Day 30 – Blogging

Favorite Posts from This Challenge

Oh, I had so many! But since I must narrow it down…   (click on the post name to go to it!)

·         Day 1 – 15 Interesting Facts about Me

·         Day 3 – My Favorite Blogs

·         Day 6 –  Favorite Actor

·         Day 16 – A Short Wishlist

·         Day 17 – Favorite Books (not classics)

·         Day 22 – Websites I Frequent

·         Day 24 – Six Favorite Classic Authors

By the way...sorry this is so late! My last few weeks here have been uncommonly hectic, plus some troubles with  blogger -- take the format of this paragraph. :P Forgive me!:)

Day 29 – Books

A Book I’m Proud I Read

Without a doubt, the book I’m proudest (or would it be most proud?) of reading is Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. It was 969 pages long, and not rivetingly interesting. But I read the whole entire book. And I’m excessively proud of myself for doing so. J

Also…though this shouldn’t be mentioned here…I’m rather proud of myself for reading the four-book “Inheritance” series by Christopher Paolini. Each book had over 800 pages. And the twelve-book series by Brock and Bodie Thoene, called the “A. D. Chronicles” was also pretty impressive. Below, the first 8.

Day 28 – Random

A Holiday I Dislike

I know, you’re staring at me in shock – I dislike some holidays? Yes, but mostly just one. Other than Halloween (yuck!). April Fool’s Day. I strongly dislike practical jokes, and if there was ever a foolish and annoying holiday, it’s this one. Can’t stand it!

Day 27 – Random

Why I’m Doing This 30-Day Challenge

Because I love doing tags. And this is similar in some ways to a tag, you’ve gotta admit. I’m doing it in April because that was a month with 30 days…and while I could have done it in one without 30 days, I decided not to. You may be interested to know that I wrote 93% (or so) of these posts in late January and early February! They’ve been waiting in my drafts ever since.

We’re getting off the subject… As I write this, it’s February 10. It’s snowy outside, but not windy, and quite sunny. The cat is looking in the in the window, the dog is napping in the sun, and my sister is playing piano. Warned you this was off the subject! I’m happily thinking about what I’ll be doing on April 27, as you read this…a big conference that I get to help with. J Can’t wait!

Day 26 – Random

What I Think About My Friends

What an excellent idea. Or something. Quite honestly, it’s a bit silly, I think…I mean, they’re my friends. What am I supposed to think of them?!? But yes, I love my friends. As previously stated, I am so lucky as to have four best friends, and they’re all different. However, they all know (and like) each other, so we get on pretty well. I think my friends are great for taking pictures of/having photoshoots with…one of my favorite things. I think my friends are wonderful Christians, all good role-models for me. I think my friends are girls who will support me when I need supporting, and they’re girls that I will do my best to help when they need it. I think my friends are perfect for me. I’m very glad that they’re my friends. Love you gals! You ought to know who you are… J

Day 25 - Books

A Creative Book Picture I've Taken

I've taken a lot of creative book pictures lately...but here are a few favorites. Y'all know I can't limit myself to one. ;) One night I was struck with the inspiration of taking pictures of books with objects that went with them...either with the story, the title, or the cover. Hence, all of these. :)

Day 24 – Books

Six Favorite Classic Authors

Classic books are some of the best ones out there. And naturally, that makes their authors some of the best ones out there too. J Note that Jane Austen isn’t mentioned here…I definitely consider her one of the best, but she’s been talked about so much on here, that I’m not including her here.

#1. Baroness Emmuska Orczy. She wrote most notably The Scarlet Pimpernel, a long time favorite of mine. She also wrote sequels for it, including The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel among others.

#2. L. M. Montgomery. Best known for Anne of Green Gables. She wrote a lot of other books as well, all delightful. Find more about her from when I had L. M. Montgomery Day! Herself, her books, the movies of her books.

#3. J. R. R. Tolkien. He wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, along with some other smaller books. Learn about him from J. R. R. Tolkien Day! Himself, his books, the movies of his books.

#4. Louisa May Alcott. Known for Little Women. She also wrote Little Men, Jo’s Boys, and more. Eight Cousins is a favorite of mine.  

#5. C. S. Lewis. Especially notable are The Chronicles of Narnia, a seven book series. He wrote a variety of other books as well. Learn more about him from C. S. Lewis Day! Himself, his books, the movies from his books.

#6. Alexander Dumas. Known for writing The Three Musketeers. Also wrote other books, including The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Day 23 – Random

Something I Crave at the Moment

At the risk of sounding food-oriented…Doritos. I heart Doritos. They are one of my favorite things. And I really want some right now. *sigh* Too bad we can’t have everything we wish for... Then again, that’s prolly a good thing. But yes…Doritos are what I want!

Day 20 – Books

Five Awesome Non-Fiction Books

No particular order.

#1 – Do Hard Things byAlex and Brett Harris

#2 – Miracles on theWater by Tom Nagorski

#3 – Triangle by David Von Drehle

#4 – The movie companion for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

#5 – Taste of Home Baking Book

Day 22 – Random

Websites I Frequent

I mostly read blogs, but there are a few websites that I absolutely adore as well. Interestingly, several have to do with books!

Goodreads – I’m on here as often as possible. J It helps me keep track of everything (almost) that I read! I can see what my goodreads friends are reading, and what they rated any particular book I’m curious about. There are giveaways (though, IMHO, not usually very good ones), trivia, groups, and much more. I’m far from exhausting this wonderful place! Check it out: http://www.goodreads.com/

Amazon – When I have a book I want to buy, this is usually the place I go. I enjoy reading the reviews, and it’s almost certain that they’ll have reviews of any book I look up. I find these especially helpful too when buying electronics. I occasionally write reviews there too. I love the wishlist function, and have several (all organized, you know!). I love Amazon. Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/

Google – Does Google count as a website? Seeing that I’m there almost daily, I think it should. I use it for all my searching, and it’s a huge help! I think that’s enough said, since you already all use it and know about it, I’m sure. Check it out: https://www.google.com/

IMDB – International Movie Database. You know my movie reviews? This is where I get most of the information about actors, year it came out, and sometimes length. And trivia. I have found IMDB to be a priceless help when looking up a movie to see if it has objectionable stuff in it (Netflix can help too, but this is better). Also trailers and pictures! Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/

Wikipedia – Now, I know that they say (and I believe) the information on Wikipedia isn’t always completely accurate. But I still use it fairly often. All the birth and death dates for the birthday posts come from here. I use it to look up (occasionally) actors, authors, movies, random information. If you want something really fun, look up “pride and prejudice”. There are pages for Elizabeth and Darcy, and also a “family tree” type of thing tying all the characters together – that’s on the P&P page. All on Wikipedia. Check it out: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Day 21 – Random

A Picture of Something that Makes Me Happy

Having set myself the challenge of finding ONE picture of something that makes me happy…I discovered I simply could not do it. So here are several! And my apologies.

Jesus risen from the grave…

…dark chocolate…

…my camera…

…tall stacks of books…

…mail…

…trucks that make cool noises (winks at Angelica)…

…flags…

…Ramen noodle soup…

 

…kittens…

…country life…

…completed schoolwork…

 

…lists – of almost anything. J

There you have it! More than I meant to put down. But hey, it’s pretty much a list of my favorite things!

Day 19 – Random

Nicknames I Have

Actually, I’m rarely called anything but Charity. It’s not really an easy name to shorten, you know? Let’s see. Mom and Dad call me Doll or Dolly on occasion…that would be the oldest one – trust me, it’s old. At least once, we met a new family who asked if they could call me Cherry. Being shy, I said yes. But they didn’t call me that for long! I’m just not a Cherry. Doesn’t fit me. Occasionally my siblings try Char or Chair, but it never works for long. They forget, and when they remember, I don’t respond, so. ;) Really, yes, I’m pretty much just known as Charity!

Day 18 – Random

Long Time Goals/Plans/Dreams I Have

There are so many things I’d love to do that it’s really not even funny. I guess my primary one at this point is to go to college and get at least a Bachelor’s Degree. Naturally, I’d love to get married someday, but will that ever happen? Who knows. An office job appeals to me, especially at a college or university. More than that, I don’t know. Maybe education. We’ll have to see!

Day 17 – Books

Favorite Books (fiction, not classics)

***Note: you can find a mostly-complete list on the Favorite Books page. A link is towards the top on the right, along with the other pages. ***

The titles are linked to the reviews that I’ve posted. For series, each number is linked to the corresponding book in the series. Remember that this list doesn’t include classics – thus, no Jane Austen. Now, a few books I love above most others…

 

Livvie’s Song by Sharlene MacLaren

 

The Zion Chronicles series by Bodie Thoene

 

Heart’s Journey Home by Jen Stephens

River of Time series by Lisa T. Bergren

 

Montana Skies series by Penny Zeller

 

A Vision of Lucy by Margaret Brownley

 

Head in the Clouds by Karen Witemeyer

Storm Syrrell Adventure series by Davis Bunn

Above the Line series by Karen Kingsbury

Must stop…

Day 16 – Books

A Short Wishlist

To my horror (or maybe not), I discovered that I can’t narrow it down enough to give you just one thing on my wishlist. So here are a few!

Susan Boyle’s newest CD, Someone to Watch Over Me

Sarah Sundin’s first two books in the “Wings of Glory” series, A Distant Melody and A Memory Between Us

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery

The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (preferably extended editions)

Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren

Ellie’s Haven by Sharlene MacLaren

A thousand dollar gift certificate to Amazon (doubtful I’ll get this…but if any of you have $1000 to get rid of, think of me ;)

Day 15 – Music

Fifteen Random Songs from my Mp3 Player

1. The Journey to the How from Prince Caspian

2. House of No Regrets by Katherine Jenkins

3. Emma Main Titles from the 2009 Emma

4. At This Moment by Michael Buble

5. Festmarch from Tannhauser by Wagner (instrumental)

6. Shine on Harvest Moon from Laurel and Hardy

7. Fairies are Exquisite Dancers by Claude Debussy (instrumental)

8. Come to Me, Bend to Me from Brigadoon (outtake)

9. Con Te Partiro by Andrea Bocelli

10. The Ring Goes South from Fellowship of the Ring

11. Dignity from Singin’ in the Rain

12. The First Noel by Susan Boyle

13. In Tr by Charlotte Church

14. The Dragon’s Treasure from Voyage of the Dawn Treader

15. Why Don’t We Just Dance by Josh Turner

Day 14: Books

A Picture of My Bookshelf

A little messy, maybe?



Day 13: Photography

A Favorite Picture (or Five) (or Nine)

Yes, all my photography. :)