{1,000}

One thousand posts ago I sat down at my college laptop to tap out some thoughts that were rolling through my little head.

I was 21 years old, just graduated from college, and was days away from getting married and moving out of my childhood home for the first time.

This blog has followed us through Ian's grad school and my perilous job search.

It's been right there as we explored our calling to the nations and it has seen our stretching and growing as we have responded to move overseas.

This blog has been my voice as we moved from Orlando, to Nashville, to Richmond, to Vancouver, to Buraimi, and then to Abu Dhabi.

This has been my mental outlet as we sloughed our way through two years of Arabic language school. It was the one place that I felt I could be ALL in English and not feel bad about it.

Far More Than Rubies has been my home as we struggled for a year to conceive our first child, the place we rejoiced with so many when we found out we were expecting, and where we joyfully announced our first, second, and third child!

Slowly, over the years, I have not turned to the blog as much as my motherhood bogs me down some days and leaves me without the ability to form coherent thoughts. If I tried to write on those days it would mostly come out as such:

Kids are fine.
House is semi clean.
Dinner was made.
I like television.

Ha! And that would be about the extent of my thoughts. The days that I can piece together intelligent sentences feel like a big accomplishment, but then I can get overwhelmed with all of the details I need to share. I do love when I get back into a groove though.

So much to share. So much to record. So many things to remember!

And YOU guys. Man. Ya'll are awesome. Some of you have been around since the very beginning. You read through my takes on the honeymoon period when we were dirt poor but madly in love and loving every new experience.

Alot of you joined in when we, as a collective group, where expecting our first children within the same time period. Ya'll are my tribe, even if you don't know it.

Some of you joined in during the crazy, hairy days of moving overseas. You were intrigued about what we were doing and why, and you got a peak into a more "exotic," life. If you can call rats in your grocery store exotic.

And some of you are family. Literally. My family reads as die hard fans, wanting to get the newest update on what the Galloway family is up to. And to catch a glimpse of these sweet babies' faces.

I am so grateful for every one of you.

So here's to 1,000 more.

1,000 more posts.
1,000 more adventures.
1,000 more memories!

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{1,000}

Five Years of Writing

Five years ago, I sat down at the keyboard of my college laptop and breathed in.

It was just 10 days before I was going to get married and I wanted to chronicle my life and have a way to express myself through those early days of marriage life. I had read several blogs for months and was addicted to how they would forever have moments of time captured in the lyrics of their lives melody.

My first three posts were not much of anything, just getting my feet under me really. A New Beginning quoted Proverbs 31 and gave the backstory for my blog title and url (Far More Than Rubies and Witheagerhands.) A Deep Breath...And Begin was my first stream of conscious post and was followed by my nearly panicked A First post about moving my things to our apartment and getting it set up for when we returned from our honeymoon.

I love those early day posts. So simple. So like me. List making. Planning. Dreaming. A heaping portion of sarcasm with a side of irony. I loved to share my funny moments and learned to really laugh at myself during that first year.

Funny how much I still enjoy writing. I may not have a ton of readers, but I love all of you who faithfully stop by. I don't do ads or giveaways or sponsors, but my blog is where I can share with family and friends, both near and far about what is going on in our lives.

I invest in my family by taking part of my down time in the evenings and chronicling our lives. I have no clue how long this will go on but I am so thankful that technology allows for this.

And I am ever so thankful for five years of YOU, the readers. You give me advice, pray for us, encourage me, and make me laugh with your comments. A community that I never expected to partake in.

So, here's to five more years of blogging. Of laughing over, crying about, and sharing the joy that is my life with my family.

I'd love to hear from you....How long have you been reading Far More Than Rubies?

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Five Years of Writing

New Look, Lent, and Other Such Necessities of Life

Far More Than Rubies has finally gotten a face lift!

Three years ago we were living with my parents, had no job, and I was really bummed. I won a blog makeover in a giveaway and it was just SO exciting!

Two babies, three more years of marriage, and living in two other countries meant that it was just about time for a new look. I wish I had been able to keep my old background and just change all of the other details, because I just loved the "You Are My Sunshine," background.

(and yes, I did take a screenshot of my old design... so I can always remember!)

I'm not crazy about my new header picture. One, because I am almost 30 pounds lighter than that picture. And two, because Ian got a ridiculously short hair cut the day before we took that picture and he just does not look normal there.

And I suppose my bridal portrait was no longer up to date so I suppose an update of any sorts is better than nothing.

Andrea from Slightly Askew Designs did my blog design and I am so happy with it. Andrea has a super cute blog and her family is just adorable.

Easter is just around the corner and we are popping up a few decorations and considering focusing (celebrating? honoring?) on Lent this year. We've never done Lent (once again, what verb do you use here?) but I think that the idea behind it is really neat- to focus our hearts and minds on Christ and His sacrifice for us during the days leading up to Easter. We are a few days behind but I believe we can play catch up.

What do you do for Lent?

We will be following Babe Of My Heart's Lent Devotional

and using my friend, Kaylyn's, printable ornaments.

                                                                             Source: amustardseedjourney.blogspot.com viaBrittney on Pinterest

I'm glad February is wrapping up, to be honest. It feels like March, along with the coming Spring, will help get me out of my Mom of a Newborn state of mind and I feel like a bear crawling out of hibernation. I'm a little dazed, out of date,  and very behind.

Not to mention hungry.

So you can expect more frequent updates and thoughts from around here over the coming weeks!

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New Look, Lent, and Other Such Necessities of Life

It's February and....

It's February and....

*my parents just left after a 10 day visit. It was wonderful and we were able to do alot of fun things together.

*we just took down our Christmas tree. It took all of 5 minutes to do, but I'm so glad we got to enjoy it for longer this year.

*that means we only have 4 and a half more months here. I'm so excited to move, I can hardly stand it. We'll get to house hunt in early March, and hopefully we'll find a place quickly so I can begin finding things to decorate/furnish with.

*Grace is crazy. She moves more than I ever thought possible and she's constantly jabbering/yelling. She is crawling like a mad woman and pulling up on things and successfully lowering herself down. Her yeast infection has finally started to clear up, nearly 2 months later. She is 10 months old today.

*I remembered my love for puzzles and puzzling while my parents were here. We did two puzzles, a 500 and an 1,000 piece puzzle, and now I wish I had more.

*I've started writing on my book review blog, Bound to Books, again. It's been awhile, but I'm finally getting back into reading.

*we sill don't have working batteries for either of our laptops, and mine will only power on when plugged in to the cord on my desk, meaning I end up using my husband's alot more. His "t," key is broken, so posting takes alot more thought and deliberating in checking my spelling!

*I already had to relook at my goals for the year because I forgot what they were, ha!

*we have three more days left until we start our final semester. Ian and I plan on saying home, getting Grace back into her normal schedule, and piecing our house back together. Ian will spend time playing his new video game and I will be blogging and reading by his side. We're looking forward o this time of relaxation.

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It's February and....

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?!

This, is a picture of an infant husband.

Be forewarned.

He's enormous.

As in, elephant enormous.

As in, "where the heck did his waist go?" enormous.

And "Why does his torso just end in two little stumps?" enormous.

And as in, "Is it really possible for a 2 month old to have double chins?" enormous.

This has put the fear of God into me.

My child birthing experience might require more than the average drugs. and procedures. and possibly a veterinary scale.

Seriously! Something that large is going to come out of me? Or rather, be in me?

I'm sparing you the pain from seeing a picture of infant me however.

Though I was not huge (errm in the 6 pound range,) I was however, not a cute baby.

I'd burn all of my baby pictures if it was allowed.

Even as a child, I'd look at pictures and say "ewwww, what was wrong with me?" My mother would smile sweetly and say "Nothing honey, you were precious."

Why not just call me "special," already?

By toddler hood I had grown into my face, my eyes had lost that creepy cross eyed-misplaced look, and my head had lost all resemblance of a potato.

Praise the Lord!

So, with the combined forces of massive Paternal genes and hideous baby Maternal genes....

I'm really up a creek without a paddle, now, aren't I?

I kid, I kid.

We're so excited about this whole pregnancy thing, but have yet to find the words to explain how we are feeling and what we are doing.

I blame that on the language school. It turns my brain into a form of tomato soup, everyday by 2 pm.

I come home.

I sleep for 3-4 hours.

I make dinner. Or, send Ian out to pick up dinner.

Then try to concentrate for an hour or two on homework before my brain completely sizzles out.

Which explains my lack of blogging posts during the last week or two.

I apologize for my absence.

I can't promise I am back in full blogging swing, but hopefully we're at least on the upswing of this slump.

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What Have I Gotten Myself Into?!

{How} I Blog

It's hard to believe that two years have gone by since I became a "serious," blogger.

And by serious, I mean I could actually remember my password on a weekly basis.W

I technically began Far More Than Rubies on June 3rd, 2008, eleven days before I was to be wed due to the inspiration I got from reading Kaylyn's blog. She was also my first commenter, which I remember made me so happy. I had fallen in love with this form of documenting and sharing your life. I wanted to take part, so I did.

Don't you love the instant gratification that is our electronic era?

I said it's been 2 years, and not 2 years and a couple of weeks because those 2 posts before my wedding were lame and didn't really count. And then we had our honeymoon and I wasn't about to be blogging from the Keys. Though I really wanted to, ha!

Well, our honeymoon was cut short, due to Ian getting an interview for a job, so we had to hightail it back to our new home. The interview turned out to be a bust, and he started his full time Masters degree, leaving me home, alone, in a new town where I knew no one.

Enter my fascination/obsession with blogging.

My first post, found HERE was all about our honeymoon and it's wonderfulness and the daunting task of finding a new church in our new town. Oddly enough, I must have not figured everything out, because that post is not visible unless you highlight it with your mouse. Ha!

My second post, the first visible one, ha, is found HERE and is all about, you guessed it, BOOKS! Looking at those pictures of our beautiful first apartment and that lovely office furniture that was our haven during that stressful time brought tears to my eyes just now. That desk is where I first began blogging. I loved the green on the wall. I dusted those shelves religiously. And now the shelves are all dismantled, the books are in boxes, and the desk is wrapped up in a cargo container in a warehouse that we won't see for two years. Boo. Anyways, looks like that was my first post with pictures too. haha, I'm so proud of the progress.

And, my favorite post of all time was within that first week or so, found HERE. Remember, for the two of you that were following me then, how funny that time was? We had our first house guest, Ian's friend from Egypt/Japan/Norway (I know, weird,) came for an undisclosed amount of time. And we hadn't even been married two weeks!

Alright, enough reflection. How I love thee Memory Lane!

So now, blogging is still my favorite hobby of all time but it looks a little differently. Before, I didn't know what to write about, and would generally just write about the daily happenings. Well, 100 followers later ( yeah, I hit my goal mark of 100 followers earlier this week, so exciting!) and I Blog differently.

Now I use my computer's sticky note system to keep track of blogging ideas.

Here's a shot of my desktop, I just love my background! And to the right is my sticky note system. You can change the colors and more them all around, but I'm all about symmetry and straight lines.

And yes, the middle one is a Hebrew prayer. I told you, I accidentally signed a contract to work at an all Jewish camp one summer. That was the summer I learned some Hebrew. haha

Here's a close up of my blogging post it.

It needs to be updated, but you get the idea. As a theme or post comes to mind, I jot it down there, and wait until I actually want to write about it. Sometimes I never get around to a topic, or it gets outdated or old, so I just remove it and there is no love lost.

But somedays, when I REALLY want to blog, but don't feel like writing about the snooze fest that is our life that day, such as how we walk to the train, ride the train, walk to class, sit through class, and reverse our travel home, everyday, then I can refer to this list and see if there is anything that strikes my fancy! This How I Blog post has been on that sticky note for a month, but I wanted to wait until my 2 year Bloggiversary.

It's important to me that blogging always remains fun, and not a chore. But, just as I approach everything else in my life, what I do, I want to succeed.

I know. I'm an overachiever. ha!

Another blog writing thing that I do is I try to keep my writing as fluid and professional as possible. I'm never attracted to blogs that write in text or colloquial language (picture a valley girl typing,) and I know that I wouldn't be proud of my work if it sounded like I just typed my words without thinking about them.

I also usually listen to music while I write. Write now, my favorite is Chris Tomlin (anything,) if I want to sing along, and David Garrett, the violinist, when I want some awesomely amazing instrumental (seriously, check him out! My favorite is his cover of MJ's Smooth Criminal!)

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{How} I Blog

Blogging Book Goal- Book #48

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

by Kim Edwards

When I worked at 'the bookstore,' last fall, I was constantly adding books to my list of "want to reads," and was always jotting down titles on scraps of paper and stuffing them in my pockets {the lists, that is, not the books, because that's stealing.}

The lists usually got forgotten about and put through the wash come laundry day, however I had a mental list that did not get so easily destroyed.

So, when at a used book store recently, I found a cheap copy of the book, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, and snatched it up knowing that I would like it!

The premise of the book is that a man, who is a doctor, helps deliver his wife's baby one night. First comes a perfectly healthy boy. Then, when the wife is unconscious, she delivers a baby girl with Down's Syndrome. The husband makes the choice to send his daughter to an institution and tell his wife that the baby girl died. Only, the nurse sent on this rather sinister errand decides to keep they baby girl and raise her. The rest of the story is about how his poor decision making affected the rest of his, his wife's, his son's, and many other people's lives as the husband is haunted with grief and regret.

Sounds uplifting, doesn't it?

Okay, well maybe it isn't a feel good type of book, but I thought it was very well written and poignant about how decisions affect many people, for many years, and for many generations.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants a book that will give them something to mull over!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #48

Blogging Book Goal- Book #47

I decided to read A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, because, well, it's Christmas time! We were going to read it as part of book club on Bound to Books, but, let's face it, no one really pays attention to that, so I just read it by myself.

I had found a 3 dollar copy of it at a used book shop (hardcover!) and was really excited to read through it, even though I know the story backwards and forwards.

I loved it! (but I knew I would!) Yes, it is a dark, DARK story. Yes, it can seem rather depressing at times. But.... YES, it completely redeems itself!

Then, as a reward for finishing it, and because he loves me, Ian took me out to see Disney's The Christmas Carol. If you haven't gone to see it, please do! It sticks to the book almost word for word. Seriously. The character's lines are exactly from the book! It is just unreal! Don't go expecting a happy, jolly, feel good all the time, Christmas movie though. It's purpose is true to the book's purpose though, and can sometimes be dark and suspenseful! I also wouldn't recommend it to kids either. A little scary.

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #47

Blogging Book Goal- Books #41-46

I originally was not going to count these in my "Book Goal" list, but since they are books, and I did finish them this year, I decided to include them.

And also, I am just cutting it WAY too close for comfort, my friends.

#41 The Patriarchs by Beth Moore

I started this Bible study over a year and a half ago, but restarted and finished it up this past spring.

#42 Annointed, Transformed, and Redeemed by Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore

I started this Bible study with my church in the fall of 2008, but when I got my teaching job, I stopped going . I completed this this past summer, and kind of liked it. It was a good introduction to some other Bible study ladies, but I'm still a Beth Moore woman, through and through.

#43 Me, Myself, and Lies, by Jennifer Rothschild

Beth Moore's living Proof Ministry (LPM Blog,) hosted this Bible study this summer, but I seriously fell off of the bandwagon (are you seeing a trend yet?) I picked this one back up right before Thanksgiving and am finishing it by Christmas Eve. I really enjoyed this one and would highly recommend it to anyone! Gave me alot to think about and really challenged myself.

#44 Encountering the New Testament by Walter A. Elwell

Well, this one was for one of my seminary classes, and is technically a textbook. But, I read it, cover to cover, and I really liked it! I would highly recommend it to anyone who is reading through the Bible as a reference tool. The chapters are short, concise, and well illustrated to give you ideas of what they are talking about!

#45 What to Expect Before You're Expecting

Yes, I read this one. Yes, I have baby fever. No, we aren't trying right now. So my grandma, aunts, and uncles can stop hyperventilating now. I just thought it would be good to have this info under my belt before we began on that journey. This book had a lot of great information and helped to dispel a lot of misconceptions.

#46 ______________

Not going to tell you the title on this one, for security purposes (remember we're moving to the Middle East,) but it was for my seminary class and was explicitly about our "job," so I'm guessing most of you can fill in the blank there, ha!

**I am so close to meeting my book goal for the year! Only 4 more books to go! I can totally do this!**

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Blogging Book Goal- Books #41-46

Blogging Book Goal- Book #40

Wow, I can't believe I am on my 40th book! Actually, it's probably like 42 or 43rd, because there has been a couple I didn't want to blog about, but still....40!

I am actually running out of books, so I'm a little nervous. When we drove down to Florida for Thanksgiving, we packed up most of our things and put them in our storage unit, only leaving out a few books to hold us over. Somehow I forgot that I would need at least 10 more books to meet my year goal of 50 books in 2009. hmmm.

Well, for my 40th book, I read:

Morality for Beautiful Girls

3rd book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Series

By Alexander McCall Smith

This is a great series for anyone wanting an "easy read," that will jump start your reading! They are fictitious mysteries, with the protagonist a {large} lady from Botswana named Precious. There is 11 books in this series, which means you can just keep reading, if you like it! He has four series in total, I believe, with the Ladies set in Botswana, Africa, and a series in Scotland and England. Definitely makes you want to travel!

If you want to learn more about this great author, check out his website, HERE, and make sure you have the volume up, it has great music!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #40

Blogging Book Goal-Book #39

For security reasons, I'm not really going to blog about this book. It's called the M____ Call, and is all about what we will be doing with The Company. Super great book if anyone is interested in learning about the process!

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Blogging Book Goal-Book #39

Blogging Book Goal- Book #38

Alright, this post has been back logged for quite awhile, and since I will be doing a ton of reading over the next few weeks, I decided to go ahead and back post it to a date where I had no posts.

If that even made a lick of sense.

For my 38th book of this crazy reading adventure, I read the second book of Alexander McCall Smith's "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," aptly named Tears of The Giraffe.

Now, I don't really remember too much about this book, other than I really enjoyed it. It followed the same sort of layout as the last one, with Precious, the main character, attempting to smartly solve many mysteries that she is put in charge of solving.

The difference though, was that this one had a romantic side to it, with Precious being courted and proposed to by a close friend. I really enjoyed the comedy and dialogue in this book, not to mention the mysteries!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #38

Not Really Sure Where to Start

But, I'll try to remember.

This past week and a half have been absolutely insane.

There has been laughter and tears, smiles and frustrations, and mixed in with a ton of family time.

We flew in from Louisiana on Wednesday, and set out for our "Great Southern Trek '09," the next morning.

I'm going to be back dating a few posts so that I can fulfill my blogging every day in November goal, because I'm particular like that.

Now that we are "home," in our hometown of Oviedo, FL, we have plans of doing nothing for a day or two before starting our visiting with family and friends, and before we buckle down to finish up our semester of classes strong.

We are so excited that we are officially hired by The Company now, and are looking forward to our training that starts in January. We made some great friends in those few short days in Louisiana and we really want to get to know them better!

We'll also be working on really getting our crate ready to ship overseas. We have a few items we want to add to it, like area rugs, this one piece of furniture from Ikea, and some extra linens and such. We have to go through and do a test run in our storage unit to make sure it will all fit, and that will be hard physical labor for a day or so.

Also, in exciting news, one of my favorite photographers did a session with Ian and I yesterday, and I am so ecstatic to see the end results! I'll link you to her as soon as I get permission!

Bear with me as I get my feet back on the ground! I haven't gotten to read anyone's blog for almost 2 weeks and I am impossibly behind!

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Not Really Sure Where to Start

Blogging Book Goal- Book #37

This book has a funny story behind the whole "me reading it," part.

I had remembered my sister talking about woman who was a detective mystery series, so while at the local used book shop, I spotted Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 ladies' Detective Agency," series, which I remembered as being best sellers when I worked at the book store.

So, naturally, I texted my sister to make sure she definitely approved of the series, then picked up the first 3 for about 4 dollars a piece!

I devoured this book. Seriously. It was just a very interesting, easy read. The characters were well developed and the plot line was intriguing.

So, I called my sister up and thanked her for recommending the series. She was all "Yeah, I love James Patterson." and I was like "what? No, it's Alexander McCall Smith." and she was like "No way, it's totally James Patterson."

This went on awhile until we were both thoroughly confused.

Finally, I said something along the lines of "Heather! I'm looking athe book! It is NOT James Patterson."

And you heard the dawning revelation. "Um, what series did you say it was? Don't you mean the Women's Murder Club? Because that is the series I read! Sorry!"

Thanks big Sis, for recommending a series you had never read.

Good thing they turned out excellently!

This series is about a woman detective, Precious, in Botswana, who is appealed to by many local citizens to find answers for the problems in their lives. She may not solve high profile cases, bu there is always alot of heart in the cases she takes on. Plus the beautiful scenery and people of Botswana draws you in and keeps you asking for more.

HBO has begun to make the books into a tv series. We don't have HBO, but I can't wait for them to be out on DVD!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #37

Blogging Book Goal- Book #29-36

I'm a little ashamed of myself.

But only a little.

I read eight books this past week. That's right. Eight.

I was really looking for a good fiction fix, but since all most of our books are still in our storage unit and we can't just go our and buy enough to keep up with my veracious literary appetite.

So, I looked onto my parent's book shelf, and lo and behold, what do I see?

The entire Little House on the Prairie books (sans Little House in the Big Woods.)

Oh my joy.

(by Laura Ingalls Wilder.)

I had actually only read two of the books before, Little House on the Prairie and On the Banks of Plum Creek. And I had read those over and over again.

And over, and over.

And then I assigned my fifth graders to read them!

And I read them again.

Somehow, I had never read the rest of the books however, so I buckeled down and read them!

Little House on The Prairie

Farmer Boy

On the Banks of Plum Creek

By the Shores of Silver Lake

The Long Winter

Little Town on the Prairie

These Happy Golden Years

The First Four Years

Let me try to briefly review these eight books. First of all, remember that these are classified as children's books and are easily read by most 4th-6th graders. So my undertaking wasn't really one to be aplauded, trust me.

Secondly, if I had to chose just one word to describe all of the books it would be.....Charming. These books are just delicious, and you will surely be charmed from the very beginning to the last few words of the series.

The premise of the books, which can be classified as autobiographical instead of historical fiction, since they are based off of Laura's real travels and stories as a child, is about the Ingalls family during their pioneer trek from Wisconsin, to the Kansas Territory, to Minnesota, and finally to the Dakota territories, where they finally settle and Laura and her sisters continue to grow up.

The stories keep you on the edge of your seat and sometimes it is hard to believe that all of these events actually happened to one family!

I would highly recommend these books to anyone who was looking for an interesting, historical read!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #29-36

Blogging Book Goal- Book #28

I kind of happened across this book, instead of really choosing it. Our church here in TN was having a going away party for their youth intern and we were asked to come and do a sort of meet and great (since we were new.)

Turns out the youth intern's parents work at a radio station and gave him a box of stuff to get rid of. Brand new stuff.

So, I picked up this book, and about 3 CD's, and since I was going through a non fiction kick, I decided to give it a try!

Glory Revealed
by David Nasser

I had just finished reading "Crazy Love," and so I decided that this book would be much like it.

It wasn't.

Where Crazy Love is inspirational and motivational, Glory Revealed is much more informational and personal.

Discussing in 20 different chapters the ways that God reveals Himself through situations with reflection questions and pages for journaling your thoughts, it is set up much more like a devotional.

It really was good to read, though I read it like a book instead of a study, and I came away with a fresh perspective on all of the different ways that God uses our positive and negative situations to bring Glory to Him.

Packed with Scripture, this book is for anyone wanting a deeper look into this area, that is well researched and well written!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #28

Blogging Book Goal- Book #27

Yes, this is another book review.

Sorry to all of ya'll who are not readers, but I made a resolution, and I am sticking to it!

I read The Lost Letters of Pergamum, by Bruce W. Longenecker for one of my post-grad classes, and I am so glad that I did!

Lost letters is a historical fiction, loosely based off of facts about the New Testament. This means that the author created a scenario and a character, who would be the vehicle of the narration of what occurred during New Testament time.

The main character is Antipas, an elitist living in the roman city of Pergamum. Idol worship and
emperor worship run rampant in this up and coming city. Through happenstance, Antipas begins exchanging letters with Luke, a disciple. The entire story is told through these letters that an archeologist discovers in the 20th century (fictional,) and discusses historical and theological matters pertaining to the Gospel of Luke.

It was an awesome read, and I have come away from it learning SO much. If I had a group wanting to do a study, I would read this book and read Luke, and discuss the two. It was a great way at looking at issues through a non believers eyes.

The book is well researched, and the author clearly states what points are absolutely fictitious and which points can be defended historically.

I've found that most book distributors carry this book online, so it should be easy to find!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #27

Blogging Book Goal- Book #26

I read "Servant on the Edge of History," by Sam James, for my 26th book.

It's memoirs from a man working for a faith based non profit (like us!) who was in Vietnam during the entire Vietnam war!

His stories tell of the amazing power of our God, and of James' love for the people of Vietnam. It brought up alot of issues that we will have to deal with one day, and I would recommend this to anyone interested in our career field.

I'm sorry I can't tell you too much more about it. It's hard to be discreet on this topic, so I decided to just leave it as it is in order to not put my blog at risk!

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #26

Blogging Book Goal- Book #25

I'm halfway through my goal of 50 books in 2009!

Yes, this means that at this rate I won't make it, but, I am hoping to read 2 books a week for the next 12 weeks and I will make it!

I read Crazy Love by Francis Chan!

I read it to be a part of Angie's and Jessica's Bloom book club.

But then, I realized I couldn't wait to read more, so I went ahead and just read the whole thing.

This book mainly discusses the "social justice," side of Christianity, encouraging us to love like Jesus did. Not just through words and peace, but through helping through giving.

Giving of our time, giving of our money, giving up our resources, and giving up more of our love.

It was such an easy read, and I came out of it really thinking over some issues. I will probably re read it in a year or so, because it is a book that challenges you in the place you are now, but will probably still challenge you as you improve through the years!

I highly recommend this book, especially if, well, you love people!

(which we all should, shouldn't we?)

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Blogging Book Goal- Book #25

Whelmed

I have been in a funky kind of mood this past week.

A little bored with the routine of life right now. I get up, eat breakfast, read, eat lunch, read, make dinner, read/watch tv, and go to bed. It's very dull.

Trust me.

And due to the boredom, I've developed a severe case of ennui.

That's French for "bored out of my ever living mind."

This is the underwhelmed part of my life.

Then we have the overwhelmed part of my life.

The part when I realize, "Holy crap! We got accepted to our dream job and will be moving overseas soon!"

That same part of me is exuberant over the fact that I get to move to the Middle East but, is FREAKING OUT over the fact that I have to first move to Canada.

Canada!

Canada.

Why is that so weird to me?

My only experience with Canada was a little surreal. A family vacation with my aunts/uncles and four cousins, to Niagra Falls, culminating in my cousin Joseph climbing our hotel room wall like spiderman and punching a hole through the wall.

Yeah, we were cool.

What was even cooler was when my cousin, Kyle, decided he could fix the dry wall by bunching up part of a cardboard pizza box and using chewed gum to "put it back together."

Needless to say, it didn't work.

And we got in trouble.

Canada was a weird place for me.

It's going to be even weirder when I live just north of the land of Fruits and Nuts (ie Seattle,) and in a virtual frozen tundra (did I mention I own NO closed toed shoes? Yeah. I'm a doomed Icicle.)

So, in a mathematical sense, my being underwhelmed + overwhelmed = just plain ol' whelmed. And I think I'm okay with that.

It's just a strange place to be, that's all.

~~~~~~~~

As an announcement, I apologize for the glitchy postings earlier today. I had scheduled six postings and just put today's date on them all (thinking I would surely write them in full and schedule them correctly,) and then I decided to go and take a mini sabbatical from writing to revamp my creative juices.

Imagine my horror when I noticed I had "posted," all of these posts that said things like "tell them about my neuroticness in stores." or "blogging book goal 26 Crazy Love, (and that's it!)"

I'm sorry! They really were supposed to be full posts and I just completely stayed away from my dashboard for a week (which was awesome because I got so much school work done!) and I totally forgot about them! They will be reposted in entirety in the coming weeks.

On the other hand, ya'll really impressed me with your commenting abilities. How you figured something nice to say on a 4 word nonsense post, is beyond me, but I appreciate it!

~~~~~

My hubby did a guest post on Bound to Books about the book "For Men Only!" I've been asking him to read this book (because I loved the companion "For Women Only," and I figured this one would be good too) and he finally obliged.

He's got great insight to what he's learned and how you should go about discussing these things with your the man in your life!

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Whelmed