A Look Back at 2024: a Year of Love and a Few Favorite Things
Looking back at 2024, I reflect on one of my year’s brightest highlights . . . plus a few of my favorite things.
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Good Reads & Beautiful Things | Holiday ’23 Edition
Today I’m so thankful for this glorious season of sparkle and light that our good God has gifted us with. To remember and anticipate, both, the arrival of our Savior and His second coming, and to celebrate the goodness of God’s gifts to us, the greatest of which is His Son, Jesus. On the blog, I’m sharing a few of my favorite things, some recommended reads, a Dressember update, Scotland highlights, and some BIG family news — with pics!
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Would You Pay Good Money to See Me Wear a Dress Every Day This December?
I am, and have always been, a dress girl. If weather allowed it, I could probably stand to wear a dress every day of the year. Unfortunately, in the PNW, that’s not a lovely prospect for ten months out of twelve, including the typically wet and wintry month of December. This December, however, I’m gonna do it. You’re here to witness it, my friends. I am committing to wear a dress for each of the 31 days of December–not for fashion’s sake, and certainly not for comfort. I’m joining thousands around the world the world who are doing likewise. One small action, taken together, to help end human trafficking around the world. The thing is called *Dressember*.
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When the Past Meets the Present: Writing a Dual-Timeline Story | by Tamera Alexander
I could hardly believe it when I was granted the opportunity to feature this piece by award-winning novelist Tamera Alexander. Firstly, because not only am I currently at work on my first dual-timeline story, but the challenges she describes ring all too real. And secondly, because she articulates so beautifully the heart behind her books, which echoes mine.
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Quick Qs with Ocieanna Fleiss, author of Awaiting the Manger
Earlier I mentioned Awaiting the Manger as a must-have for your Christmas book collection — and not just because it’s beautifully written by my dear friend and critique partner, Ocieanna Fleiss. 😉 You’ll find Ocieanna’s passion for finding Christ in the pages of Scripture gracefully unfolding in this lovely little tome. She joins me today with answers to my Quick Qs and a glimpse into her writerly life.
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Good Reads & Beautiful Things | Fall ’23 edition
A good cuppa, some favorite flicks, travel plans, and a few good reads. As we step into autumn, I’m happy to share with you these (mostly) small points of beauty that fill my heart with disproportionate measures of happiness.
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Our Holy Land Trip | Part 2: On Traveling with a Tour + Recs & Resources
As promised in my last post following our recent trip to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, today I’m offering my thoughts on traveling with a tour group. Plus more pics, a few recs and resources, and my answer to the number-one question people ask, Did we feel safe?
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Our Holy Land Trip | Part 1: What I Loved (and Didn’t) & What I Took Away
Our recent visit to the Holy Land turned out to be pretty amazing! Definitely in my favorite Top 5. If you’ve not yet had the chance to go, I recommend bumping it up on the priority list. In this post, I’m sharing what I loved…and didn’t…plus a few takeaways and of course some favorite photos.
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Quick Qs with Brandy Heineman, author of Like Honey for the Bones
Today is release day for my writerly friend Brandy Heineman! Brandy is a beautiful writer with a gift for weaving unusual elements into an artfully complex story, which she has done superbly in her latest romantic suspense Like Honey for the Bones. This novel features two flawed but redeemed-by-the-love-of-Jesus characters who are doing their darnedest to love Jesus with all their hearts while trying not lose their hearts to each other. Not that these must be mutually incompatible, but of course he and she think they are until proven otherwise. And I love how Brandy goes about proving just that, with many unlikely twists and unexpected wit.
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The Beauty of Rain by Jamie Beck | book review
Isn’t that a pretty cover? That, and its lyrical title, is what prompted my initial interest in The Beauty of Rain. To be honest, the premise as described in the back-cover write up didn’t really capture my interest. But I was curious just to see if the story might hold up to the potential of its cover. Did it? In some ways, yes. For sure, it’s more than its back cover copy suggests.
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