Friday Fun

November 7, 2014

I was nominated by Ladonna at A Dash of Encouragement for the Liebster Award! I only met Ladonna recently, but she has become a fast friend! She posts dashes of encouragement every Tuesday. You should definitely pop over to her blog!

Here's how the Liebster Award works:

    Post 11 random facts about yourself
    Answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you
    Nominate bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to do the same
    Let the bloggers you have nominated know they have been nominated


Part One - 11 Random Facts


1. My favorite color is purple.


2. I almost never measure anything when I cook. My Mom despises this habit.


3. I was talking in complete, understandable sentences by the time I was 16 months old. Yes. It's true. This should have clued my Mom in to what the years ahead would hold. (I talk a lot.)


3.  Up until earlier this year, I didn't have any dream destinations outside of the USA. Thanks to Fitzgerald, I've added the French Riviera to my list of places to visit.


4.  2014 was also the year that I realized that I want to be a librarian someday.


5. When I was 13 I gave my go-cart a complete overhaul.


6. I was in 4-H for one year when I was six. I showed a goat and earned the only trophy that is just mine...The trophy was because of my excellent barn duty skills! This is funny for so many reasons.


7. It takes most people a long time to call me Victoria. Kids can't say it. Adults can't remember it. And well meaning people are always trying to shorten it.


8. I almost never play games on the internet (I don't even know what to call them), but Diner Dash and Burger Bash are my games of choice.


9. My favorite arcade game is Ski-Ball.


10.  My favorite toy as a child was a cash register. I had several toy ones, but the real one my Dad let me play with was my favorite.


11. In October, I earned about 750 Swag Bucks.  It's so much easier than I thought! I'm planning to exchange the Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards to use on some of my Christmas shopping. Shameless plug - you should sign up HERE. 


Part Two - Answer The Questions

1. What is one thing God is teaching you during this season? To KEEP setting my hope in Him.

2. If you could travel any where tomorrow, where would you go and why? This is HARD. I would love to go back to Massachusetts to visit all of my friends there. However, I owe my family in South Carolina a visit first. While I'm there, I would be sure to get together with my blogger friends that live in the area too!

3. What is your favorite Christmas movie? It Happened on 5th Avenue

4. Team Edward or Team Jacob? I never read Twilight...Or saw the movies…Sorry!

5. What are you currently reading? 1 Peter, "The Small Rain" by Madeleine L'Engle, and "The Christmas Cat" by Melody Carlson

6. What is your favorite time of year? SUMMER

7. What is one goal you hope to accomplish this next year? I want to become efficient at using Illustrator.

8. Where and who will you be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with? My house with my parents and two of my siblings and whatever other friends and family decide to join in on the celebration.

9. What inspired you to start blogging? It was just a new way to keep a record of things. I started in high school and never looked back.

10. Who inspires you the most in life right now? God. He is my everything!

11. Who is your favorite author? Mary Higgins Clark, hands down.


Part Three - Leave Eleven Questions

1. What is your favorite breakfast cereal?

2. What is the last book that you finished? Would you recommend it?

3. What is your DREAM car?

4. What is your favorite thing on the Thanksgiving table?

5. What are your go-to nail polishes for this season?

6. What Scripture do you go back to over and over again?

7. What is your favorite APP?

8. As a blogger, do you plan posts in advance or blog as you go?

9. Growing up, what was your favorite movie?

10. What person from history do you relate to most?

I now nominate the following bloggers for the Liebster Award:


                                                       Angela @ The Harrells on Hood

Jayda @ Avocado Grove

Jess @ Polished Arrow

Krista @ eitsart

Rachel @ Topaz n Pearls

Robyn @ Robyn's Nest

I know that some of you have more than 200 followers, so I'm breaking the rules a little bit. If you choose to accept the award,  please come back and comment with your post link so we can read your posts! 

Stay In The Word

September 22, 2014

To become you must behold...

I want to be a Christian whose joy in God is real and deep. Being that kind of Christian means that I know Him and that I am becoming like His Son who trusted and obeyed Him with all that He was.

In order to know Him, I must behold Him in His Word. The miracle of sanctification (becoming like him) happens as I come into contact with that Word.

Over and over again I've been hearing:

beholding is becoming

study your Bible

God makes Himself known through His Word

And slowly but surely, I watch and see that this is true. Our problem is sin. Sin enslaves and blinds and lies. God is the only one who can beat sin. Unless we are submitting ourselves to God and His Word, our supposed "fight" against sin is a vain one.

Oh, we may overcome it, but only in our own strength. Our strength fails eventually....But God's strength never fails. The strength we get from Him is a strength we can always count on.

"The source of your fire is God and He is always burning." Dr. Paul Jehle

Warm yourself by that fire, Christian. Behold your God in His Word and join Him in burning with the fire that is fueled by His glory. If you do one thing this fall, let it be this: stay in the Word. 

What are you studying in the Bible right now? 

What "one thing" has God been teaching you about over and over again lately? 

 

Go link up with Susannah!
  

June 365

June 1 - Spent the weekend at Heidi's house. We made a trip to town, made a batch of caramel corn and some snickers bars, and emptied out the "room of doom". As I drove home today it was a perfect day and it just hit me that "it feels like SUMMER"! I fixed one of my favorite salads and a blt to celebrate.// Turns out this was all the last of "my trips" I would ever make in my first car...I sold it suddenly on July 4. :)

June 2 - I bought four peony bushes two years ago at a plant sale. This year they have finally bloomed!!! I'm starting to plan a few day trips over the course of the summer and doing laundry today.

June 3 - Iced Coffee making began last night. 1/3 c coffee to 1 1/2 cups water is my current ratio. Today was a good mail day - Mary Higgins Clark's latest book (I've Got You Under My Skin) showed up! This evening my Mom and I took a walk to find something to trellis my cucumber plants with.

June 4 - I'm getting into my summer routine. My mornings have to look different during the summer because I like to get my plants watered before it gets too hot.  I made a couple of bouquets "just because" even though things looked a little pitiful. This evening I'll do some weeding.


June 5 - Went to some Mackenzie's to get some tomato and eggplants...Turned into a garden and house tour and then we patio chatted the morning away. Small town people can be fun.

June 6  - Went shopping with my Mom and then Julie took us and a few other ladies out for a "thank you" dinner. I ordered a salad (I NEVER do that) all because of the avacado that came on it. I'm terrible. (My brother and sister had snacks outside and took today's picture. :) )

June 7 - Today my family took the boat out for the first time and I stayed home. It was the perfect day to read, lay out, sleep, and enjoy an iced caramel latte.


June 8 - Impromptu hot dog roast with Ron and Julie which turned into "spend the afternoon in the shade visiting". This month, a lot of unplanned, unexpected things have been happening. I think God (and my Mom) are trying to teach me to RELAX.

June 9 - Pancakes for breakfast just because and maybe because today was a little rough.  My brother had a couple of brothers who are friends over for more hot dogs and a few hours of summer fun. For dinner, I made more comfort food: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I also got in more weeding...Getting behind on that is no good!



June 10 - Started another morning out with pancakes just because. Got a call that we had to bring something to my Dad which turned into a trip to Costco to get some much needed supplies for summer living.

 
June 11 - The morning was a slow one...I made some progress on my weed patch and cut the last of the peonies. Then there was laundry to fold and dinner to prepare (chicken enchiladas with mexican rice and beans) and my Mom and I filled in at the library. This may or may not have included a plate of fries and onion rings...

June 12  - It was my Dad's birthday. This year my sister asked if she could make the coconut cream pie...I was happy to let her have a go at it! Ron joined us for a dinner of BBQ ribs, asparagus, beans, cornbread, and sweet tea. In the meantime Stu dropped by, we had Drumsticks (the ice cream kind), and lots of tetherball (my brother officially beats me nearly every time and my Mom even jumped in for a few games).

June 13 - The clouds rolled in today, but the birds are still singing. My Mom and I are going to the office to do some work and then I've got some writing to do for this blog!

June 14 - After a quiet Saturday morning at home, my Mom and I filled in at the library. We got lunch out (I had a chickenwich and curly fries and she had chicken strips and fries). There was a big wedding in town today so there was a bit of excitement buzzing on the streets which kept the library pretty slow. This gave me plenty of time to read Jen Wilkin's "Women of the Word" book!!! I'll be ready for a Downton Abbey this evening.

June 15 - We had a little Father's Day cookout with Al, Jay, and Jerry and Kay. Al played the harmonica for a good long while (which was fun for him and us). The menu for the afternoon was: hamburgers, coleslaw, crock pot mac and cheese, watermelon, sweet tea, Jay Juice, my sister's raspberry pie, and Kay's Chocolate Cake with PB frosting.

June 16 - Today was definitely a Monday. My Grandma sent me a monster package, it was rainy, and there was laundry to be done. I chatted with my Grandma on the phone for a bit and  brought Al a dinner of baked potato soup with some salad and sour dough bread.

This is his "That guy is taking a picture of my Lego creation which is sitting precariously on a stool and YOU are taking a picture of me?!?!" face...:)

June 17 - Today we took an unexpected trip to town to run some errands. The Lego Movie released so there was some fun because of that. We stopped by a "new" (it's been up for a while, but we've never figured out how to get into the parking lot) thrift store to look for something to trellis my cucumbers on. We came out with a board game, a vase, and maybe something else that I'm forgetting.

June 18 - After a very productive morning, we set aside some time before I fixed dinner to try out one of the games we picked up yesterday. Remember "The Series of Misfortunate Events"? Well this game is Olaf vs. The Baudelaire Children that involves a fair amount of thinking and strategy. My Mom joined us for a second game after dinner.

June 19 - Today the rain is gone and the sun is BACK. I made Berger Baltimore Cookies and began the "I'm going on vacation soon" preparations. Today's tasks included weeding, trimming roses, and starting to get a watering schedule written down. My brother and sister had some chicken to shred for the freezer so I kept them occupied by reading "As Ever, Gordy" to them for a while.


June 20 - Today was butcher the chickens day...My job is to process the meat by giving everything one last rinse, wrapping and freezing the breasts and tenders, and putting the wings and thighs in pots to boil. This involved texting my brother to remind him what he was missing out on and some pictures of the operation.

June 21 - When I'm getting ready to go away, I always guard my time at home. Today was full of laundry and weeding (I'm telling  you, it never, ever ends) and reading. We had bacon sandwiches for dinner and watched The Soloist. This movie was soooo good and is on my favorites list! Watch it.

 

June 22 - I finished a great book called "Navigating Early" today. It was young adult fiction, but you'll be hearing more about it, I'm sure. Soooo good! I also learned about a game called "Smoke" or "Essences" and tried it out with my Mom and brother. John Gardner wrote about the game in "The Art of Fiction". You try to guess who someone is thinking of by asking them questions like, "If you were an animal, what animal would you be?" and they answer accordingly. They are good at the game, I am not...

June 23 - VACATION TIME is almost here!!!! We didn't hit the road until after 4 o'clock. We had a stop to make at Heidi's and then it was onto our destination!

 

and this would be MY "Here, YOU try to get a picture of an arrow being shot from a bow the instant it's shot, wait, why are you pointing that camera at me?!?!" face...

June 24- 29 -  I met several new friends this time (most of them young moms...these friendships are always interesting, I have so much time and they, they are running on none). We made soap and bows and arrows and went to the river and talked and heard more from Polly. Life on vacation is always so good especially when you're at a place with so many other Christians!

June 30 - I hit the ground running with all of the post vacation chores to get done. I expected the day to be super "ugggh" feeling, but it really wasn't. I am refreshed and ready to do "life as usual" again.

What were three of your FAVORITE things about June 2014? 

I haven't done a 365 project in a  while.

 It took me a few days to get into the groove of things!

And then I had days where I was taking sooo many pictures 

and others where I took none.  Funny how that works!