Five Books That Make Me, well, Me!

Hello! I am so excited to be a part of Five Fall Favorites this year hosted by the epic Kate over at Once Upon An Ordinary! Each day this week I'll be sharing five of my favorite books in a genre or subject and there will be a free e-book at the end of each post! Also you can enter a larger giveaway by either going to Kate's blog with the link above or by following this link here. 

Today I'm sharing five books that make me me! This is five fiction books I felt like really helped shape me, or have just meant a lot to me over the years. 

Click on the titles to read my full reviews, and click on the book covers to take you to the GoodReads page!

1. Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay

If you know me, are you really surprised to see this? XD This book is a big part of me. I have read it over seven times and holds my record for my most read fictional book. Sometimes I cannot actually describe why I like this book so much. One thing is the main character struggles with hiding in her books, and I have gone through periods where I do that as well. This book has gotten me through some rough times in my life. 

2. The King's Scrolls by Jaye L. Knight 

I'm not super into fantasy but this series is the best. I found this when I was hiding in books, but God happened to stick a message just for me in the midst of it when I needed it most. Sometimes when I need to remember that bad things happening to people are not my fault, even when it kind of seems like it, I go back to this book. <3

3. Beautiful Blue World by Suzanne LaFleur 

I have never read a book where I felt so much like the main character. Like the main character, Mathilde, I felt like the only one in a group as a kid who didn't have a grand talent. That being so, Mathilde spends all her time on people. I am a people focused person, so I really related to that. 

4. The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson

It is hard for me to find words to describe why I feel like this is such a big part of me. Fern see's into another world that no one else can, and everyone is convinced she's crazy, including herself sometimes. Because this book is all about worlds and battles that no one else could see, it made me consider all the spiritual battles that go on around us every day. It also made me want to look into that world, and not let myself feel crazy for trying. 

5. Red Rain by Aubrey Hanson

This book is one of two that sparked my obsession with Sci-Fi (the other being The Destiny of One and following books by Sarah Holman. Epicness). It was the first time I had ever read a book with a kind of mild main character and as a young teen it was amazing to have a good role model for that. Now I've watched hours of Sci-Fi, read a stack of books, and written a handful of my own story. 

Thanks for joining me for that! I hope you'll be back tomorrow for more!

What is one book that means a lot to you?

L O Y A L T Y

Some thoughts after a sermon a few weeks ago. 

 What if my deepest fear came true?

What if I was truly alone? 

What if the world as I knew it 

Came crashing down around me? 

And what if all my safe spaces were gone?

Would I deny Him then? 

Would I shove God away 

Saying He wasn’t giving me enough 

Would I stand a forgiven sinner 

Saved from the depths of hell 

And complain about an inconvenience? 

Would I stand before the throne of God 

And tell him he wasn’t doing his job? 

So if my greatest fear comes true 

And I truly am all alone 

And I no longer feel safe anywhere 

I want to turn to the God 

That gave it all to me in the first place 

And thank him for the time I did have 

And let him hold me as I cry 

And show me what to do next 

I want to do this every day 

He showed me amazing grace 

The least I can do is give him 

Undivided loyalty

August Highlights

It was... a crazy month. O.o 

In preparation for my brother's wedding, we have been pretty busy. We have gone up to the Sherman area to see Michael and Liz's new house. We helped pack up Michael's apartment and went shopping for dresses. We had a shower for Liz and Michael, which involved a lot of watching them open presents and trying not to eat too many cookies. 

Michael and Liz at the shower

Rebekkah and I started back at the Classical Conversations nursery. We have almost a whole new class, so it's been an adjustment, along with a new routine as the classes have changed. But so far it's been really good! We've also started up work house cleaning once a week for an awesome family in our church. 

I continued to sort through photos, and let me just give you a piece of advice - never let your photos stack up for two years. It is a pain. But I'm wadding through it and am almost caught up. Then I just have to get it all put into the right folders. 

Grace and I went to see Newsies again before it left the theater. This time there were no mic outages (thankfully), so we got to get pictures with the cast, and that was awesome! I am so sad that this show is over. I have been listening to the soundtrack on repeat since we saw it. 

Grace and I with the two main actors in Newsies!

A babysitting job I have had for a year now ended as the family moved away. After going over every Friday for a year, I'm missing those kids way more than I ever thought I could. I might just need to take a road trip pretty soon and see them. ;) 

My adopted Grandmother went home to be with Jesus. We had all just been with her, talking and hanging out, and I got one last, lovely hug before she drove away and was in a car wreck. Grandma Letha was the best, and it's hard to know I won't be able to see her again down here.

We had our annual siblings retreat. This year we went to a really cute house in Belton. We visited the lake the first day and stayed up late watching movies. We made it a goal to play through every game we brought (around 20), so we raced and got in at least one game of each! We did a lot of swimming and filmed our yearly comedy video. It was a busy few days. =) 

Us siblings on our retreat

My mom surprised me and got a zoo pass for the two of us, so we went to the zoo for a day. It was rainy, so not many people were out, but we had our rain jackets and had a blast. An otter came right up to the glass and swam near me for a long time! We also got to go to a couple bookshops nearby and I got TobyMac's new album. Faithfully and Cornerstone are some new favorites by him.

As must be done yearly (It's a rule somewhere I'm sure) I jumped into the pool in my regular clothes because I felt like it. =)

So, again with a lot of new books. The only thing I re-read was the Sarah Plain and Tall series. <3 My favorite new book was Me, Myself, and Bob. It was an incredibly encouraging book (even as a non-veggie tales fan)

Pirates of Penzance: Definitely one of my favorite movies of all time. The comedy and music in this is just the best. If you have not watched this, do yourself a favor and find it. It's amazing. 

Milo Murphys Law: Since I loved Phineas and Ferb I decided to try this out. It was pretty cute, I enjoyed the characters, but it just doesn't have the same charm as P&F. I do love how cheerful Milo was. 

North Avenue Irregulars: This is one of those old Disneys that I just love and I can't even explain why. It's just epic. 

Sand Dollar Cove: Such a cozy Hallmark. No drama, no breaking up only to get back together. It was really sweet!

Star Trek Cartoon: Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the original series, but I thought most of these were pretty cute!

Sight and Sound Noah: We got the new DVD of this and it is so much better than the original. The songs are updated, and wow it is good!

New adventures of Heidi: This is one of those childhood movies that I had such a hard time finding, but my mom finally found it and we had a blast re-watching it after years. It's a really sweet continuation of Heidi's story. 

How was your month? What is your favorite thing you read this month?

LETHA

As a kid I never had a grandmother 

That took me on her knee 

And told me how much she loved me 

But I had Letha 

I didn’t have grandparents 

Who asked about my school 

Who encouraged me in my interests 

And listened to my ramblings 

But I had Letha 

I didn't have grandmothers 

Pestering me to get a boyfriend 

Or reminding me of fun stories 

And things that happened when I was a kid 

But I had Letha 

I didn’t have grandparents 

Who wanted me to come and spend the day 

Or who came to all our parties 

And who reminded me that this earth is fleeting 

But I had Letha 

And she was enough  

She was the best

To the best adopted grandmother who ever lived, Letha Cast who went home to be with Jesus on August 20'th, 2022. 

I know you desperately wanted to be home with Jesus, but I sure am going to miss you down here. I’m so glad I got to talk to you one last time.

July Highlights

July was FULL, and almost all of it was awesome. =D

I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo and went for 10,000 words. I worked on a short story for fun, and managed to get a pretty good start to a novel I'm hoping to write at some point! I really need to work on editing, but I... don't want to, so it's going to wait. XD

My brother proposed to his girlfriend! This will be the second marriage in our family within a year, so I am really excited! Michael and Liz are perfect together and are already knee-deep in wedding planning since he proposed at the beginning of the month. It's already so crazy!

Liz, Michael, and I.

My birthday was on the fifth! I turned 23, and my mom took me to the L.B.J. presidential library. I had a lot of fun exploring it as it had been years since I went last. We hung out with Sarah and Scott and got my birthday Starbucks. =) So many friends sent me super awesome gifts, it was like a party all month! I normally do a lot more for my birthday (like a photoshoot, writing a letter for the next year) but this year I just didn't feel super enthusiastic about it all, so I gave myself a break. 

Rebekkah and I worked a lot of jobs together and got to do one overnight, which was really fun! We got to watch the dog, swim in their pool, and just chill out. After a lot of long days at work, it was really nice.

Me with a moon rock from the L.B.J.

My sister Grace's birthday is only six days after mine, so I took her to Main Event and we did arcades, bowling, laser tag, and mini golf. It was incredibly fun, and it was hard to pull myself away at the end of the night. We made a late-night run to Mcdonald's to end it off. =) On Rebekkahs birthday, we went out for a nice lunch together and went shopping. =) We have Burkes that just moved into town, so we had to go and look around! 

Some of the kids I watch were in a musical, The Seussical, so my niece and I went to see it. I didn't love the plot, but the kids did an amazing job, and I was in the front row, so I got to have the actors walk right in front of me! 

Some of the girls from our bible study got together and watched the long version of Pride and Prejudice! We did Jane Austen bingo and themed embroidery. It was a blast and we got through the whole thing in an afternoon! 

There is a company in Austin that does a free musical each year, so Grace and I went and saw Newsies. It was incredible! It's an outdoor theater, so we set up on blankets and had an awesome time. The sound went out during the production, and was delayed by an hour, but the actors and production team did great, got the show going again, and wow, it was amazing. I love live musicals, and seeing Newsies was a dream come true! 

A photo from Newsies

I decided my room was in desprate need of a thoughal cleaning, so I took a day and went through every part of my room, and got rid of two trash bags full of stuff. It felt good to get it all nice before my work starts up again for the fall. 

A friend of ours got engaged, so we went to a surprise party for them in the park! I got to catch up with some friends I haven't seen all summer and celebrate the engagement! 

I also spent my fair share of the month working jobs, hiding away in corners during partys, having meltdowns, but I have been so grateful to God for showing me some of my pitfalls lately. 

My favorite (and only) re-read was True Valor (Such a good book), and my favorite new book was The 40 Day Social Media Fast. That was an awesome bible study!

Paddington: Cute and with the same idea as the book. Paddington himself was adorable, and I loved how family orientated the whole movie was. Some of the humor was not my favorite (I've got a very sensitive stomach, and any humor that's remotely gross is hard), and the movie was a bit bland. But it was happy, and I enjoyed the characters.

Last Chance Detectives: This series was a huge part of my childhood, and is just about the best. <3 The characters, the mysteries, they are just amazing.

Ellery Queen: My dad and I have been watching through this together and this month we finished it. I love these classic Who-done-its. It has some bad content, (references to affairs, a few crude references.) but overall it's awesome and Ellery is an amzing detective.

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys: This was my favorite show as a kid, and I wanted to revisit it. The characters are not nearly as lovable now as when I was a kid. XD But the mysteries are solid, and I enjoyed seeing them again, even if I wouldn't watch it a lot anymore. 

Pride and Prejudice: I watched this with a group of friends again. It's always good to go back to the best movie version. <3

Robin Hood: This is such a fun, happy show. We watched it to unwind after a long day. 

Bionic Woman: My favorite show. Jamie is epic, and the whole show just has a fun premise. I always enjoy unwinding with it. 

Prince of Egypt: I had not watched this since I was a little kid, and I really enjoyed re-seeing. While it's not perfectly accurate, it's still an awesome way to introduce kids to the story of Moses. 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: I was having a bad day, so I rewatched this to wind down. It isn't anything amazing, but I love the main character, and how quirky he is. 

Greatest American Hero: This was another re-visiting from my childhood. It was about what I remembered: epic main character, fun romance, annoying side characters, and some violence I didn't like. 

Overall, I had a pretty good July. How about you?