Thoughts on the Psalms {part 1}

Moment of honesty here - I've been really bad at reading my Bible.  I can recite a ton of verses and know exactly where a good majority of them are, I can win a "get to this book fastest" contest easily, and Sunday School studies aren't a problem for me.  But on the whole, for most of my Christian walk, the amount of time I spend with just my Bible and a notebook is sad.

I'm working to rectify that situation.

Thus, at the beginning of February, I started reading the Psalms.  I've never read it through straight, and I'll admit that I haven't opened it every day, but I'm almost 40 chapters in, and I'm loving it.  I got a new notebook for Christmas, and I'm steadily filling it with the promises I'm finding.  So I thought that today, I would share some of these discoveries with you.  Because who can't use some comfort in this crazy world?

{tiny note here, all of these verses are from the HSCB translation, in case you wondered}

As Sarah pointed out recently, we're tiny.  We're so small.  

Minuscule, in comparison to the vastness of the universe.  

And yet, He loves us.  Somehow, He loves us.

"He has treated me generously".  I love that line.

Some of my favorite names for God are found in this verse.  

They portray such a picture of strength, of foundation, of safety. It's beautiful.

This one goes hand in hand with the last one.

We have no reason to fear.

We have the creator of the universe on our side.

This is just amazing to me.

He's seen the affliction, He knows the troubles,

and He's held me through it all.

Obviously, I'm going to find more beautiful things in this book.

Thus why I named this "part 1".

There will likely be more parts to come.

But for now, hold fast to these promises, and maybe consider the Psalms next time you're deciding which book of the Bible to read. :)

~ Abby

Grade Exams, Broadway Soundtracks, and PyeongChang {a look back at February}

Well, it's good to know that 2018 plans to keep up the pace of 2017, I guess.  Flying by.  Oh well.

February was a month of Broadway obsessions, reading old and new favorites, and digging into God's Word.  And, obviously, watching hours upon hours of Olympic coverage.

Don't think my family is capable of doing nothing but watch sports for two straight weeks?

(i just really like this gif okay it's hilarious)

Other things that happened this month include:
~ Irish dance grade exams (which, if one passes all 12, can lead to teaching certification).  My sister and I both got an A- on our Grade 1 exam and a B+ on our Grade 2 exam... and the points came from different areas... but we got the same scores... it was weird.
~ My bridesmaid dress came in, was too small, and is now being exchanged for a bigger size.  But it's really pretty and I really like it.
~ My sister has a dance injury that's kept her from dancing at all since the grade exams, and she's just now getting back into her dancing shoes (including brand new shiny pointe shoes that I like looking at because they're really pretty).  The doctor's order of "no dancing for two weeks" was really hard for her (she would just sit in the corner of the classroom all miserable and it made me sad), so I'm glad she's on the mend.
~ And though I promise you my whole life doesn't revolve around dancing, another thing that happened was that we started our recital dance for tap and I'm very happy about the song.  (Literally, because it's "Put on a Happy Face" by Dick Van Dyke)

Let's get into the actual wrap-up, shall we?

~ What I Read ~

~ Letters From Home ~  This gave me all the feels.  It had been awhile since I read a Civil War story, so this was a nice change of pace.  {4 stars}
~ Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ~  This is one of my new favorite classics, I absolutely loved it!  It was charming, it was fun, it was such a sweet little story, and it was great.  {5 stars}
~ Sleeping Handsome ~  Check out my review for more thoughts, but I really liked this a lot.  {5 stars}
~ Breadcrumbs ~  One of my new favorites, my aesthetic in a book, absolutely adored it.  {5 stars}
~ The Battle of the Labyrinth ~  I had forgotten a lot of what happened in this book since the last time I read it, so all of the feels were fresh.  It was great.  {5 stars}
~ The Last Olympian ~  This was the first time I read this and I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob.  {5 stars}

~ What I Watched ~ 

To be completely honest, most of what I watched was the Olympics, so...  OH but I also watched Pride & Prejudice (the miniseries), Emma (both the movie and the miniseries), and North & South (which was soooo sad).  Also I've been rewatching Timeless because SEASON TWO IS COMING.

~ What I Listened To ~

I pretty much listened to nothing but Petra for the first week of this month, I discovered both the "Bonnie & Clyde" (which has been stuck in my head for weeks now and I am 100% okay with that) and "Bandstand" Broadway albums (but Bandstand isn't on Spotify, so...) and I loved both of them (though there is language, so). 

~ What I Posted ~

The Blogging Olympics Tag {about blogging and the Olympics}
Sleeping Handsome Blog Tour {about the aforementioned review}
The Literary Dinner Party Tag {about a fictional dinner party}
The Sunshine Blogger Tag 2.0 {about sunshine and blogging}

And that's all for this second month of the year!  How was February for y'all?  Favorite thing that happened to you this month?

~ Abby

The Sunshine Blogger Tag 2.0

Have I already done this tag?  Yes.

Am I doing it again?  Also yes.

Well, when the super sweet D.G. Snapper tagged me, I couldn't very well say no, now could I?  So here we are.

LET'S DO THIS.

AGAIN.

1. If I asked you whether this glass was half full or half empty, what would you say?
Half full!

2. Cereal or bagels?
Depends entirely on what kind of cereal and whether there is strawberry cream cheese to spread on the bagel.

3. Take all your personality traits and flip them.  What would you want to be when you grow up then?
Ooh interesting.  You know what, I think my alter-ego would be a good politician.  Outgoing (versus shy), charismatic (versus awkward), a people-person (versus shy and awkward).  Yeah.  Maybe a mayor or something.

4. Pancakes.  What would you do to get them?
Well... not much.  I don't... actually like... pancakes.  *hides from the onslaught that is sure to come*

5. Do shiny, sparkly things describe your life more?  Or would you say you like things more Hobbit-like?
Now this is tough because I went through a phase where anything sparkly had to be FAR away from me, but now, I'm the complete opposite.  But on the majority, I think I've got more of a Hobbit-like life.

6. What song would you choose to play when you've reached a huge life goal?
this one, to be honest.  And I'd dance along with the tap break, obviously.

7. Which children's book was your favorite?
Oh goodness, I don't think I can choose.  I was an avid reader as a kid.  But some favorites were any American Girl books (particularly Felicity), the Magic Tree House series, and the Magic Attic Club series.  Apparently, just anything having to do with history or time travel, haha.


And there we have it!  These questions were so cute!  I don't know who to tag... so if you want to do this tag, take it on! 

For everyone else in the comments, go check out D.G.'s blog, and then let me know which children's book was your favorite!  (I want to read more children's "classics" in the coming months, so tell me what I should add to the list!)

~ Abby

The Literary Dinner Party Tag

Hello friends!  I have a tag today!  I saw this one on the wonderful Karyssa's blog, and I knew I had to do it.  I mean, it's fictional characters and food.  Come on.  Those are two of my favorite things.

So for this tag, I'm hosting a dinner party, and I get to choose which 11 book characters to invite.  Heaven knows, if I just invited all my favorites, it would be like a full ballroom of people that spills over onto the patios and stuff.  So I'll just narrow it down to 10.

1. A character who likes/can cook

I was trying to figure out who to use to answer this question, and as I was perusing my Goodreads shelves, this one popped up and I went "Nellie!" out loud so I figure that's a good sign.  Not only does she know all sorts of cuisine, but she'd probably be perfectly happy showing off her skills by preparing dinner.

2. A character who has money to fund this party

Hale has the cash to fund this thing, and I would love having him there, let's be real.  He would be so much fun, and if he brought Kat along it would be perfect.

3. A character that might cause a scene

Now, Maryellen is not my favorite American Girl character.  I will admit that.  But boy, can this girl get herself into a lot of trouble.  She would definitely find a way to cause some sort of ruckus that would, no doubt, end with all of us having a good laugh and learning a valuable lesson.

4. A character who is amusing

(you want to know what's awful?  this was the best cover I could find.  like, has no one made a cute cover for this adorable book?  i'm kind of really disappointed.  oh well.)
Rebecca is the sweetest little thing!  She uses big words in not quite the correct way, she has a way of looking at the world with such wide-eyed wonder, and I think I would very much enjoy having a nice chat with her over dinner.

5. A character who is super popular

Every dinner party needs a tiny, ginger, French-speaking nerd.  Luckily all of those roles are fulfilled by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, who is indeed a very popular character.

6. One villain

I feel like Mr. Frieden would be an okay villain to attend.  He wouldn't do anything crazy while he's surrounded by strangers, and he doesn't pose any immediate threats to us so we should be safe.  And even if he did, we'll have several great heroes who could stop him.

7. One couple - doesn't have to be romantic

I want Percy and Annabeth at this dinner party, and no one can stop me.  They're adorable, they're smart, and I want to hear some Percy sass in person.

8. One hero

I'd love for Cammie (or really, any of the Gallagher Girls) to come to my fabulous dinner party.  They could deal with Frieden if he gets out of line, they'd probably have great stories to tell, and I feel like they deserve a night off, you know?  Just to have some fun.

9. One underappreciated character

Let's get some Neville love up in here, shall we?  Admittedly, he's more appreciated by the fandom, but he's severely underappreciated by his friends in this series.  He's sweet, he's loyal, he would be a Hufflepuff if he wasn't a Gryffindor, and I just... I love Neville so much.

10. One character of your own choosing.

I just finished this book and absolutely loved it, and I would love for Hazel to come to dinner! (Jack coming along is always open, of course)  She reminds me a lot of me when I was her age, and I'd love to hear how her dance lessons are coming along.


So there we have it!  I think this will be a lovely dinner party.

Which characters would you invite to a dinner party?

~ Abby

Sleeping Handsome Blog Tour (+ book review)

Happy Valentine's day, my friends!  While I don't personally have a valentine to spend this day with, I still love this celebration of love.  And also that half-priced chocolate that tomorrow will bring.

But if you're in the mood for a cute romance novel to get you through this day of love, I have just the story for you.

The lovely Rebekah's novel, Sleeping Handsome, is OFFICIALLY OUT!!!!



And because she was wonderful enough to send me an advanced copy, you also get a review of it today!  YAY!


Sleeping Handsome



Author: Rebekah Eddy
Genre: Contemporary fairytale retelling
Content: A few kisses
Main Characters: Minnie and Prince Gregory

Synopsis:
Minnie's goal was to have a fun, worry free vacation with her best friend Amy. A few weeks spent in their favorite far away place before they both went back to their respective colleges. A visit to the many famous sights across the British Isles has been on both their bucket lists for a very long time, after all.
However, when a mysterious taxi driver mentions a legend that somehow concerns her ancestral heritage, she decides to dig deeper. After being accused of stealing the famous statue and tourist attraction known as Sleeping Handsome, Minnie and Amy are plunged into a world they would never have imagined existed.
Prince Gregory, after being awakened from being frozen in stone for hundreds of years, finds himself searching for his true love in order to reverse the stone spell on his kingdom and awaken the rest of his people. With his faithful horse Brutis by his side, he sets out to destroy his greatest enemy, release his kingdom from the stone spell, and win the heart of his princess.

What I Thought:

This was everything I wanted it to be.  I adore fairytale retellings (as y'all are probably aware), and this was such a cute way to turn the tale of Sleeping Beauty on its head.  It's rather short, which meant that I flew through the whole thing in two days of reading and I loved it.  The love story is sweet, the characters are sassy, the whole thing with the dragon was perfectly done and I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout.

The Characters:
Minnie - Minnie is such a great protagonist.  She's level-headed but not afraid to have fun, she's somewhat snarky, she's a great friend, ahh, she's so wonderful.

Amy - This is Minnie's best friend, and she's a lot of fun.  It is her that convinces Minnie to take the steps that ultimately wakes the prince, and while I don't know that I would hang out with someone like her in real life (people like that stress me out, tbh), she was a joy to read about.

Prince Gregory - Can I marry this guy?  Oh, no, wait, Minnie's supposed to marry this guy.  But still, I adore him.  Add him to the list of fictional boyfriends, y'all. 

Brutus - I almost forgot to talk about Brutus?  Brutus is the talking horse and he's one of my favorite characters in this book.  He's snarky, he's always hungry, he's loyal to the core, he's basically my spirit animal.

Favorite Quote:


Overall Rating: 5 castle ruins out of 5

You can pick up an e-book copy of the book here and a physical copy here!

About the Author:

Rebekah grew up surrounded by family members who appreciated and read good literature. First, she fell in love with the stories her parents read aloud to her from the Bible and books like The Chronicles of Narnia, Great Expectations, The Hobbit, and Anne of Green Gables. After learning to read on her own, she discovered other fantastic books which helped to build her ever growing imagination.
She completed her first written work at the tender age of eight and now uses it to humble herself whenever the need arises. The story did serve to show her that God had given her a desire to write, however, and from that moment on Rebekah has never looked back or regretted picking up her pencil and becoming an author.
This nineteen-year-old homeschool graduate lives in rainy Western Washington and is currently working on receiving her BA in English in order to further her passion for creating worlds on paper.


Huge thanks to Rebekah for letting me participate in this awesome blog tour!  Go get yourself a copy of the book! 

~ Abby

The Blogging Olympics Tag

IT'S FINALLY HERE

IT'S HAPPENINGGG

I may or may not be writing this while watching the first rounds of curling, so I'm in the mood, you know.  This tag, which I stole from Mary (ahem... thank you, Mary), takes all of my Olympic spirit and channels it into a blog post which I figure is a perfect way to channel it.

1. What team?  WILDCATS. *cough* no, it's Team USA.  All the way.  Occasionally Team Canada. But it's Team USA.

2. If you could compete in any event, what would it be? Um... I don't do the whole sports thing, so... I mean if they ever make dance an official sport, maybe I could stand a chance.  Or bowling.  I might stand a chance at bowling.

3. Favorite event to watch? For winter, it's curling, figure skating, and some forms of skiing.  For summer, it's gymnastics (including rhythmic gymnastics *heart eyes*), swimming, rowing, and honestly I like watching every event in both summer and winter because I just LOVE THE OLYMPICS SO MUCH.

4. Olympian you most admire? I admire a lot of athletes, tbh.  Mary Lou Retton, Laurie Hernandez, Michael Phelps, there are a lot of them.  Their determination, their strength, their triumphs and how they handled their losses, it's pretty great to watch them.

5. What sports do you currently play? Since I count dance as a sport, I dance.  And I mean, I've competed in Irish dance so yeah, it's a sport.  I have medals.  It totally counts.

6. Summer or Winter Olympics?  Both!  I tend to lean more towards summer, simply because I'm more familiar with more of the sports, but I just love the Olympics in general and they're fantastic.

7. Ever been to see the Olympics in person?  Only in my dreams *sigh*

8. A sport that should be in the Olympics? Dance.  Or bowling.  Because bowling might be cool.

9. What do you think would be going through your head right before you were about to compete in the Olympics?  If how I've felt before Irish dance competitions is any indication, I would probably be thinking about how I feel I could be sick and I how I really need to not be sick, lol.

10. If you could choose the location for the Olympics, what would it be?  Uh... genuinely, I have no idea.  There are a lot of cities that I'm sure could do a great job. So I will leave this question up to the IOC and sit back to watch.  :D


So... IS ANYONE ELSE AS EXCITED ABOUT THE OLYMPICS AS I AM??

If you are and you want to hear more of my Olympic excitement, check out this post I wrote way back at Rio!

So which sport is your favorite to watch?  Play any sports currently?

~ Abby

Disney World, Peppermint Cocoa, and Fluffy Blankets {a look back at January}

We're already a month into 2018, what is this madness?

January was a month of enjoying the actually cold weather (a rare occurrence in Florida), writing a new story, being sick, and drinking lots of hot cocoa.

Let's see... what all happened this month?  We went to Disney World... a lot.  But really, can you blame us?  EPCOT's Festival of the Arts began and it's wonderful.  I also spent a whole week really sick, which wasn't nearly as fun as going to Disney, but meant that I could stay snuggled up in fluffy blankets for a week and that was okay. 
OH, and I also got asked to be a bridesmaid?  Which is crazy??  But one of my best IRL friends is getting married in May and she's asked me to be part of her bridal party and I'm kind of freaking out but I'm also super excited. 

~ What I Read ~

~ One Christmas in Winter ~  This was such a cute story!  I actually was supposed to write a review of this like... a long time ago on here so... keep an eye out for that, lol. {4 stars}
~ Disowned ~  I loved this so much!  And this review I've already posted so, yay!  {4.5 stars}
~ Toothiana: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies ~ I adore this series.  So, so much.  And book 3 was no exception.  Toothiana is awesome, okay, she's so cool.  {5 stars}
~ The Lightning Thief ~ I'm rereading Rick Riordan books in 2018, and so obviously I had to begin with the one that started it all.  And I loved every minute of it.  {5 stars}
~ The Sandman and the War on Dreams ~  I'm going to miss this series until book 5 comes out (when and if it ever does).  But book 4 was fantastic.  {5 stars}
~ The Sea of Monsters ~  Just as nostalgic as the first book, I love Tyson with all of my heart, and Grover and Percy's friendship is my favorite.  {5 stars}
~ London in the Dark ~  Expect a review of this one soon too, but for now just know that I really enjoyed this mystery, I love the sibling relationship stuff, and the ending made me so ridiculously happy.  {4 stars}
~ Flowers ~  This is the sequel to "The Lady of the Vineyard", which I read in September, and I think I enjoyed this one more than the first one, actually.  It was a super short, very sweet story that was a nice continuation with these characters.  {4 stars}
AND ALSO I finished ~ The Titan's Curse ~ but I had already made the graphic and I didn't want to remake it so just pretend that this cover is there and know that I really loved it and it also gave me all the emotions.  {5 stars}

~ What I Watched ~

Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street:

No one gifs this show and it makes me so sad.  Because it's wonderful.  A post shall be coming soon.  But please, watch it.  It's got a feel that's similar to Phineas and Ferb with some old-school Disney Channel thrown in.  But at the same time it's completely original and magical and sweet and I just love this show so much oh my word.

MacGyver:

The MacGyver reboot is wonderful, everyone.  The found-family trope (one of my favorites, by the way) is in full swing and I adore it.  There's a nice balance of humor and intense scenes (but it's absolutely hilarious).  The friendships are just my favorite and this show means so much to me now, y'all.

Full House:

Hallmark has been replaying the original series, so my sister and I have been binging it and it has been great.  Comedy gold, this show.

Psych:

Gus is my fave, have I mentioned that?  Apparently it's been a month of rewatching old favorites.  Psych is now streaming on Amazon Prime, and I've come out of my room several times to find my brother watching it, alone, in the family room.  Which is hilarious to me.  I'm glad he's enjoying it, though.

The Librarians:
 
So many of my faves came back this month.  Look at my kids!  Look how much they love each other!  They're basically siblings and I love them!!  (no but seriously I think this might be my favorite season yet?  I hesitate to say that because it's not over yet but I've really loved it a lot)

~ What I Listened To ~

I really enjoy this playlist.  We've got some great worship songs, some hymns, some musicals, some medleys (because Peter Hollens finally did Dear Evan Hansen and I am so happyyy), and some of the songs I've been writing to recently. 

~ What I Posted ~

New Year, New Look {about it being a new year and getting a new look}
Allegiance Blog Tour {about a fantastic book that I really enjoyed}
Sleeping Handsome Cover Reveal {about the cover of a book I'm really excited for}
Winter Favorites {about various favorites of mine}


And that's about it for this first month of the year!  How was your January?  Any plans for February?  And most importantly, do you like peppermint hot cocoa?

~ Abby