A Doughy Wednesday Hodgepodge!

{It's that time again! My first Wednesday Hodgepodge of the the new year. It's good to be back!}

1. What is ONE thing or area in your home or life you hope to report is completely organized when 2013 draws to a close?  Do you  have a plan to make it happen?

Hmmm, this is actually a tough one for me. But perhaps I'll go with the storage space I rent. It's so crammed right now that I can't really get into it all that well. It would be awesome if I could get that organized! I have no plan at all, just the idea in my brain.

2. What's the worst uniform you've ever had to wear for a job?

I've never had to wear a uniform for a job, so......next question!

3. What was your last kitchen 'mishap'?  This question comes to you courtesy of Betty who blogs over at A Glimpse Into Midlife...everyone go say hi to Betty!

Instead of my own story, I wanted to share a friend's mishap. (It's a much better story anyway! :D And she agreed I could share it.)

A few years ago, "Ellie" (name changed to protect identity :) was going to make tea-rings. She had bought bulk yeast (as she was going to make several recipes) and tried to read the directions very carefully. She triple-checked herself, asked her husband to read it, even had a friend read it! They all read the same thing, so she proceeded to make her recipe. But soon she noticed something very peculiar. The first few tea-rings seemed to be getting considerably bigger than she had anticipated. She tried patting it down and the other side would pop up immediately! It grew and grew and multiplied and eventually when she turned around, every available inch of her kitchen counters was covered with multiplying dough! Plopping on the counter, plopping on the floor, her oven was even full of dough. She couldn't bake it fast enough! And the preheating oven wasn't helping, it just made it grow faster! The blower on the oven was going, soon the smoke alarm went off, the beautiful tea-rings were now just big blobs of dough, and her entire kitchen was a huge, chaotic mess. She was rolling in dough and it was all the wrong kind!! :D

Eventually she had to just stop and laugh as there was nothing for it but laughter. And was extremely thankful to have her wonderful husband home that day to help her clean up. The moral of the story is......do NOT use 3/4 cup of yeast in your recipe! (and yes, this truly did happen to her.)

4. How do you protect yourself from other people's negativity?

If I can walk away, I do. If I can't and it's someone I know well, I may say something to them, gently and nicely. If it's not someone I know well or at all, then I'd do my best to ignore it and remind myself of happy things and all that I've got to be thankful for. (Plus it'd be a great time to pray for that person.)

5. Who in your family do you most resemble (physically)? If you have children, who do people say they favor? Do you agree?

My Grandma. She's passed away now, but a few years back we had a photo taken side by side and I could see the resemblance. Unfortunately we both have the same huge nose. But other than that, I'm quite flattered to be compared with her, she was an awesome, awesome lady! :)

6. January 8th is National Bubble Bath Day...will you be celebrating?

Nope, not really a bubble bath type of gal.

7.  Some of the 'world's best winter festivals' are - Mardi Gras (New Orleans), Quebec Winter Festival (Canada), Sundance Film Festival (Park City, Utah),  Rio Carnivale (Brazil), Sapporo Snow Festival (Japan), Venice Carnival (Italy) and the Harbin Ice Festival (Northern China).  Of those listed (and if cost were not a factor) which would you most like to attend and why?

I admit I had to google some of these as I didn't know what they were. But I'd pick either the Sapporo Snow Festival or the Harbin Ice Festival. Seeing beautiful and incredible ice and snow sculptures sounds fun! Plus I'd hopefully do other sightseeing in the country and Japan and China would be neat to visit.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I don't know if anyone reading this likes Jane Austen or not. Or Jane Austen sequels or not. I do! But my point is if you do like the sequels, have you watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube? It's Pride and Prejudice retold in a modern American setting. Lizzie Bennet makes personal 3-4 minute videos about her life. It's fabulous! I admit I haven't watched every single video, they are up to about #77 now, but over the holidays I got back into the story.  This week we were introduced to a new character unexpectedly and it was a fun surprise! :D

Anyway if you haven't heard of them, check them out. I'm posting the first one here just for you (it actually is part of a playlist, so once one video is done, the next one will start). You may want to at least watch several as they get better and they don't take too long to watch. The actresses and actors do a fabulous job and for someone who enjoys Jane Austen sequels, they're pretty cute. If you enjoy them, then I've done my job. If not, ah well, at least I tried! :D

Toodle-loo kangaroos! :D

Teaser Tuesdays {Jayber Crow}

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers

My Teasers:

"Athey was a storyteller too, as it took me some while to find out, for he never told all of any story at the same time. He told them in odd little bits and pieces, usually in unacknowledged reference to a larger story that he did not tell because (apparently) he assumed you already knew it, and he told the fragment just to remind you of the rest."

~ Location 3600-3604 kindle edition, Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

Happy Tuesday all! This is such an interesting story. My cousin recommended it to me and so I decided to try it. It's not a gripping tale, but a story full of stories. So far I'm enjoying it! What are you reading right now? 

Toodle-loo kangaroos! Happy reading!

Review: My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay

My Hands Came Away Red

About the Book:

Cori signs up for a mission trip to Indonesia during the summer after her senior year of high school. Inspired by happy visions of building churches and seeing beautiful beaches, she gladly escapes her complicated love life back home.

Six weeks into the trip, a conflict that has been simmering for years flames to deadly life on the nearby island of Ambon. Before they can leave, Cori and her teammates find themselves caught up in the destructive wave of violence washing over the Christian and Muslim villages in the area. Within days the church they helped build is a smoldering pile of ashes, its pastor and many of the villagers are dead, and the six teenagers are forced to flee into the hazardous refuge of the jungle with only the pastor's son to guide them.

My Thoughts:

Wow. That was my first thought upon finishing this story. As much as I enjoyed Ms. McKay's memoir, this book.....well. It stayed in my brain for hours afterward, even amongst the craziness of airplanes, airports, baggage, seeing my family, etc., and didn't turn off until I fell asleep that night. Even almost two weeks later, this story haunts me. I think I'm going to have a hard time putting it into words, it was that amazing! I'm really going to try to not spoil much of this story, as it truly needs to be experienced from start to finish with no idea of what will come. What these teenagers go through, what they see and experience, it changes them. In ways they would never have imagined and cannot explain to anyone else who wasn't there. Even you as the reader find it hard to to come to grips with the fact that while this is a fictional story, it is also so steeped in reality; in what human beings are experiencing and doing to each other even right now half a world away from you. Cori realized that Christians and Muslims don't get along, but she had no idea exactly how fearful these groups are of each other and what that fear will cause them to do. She's a teenager whose life has been simple and comforting and stable. When that stability is ripped away, she finds out exactly how strong or weak she really is. As do the rest of the group. Left with a 17 year old guide and his baby sister, off they go to try to get home to their families. What they see, how they react, how they survive, their story will make you laugh and make you cry. That's a credit to Ms. McKay's wonderful writing. You get sucked into this story and experience it as if you are right there part of this ragtag group of teenagers.

Ms. McKay doesn't shy away from describing death and disease and pain, but it never gets too gory. She also throws in little bits of humor here and there which nicely breaks the tension, for you and for the characters. And it doesn't end with everything all fixed and everyone happy. It is a happy ending, but also a real one. You may stop reading about these characters, but you can picture them stumbling on and making messes and living life. Also while this may be a christian book, it really can be enjoyed by anyone. Because what goes on in third world countries should upset anyone, no matter what they believe. I discovered this book on another blog and she posted a character spotlight which gives you a little bit of an idea what they may look like. I enjoyed having it, but don't check it out if you like to imagine what the characters look like by yourself. :) Read this book! You won't be disappointed!

A Passage For You :

"I was surprised to learn that there was yet another type of tired. On Seram we'd had physical tired. The type of tired when a thousand muscles are screaming at you to quit walking, sweat's running off you, and only the energy you manage to generate from gritting your teeth helps you take the next step. That type of tired can keep the emotional tired safely at bay-the tired when sadness is a physical weight, a thick smothering, aching thing. That was the dangerous type of tired we couldn't afford on Seram. That's the type of tired that makes you want to sit still and listen to despair."

Toodle-loo kangaroos! Happy reading!

I'm Back and It's a New Year!

Source: thecolorsofmymind.tumblr.com via Kara on Pinterest

I'm back!!! Well, I guess technically I've been back for a few days. But between work, laundry, and life in general, I haven't been online much. Until today! Woohoo! So did you miss me? (Say yes, say yes, say yes, say yes......Is my mental telepathy working?) :D

I had a great trip home. Saw lots of family, ate lots of food, took lots of pics (once I got back, I looked through my camera and realized that the only people in my pictures are my nieces and nephews! I might have one or two with mom and dad in the background, but otherwise it's pretty much just the kids. Guess you can figure out who I focused on the most. ;), and just generally had an awesome time. But it's good to be home again also. (Have I mentioned how fun it is to have two homes instead of just one?) I was tired of living out of a suitcase and being without my car (depending on mom and dad all the time takes adjustment now, guess I've lived away from them for too long. Anyone else ever have that problem?). Plus trips always mess with my brain and make me confused over what day it is, so it usually takes a few days to get back to my normal routine and feel like I know what's going on again. But I think I've arrived at my "normal" now (whatever that may be), so back to blogging it is! And you know what that means, lots of rambly posts and use of exclamation points and parentheses! (I love parentheses. Can you tell? :)

Source: nordicmood.tumblr.com via Kara on Pinterest

This picture is similar to what it looks like at my parents. Kind of. Only their house is an actual house and a very nice one! Figured I better clarify there. But they are surrounded by woods and this time of year, you can see straight through the trees to the neighbors houses. Since I just knew you were dying to know what VA looks like, there you go. :)

It's still kind of hard for me to believe that this is a new year. Where on earth did 2012 go? But I was told this morning that whatever 2012 was like, whatever I did or didn't do or what have you, this is a brand new year and a brand new start once again. A blank page, so to speak. So here's hoping 2013 is splendiferously awesome and wonderful! :D

I did get some reading done while I was gone, so hopefully a few reviews will get posted soon. Some new-to-me books and some re-reads. How were your holidays? Did you get lots of books for Christmas? Or something else that you've always wanted? Mainly I got green stuff to use to pick out my own books, so yay for that! :)

Toodle-loo kangaroos!