Rainy Fall Days

Well, today is just as the title says, a rainy fall day. I love days like today. It is only too bad that I have a full tiem job. If I did not I would be sitting on my couch with the door open listening to the leaves bustle and fall from trees all while reading a great novel. I know, a dream, right? Instead, today I am strugglign to keep a smiling face at work with the two year olds.
Don't get me wrong, they are adorable. But, they could have picked a better day to not do anything Leah and I have to say.
This morning we did the cutest craft. Being October and almost halloween, we are learning about funny fall creatures. Today the creature is a crow. So, we made crow wings with our hands and the body with our feet and black paint. Put a little orange beak on it and there you have, a crow that you can put in their portfolio. I will add pictures later so you see exactly what I am talking about.
Well, lunch break is over. Hopefully I will post more later. Off to change the fish bowl and drive back to work for a few more hours. Crossroad is happening tonight if anyone wants to come.

Terrible at this

Ok, this is not news to any of you faithful readers (though no one subscribes!) I am a terrible blogger. I tend to get wrapped up in the daily life of everything and forget to write it all down.

My mind moves a million miles a minute always.

I am going to take a break from updating on my reading for a minute and just share some life.

After 3 short but great months at my last job I decided it was time to move on to another school. The change was much hard than I thought, but God is so faithful and has blessed me beyond measure at the new place. I am not at Westlake WEE. I have a wonderful co-teacher who is young and newly married to a great man of God.

God is getting ready to lead me on another adventure. In December I will be moving from the place I have called home for the last 3 years. I am heartbroken, but feel very silly being attached to an apartment complex. If you ever get a chance, please check out Greenbrier Ridge. It is a wonderful community. I will dearly miss everyone there. I will be moving in the Boyds. Mary Beth and Travis have opened their home and hearts to serving me for a few months while I save on some rent and figure things out. I am at a weird stage in life where I am not ready to buy a home, but needing/ wanting out of communal living. They are a blessing in my life and I am sure living with them will mean lots of funny blogs to come.

I am babysitting and the movie is over. We are going outside to play golf before dinner! More to come.

Delay

In the last month and a half that I have not posted I have been reading through the Harry Potter series as you all know. My last blog stated that the Harry Potter books were not living up to my expectations. Let me correct this...

Harry Potter has changed my life.

I am not pushing through the books are quickly as I had hoped, but I am on the 6th one now. The fifth one, which I thought was amazing, just took me a bit longer to get through. There is so much information jammed into the books that I am reading slower to make usre I don't miss anything.

Since my last post I started a full time job. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am working an 8:30-5:30 job, Monday through Friday. I am teaching 2 year olds. Most night when I get home I am too tired to do much of anything other than lay in bed listening to the radio. However, my weekends are filled with lots of reading.

I know when I started this series I talked about how I was going to compare it to something significant. Well it has taken me 6 books to figure it out, but I am going to do the unthinkable for many Christians and state my reasons why I think Harry Potter is a modern biblical world view. This will make some of you angry, some of you very happy, and still others of you very confused. Confusion is not my intention, but I do wish to evoke some emotion. I am not saying I believe that Harry Potter shows strictly Christian values at all, I am simply making an argument that J.K. Rowling could have written the series with a connection to Biblical truth.

I think Harry Potter has a strong message about good and evil and I can think of no better analogy that one with Christ. However, I will state and stand firm in the belief that what Christ did but significantly great than that of Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a work of fiction which Christ is not.

Give me some time to finish the books and I will begin the research of the possible allegory. I am excited to see where this takes me and I hope you will embark on this journey with me. It may be a long one.

Ace

Missing

Hello Readers!

Sorry I have been missing for the last week or so. I read the first two Harry Potter books while I was at my mom's in Fairhope, Al. It was a great vacation!

Ok....so Harry Potter isn't doing it for me so far... here is the reason:

The first book= amazing

The second book= borderline terrible.

However, I am not losing hope and I will press on! I am told (by Sarah) that they get better again. I know I would have really enjoyed them while I was in middle school and high school.

I am still struggling what to base my blogs on for the series, but I have a feeling as long as I keep writing something will come up.

I haven't discovered which character I like the most yet, but I have high hopes for Hermione being the one for now. But who knows... she probably gets killed of in the next book (if you know, please don't spoil it for me!).

I did not have the third book while I was at my mom's so instead I read "The Redemption of Sarah Cain." I would recommend this book to anyone! It was amazing. It kept me reading page after page fighting to stay awake for the end. This is highly unusual for a Christian fiction book I have found. As soon as I finish the Harry Potter Series, I think I am going to start a series by the author of "The Redemption of Sarah Cain."

The way the author incorporated modern Christianity with Amish tradition was great! To hear how the New Order Amish live a simplified life was really interesting. They still use electricity, indoor plumbing, and refrigeration. They simplify by getting rid of all things unnecessary. If you don't have anything, then you never have to worry about picking up!

Well, I will write more later, I jsut had a few things to get out!

Happy reading!

A Book I Said I Would Never Read

Yes, I said I would never read the Harry Potter series and now I am. Once again, I have learned the lesson "never say never." I started and finished the first book in the last 24 hours and very much enjoyed it. I certainly understand why people who read the Harry Potter series are, for the most part, now enjoying the "Twilight Saga" (which I have read).

My goal for this book series regarding my blog is to research Harry Potter and make a series of short essays comparing the books to a single topic, such as segregation or something of the like. Good vs. Evil seems all to easy to explore.

There are no guarantees that I will read all of the books right together, but I will do my best to stay focused. I tend to get subject bored and bounce a little before finishing a series. This is the precise reason why I love that series don't initially come out all at once. Otherwise I would never finish more than two books.

Get ready readers... the research and brainstorming starts tonight. Feel free to FB me any questions, challenges etc.

Ace

"Beauty For Ashes" by Dorothy Clark

Hello Readers!

I am sitting in my living room enjoying the beautiful sound of the light rain falling outside my door. There is a rainbow to the south and the sun setting in the west. Such bliss.

As you may have guessed... this post means I have finished yet another book. I believe "Beauty for Ashes" makes around book number 37 for the year.

As I was reading I kept thinking about what I would post on this book. I still have not settled completely on what I will write but here it goes...

The book falls into the Inspirational Romance category. It is set in the late 1800s between Philadelphia and New York in a time of great industrial advances. Both families that are present in this book are from wealthy backgrounds.

Elizabeth, the lead female, is young and looking for an escape from a life and possible marriage of abuse. She meets Justin, a recently widowed father of two looking for nothing more than a marriage of convenience.

In many ways this book really hit me. Mostly because of a conversation I had on Monday with my friend and sister in Christ, Courtney. Courtney and I were discussing the ups and downs of life and relationships. She spoke about how often girls are just looking for a man to rescue them from the point of life they are in. This could be from any situation, but just a feeling that the life with the man in question looks better than what you can see in front of you. A marriage of convenience. I feel many girls struggle with this at some point in their lives, whether it is at 15 when getting pregnant seems like a great way to keep that cheating boyfriend around, at 22 when you are finished with college but not dating anyone, or at 27 when society starts to have their doubts about your relationship status. At any point, a marriage or relationship of convenience is not what God has planned.

BUT, the great news is, as the book is titled, God can make beauty from ashes. No matter the situation, if you give God control, he can remove the fear, doubt, and worry from you and turn things into a beautiful story that not even you could imagine.

"Beauty for Ashes" had a great story line for young ladies. One that teaches hope and redemption through Christ alone. I did however have a few complaints about it. While the story at the end was incredibly enticing to keep reading and turn the page, the overall description of the scenery was missing. It was really hard to get a good picture of what the country looked like where this was taking place. As a reading junkie, this is important to me. It is hard to get completely enthralled in a character or story line when you can't picture where and when it is taking place.

Overall, this book was good. I really liked the message that it gives about giving all of your circumstances to God and he will set before you a path you could never imagine for yourself. It is worth reading if you like inspirational romance, but don't think you are going to get a good look into history.

About Nancy Pickard

Nancy Pickard is the Author of "The Scent of Rain and Lightening" along with countless other crime novels, short stories, and essays. She has won multiple awards for her writing including the Agatha Award and the Reader's Choice. She is a brilliant and fluid writer. I am quickly growing to love her ability, even before reading her other books.

I got all of the information from her official website http://www.nancypickard.com/

She has a posted e-mail on her site if anyone is interested.

"The Scent of Rain and Lightening" part 2

Okay, here it goes...

READ THIS BOOK!!!

I know, I know, I will probably write that a lot. But, this book really is worth reading. Fair warning though, it is pg-13 content, so don't say I didn't warn you.

The end of the book was ten times better than the beginning. After the last blog post I couldn't put the book down. Twists and turns I never saw happening. Because I love murder mystery writings I usually will pick up on the typical twist at least to some degree. While reading it I got this anxiousness about what was going to happen next. I wanted to flip the page ahead to read, but knew I couldn't miss any details so I read faster.

"The Scent of Rain and Lightening" brought fiction to life in a way that many book cannot.

It is my understanding that the author, Nancy Pickard, is a renown mystery author. I am now on a search to read more of her books.

Like I said, read this book if you are in to the light thrill. It isn't bloody gory, jump out at you. It is written beautifully so that the read can picture everything as if watching as a fly on the wall.

Have no fear, I am 50 pages into my next book. It is a totally different genre. This one is more on the side of historical romance. So, get ready.

Ace

P.S. I read this book from my Sony Reader but it can be found at most stores I think!

"The Scent of Rain and Lightening" part 1

Hello fellow readers!

First, thanks for stopping by. Especially thanks to those of you who have told me you stopped by!

I began "The Scent of Rain and Lightening" by Nancy Pickard the day before yesterday. I currently have 50 pages left. Remember, these are my opinions only. You are entitled to your own and I would love to hear them. Don't take my word for these books, read them yourself! I will try my best not to spoil everything!

Summary:

Jody Linder is a small town girl raise by her grandparents after her father was tragically murdered and her mother mysteriously disappeared. After the accused killer spent 23 years in jail, he is now back in town. Jody is on a quest to discover everything she can about both her mother and her father. Twist and Turns kept me from wanting to put the book down.

Thoughts So Far:

Ms. Pickard is an amazingly fluid writer. The book itself in written in a way that makes you feel you are wrapped up in a cozy blanket sitting next to Jody on the couch with anticipation while she tells you the tail of her life. While there are a few PG-13 and possibly R rated scenes, who's life doesn't have those. Ms. Pickard wrote to makes sure that the reader felt involved. To me, this is one of the most important aspects to a good book. I have to feel connected to the characters in a way that keeps me interested, even through the less entertaining parts of the book.

Once I finish the book I will post again with more detailed thoughts and overall reaction to the entire book.

Ace

Book Review

Ok bloggers, here it is. I am changing the overall format of my blog site. In the last few year I have decided I like to read. I am going begin blogging about the books I read. I may go back and reflect on books past, but will write about each new book I read. I try to be reading at least one book that is on the best seller list as well as many, many others. I read a variety of books from murder mysteries to love stories to non-fiction and religion. If you have a book you would like me to read please let me know! I take any suggestions! You can contact me on here or on facebook.

Happy Reading!

P.S. The first book I will blog on is "The Scent of Rain and Lightening" by Nancy Pickard