For the new year...

Merry Christmas

 


Merry Christmas!!

Favorite Finds #16

In the midst of December, it has hit Friday again. Time for a new edition of Favorite Finds! Hope you enjoy these posts I've found in the last few days...


Announcing..."Bible Blast" 90 Day Challenge! - Are you interested in reading the entire Bible from January to March?

Snowfall - A delightfully descriptive post about snow!

Descriptions - Excellent article about writers being descriptive with their words.

Benjamin Franklin Quote - from the blog "What They Said"


Also, Rachel has been posting an excellent 3-part series of tutorials about...
The Art of Cookie Decorating:

First Steps

The Decorating

Shipping/Packaging

If you're interested... stop by The Ladies Library group blog, to see the new Christmas review I posted earlier this week! Book Review of The Unfinished Gift by Dan Walsh

Book Review: A Dog Named Christmas

A Dog Named Christmas

written by Greg Kincaid

160 pages

 

This year, one of the Christmas books I've been reading is called "A Dog Named Christmas". It was a very good book, and I'd like to share a bit about the storyline with you.

The book shows you this story from the eyes of the war veteran father, George. He and his wife have 5 children, with only 1 child still "left in the nest"--and that would be Todd, their 20-year-old son, who has a mental disability. Todd always had his own unique way of doing things, and as his father, George, puts it, "For every deficit one might see in Todd, there is an ability you don't see."

Within the first chapter, I was quite interested. The story takes shape as Todd finds out about the local animal shelter's Adopt-a-Dog-for-Christmas program. Todd is quite excited about having a dog on the farm for the holiday, even if the dog must go back after Christmas. However, the father firmly says no--they can't take in a dog. He has his own reasons and memories for giving this answer. George is not sure if he would be ready for something like this, even if it would be a good experience for Todd.

As the chapters fly by, Todd, with his special personality, takes on a huge project and pretty soon the whole town of Crossing Trails begins to notice. What will happen this Christmas season that brings out the best in everyone?

My personal opinion: "A Dog Named Christmas" is the perfect December read, especially for dog lovers. It is a heartwarming tale, with several happy wagging tails filling up its pages. Recommended for adults, but teenagers/youth would certainly enjoy it as well.


What have you been reading this December?

Favorite Finds #15

Time to share a few of the things I've enjoyed reading in the blog-world, from this past week. Hope you will like taking a look at some of these sites!

Hippo To The Rescue - Rachel @ "Under African Skies"

9 Noel and Joy Projects @ "CraftGossip"

Almond Quick Bread (Gluten-Free) - Emily Rose @ "Simply Vintage Girl"

A Chest of Hopes: Beautifying the Notebook - Jessica @ "Feelin' Femenine"

Gooey Bars (Recipe) - Emily @ "Old Country Cottage"

The Day of Small Things - Jessica @ "Under African Skies"

Benjamin Franklin on Spending Time Wisely @ "What They Said"

Book Review: Kate's Choice

The Ladies Library is hosting a Christmas Celebration, where participants are welcome to share book or movie reviews about Christmas. Entries are open until right up to Christmas Day. Please stop by The Ladies Library to learn more, to read what others have posted, and to post your own review for the event.

Here is my review for the Christmas Celebration....

Kate's Choice

written by Louisa May Alcott

125 pages

 

 

If you're looking for a delightful and quick Christmas read, this book would be perfect. It is actually a compilation of 3 short stories by Louisa May Alcott. The first story of the book is called Kate's Choice, and it was my favorite story of the book. It is about a young girl from England who has come to stay with relatives in America. She has all her aunts & uncles on their toes as they wait to hear about a certain life-changing decision that she must make. Not only does she make a surprising choice, but she also plans a very merry Christmas secret.

What Love Can Do is the second short story in the book. It features 2 sisters who share their quaint Christmas wishes with each other. Each of them wish they had a bit more money to spend on gifts for their family.
What awaits them on their doorstep on Christmas morning?

The last story is entitled Gwen's Adventure in the Snow. It shows the great courage of little boys & girls who get caught in a snowstorm during a fun sleigh ride. They cannot return home. How will they survive the frigid night?

Each of these stories have their own unique personality. The characters within the pages of this book show excellent qualities and virtues, just like all of Louisa May Alcott's writings. I have a very high recommendation for this book, and hope you'll enjoy reading it this Christmas season.


Remember to take a look at the The Ladies Library Christmas Celebration page for more details!!

Favorite Finds #14

The Favorite Finds post this week is going to be a little different...
I have many blogging friends who were doing bunches of writing in November. Below I have linked to their final posts about the success of the month.


MyWriMo Participants...

Jessica

Katie

Jennifer



NaNoWriMo-ing Friends...

Alyssa

Eyebright

Georgie Penn

Anna

Beth



Now for a couple links to some lovely giveaways you should check out...

Anna's giveaway - for a handmade darling tote bag!

Emily's giveaway - for a Christmas red scarf!

MyWriMo .:. THE END

Hello to December.
The month of November is now behind us. Everyone's thoughts about this? What did you accomplish?

I had my own goals for "MyWriMo"... Some of you have already heard this... but all I wanted to do during those special 30 days was to finish up some stories that I've begun over the past few months and come out of November with some finished projects. It happened! That was the most writing I've done in a long time, and I'm very proud of my progress. This included 3 different short stories for me, that I was able to finish.

Below are the titles of my stories, along with their final word count.

The Pharridge Gnomes: 3,400 words
The Check: 848 words
The Easter Secret: 17,180 words

As you can see, the first 2 stories were pretty short, and I've already been able to read over these and pretty much edit them. "The Easter Secret" has several pages in it, and that is going to take me a while read, edit, re-do certain parts of the storyline that need fixing, edit some more before it is finished.

So, I'm very curious to hear about everyone else's progress! I hope that all of you who were writing in November got a lot of writing done too.
Oh, and... who already has plans for November 2011??

All the words I use in my stories
can be found in the dictionary -
it's just a matter of arranging them
into the right sentences.
-Somerset Maugham