Fun Post: April Favorites

Hello there!

*fervently hopes no one thinks I'm super annoying for posting April favorites halfway through the month of May*

Ahem.

Life happens, and I apologize for this post's lateness. ;P Some of the things I've been loving this past month...

Reading...
Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar. This is my second time through this two book series, and I love it so so soooo much. <3 It's a fiction about an unusual young woman's adventures and spiritual growth in the Persian empire. I love the heroine because she is so... real. Her life doesn't go as planned, and unlike many "perfect heroines" she doesn't immediately grow and learn and become even more perfect. It takes her a lot of time and frustration before she begins to see God's Hand in her life. (He has been working all along, she just hasn't recognized it...sounds familiar somehow? ;) Anyway, awesome read that I would highly recommend, along with the one that comes after it, Harvest of Gold. :)

Wearing...
A new skirt I got at Goodwill; it's floor length, black lace ruffles. Guys. It's so me!! :O Also, a super soft and comfortable Curious George shirt that I got in Leavenworth. ;P

Learning...
Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen. As some of you already know, a church member has graciously provided me with a set of piano lessons, (my first ever!!). It has been so awesome, and I'm really going to miss my amazing teacher. Anyway, last month and this month I am learning this song, and it is pretty hard, but I love it! It's so fun to push myself to new heights and try something I probably wouldn't have previously gone for. :) When my teacher first played it for me though, I was thinking, "There is no way I can learn this song, what are you even doing assigning me this?!" ;P

Vacationing...
With the whole family, in Sunriver Oregon. How much more perfect can a vacation get?! It was amazing. We thought that Micah, (my next brother down), wouldn't be able to come due to work, but he was able to after all! We rode bikes, went in the hot tub that came with our house, got lost on the bike trails, picnicked next to the river, drank coffee floats from Brewed Awakenings (love that name ;P), and played games. It was so special. <3


Reaching out...
To over 4,000 people during Wenatchee's Apple Blossom Festival. It's a two week long celebration that people come from two and three states away to attend. It's like the Olympic games, traffic is insane, and my workplace becomes not much more than a bathroom and a place to come and be rude (thank you, Seattlites. ;P) Kidding, not all people from Seattle are rude. Just a lot of them. ;) Anyway, in the midst of all the craziness of parades, shows, etc., we had the youth group from Stanwood, Washington come over to help with outreach. And did they ever!! They worked sooo hard, walking miles and miles every day passing out tracts and witnessing. With thousands of people in town just for the festival, we had a very easy time finding people to talk to!! ;) So thankful for the many Gospel tracts that got into people's hands, as well as the personal evangelism that was done. Praise God!


Visiting with...
My friend Jenny. During the time that the youth group was here, Jenny "happened to be" house sitting for the pastor of a nearby church. That house was only 2 minutes away from my place--just down the road!! I was able to spend the nights over there to free up some bed space here, and it worked out so well. It was super fun and special to spend some time with her! :) There was one night when we had a discussion on how we would go about embezzling money without getting caught (which sounds dreadful until you realize that we are writers and were trying to help a friend with writing a fiction paper... :'D). Then there was the night that we watched Facing the Giants, and as usual, something got in my eyes and they ended up watering a lot. :') Heh heh. And of course there was lots of snacks and ice cream. I mean what would a visit from a friend be without junk food?! (Right Kimberly?? ;D Haha!) Anyway, I had a great time.

Drinking...
HOMEMADE KOMBUCHA. Ok guys, I have always had a chip on my shoulder about Kombucha. I thought it was weird and sounded gross and icky and I would never drink it. Ahem. Then a church member gave me a bottle of her homemade stuff, sweetened with fresh grape juice, and WOW. I'm hooked. ;P It's so good!!!!! I've never tried the store bought stuff yet though...

Watching...
The hills around Wenatchee slowly turn green. It looks like Ireland around here, and until the summer gets insanely hot, I'm going to continue to marvel at how beautiful the surrounding mountains are. Thank you, Lord!

Well, that's it for this month, folks! Hopefully I can get my next favorites post out in a more timely fashion. ;) Have a lovely week, everyone! 
Mykaela

Fun Post! August and September Favorites

Hey, all you fantastic people! :) These past two months have been both wonderful and hectic, which is why I'm lumping two months together in my Favorites post. I can't believe that August is over, and September almost??? What is happening? Also, I'm turning 20 in less than two weeks. WHAT is happening. :D I'm officially ancient now. ;) Anyhoo, here is a little peek into my happenings lately! I've been:

Travelling to...
Oklahoma to visit Kimberly!! I had an absolutely wonderful time. I experienced my first roller coaster, (AWESOME), my first earthquake, (not so awesome...that was never really a bucket list item, but now I can cross it off anyway. ;). I saw four states total, and generally had a blast. Kimberly and I have way too much fun together. We went zip lining, (see a pic of that on my new Who I Am page), rode water rides till we were wringing wet, and chose that time to take a cave tour, so we both got hypothermia I think... ;) We ate lots of junk food, of course, and sang loudly and badly through our Les Mis and Sound of Music playlists. Such fun! :)

Reading...
"The Penderwicks" series by Jeanne Birdsall again. This is a series that I can't fully recommend every page of, (due to some boyfriend girlfriend silliness at 13 years of age. Pssh.) It is, however, a very sweet series about a hilarious family...I have read them a couple times over the past few years, and always liked them. I've read a couple other books too, but they have flown my brain right now for some reason.

Baking...
Cinnamon Roll Cake with Cream cheese frosting. Oh my goodness, guys. I'm terrible. :O This cake is SO STINKING GOOD!!! You can find the recipe here if you don't have any thoughts of eating healthy. I do, but chose to ignore those thoughts for the occasion of this cake. ;P

Wishing For...
A Journaling Bible! I really want one of these (in KJV, obviously), so I can practice Bible journaling in a separate place from my main Bible. I have seen the coolest examples of people that are way better than I'll ever be, but still...doesn't hurt to practice, right?

Getting Excited About...
The group we have coming down from Alaska in October! We have about 20 people coming to help us do a mass outreach here in Wenatchee over one weekend. We are housing quite a few of them at our place, and some at a rental house. I think it will be really good! I'm excited to meet everyone, and get so much outreach done in a very short time. Also in October, I am going to Wyoming, Oak Harbor, and Sumas, WA, for various conferences and retreats. Really looking forward to that!

Loving...
The smell of fall in the air. Septembers here are the most perfect, glorious weather you could imagine. 70 degrees, sparkling skies with a couple of fluffy clouds, just enough chill in the morning to make the leaves start changing...perfection. I love fall. :)

Discovering...
A new coffee and cupcake place, about 7 minutes walk from work, that sells a 24 OUNCE hot Breve. (My go-to at any coffee shop). Ohhhh, snap. Most places don't sell anything larger than 16 oz. in hot drinks! And they are SO cheap, too!! Like cheaper than Dutch Bros., which is way cheaper than Starbucks. I am going to be walking down there on lunch break a lot. ;)

Learning...
"A Living Sacrifice" with the ladies at church. Such a pretty song, with gorgeous parts. I am working hard on perfecting the accompaniment, and have already memorized the soprano part so I don't have to be constantly looking back and forth between that and the piano section. Singing parts is just sooo fun and special for me. 

Listening to...
A song I found by Charlie Siem, entitled "Canopy". It is amazing. You can listen to it here. The first part, with all the pizzicato on the strings, makes me miss being in orchestra so bad!! 


Visiting...
Ikea, for the first time in over 5 years. Wow, guys. I forgot how incredibly large and interesting that store is! Just a word of advice from a friend, though...do not go to Ikea when your dad is gone, so you and your mom have to herd 7 children through Ikea in Seattle. Slightly stressful. Actually, a lot stressful. ;P

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And that wraps it up for today! I hope to be able to do a Favorites post for just October, but we'll see. It's going to be a really crazy month with travel and everything. I hope you all are doing great...what have been some of your favorites this past month?
Mykaela

Fun Post: Book Tag!!

Hello, Everyone!

I hope you all are having an absolutely lovely week so far! :) Today's post is kind of a diversion, a little different than my normal posts. It is a book tag, started by Lauren at One Bright Corner, (awesome blog, by the way), and then tagged to me by Kimberly at Peculiar on Purpose. (Also awesome! :) Since I currently work at a library, and do read a lot, I thought it would be fun. And just for the record, I read because I enjoy it, not because of my job. (You would be astounded at the amount of times people have asked me if I just read the whole time I'm at work. Like seriously? That's like asking someone at JCP if they just try on clothes all day for fun.) Small disclaimer, it is assumed that God's Word is not included in these questions. If I say a book is "in my top three" for example, that does not include the Bible among them. God's Word is on a plane entirely it's own, so I'm just going to answer these tag questions about non-Scripture books. :)

I think I'm supposed to start this off by talking about when I first fell in love with reading. But to be perfectly honest, I can't...because I really don't remember. I have loved reading ever since I can remember. From sounding out "Pat the Bunny" in St. Louis, with my grandma, to reading every horse novel I could get my hands on in Fossil, Oregon, to now, (three moves in four years later), when I read a wide variety of stuff. (When I have time to read, that is. ;) So here goes: the book tag extrodinaire.

1. Name a book you're embarrassed to say you haven't read yet.

Umm...that's a toughie, cause there are quite a few, I'm sure. I've actually never read "Through Gates of Splendor" all the way through, which I feel like pretty much everyone else has read and enjoyed. Just never got around to it, I guess.

2. What's the strangest thing you've ever used as a bookmark?

I dunno. I tend to be a page cornerer, myself. I know, I know, that's awful, but I really only corner the pages a tiny bit!! I do remember grabbing a sock once to hold the book while I got a drink. I guess that counts. :P

3. Look at your bookshelf. What's the first book you see with a yellow spine?

"In the Field of Grace" by Tessa Afshar. Amazing author, amazing book. Seriously. It's a retelling of the Biblical story of Ruth. So good! The ONLY thing I don't care for about Ms. Afshar is that she doesn't use KJV when she quotes Scripture. :( 

4. If you could have one new book from a deceased author, who would it be?

E.D.E.N Southworth or Louisa May Alcott. Both childhood staples of mine!! (Still are staples today.;) Oh oh, or E. Nesbit!!! Or another Narnia installment...oh man. This could go on for way too long.

5. Name an author who deserves more readership. 

I'd have to say E.D.E.N. Southworth again. Her books "Ishmael" and "The Hidden Hand" just never, EVER grow old to me!!! I have read those two at least 6 times each in the last few years. Such, such riveting books.

6. Bookmark or random piece of paper?

Again...I'm a horrible person and corner pages. ;P If I'm actually going to use something, I'll grab whatever is handy. Like a sock, for example.

7. Can you stop anywhere in the book, or do you have to finish the chapter?

I can pretty much stop anywhere if it's a book I've read before. If it is a new one, I usually like to get to the end of the chapter before I break, if possible. If not, I at least have to get to a good paragraph end/division point.

8. One book at a time or several?

Usually, several. I have no problem switching between books, though I know some people hate that. If it's a truly incredible book, one that I haven't previously read, I will stick to it until I'm done. (Which is usually ridiculously fast if I love it that much. I've been known to stay up until rather pathetic hours of the morning reading. Yes, I said morning for a reason. XD)

9. Do you read ahead or skip pages?

Depends. New book, absolutely not. Re-read, possibly, if there's a part I either know extremely well, or don't particularly care for. I'll just kinda skim it to get it over with.

10. Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?

I am so weird. As I was typing that question, the first thought that popped into my head was "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEONE BROKE YOUR SPINE?!" Heh. Anyway, now that you have a random glimpse of Mykaela's crazy side. :P If I actually have a new book, which is really rare, I will keep it nice for as long as I can, or until I want to read it while working out. In which case, it must needs be done, for the good of all. 

11. What books do you regret reading?

"Though Waters Roar" by Lynn Austin. I have read other books by this author, and enjoyed them, but somehow this one REALLY just did not do it for me! The storyline was difficult to follow, because there were SO many jumps back and forth between time periods. There was also such a very little bit of the salvation message portrayed, it was just sad. (She's done a fairly good job of that in some other books!) It was, overall, just kind of depressing and weird. :( I kept hoping it would redeem itself, but it didn't.

12. On average, how many books do you read per year?

I have no clue. Maybe 30-50? Somewhere in there?

13. What book could you read hundreds of times and never get tired of?

"The Atonement Child" by Francine Rivers. It has to be in my top three books, hands down. I love it soooooooooo much!!!!!

14. What's the biggest lesson you've learned from a book?

I don't think this is the biggest lesson, but it's a good one for me...From Chuck Black's "Wars of the Realm" series, I learned to take spiritual warfare seriously. Angels and demons are just as real as you and I, and just because I can't see the battle that's transpiring around me, does NOT mean it doesn't exist. Those books were not only so incredibly good I couldn't put them down, and have read them coming up on a dozen times, but also they just made me look at things in a new way as I lived my daily life.

15. What's the most recent book you've read?

"The Treasure Seekers" by Edith Nesbit. This is maybe the fourth time I've read it, and the writing is just so fun! She has a way of writing her "children's" books that somehow seems to grow up with you--I'm reading them again as an adult, and I'm just now "getting" new jokes and fun little tidbits from her books that went over my head as a kid. (Nothing inappropriate or anything!! Just cute hidden satire and/or sarcasm that I didn't quite get when I was younger.)

16. What quote from any book will you never forget? Why is it significant?

I'm not going to list all of my favorite Bible verses right now, because I don't think that's what it's asking for. ;) One of them is Psalm 18:2, though. 

This might sound strange, but the emphasis of words in this quote from the Mark of the Lion series (Francine Rivers), is almost as important as the words themselves. In the scene, a Roman master is confused as to why her faith is so all-consuming to this Christian slave girl. He asks her, "Why do you give up everything you want to serve this God you have never even seen?!" Or something to that effect. Her reply:

"Because He is God, Marcus! He is God!" 

I don't know exactly why this quote is so powerful to me, but the way she emphasizes the words hits me every time. We serve God because He IS God. He is GOD! There is nothing greater, better, stronger, holier, or purer than Him! He is the superlative of every good word or attribute we could apply to His name! Anyway, that was a long answer, but it means a lot to me. :)

17. How many books do you own?

*runs away to try to count, even though most of my books are in storage boxes somewhere*

Somewhere around 60, as near as I can figure it. I know, it's not that many. I have a lot more on Kindle, or from the library, but those don't really count for this question. ;)

18. Of the past year, what's the greatest book you've read?

Probably "The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare, and "Land of Silence" by Tessa Afshar. Yeah, I know. I like her a lot. ;) She has only written 5 books so far, and I am dying for her to write more!!!!

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Well, there you have it! That was a really fun tag for me to participate in, and I hope you enjoyed it as well! Sorry it got so long. If you enjoyed it, I'd love to see your answers to it as well...if you decide to do it, link your post in the comments! Thanks to Kimberly and Lauren for a fun post idea. :) God bless you all as you serve Him this week!

Mykaela

P. S. I am flying out this Saturday to see Kimberly!!! Ahhh! So very excited to spend some time with her in Oklahoma and Missouri during the next couple weeks. So if I'm a bit late on the Sunday Snippets due to being in a plane at the time, please bear with me. ;) It may be a Monday or Tuesday snippet, but it will come. :)