmas movies, and listening to my favorite Christmas music, not to mention practicing my choir pieces! And I've almost got all my Christmas shopping done and all my presents are nearly ready to go!(:
Anyway! My friend Tori, from Fashion, Trends, and More, and I got together and decided it might be fun to throw a little blog party to celebrate the season. So we're having a holiday-themed link-up! And to make it a little more exciting, we're also making it a contest--at the end of the week we'll choose our two favorite posts and one winner will receive a $5 Amazon gift card from me, and the other will receive free ad space from Tori! Fun, right? All you have to do is link up one of your holiday-themed posts...it can be anything from favorite recipes, decorations, an outfit perfect for a Christmas party, a roundup of your favorite movies and songs from this time of year--anything!
All you have to do to enter is:
1. Follow my blog.
2. Follow Tori's blog.
3. Link up your posts!
Have fun! If you want, grab a button and link to us in your post to spread the word, and be sure to visit some of the other links!
I can't wait to see all of your posts!
At the end of October my family took an impromptu trip to the pumpkin patch, driving through the urban areas where we live to a little pocket of farmland you would never have thought existed. Since it was so late in the season, good pumpkins were difficult to find, but find them we did, after about a half hour's worth of tramping through the muddy field picking up pumpkins that seemed to have an interesting shape or personality. I was chased by a strange looking chicken that decided it didn't like me, and befriended a darling gray kitty with a mustache, along with a troop of adorable German Shepherd puppies (one of my favorite breeds of dogs...someday I want to have a German Shepherd, a Boxer, a Corgi, and a Schnauser...though any dog would make me happy!). The farm had a unique collection of antique cars and trucks, along with old farm machinery that was certainly fun to look at. And, as it was a smaller pumpkin patch, there weren't many people there, which was a huge plus!
My sisters decorated theirs that night, and I finally got around to decorating mine on Thursday--I took a couple of sharpies and free-handed a drawing of one of the Silence from Doctor Who...I never got around to taking pictures, though! Next year I'd really love to try my hand at carving a pumpkin...I've never tried it before, but I've always wanted to!
Did any of you decorate pumpkins this year?
Dress + Blouse: Gifts // Necklace: Shabby Apple // Belt: JC Penney // Tights: Fred Meyer // Shoes: Thrifted
This outfit was picked out in a last minute rush before church--I decided I didn't like what I had pulled out the night before and randomly grabbed this. I really love this look, though...very simple and vintage-y, which I always love.
Time for the final tag in my series of getting caught up on tags! To see the others, see here, here, and here. This one come from John, who is the darling pet hedgehog of the lovely Miss Jack Lewis Baillot. John has his own blog called "Bananas Aren't Good" and I always love checking in on his latest exploits. Thank you for tagging me, John!
Here are John's questions:
1. You don't like bananas, right?
I never really liked bananas much, especially when I was little. I still don't care to eat them by themselves, but in something or with something else, I do usually like them--I LOVE banana bread and banana cake especially.
2. Do you want to build a snow man with me?
I would love to build a snow man with you!
3. Do you like movies with sand in them? I do. Jack's friend does too and that is how I saw the movie with sand in it.
Sand tends to make me feel thirsty when watching movies, but I have enjoyed all the movies I've seen with sand in it, I think! Like Tintin or Aladdin.
4. Will you see the movie with the boy named Jack Frost in it?
Rise of the Guardians looks like such a fun movie. I'd love to see it.
5. Will you read the books before the movie?
After reading Jack's review of the books, I probably will try and read them before the movie!
6. Do you like books?
I love books. I have five bookcases stuffed to bursting with books and I have many more on my iPad. Reading is one of my favorite ways to spend free time.
7. Do you have someone like Jack to read them to you?
My mother used to read books to me, but when I was three she decided I was too old to be read to and taught me how to read by myself, which I almost like better because I can imagine all the voices and scenes unfolding in my head. My sisters like me to read to them occasionally--I read them A Christmas Carol every December!
8. Do you have a boring big brother like I do?
Nope--no brothers at all, just two younger sisters.
9. Do you like cold chocolate or hot chocolate more?
Hmm...I always crave chocolate of any kind, so both!
10. Is your birthday the same day as my birthday?
I don't know! When is your birthday?
11. Do you want to put candles on your tree?
I always love the look of candles on a Christmas tree. But fire and I don't get along well together (I'm very accident-prone when it comes to fire), so if I did have them, they would have to be electric!
I hope you all are having a lovely week!
Crocheted sweater, shoes, skirt: Thrifted / Blouse: JC Penneys / Tights: Fred Meyer / Necklace: Claire's
Hi everyone! To everyone in the U.S., happy Thanksgiving! It's wonderful to have a holiday dedicated to giving thanks...I know that so often I am discontented with what I have, and I often forget to be thankful for the numerous blessings that God has given me. Because, really, once I stop to think about it, I have SO much to be thankful for in life, so many blessings that I can't even begin to count. To me, Thanksgiving should be every day. Not the feasting and the celebration part (I don't even like Turkey!), not the historical significance, but the spirit of thankfulness. No matter how bad your day may seem, there is always a glimmer of light--something to be thankful for.
"O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endureth forever." -Psalm 105:1
Have a lovely holiday, everyone!
