Happy Birthday to my BFF!

Happy Birthday, Christina! I love you forever!

bringing in 2014

A Word for Wednesday

"The Lord has given me both vinegar and honey, 

but He has given me the vinegar with a teaspoon and the honey with a ladle."

~Billy Bray~

Here's What You Should Do

Ok. We're doing this. Our next presidential election is less than one month away, and, until now, I have refrained from making any political remarks. I'm going to say this once, and then I'll be done. 

For the love of your fantasy football team, stop it with all the political guilt-tripping already.

I'm so sick of it. I've posted in the past about keeping yourself informed and writing our Supreme Court Justices and other elected officials. I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I try to keep myself informed and make intelligent decisions when I go to the polls. And here's what I think you should do:

Vote. Period and full stop. 

If you want to vote for Donald Trump, do it. If you want to vote for Hillary Clinton, go right ahead. If you want to vote for some obscure, third-party candidate who may or may not be on the ballot in each state, I will not try to change your mind. Just vote.

I obviously have my own opinions, and you hopefully have yours. But for crying out loud, please stop pummeling the free world with all your unhelpful, unkind, and unnecessary memes about why the candidates you're NOT voting for are unacceptable choices for me and how me not agreeing with you makes me a morally, spiritually, and intellectually bankrupt person. 

This is a difficult election. There is no easy or good choice. I think most of us can admit that and agree that we're having a hard enough time making a decision at all without all the name-calling and condemnation. So unless it is your job--and let me clarify: a "job" means you are receiving actual money to perform a specific task--to campaign for a particular candidate, can you please limit your words to ones that are kind, helpful, AND necessary? And to (once again) further clarify: that "necessary" clause eliminates 97% of anything you're about to say.

I (and the rest of the civilized population) would greatly appreciate it. 

Thanks and God bless.

THE BABY YEARS!

Y'all. The announcement has finally been made. The next Christy book is coming soon. And you know that confirmation e-mail for my pre-ordered copy is already sitting in my Inbox. In 45 short days, I will be catching up with my very favorite real life fictional friends. I can't wait.

And wouldn't you know, I almost missed the announcement yesterday?! I have been positively haunting--HAUNTING, I SAY--this woman's blog for weeks, and the one day I don't check it, she rolls out the good news. I went over to my friends' house last night after church to hang out and eat pizza, and they casually mention something about seeing the pre-order option on facebook and I lost my mind. I immediately got out my phone (oh, btw, I finally have a reason to appreciate my Smart Phone), checked the blog, and sure enough, there was the post. I promptly proceeded to order my copy, from my phone, sitting on my friends' couch. Because priorities, people. #crisisaverted

That's all. You're welcome. Oh and P.S. I apologize if this post was misleading in any way. To clarify, I am not pregnant. Cody and I are not expecting any tiny humans. This is entirely about my friend favorite book series. The end.

Happy Birthday to my Brother-In-Law!

Happy Birthday, Caleb! I love you forever!

A Word for Wednesday

"Don't be silly, everybody wants to be kissed--even philosophers."

~Dick Avery (played by Fred Astaire) in Funny Face~

It Being Election Year And All...

I'm taking a vote. I've hit that time of year (or maybe I've simply gotten to a point on my book list) where I'm just ready to take up with an old familiar friend of a book instead of powering through on my quest to read all the greats before I die. So since this whole blog is about that aforementioned quest, I need your opinion. Should I:

A) Dive with reckless abandon into the world of Anne Shirley for the umpteenth time and don't even look back.

B) Go off-list and read one of my new Robin Jones Gunn books which is bound to be a friendly read for a little break and then hit it hard again once I've finished it.

C) Suck it up and stick to the list because I actually have a shot at finishing it this year which leads to two sub-choices:

1) Keep soldiering on through The Pilgrim's Progress.

2) Take a break from Bunyan and start one of the remaining books on my list that might be a little easier to get through.

So your choices are A, B, C1 or C2. And if your answer is C2, I will then need you to cast a vote from the remaining books on my list.

a) Secrets of the Blessed Man by Paul Tassell

b) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

c) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

d) Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss

This is not a drill, people. I need your honest opinions, and I need them ASAP. Be a pal and vote. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. My name is Hannah Hancock, and I approve this message.