Just for a laugh... Christmas Edition!

Well, my friends, here we are, just like we always dreamed... IT'S LESS THAN TWO WEEKS TILL CHRISTMAS!!!

How did this happen??? It seems much too early for Christmas to be upon us once again! Well, no matter... Let's go ahead and get to celebrating this most wonderful time of the year with some laughter, shall we? :D

~~~~~

Oh dear! Thanks so much for taking care of it for us while we were gone...

Hmm... good advice, Doc. Thanks.

Those Finlanders, let me tell ya...

REALLY? WHO KNEW! Well... I guess Mary did.

A most essential item for a ninja to have on hand, especially during the winter months.



"Oh, honey, I'm sorry... I know it's not that frozen now, being out under the tree all night and all, but we can always put it back in the freezer for a while..."



Who needs to shake packages to find out what's in them when you can lie on them instead?



BUT BUT... I HAVE TO TRY ONE OF EVERYTHING, RIGHT???

"Mary had a little Lamb Who washed us white as snow!"

And, to wrap up, here's a fun Christmas video by Studio C for you all about how the Wise Men supposedly did their Christmas Shopping! ;) Enjoy!

I hope you all are having a wonderful, joyful Christmas Season so far, and have a fantastic rest of your day!
~Faith

**Pictures/videos not my own; all images/videos are from Pinterest, YouTube, and Google**

Thankful Thursdays // Weeks 4-6

Well, hello there again! How was everyone's Thanksgiving?


So... I'm kinda late, aren't I?

Well, this Thankful Thursdays series didn't go quite as I had planned. I missed a couple weeks in there, and here I am now, posting this on a Friday instead of Thursday. Well... we'll try to make the best of it anyhow.
It's technically supposed to be the last installment (for now) of this series, so let's go out with a great thankful bang, shall we?? (A 'thankful bang'?...Where did that come from?? :P)

So here we are at the end of November already!!! WHAT ON EARTH HAS HAPPENED TO THIS MONTH?!?!
I actually wrote something up for Thanksgiving Day last week that I was going to post, but for some reason I didn't get around to it and actually wasn't quite sure about it and thought maybe it actually wasn't that great of a post, and so I wondered if I should post it at all, but... well here I am, going to share it with you all today. So, this is technically a Thanksgiving post, but here it is anyway. Enjoy. :)

~~~~~

IT'S THANKSGIVING DAY!!!
How did this happen?!? It honestly seems, to me anyway, too early for Thanksgiving and Christmas to be rolling around again... the year has gone by so quickly! But here it is, nonetheless. And even though it seems to be coming upon us with great rapidity, I'm still REALLY EXCITED!

It seems like though, especially in more recent years, that Thanksgiving has kind of been brushed aside. Well, no, not totally -- most every American still celebrates this holiday -- but it seems like this particular holiday has become less important... at least, not as important as Christmas. This time of year, even before Thanksgiving happens, it's all about Christmas. Thanksgiving seems to just be this extra holiday in between here that is a good day, yes, but not as good as Christmas... I mean, yeah, it's important... but, Christmas is a much more exciting holiday, ya know... so let's just go ahead and decorate for and celebrate Christmas because Christmas is the actual important holiday here of course!

OKAY, OKAY, I am sounding a bit harsh aren't I? I am DEFINITELY NOT saying that Christmas isn't an important holiday. It is! Christmas is wonderful! I enjoy Christmas time SO MUCH!! :D

BUT...

We should remember that Thanksgiving is an important holiday as well! We shouldn't just brush it aside!

And PLEASE PLEASE don't misunderstand me... if you put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, that's absolutely fine! (But, in my opinion, if you're going to do that, you should have some Thanksgiving/Fall decorations up along with them as well... you can decorate for both holidays at once! Just my opinion though, of course. ;) )

But anyway, to get to my real point... I think the reason Thanksgiving isn't as popular with the masses is because, you don't GET anything on Thanksgiving.
Well, I mean, yes, you get a meal, maybe a day off, you get to watch and/or play football, and stuff like that... But, you don't get anything SPECIAL. (At least what the world would consider special) You know -- special things like presents, candy, little gift baskets, chocolate Easter eggs... You usually never get something like that on Thanksgiving. All you get on Thanksgiving is food... and football... and family... I mean... boring, right??

But you know what, that's just it. Thanksgiving isn't supposed to be about getting things. It's about giving. Giving thanks. Thanks-giving. It's a day that's supposed to remind us to not only be looking out for our own interests, but also that of others. It's about being grateful, no matter the situation. We all have something we can be thankful for. Even in the most terrible situation, there's always something to be grateful for -- if only you're willing to look for it.

So this Thanksgiving season, try to find the best in everything and be grateful -- Even if you miss some of the big game on TV, or you accidentally overcook your turkey -- you could be thankful that you even HAVE a TV to watch football on, or have a turkey to eat.

Whenever you're in a complaining mood, I've found that it's quite helpful let your mind wander back to the pilgrims when they first came to America and what they had to endure. They had almost nothing except each other. They actually had to work hard for food, shelter, and protection. Today, we don't have to work too awfully hard for those types of things -- at least, not as hard as they had to. If you really think about it... we have literally nothing to complain about. We're SO BLESSED, guys!

So don't forget to take time to thank God for all the blessings you have in your life this Thanksgiving -- and the rest of the year as well! :)

~~~~~

And speaking of being thankful... here we are again, my friends. This is what I found to be thankful for these past three weeks (since I missed several weeks before). What about you? :)

Week 4

Friday:

- Our family van

- That our whole family was able to attend a conference this weekend

Saturday:

- Being able to fellowship with other Christians at the conference we attended

- Having a house to come back to

Sunday:

- All the veterans in our country who have risked their lives to keep us safe

- My amazing church family

- That we have a lot of trees around our house that have lost a lot of leaves so that we can make huge leaf piles :D

Monday:

- God's given me the ability to write and come up with good stories

- My mom's encouragement

- My dad's humorous, lighthearted personality

Tuesday:

- Chocolate (I mean, who wouldn't be grateful for chocolate?? ;) )

- My several journal/notebook type books that I have and like to write/draw in

Wednesday:

- That I've been able to have been homeschooled my whole life

- That God's given me such great Christian friends

- That I have great adult friends as well as ones my own age

Thursday:

- My new baby cousin :)

Week 5

Friday:

- Having straight, strong teeth

- Laughter and joy in my life

Saturday:

- Vaseline

- Hot Tea

- Good Books

Sunday:

- That God gives me sweet sleep

- Having heating in our house

Monday:

- Being able to have fun playing board games with my family

- My wonderful parents who have set such a great spiritual example for my siblings and I

- That my parents have had a strong relationship with eachother and each of us

- That I've never had to go through my parents separating/divorcing

Tuesday:

- Getting to spend a fun day over at my grandparents' house cooking and watching Christmas Hallmark movies with my grandma :)

Wednesday:

- A great house to live in

- That tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we'll get to see and spend time with our extended family

Thursday: (I had quite a few things to be thankful for today... it was Thanksgiving after all! ;) )

- That it's Thanksgiving!

- That we live in a time where vehicles exist and are also heated

- That our extended family gets along well with eachother

- That we had a safe drive down to our uncle and aunt's house today

- That we were blessed with an abundance of food today

- That we got to play football with our cousins

- Hot chocolate and s'mores

Week 6

Friday:

- My bike

- Our TV

- That we have access to on-demand movies and shows

Saturday:

- Having a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, combs and essential things like that available

Sunday:
- That I have nice clothes to wear

Monday:

- Having heat in our house (Did I say that before? Having heat in your house is definitely something to be very grateful for this time of year!)

- A warm bedroom and bed to sleep in

- Having a bedroom all to myself

Tuesday:

- Having good eyesight, hearing, and that all my physical senses work properly

Wednesday:

- That I was born and am living in this specific point in history where life is much easier to survive and live in than in previous times in history

Thursday:

- That God's been so merciful and gracious towards me this year

- That I've had SO MANY wonderful things to be thankful for this Fall!

~~~~~~

Well, there you have it, folks! I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I did. I'm sorry that I didn't end up posting every week as I originally had planned, but I think it turned out alright in the end... Thank you all so much for joining me in being thankful this Fall! :) BUT REMEMBER -- don't stop being thankful just because we're past the Thanksgiving and Fall season now. Remember to thank God every day for all the wonderful things He's given you! He's SO GOOD to us!!!

Have a wonderful rest of your week, everyone! :)
~Faith

Thankful Thursdays // Weeks Two & Three

Faith.

What are you doing?

It's Tuesday.

Tuesday.

Not Thursday.

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE??


Well... I basically had this thing ready to post this past Thursday, but then I got busy getting ready for a conference our family was going to this past weekend, and I didn't get around to finishing it and actually posting it on the day it should have been posted... But, oh, well, forget the excuses. Sometimes real life gets in the way of bloggish things... (though, that isn't really a bad thing most of the time), but here I am back, finally.
The reason I'm posting today was that I wanted to post this before this coming Thursday because I really wanted to do something on a different thankful topic for this Thursday. (I actually still need to write up that post, so hopefully it will be ready for this Thursday so I can get back on schedule with this series... well, we'll see what happens with that.)
Hopefully that all made sense; I'm sorry if that was kind of a rambly explanation. Anyway, let's get to the actual post, shall we? :P

So for the past couple weeks, I've been reading and thinking on some Scriptures on thankfulness and thanksgiving that I've been wanting to share with you all. These are a few verses that I found: (Emphasis is mine.)

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name." Psalm 100:4

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God..." Philippians 4:6

"Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms." Psalm 95:2


When we come to God in prayer, we should come in with a thankful attitude. It really caught my attention to find so many verses that all say about when coming to God in prayer -- "into His presence", "gates", or "courts" -- to come in with thanksgiving. We shouldn't come in with complaining, or begging, or pleading... we should come with thanksgiving! And we don't have to beg or complain or plead to God. He gives us "richly all things to enjoy!" (1 Tim. 6:17)
What if whenever you came to your parents to ask them for something, you always asked them in a begging, complaining, or ungrateful manner? Do you think they would enjoy that? Do you think that would move them more to give you that thing? Probably not. So why would we do this with our Heavenly Father? God already wants to meet our needs and help His children out -- we don't have to beg. We should come to our Father with a grateful heart and praising attitude.

And also, we shouldn't just always come to God and talk to Him only when we have a problem or want to to ask him for something. Of course we can come to God with our problems and ask Him for things -- and should do so -- but we also need to take the time to just simply praise Him and thank Him for things he's done in our lives, and talk with Him, just as we would with our earthly father or mother.

So that's what's been on my mind recently. There's a whole lot more you could pull out of these verses as well, but there's just a couple of aspects that I wanted to share with you guys today. :)

~~~

And now, here we go again! This is what I found to be thankful for these past two weeks. (I actually just now realized that with a few things I wrote the same thing on more than one day... but I guess there's no rule against it, so... :P)

Week 2:

Friday: 
- Plenty of clothes to wear

Saturday: 
- That today is Saturday!
- We got to visit a pumpkin patch and do a corn maze today - An awesome mom with whom I can talk about various things

Sunday:

- Getting to hang out with a friend I don't get to see often

- The refreshing rain (The cloudy and rainy weather at first made the day seem gloomy, but then I remembered how much we've needed a good rain, and so it made me feel more grateful to God for it and reminded me of the verse in Matthew 5 that says that He "sends rain on the just and on the unjust.")

Monday: 
- That someone invented pre-sticky/sealed envelopes
- The sunshine

Tuesday:
- The beautiful mountain views and landscape we have around our house
- The leaves on our trees changing to beautiful colors
- The weather's been just right today; not too hot and not too cold
- That it's just been a gorgeous day!

Wednesday 
- Always having plenty of food to eat
- Our adorable kitties :)
- 12 Empowerment Truths About The Prodigal Son Two Sons in Want by Terry Tripp (I started reading it today, and it's been so good!)

Thursday 
- Beautiful, gorgeous weather (again)
- Electricity
- A God Who really understands me, and helps me to understand Him and His character better every day, and helps me to see beyond my own way of thinking into His way of thinking.

Week 3:

Friday 
- I'm healthy
- Our family's camera

Saturday 
- God is always there for me, in the good times and bad
- I live in a place where I can have my own Bible and read it without fear of being arrested or killed for having one
- Great blogging friends

Sunday 
- Having indoor plumbing and electricity
- That we "gained" an hour today!

Monday 
- Being able to still spend time with my brothers raking up and jumping in leaf piles
- Great siblings that I get along with pretty well

Tuesday 
- That I have the privilege to vote for who gets elected in this country

Wednesday 
- Always having plenty of food to eat
- Hot showers

Thursday 
- We have internet access
- I've been blessed with plenty of clothes to wear
- My cute backpack that I got as a graduation gift

Well, that's all for today. Do you have a favorite verse on thankfulness?


Have a great week, everyone!
~Faith

2nd Blogiversary!

Hey guys! So guess what? It's been exactly two years since I first started this blog!!!

So, yep. :)

Have a great day, everyone!

.............

..............

Ooookay, so I guess I should have more to say than that for two years of blogging, shouldn't I? Well... alrighty then.

It's been a fun two years. :) I have no idea where the time has gotten to... but here we are two years later nonetheless. The first year, I didn't really post much on my blog here, usually only putting on something every few months or so. But recently, I've actually been fairly consistent with posting, which has been nice. I've also been so blessed by all of you guys who follow, read, and/or comment on this blog! I've made some wonderful friends here that I'm so grateful for. Thank you all so much! :)

So... what else to add? (To be completely honest, I actually just decided on doing a post for this special occasion just sort of last minute... otherwise I maybe could have put together a much better, more extraordinary post for you all... but alas...)

Oh yes -- perhaps I should share a few favorite posts I've done so far on my blog here? People do that on these kind of posts, right? ...Well, whether they do or not, here ya go. :)

Just in time...

The Hare & The Tortoise (a politically correct version)

Just ENJOY It!

Just for a laugh

A Savior Alive // A belated Easter poem

Headers and Kitties and Cuteness, Oh My!

My Top Five Favorite Westerns

Imitating Love

Okay... so that was maybe more than a few... :P

Well anywho, to wrap up this little celebration, I wanted to say that it's been absolutely awesome being part of this wonderful Blogosphere for these past two years with all of you, and I look forward to what God has for me and this blog in the next year and beyond! Thanks so much to you guys once again for all the support and encouragement you've given; it means so much. :)
You guys are the best, and whether you read every post and comment on everything here, or just come by for a quick look once and a while, either way, I just wanted to let you know...

Keep being awesome, y'all. :) Have a wonderful week!
~Faith

P.S. Also, I apologize for not doing a Thankful Thursdays post this past week... Hopefully, I'll be able to continue the series this week. Stay tuned!

Reformation Day // 500th Anniversary

Oh -- October 31st. Today a lot of kids -- big and small -- are running around in costumes, begging for candy, pulling pranks, or posting selfies of themselves in their clever cosplay on social media. 

But guess what? I found out recently that Halloween isn't the only holiday going on in the world on this day. Today is also Reformation Day, the 500th anniversary of the protestant reformation! 

500 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenburg, Germany. While this act that Luther did doesn't really seem like all that big of a deal to a lot of us now, it was in fact a very big deal during that time, and was a very important event in sparking the protestant reformation. And that, in turn, does indeed affect us as Christians today, because if this reformation had never happened, we most likely would not have the kind of freedom of religion that we have today, to worship God in the way we see fit, or even be able to own a Bible of our own. 

So, today is a great day to be thankful to God for this much easier time that we live in now where we can openly worship Him without fear of being arrested or even killed for going against a certain church's doctrine.

I also wanted to share with you this video down below that gives more information on Martin Luther and his life and what led to him writing down his famous 95 Theses. I'd definitely recommend taking a little time out of your day today to watch!

"[Martin Luther proved] that it's not [entirely] about technology or distribution -- but having something important to say." -Dave Stotts, Drive Thru History

Happy Reformation Day, everyone!

~Faith

Thankful Thursdays // Week One

Hello again, all!

So, what did we find to be thankful for this past week? Some days, I actually wrote down more than one thing to be grateful for, because there's just so much! When you start intentionally looking for things to be thankful for, it seems that you begin finding more than you ever thought you could before!

So here's some things I found to be thankful for this past week. They're kind of random, some being general things while others more specific; but anyway, I think this helped me some though in being more aware of how many great things I have in my life and how good I really have it.

Friday - Our family's laptop that I get to blog/write on a lot.

Saturday - A comfortable bed - Running water

Sunday - Joy in my life - Great friends

Monday - A lighthearted family with whom I can have a good time and share inside jokes with.

Tuesday - Beautiful weather and a beautiful area to enjoy it in.

Wednesday - Baked potatoes (what can I say... I had baked potatoes for lunch that day, and I mean... they were SO GOOD -- how could you NOT be thankful for them??) - That music exists.

Thursday (Today) - An old computer game of ours still works on our Windows 7 computer - I'm able to have a blog

What about you? Write what you thought of this week to be thankful for in the comments below if you'd like! :)


So, that's all I have for today. Another Thursday I might write a more elaborate post digging deeper into a scripture about thankfulness or something like that... but unfortunately I didn't really have much time to do that this week, so today is not that day.

There is, however, one more thing I thought I'd share with you just for fun... This comedic, yet thought-provoking video on gratefulness by Blimey Cow down below. :) Enjoy! :D

Have a great rest of your week, everyone!

~Faith

Thankful Thursdays // Introduction

As a society, we complain a lot. Think about it -- when was the last time you complained about something? I can think of quite a few instances in just the past few days where I've complained... maybe not out loud all the time, but in my head to myself.

God's Word tells us in Philippians 2:14-16 to "do everything without complaining or disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life..."

Do everything with out complaining? That seems almost impossible to do. However, in Matthew 19:26 Jesus informs us that "with God all things are possible." So apparently, it must not be impossible to do all things without complaining or arguing. God can help change our attitudes. But He's not going to just come along and do it automatically for us. We've got to be willing to change and trust Him to help us change our mindset.

It's good to take time each day to look for the good in your life even when things seem to not be going so great. I've always found that it's easier to not complain when I'm thankful and am thinking about all the blessings God has given me in this life.

So... I had this idea. Since the Thanksgiving season is going to be rolling around here soon, I decided I'd challenge myself starting today till the end of November to write down at least one thing each day to be thankful for. And then each Thursday of what's left of October and November, I'll come back here and share what I wrote down and what I found to be grateful for each day that past week.

Also, YOU are definitely more than welcome to join me in this endeavor as well if you'd like to! I'd very much like that if you did! :) You can come back and write down what things you thought of to be thankful for the past week in the comments each Thursday if you'd like, or you can just write them down in a notebook or somewhere else for yourself. And then when you're bored someday, you can go back and read them and remember how good this life is that God has given you!

Sound like a plan? I hope that made sense. (I feel like I made the explanation above kind of confusing.....maybe not...) So, whether you join me in this Autumny/Thanksgiving project or not, please don't forget to make room for thankfulness in your everyday life and take time to thank God for all the wonderful blessings He's given you!

So, let's get started, shall we? Here's one thing I've thought of that I can be thankful for today:
Having a family who cares for me.

Well, that wasn't too hard. Now -- it's your turn! What's one thing you can be thankful for today?

Have yourselves a wonderful rest of the week and see you next Thursday! :)
~Faith

Just for a laugh... 2.0

So, today I thought I'd do a second installment of Just for a laugh which I did a while back. "A merry heart does good, like medicine" (Prov. 17:22), so let's get pumped up and joyful and have a little fun, shall we? :D

Let's kick it off with this clever joke......

Ahahahaahahahahahahaha... :P

How Ninjas Make Pancakes --- FINALLY REVEALED!

Okay okay, so I get it. Some of us are worse at matching clothes and doing all that fashion stuff than others, but come on...

I SAW MY WHOLE LIFE FLASH BEFORE MY EYES

Leviticus 13:40 (NKJV) “As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean." :P

Too true, too true...

NOOOOOOO, MOM PLEASE not my fidget spinner that probably no one will care anything about by this time next year! D:

I have a feeling Spain will have a lot to explain about this plain name they've gained from playing this game...

YAS JUST YAS

These just might be the best homemade eclipse glasses around! Man, I wish I had known about making these before the eclipse happened this past summer. Oh well, maybe next time...

I hope you liked that! I sure did. :D Which was your favorite picture?

Also, what do you think of the new fall look? And I've finally done a "face reveal" thingamajig... in other words, just putting a picture of myself on the side there. :P

I hope all of you have a wonderfully blessed and joyful day!

~Faith

The Hare & The Tortoise (a politically correct version)

This past year for school I had a writing assignment to rewrite one of Aesop's Fables using the style of another author. One of the authors they recommended using the style of was James Finn Garner's in his "Politically Correct" series (where he retells classic stories to be "politically correct"). So, I chose to rewrite the renowned story of The Hare & The Tortoise in the style of Garner -- with a politically correct twist. ;) It was one of my favorite writing assignments from this past year, and so, I've decided to share it with you all, just for fun. So... enjoy, my friends! :)

   
     One day, a hare was making fun of a tortoise for being motion-challenged. The tortoise became offended by the hare's teasing and considered suing him for slander, but decided to challenge the hare to a race instead. The discriminatory hare laughed and said, "How ridiculous!"
     With the tortoise being thoroughly offended, the hare finally agreed to the race. They asked the fox to be the judge.
     "Ready, set, go!" the fox yelled.
     The hare rushed way ahead of the tortoise, and so the fox called, "Hare, don't run so fast! You will make Tortoise feel bad."
     But the prejudiced hare ignored the fox's advice and kept on. But soon, after getting so far ahead, the hare started to feel bad for the tortoise, and so he decided to stop for a little while so that the tortoise could catch up and regain some of his self-esteem. While he was waiting for the tortoise, he laid down to rest, and as it was such a nice warm day, he drifted off into a deep sleep.
     Meanwhile, the tortoise kept plodding on. He was beginning to get quite tired, but then he saw the hare asleep. The tortoise became excited and carefully tiptoed by the hare, realizing that he might be able to win. Finally, the tortoise crossed the finish line.
     All the other animals cheered, and the hare woke up suddenly to the noise. With a shock of realization as to what had happened, he dashed to the finish line, finding that the tortoise had already crossed the finish line before him.
     "But it's not fair!" the hare complained. "I would have won if I hadn't fallen asleep!" He began to cry.
     The fox judge thought about this. "Well, you both worked so hard," he said. "So you both get a prize!" The fox handed both creatures a 1st place ribbon.
     The ungrateful tortoise pouted. "But I crossed the finish line first!  I won! Why does he get the same prize as me?"
     "We're all winners, Tortoise!" the fox said. "Don't be upset. No matter what you do you'll always be a winner."

Moral: Any pace will win the race.


Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
~Faith

A New Look & A Bookish Tag

Hello again!

So, as you may have noticed, I've changed my blog look quite a bit and have added a couple of new pages! What do y'all think? I made the new header on a neat website, www.befunky.com where you can make professional looking collages and such for free (well, and you can pay to have more stuff to work with, but you can do a lot with just the free things). I believe I first heard about this website from my friend, C.D. Hulen, and it's already been quite useful for me. So thanks, C.D.! :D

~~~

I also got tagged once again by the lovely Olivia quite some time ago. This time it is a book-related award! :) So let's get to it, shall we?

The Bookish Tag Rules:
-You must be honest. 
-You must answer every question. 
-You must tag at least 4 people.

Okie doke. Here we go!

1.) What book has been on your shelf the longest? Hmm, good question. I don't... really know? Well, if we're talking about just my shelf (on which I've usually kept school stuff), I might say... maybe The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. I have not read this book yet, but I think I might read it sometime in the near future. We'll see.

2.) What is your current read, your last read, and the book you'll read next? I'm currently reading Yankee Belles in Dixie by Gilbert Morris (the second book in the Bonnets & Bugles series), but I got a little tired of it for the moment, so I started reading A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck which has been interesting :P; my last read was Drummer Boy at Bull Run by Gilbert Morris (the first book in the Bonnets & Bugles series); and the book I'll read next will most likely be Keeping Secrets by Joan Lowery Nixon.

3.) What book did everyone like, but you hated? Hmm... I'm really not sure if I have one.

4.) What book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't? Maybe another Shakespeare play? (I had to read Julius Caesar for school this past year... yipee. :P) Or the other possibility might be To Kill a Mockingbird.
(...Oh my, I just realized how ridiculous that sounds if you don't read that as a book title...... XD)

5.) What book are you saving for retirement?  I honestly have never really thought of saving a book for when I'm older before; so yeah, I have no idea at the moment.

6.) Last page: read it first, or wait 'til the end? I usually don't want to spoil anything, so I try not to read the last page with most books I'm planning to read. But it really depends... with some books you just randomly find at the library, you need to read the last part of it to make sure it ends up good to see if it's going to be worth reading or not.  

7.) Acknowledgement: waste of paper and ink, or interesting aside? I think they can be interesting to read sometimes. It's kind of neat to learn of some of the people who inspired, encouraged, and/or helped the author in the writing of his or her book.

8.) Which book character would you switch places with? Well, really (as Olivia said), I wouldn't want to trade places with anyone in the world, because I know God made me who I am and put me in the time I'm in for a reason. :) But if I must choose... ahhhh, there are so many choices! HOW DOES ONE CHOOSE?? ....Possibly Pollyanna Whittier.

9.) Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life? (Place, time, person?) When I was maybe five or six, all our family had to get rabies shots because of some reason that I don't quite remember (something about a cat I think...). And I didn't like it, of course. But anywho, we had to go several times, and almost every time we brought an I Spy book along to look at in the waiting room before we had to go in and get our shots. That was a real bright spot in that experience, and made things a lot better for me. So, sometimes when I pick up an I Spy book, I think about that time. (I think the last time we had to go though, as I recall, we forgot to bring it, which was a real bummer.)

10.) Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way. A number of years ago I participated in a Summer reading program at our local library. You got different prizes, such as a free pass to a pool or a free Chick-Fil-A kid's meal for reading so many hours. So, the big prize at the end (if you read all the hours on the chart they gave you) was getting to pick out a book from the library to keep. I chose a book called, Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady. It stuck out to me from when I first saw it, and I'm so glad I chose it; it's a really great book. :)

11.) Have you ever given a book away for a special reason to a special person?

Hmm... I actually can't really think of a specific book at this moment that I've given away before. D: The closest thing to giving a book away that comes to mind is giving out tracts and christian magazines at our church's annual "free yard sale". It is for a special reason, and the people we're giving them to are each very special people... So, that should count, shouldn't it? :)

12.) Which book has been with you most places? My Bible probably. It's a good book to have around!

13.) Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad later?
Well, there was Pride & Predjudice, but I didn't really hate it. I actually quite enjoyed it. But I think I came to appreciate it more as I went along and after finishing it.

14.) Used or brand new? Probably used, but I'd prefer it be in a pretty good condition though. I definitely don't mind brand new either... It really depends. :P

15.) Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?  No.

16.) Have you ever seen a movie you liked more than the book? There are probably several movies I liked more than the book :P, but one I can think of at the moment is The Apple Dumpling Gang. The movie is a lot funnier, and more family-friendly really than the book. Also, the fact that I saw the movie before reading the book could have somewhat of an affect on which one I prefer. ;) (But with this one, I think I'd like the movie better than the book anyway to be honest.)

17.) Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks included? Cookbooks definitely make me hungry (especially flipping through the dessert section... mmmmmmmm). I don't know if I could choose a specific one though... any one really!  

18.) Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?  My mom's. Definitely. :)

19.) Is there a book out of your comfort zone (e.g., outside your usual reading genre) that you ended up loving? I read Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis a while back after seeing the movie for it, and I guess that's a little bit out of my usual kind of genre. I remember enjoying it pretty well. That's the only Narnia book I've read, though, and I'm sure it would have been better if I had read all the Narnia books in order and everything. (I know, I know, all you Narnian-loving peeps who've grown up reading the books are all probably looking at me in shock right now....)

 

Well, that was fun! (And a bit more challenging, to be honest.) Thanks, Olivia for tagging me! :)

Okay, let's see, I'll tag...

Abby @ Novels, Dragons, and Wardrobe Doors
Jonathan @ Fishing For Ideas
Faith @ Chosen Vessels

Katherine @ The Ramblings of a Young Writer
and YOU who are reading this if you so desire. :)

Have a wonderful week, everyone!
~Faith