Formerlies

Lists are lovely things. I have friends who swear they live by lists, friends who spend mornings making lists. Even I have daily to-do lists that I try my best to create realistically and accomplish by the end of the day. When my friend, Charity Klicka, put together a list of "formerlies" and asked what lists we'd been accomplishing, I thought I'd join in with my own Have Dones:

Songs I have been listening to:
"Flower, Flower" by The Vespers
"Lemonade" by Chris Rice
"Santa Fe" from Newsies
"Lawdy" by The Vespers
"Loving You" by Cami Bradley
"You and I" by Chris August

Books I have been reading:
 Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy by Eric Metaxas (incredible man and biography)
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (!!!)
Tuck by Stephen Lawhead (haven't begun yet)
 The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler

Things I should be doing right now:
Reading Bonhoeffer
Doing something more creative than blogging
Spending time with the girls
Getting ready to disband The Lair (sadness) and paint it bright pink for the little girls.

Oddities on my desk: (Dad's desk)
An empty bag of 60% dark chocolate chips
The remains of my orange
Music theory rhythm charts
Old valentines

Future blog posts (within the next week):
Another "Why it Works" post
Fashionista Guest Post by a very exciting contributor none of you know
Probably something random

Well that was fun! What was/is on your lists this week?

The Reckoning of Readables

I am pretty much fully recovered from all the graduation madness. Do you notice what I just said? And that I mean it? I cannot take credit for that miracle--the Lord has been very gracious with me the last few days. :D

Earlier this year I created a "Summer Reading List"  in the hopes that I'd get some of it accomplished. Although my year has consisted of several campaigns, a camp, extensive wedding prep, several huge family events like a thirteenth birthday and a double-graduation, I've managed a fair amount of reading. What did I get through? Well, of course it's not the end of December yet so the list will likely grow, but here's what's up so far. I've linked to all the books I have reviewed.

Historical fiction:
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Return to Zion by Brodie Thoene
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
Sarah Bishop by Scott O'Dell
With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz
The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Shadow Things by Jennifer Freitag

Classics:
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte


Children's Lit: 
Rufus M by Eleanor Estes
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
Rascal by Sterling North
Freddy Goes to Florida by Walter R. Brooks


Fantasy:
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

Romance:
The Princess by Lori Wick
With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin
The Sound of Diamonds by Rachelle Rea

General Fiction:
Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Something Fresh by P.G.Wodehouse
Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Monster by Mirriam Neal
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
ASHBURN by Julia Erickson


Non-Fiction or Christianity:
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Bud & Me by Alta Abernathy
One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot
Just Do Something by Kevin deYoung
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
Great Souls by David Aikman (in progress)
The Narnian by Alan Jacobs (in progress)

Goodreads (which I caved and joined this year, much to my contentment) assures me I have read 12,037 or so pages this year. Ho-ho! That's rather a good job, I should say! It informs me that my longest title at 1,463 pages was Les Miserables. With Fire and Sword was a close second at around 1,143 or so pages. I can only say WHOOSH! It also says I have read 35 titles this year. UNTRUE! Just because four of the titles I read are yet unpublished, and the fifth unlisted on Goodreads does NOT mean I have not read the 40 books I lay claim to. ;) Come, come! Let's be friends and Goodreads and compare notes on all sorts of stories!

Blessings in the murk :)

Even though the campaign work is crazy and stressful and fun and hideously tiring all at once, a friend did playfully challenge me to make this month a month of thankfulness rather than a month of ungratefulness. :) [Yes, even when I'm so tired my head feels floaty.] So, in an effort to smile past the shabby bits, I'm starting a sort of "One Thousand Gifts" list for this month. 'Course I won't get 1,000, but I'll get plenty if I work at it! So here we go:

1. friendly, outgoing people
2. a cute little ol' town to base out of
3. a nice hotel room
4. "Touchable Softness" shampoo
5. an episode of the Reba Show (it was like a modern-day Lucy! :)
6. red campaign shirts! (They could have been yellow, and then I'd be sunk!)
7. jeans
8. flipflops
9. Ankle socks
10. highlighters
11. highly organized bags of snacks. 
12. gatorade
13. Googlemaps
14. Julia
15. emails from friends
16. MOHL
17. southern courtesy, even when inconvenient
18. town squares
19. "yes" when you ask if they're voting for your guy
20. pictures
21. sunglasses rescuing
22. little girls
23. laptops
24. the luxury (even though I'm ready for home cooking! :D) of eating out 3 meals a day
25. lemonade
26. Steak n' Shake milkshakes
27. new friends
28. timely scripture reminders. :)

Things to do, things to...do?

An Over-Achiever? Possibly... ;)

Things to Do: [Today, if possible]

• Read one chapter in Surprised by Joy
• Read in French Revolution history book
• Address "thank you" cards
• Write something [Puddleby Lane or poem]
• Read aloud to Abby
• Take a walk for Healthful Fresh Air ;)
• Make breakfast for tomorrow
• Finish Edwardian Fashion article
• Read one poem I've never read [Tennyson, probably]
• Practice choir music
• Read in David Copperfield
• Figure out how to wind bobbin on borrowed machine, and finish aprons [machines without manuals are the bane of my sewing existence :P]
• Email about cake decorating class [One I will be assistant-teacher in--more on that in another post]
• Decide next historical hairstyle tutorial post
• Choose scripture passage to begin memorizing