Monthly Book Review - October

Wow, October went by very quickly. Too quickly, almost!

One thing I always look forward to is Hannah's bloghop called Monthly Book Reviews. I did it a lot on my old blog, but this is my first time doing it on here.

I decided to review one of my favorite books, Elsie Dinsmore. My mom read it to me when I was younger, but I only read it for myself this month. Oh, I loved it! I'm actually loving the whole series, I'm on book 4, and they keep getting better and better.
Here's my review for the first book in the series:

I think that Elsie Dinsmore is one of the sweetest books ever written. It's about a little girl named Elsie, who is growing up in mid-19th century America. She is Christian girl who strives to be patient and loving despite all she goes through.

The Elsie series was written many years ago, but is still very relevant for us today. When I was reading these books I was both challenged and encouraged. I really recommend not only this first book, but the whole series.


Please head on over to Hannah's blog to read her review and maybe join in the fun yourself :)

i'm sorry.

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging very much lately.

And I'm sorry if I've been totally boring you out with my blog.

I want to change my blog. No, not the design (although you have no idea how much I want that changed too!) but the writing. I'm really going to work on it.

Another "Happy Birthday!"

I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful friend, Madeline! I hope you have a great birthday, Madi *hugs*!

two truths and a lie

Iona is doing a really cool thing called "Two Truths and a Lie" where you post 3 statements about yourself- two truths and one lie. You can guess all ya like to find which is which, and then I'll reveal the answer further on. Can you guess which is a lie?


1. I live in the country-side.

2. I love the Jonas Brothers!!!!!

3. My brother is paranoid of spiders :)


The lie is............................................................
...................................................................
......................................................................
..................................................................
...............................................................
.......................................................................
......................................................................
...........................................................................
...............................................................
number 2.

I certainly do NOT love the Jonas Brothers. Yep, that's right people! By the way, I got permission from my brother to say the third statement. :)




That was really fun. I'm gonna do that again next week! XD

Make sure you head over to Iona's blog to join in the fun!

APP - day 4, cookies, and a funny video

Hello, all. :) Hope you're enjoying your Saturday! I am, it's a really beautiful day :) I did have some photo-trouble earlier...which was a total bummer. But I managed to take this one for APP:

Sorry it's so small...I don't know how I can make it bigger. Blah. Okay, so after I came inside from taking pictures and realized that none of them worked except that one above, I made cookies. And that made me happy. Because, as you know, cookies making people happy.

They're really good. As my brother was eating his second, I asked him if he liked them. "Not sure yet, I'll tell you after I eat another one."

I think he liked them.

Here's the recipe I used.


Oh yes, one more thing! I think this video is like the funniest thing ever.

a lovely recipe - chocolate crinkles

I made these cookies the other day, and I just wanted to share the recipe with you. They turned out really delicious. They are pretty much brownies in the shaped like cookies rolled in sugar. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? ;) They're from a Betty Crocker cookie book.

Chocolate Crinkles

You need:
1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 oz. (4 squares) unsweetened chocolate (or 3/4 cup cocoa + 1/4 cup melted butter)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 powdered sugar (for rolling the dough in)

Mix oil, chocolate, and granulated sugar. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Stir flour, baking soda, and salt into the oil mixture. Chill several hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350F. Drop by teaspoonfuls of dough into powdered sugar. Roll in sugar; shape into balls. Place about 2" apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake! Makes about 6 doz. cookies.

APP : day 3 + some other stuff

Candles. That's Autumn-y, right? ;)


By the way, I just wanna apologize for not posting pictures every-other-day like I had planned. I'm a failure as a person!! Well, actually I have a pretty good reason for not posting them. The reason is simply this: It seems like Autumn is over. It feels like the beginning of winter. The sun has been hiding behind the light-gray clouds for days, there's frost every morning, there's fog every afternoon, and it's cold. Very cold.


But I am going to try to keep doing my Autumn Photography Project, despite it not seeming like Autumn anymore. It will be an extra challenge to find Autumn-themed pictures now, but that's okay. A little challenge never hurt anyone, did it?

But other than it kind ruining my project, I'm lovin' this weather. I love winter, so why should I mind that it's coming early?!? It makes it seem like Christmas isn't that far away. And I miss snow. I haven't seen it in almost a year! Maybe it will come early this year. I'll let you know as soon as it's here.

Oh, and btw, I made cookies yesterday. It was the first time I used that recipe, and I really like them. I'll post the recipe and a picture tomorrow!


I hope your enjoying your Autumn, whether it be a Autumn-y Autumn or a Winter-y Autumn like mine! :)

a wonderful giveaway at bliss

I just wanted to let you all know that there is a wonderful giveaway going on at Bliss. Maggie is giving away a blog design by Olive Tree from Robin Blogs. Olive Trees' designs are gorgeous! I entered, and I'm really excited to see who wins!

Click HERE to check it out!

APP - Day 2

Hi everyone!

The wedding that I went to yesterday went really well! I didn't bring a camera because I was sure I wouldn't have time to use it, but I really should have brought it! The grounds around the hotel where the wedding was held was beautiful, and I probably would have been able to take a few pictures. Ah well, I know for next time :)

Now, since I wasn't able to take a picture yesterday for my Autumn Photography Project, I'll do it today.

But just for fun, I'll post a few pictures instead of just one. I went to church today to help set things up for tomorrow, and outside of the church it was beautiful. I've decided that October is one of the most beautiful months ever - but then, I say that for every month ;)

I just gotta tell ya two things:

1.I'm going to a wedding today, so I might not be able to take/post a picture today for my Autumn Photography Project. If I can't today, I'll do it tomorrow!

2. Also, I just want to thank Iona (the awesome blog expert!) for helping my with the header ^! I was having trouble with the size of it etc, and I couldn't have done it without her. What do you all think of it?


Hope you have a great day!

Attention!

I'm working on my blog right now, so it might look really crazy at the moment. I'm still trying to figure everything out...it might take a few days.

APP - Day 1

Autumn Photography Project

A lot of other blogs are doing really cool photo projects, and I thought that I'd start one too!

What I'll be doing is having a Autumn (Fall) Photography Project. Every other day for 18 days I'll be taking Autumn-themed pictures, and posting them here.


Clever, huh? :)


I'll start it tomorrow!



Also, here's some ducks:




Edit: I'm doing some design work on my blog, so it might looked messed up for a while!

Iona's Blog Party Quiz!

Okay, before I do this quiz, I wanna say that I'm sorry for not posting in so long. I should have told you guys before I took a break from blogging, but I didn't know myself that I was! It just happened.

But I'm in the blogging mood again...

...so I was really excited when Iona announced on her photography blog that she was having a blog party! Here's a fun photography quiz that she made!



1. When did you get interested in photography? Well, it's actually a quit recent hobby, although I think I've always been wanting to do it. I've always wanted my own camera (and I may finally get one soon!!!), and I've always wanted to capture all the beautiful things I saw. And now I'm beginning to learn how to do that

2. What are some of your favorite effects that you put on your photos? Although I love sepia and black&white, what I really love is color. I think my favorite thing to do is to soften the colors.

3. What is your favorite type of photography (Macro, Landscape, Silhouette, etc)? Macro (close-up photography)!

4. Can you show us some of your [recent] favorite photography?

That was really fun, Iona! Thanks for making that quiz!