What I've been up to....

Happy May 1st! 

Sorry for disappearing for a while like that. I've been crazy busy editing my friend's wedding pictures, a revival at the church we're helping, homeschooling, among many other things keeping me busy. Here's a few pics of what's been going on recently. 

Here's a couple new friends I made at the revival. The sweet girl in the middle is getting married this Saturday! :)

Here's my little buddy. :) He's imitating my editing pics on my laptop by pretending to type on Rachel's little Barbie laptop. Isn't he cute? :) 

Here's a pic of me at a church crawfish boil last Sunday afternoon. I of course had to go pick out a friend crawfish out of the bucket (before they were boiled) and walked around with him, scaring little kids and cracking up the adults. I guess you can say I'm 100% Cajun. ;) During the short service I had him sitting calmly on the end of my umbrella. Eventually my dad made me put him back before I asked to keep him as a pet. R.I.P. Pierre' Boudreaux. ;) 

A few weeks ago I was getting ready for Sunday evening service and didn't really like how flat my hair looked. So I attempted (once again) to get my hair to do what I wanted with my curling iron. And it worked! It had beautiful, flattering soft waves that I adored. Now, if I can only get it right again....

Then a couple of evenings ago my mom dropped me off at Hobby Lobby to get some chain for a friend's necklaces. I then walked over to my favorite Christian bookstore, Mardel because I love the atmosphere, and of course, the books. As I was browsing through their (really awesome) clearance section I found this book from one of favorite authors! Cliff Graham who wrote the Lion of War Series has an amazing knack for making not very explained Bible events come to life, and the people that only their name and a sentence about them are in the Bible suddenly become your favorite book characters. Of course, a lot of it is fiction, but he does a really good job of researching and making sure it could've happened like this. I have the first book and I downloaded the third on my Kindle, and now I have this one, which is the second book, for $3! I was so excited I almost bounced out of the store. :) 

I have another post planned about some natural stuff I've been doing and the hair and face products I use coming up soon! 

the horrible blogger award

Yes, I know, what self respectin' blogger does not blog for Christmas or New Year's? 

I'm afraid that I have the same old excuse....I've been busy. Yes, I know, you've heard it before. But let me catch you up on what I've been up to.

First of all, I've been going through and editing the pictures from the wedding I shot. I took around 1,400 pictures, and I edited 339. If you're a photographer who edits their photos, you know how long that takes. I had to have them ready for last Saturday, January 5th, for the bride's reception at our home church. So between that and natural holiday relaxation, plus a ton of reading and my 21st birthday, things have been hectic. 

If you didn't catch that, Friday I turned 21 years old. As a kid, I couldn't even imagine being 21. 18 was hard enough to imagine. Yet, here I am, the age that most people can't wait to get to. And it feels pretty much like any other age. ;) 

Saturday I got to see a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while at the reception. Which honestly, made it kind of hard to keep my mind on snapping photos when I so badly wanted to catch up with them, but I got to do both. 

After the reception, two of the friends I haven't seen in a while and I went to Chic-Fil-A and then Starbucks.

Faith, me, and Ashlie. Yes, they're sisters. 

We talked and talked and giggled and talked some more. It was so great to be with them again. Sunday morning my family and I went to Megan's church and spent the afternoon with them. Then, Sunday night Ashlie came to our church with a couple of friends from college. We had a college and career activity afterwards, and had a blast talking, playing taboo, and then talking some more after everyone left. It was a very good birthday weekend. 

I've been reading the Hunger Games trilogy. It took me a while to decide how I felt about it. I read tons of reviews, but most of them seemed to imply that the series was gory and shallow. It wasn't until my best friend Megan described it to me, that I realized that the series was much deeper than I thought it would be. So I got the first book from the library and started reading. I wasn't impressed at first, and almost put it down, but decided to go ahead and finish it anyway. It got way better from there, and when I finished the book at midnight, I stayed awake for another hour just thinking about it. My mind was racing, thinking of the characters, their motives, and wondering where this fascinating story would go next. I got the second book as soon as I could, and soon finished that one as well. By the time I'd finished it, I'd decided to buy the whole trilogy in hardback books. Waiting for them to come in to read the third book was torture. But now, I have them, and am on page 79. I'll admit, that when I first heard about the Hunger Games, I was very skeptical. A series about children killing children? I couldn't understand everyone's fascination. But now, I understand a little better. The series was written excellently, with a story that grips you, and leaves you panting for the next book. The characters become like old friends, especially by the third book. True, they show children being forced to kill each other to survive, and I don't condone that. But if people don't wake up and smell the roses, that could very well happen to America. We're not that far from a dictatorship, and if they did succeed in taking away our weapons, Panem could truly be closer than we think .The series is an eye opener for Americans on what can happen if we continue to not care. For if we cannot control ourselves, then someone else will. 

So anyways, didn't mean to get on that political tangent. But you might want to give the Hunger Games a chance. I would suggest for the reader to be 15 years old or older, especially if you have a vivid imagination. These books are about survival, so they can become bloody. I found that they weren't too gruesome, but you may disagree. I caught a couple of cuss words in the first book, but I didn't see any in the second book, and I haven't seen any yet in the third one. 

Hopefully soon I'll have some outfit posts to show ya'll. 

Have a great Monday! 

Books I'm in Love with

Ok, I know this is a fashion blog, but it's also a personal blog, and reading a ton of great books is what I've been doing. So I'd like to share with ya'll some of my favorite books, favorite authors, and why. 

Is that ok with ya'll? 

Well, here we go! 

"To Win Her Heart" truly won my heart. I finished it in a day. Actually I stayed up till 2AM to finish it. I just could not put it down. I fell in love with the characters, the story, everything. I have a soft spot for books or movies where a person has an insecurity, such as a speech impediment. I fell in love with the giant, awkward, sweet Levi way before Eden did. Probably from page 1. I won't give any spoilers but the end had me sitting up in my bed, reading and flipping pages as quickly as I could. 

"Short Straw Bride" is my second favorite of Karen Witemeyer's four books. I saw it at Walmart, and the title and cover intrigued me. So when I got home I looked it up on Amazon and read the first chapter. Big mistake! I didn't have the money at the time to buy the book, so it was pure torture. This book is well worth the money. 

Here's the other two by Karen Witemeyer, which are both also wonderful, I just liked the two above better.

I'm now a devoted fan of Karen Witemeyer and I'm eagerly awaiting her 5th book! 

Mary Connealy has a gift of writing from a man's point of view. The Kincaid Brides series was my first of her work that I read, and I couldn't stop laughing. Her way of putting their thoughts, the misunderstandings between men and women due to the different thought processes was completely entertaining. My favorite of the three was the third book, due to Seth being my favorite character of the brothers. When the villain first spoke in the first book, I felt an actual shiver. All three books were full of comedy, romance, action, suspense, and mystery with perfect endings. I didn't think she could top herself after this series, but than I started on this book.

I've only read the first of the three books, Petticoat Ranch. 

It's a trilogy, but the library didn't have the other two, so I have to wait until I have some money. I loved all the main characters in this book (with the exception of the villains). There's even a book for each of Sophie's 3 daughters that I can't wait to read as well. 

I got the book, "Jenna's Cowboy" for free from Amazon. I love books about cowboys, so I got it. The story was awesome, and while it is about a cowboy, the story is mostly about Nate's experience in the military in Iraq. It showed me a glimpse of what our military men and women can go through trying to return to being a normal citizen again. It made me appreciate our military even more, and I loved Nate's patriotism. 

After reading the first book, I got the second book from the library. This one turned out to be my favorite of the three in the series, and the only of the three I haven't bought yet. 

I bought this one because the library didn't have it, and I really liked the Callahan family. It's probably my least favorite of the three, although it is still a good book. 

Ok, this post has been long enough, so I'm going to wrap it up. There are several other books I've read, but some I wouldn't recommend for one reason or another. I still have a lot on my "to read" list that the library doesn't have, so I have to wait until I have the money to buy them. 

If you're interested in hearing more book recommendations, comment or email to let me know. 

Have a wonderful day!  

Pride and Prejudice {book review}

I'll admit, that when I began reading this book, I wasn't sure that it would catch my interest.

I saw the newer movie once, and fell in love with their way of speaking, the music, and the actors and actresses. I'll admit also, that I didn't really understand the characters until I read the book. Now, they have become like old friends. I haven't seen the older movie that everyone seems to love, but I can't bring myself to accept the different actors. Especially now that I've read the book, the actors from the new movie are permanently fixed in my mind as the characters in the book. Therefore, as I write this review, I'll use pictures from the newer movie.

I've never done a book review before, so here goes! 

(Sorry for the graininess)

I liked Lizzy from the beginning. Maybe it was our common love of books, and her way of observing people. People watchers are usually pretty interesting people themselves. She has common sense, and enjoys intelligent conversations, even if they turn into debate (another similarity between us. ^_-). 

I loved the fact that she had strengths as well as weaknesses, which I believe to be a necessary trait in book characters. 

Mr. Bennett, the father, cracked me up from the beginning. Though I became rather irritated at his lack of caring and leading his family towards the middle of the book. But, I think he redeemed himself before the end.

Jane is one of the most beautiful characters I've ever met in a book, inside as well as out. Her ability to find the good in anyone showed her kind, forgiving heart. She made me want to protect her, like Elizabeth did. Even though she was sometimes deceived because of her lack of finding fault, she was by no means a "dumb blonde". 

Bingely, honestly aggravated me because of his lack of depth and backbone. I believe he is a very good man, but like Mr. Bennett said, everyone would take advantage of him and Jane because of their gentle natures. 

Now, I left my very favorite character for last. Mr. Darcy caught my attention from the very beginning. In the movie, but much more so in the book. I didn't fall "in love" with him like many girls I've talked to. I loved how he was misunderstood at the beginning. It almost seemed like you were expected to hate him, feeling towards him  like every other character in the book. But from the beginning, there's a sense of something more that Jane Austen alludes to. He's not like Bingely, who is perfectly understood and completely known all about from that first ball. Bingely hides nothing. Mr. Darcy's character is in a class all it's own. He did things unexpectedly, because the reader cannot fully know the kind of man he is, until he allows the reader to understand him. Honestly, I could go on and on, but I won't. ;)

I won't give a summery of the book, one because it's too long, and two, so you'll read it yourself. ;) 

But I would like to comment on the authoress herself. I admire her a lot, for having the ability to keep a reader's attention through 479 pages. I don't believe that many authors could. And except for a couple of slow parts where nothing was really happening, it flowed remarkably well. And to give her the credit, it was important, I believe, to have those places to keep the reader in suspense, and waiting for something to happen. And any book that makes me smile and sigh at the end, fully in love with the characters, who were made real people to me, is a good book. :) 

So here's my ratings. 

moral ratings: 4 out of 5 

character development: 5 out of 5

believable story content: 5 out of 5

correct language and events for the time period: 5 out of 5

probability of reading a second time: 5 out of 5 

So what did you think of my first book review?

Would you like me to do more?

Are you more likely to read "Pride and Prejudice" after reading this review?