December 25th, 2015

Merry Christmas! Hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating our Savior's birth with your family! May God bless you all! :)

Don't Forget!: A Christmas Poem

Can you believe that it's ALMOST CHRISTMAS?!?!? *squeals in excitement* As my favorite season, I've been looking forward to it for a loonnngg time.
Here's a poem I wrote in honor of the very special occasion that happened over 2000 years ago in a little town called Bethlehem:

Don't Forget!
Written by Rebekah Eddy

As this season comes around

We think of snow upon the ground,
Christmas green and Christmas red,
Of present piles beneath the bed.
Lots of secrets to be kept,
Lots of things that we expect.
Songs being sung around the house,
No one quiet as a mouse.
All the hopes are running high
As we watch the days go by.
Our schedules fill with busy things
That every Christmas season brings
Early to bed and early to rise
Baking cookies, baking pies.
No time at all to take a break,
There’s just too much for us to make!

So often when Christmas arrives,

We forget the One that saved our lives
On that dark night so long ago.
Yes, saved us all from certain woe.
As a baby, yet a king
And His birth made heaven sing.
Deep down inside His little heart
He knew why He came from the start.
As His parents watched Him grow,
He knew both would also know
His mission while He lived on earth:
To teach about a second birth
And offer us the only way
To see His heavenly face one day.

So while we celebrate this year,

Remember all those bloody tears
As He gave up His precious life
To save us from a world of strife.
The best gift that one can give:
His own life so we can live.

 

Merry Christmas!

~Rebekah Eddy

God Is There: A Song

As a part of "The Twelve Days (before) Christmas", something a few of us bloggers are doing, I decided to post this song I wrote. It's not super Christmassy (is that even a word?) but I thought it went pretty well with the season...
What do you think?
(Tell me AFTER you read the lyrics to the song. ;P)
Enjoy!


God Is There:
Written by Rebekah Eddy

When you’re alone

With no one near
And silence is all that you hear,
When you’re undone
And know that you’re wrong
You find that He’s been there all along!

 (Chorus)*

And when you pray

Tell Him your fears
He’s there and He always hears.
He’ll take your load
Far, far away
And turn all your dark nights into day!

 (Chorus)*

He’ll give you joy

Instead of grief
Your doubts will turn into belief.
Give him your heart,
Turn from your sin:
Your new life with God can now begin!

 (Chorus)*

And when He comes

To take us home
Where there are no sighs or groans
We’ll live with Him
Eternally
And all His glory we will see!

 *God is there

And He cares
No matter what you’ve done.
Humans sin
We can’t win
That’s why He sent His Son.

HELP! I've Been Tagged!

A couple weeks ago I was nominated by Lydia S. for this bedtime book tag. Sorry for taking so long to actually do it. Sometimes it takes me a while to find time in my schedule to post. I'm sure y'all have run into the same things. Especially around Christmastime.Well, anyways, long post short, here are the questions...along with the answers...and then instead of nominating new people to do the tag, I thought I'd just invite ALL of you (who haven't gotten nominated, or don't mind doing it again) to do it if you want to.

The Questions:

1. A book that kept you up all night.
Hmm...since I sleep in the same room as my older sisters, I can't really get away with reading a book past, like, 11:30 (pm). So I don't think a book has ever kept me up past that. I've gotten in trouble with my sisters for not turning my reading light off a couple times for especially interesting books...but I can't remember all the titles. I know "A Tangled Thread" by Baroness Orczy was one of them though.

2. A book that made you scared to sleep.
Actually, I do have a book for this one that I remember clearly. I finished the book "Under the Sign of the Sugared Plum" right before going to bed. THAT WAS A BAD IDEA. Warning: NEVER read that book before going to sleep!! It's a historical fiction book about two sister's living in London during the bubonic plague. Don't get me wrong, it was a really good book, and I think the author did a phenomenal job writing it...but it was meant to be read during the day. Otherwise you get dreams about everyone getting the bubonic plague and dying. Yeah...

3. A book that made you go to sleep.
I can't remember the title, but I know I almost fell asleep while reading one book by George MacDonald. I also almost fell asleep during some of the more boring sections of Innocents Abroad but that only happened once.

4. A book that left you tossing and turning all night in anticipation of it's release.
I don't think this has ever happened...I usually don't have trouble sleeping. I have gotten excited over books being released, but they've never kept me up all night.

5. A book that has your favorite boy/girlfriend relationship.
I really like the relationship between Anne (of Green Gables) and Gilbert...at least, AFTER they get married. ;) I also like all the relationships that I create in my own books...but then, I'm a LITTLE bias. B-)

6. A book that would be your worst nightmare to live in.
Any of the Left Behind books. Thankfully, I'll be one of the ones safe in heaven when all that stuff happens!

7. A book that reminds you of night time.
None come to mind at this moment...

8. A book that had a nightmarish cliffhanger.
Ahhh! Why can't I remember the titles!!! Argh. I hate it when you have a book plot in your mind that would answer a question perfectly and then you can't remember the title. Bother. That's going to keep me up tonight.
(actually, it probably won't...)

9. A book you actually dreamed about.
I've had nightmares from books...but I usually only dream nice dreams about my own characters because I have to have faces of people in my head to dream about them. And I do for my own characters. I wish I could videotape some of my dreams and re-play them for you all, because they're usually very entertaining. ;)

10. A book monster you wouldn't want to find under your bed.
I'm doing the same answer as Lydia here, because it was 1) a good answer, and 2) something I REALLY wouldn't want to find under my bed: Nazgul from Lord of the Rings.

Yeah....they're creepy. What else can I say? I mean, would YOU want to find one of these guys under YOU'RE bed? Even their horses are creepy! I didn't think it was possible to have a creepy horse...but they pulled it off.

Thank God for the Basics

As Americans, we take a lot of everyday things for granted. Things like water, clothes, food, family, electricity, and freedom in this country I know that I am guilty of taking for granted.

Last week, our family experienced a power outage, as did a lot of you I’ve heard. ;) I was unable to work on stories during the power outage due to the computer not being linked to the generator, so I had some time to do deep thinking. :) During the ten or so hours (seven of which were during the night) of power outage, this thought for a Thanksgiving blog post came to my mind.

Have you ever taken time to really think about all the things around you that have been around you for as long as you can remember and thank God for each of them? I’m going to do that in the blog post. This is for two reasons:

1) Because I want to remind myself of all the things I have to be thankful of ALL THE TIME and

2) Because I’m hoping to inspire you all also to be thankful to God for the basics.

So here are some of the things I took time to thank God for that I have around me all the time:

Water: Ok, so yeah. Without water we’d be dead right? But also, I thanked God for giving us running water in our house. It’s always so nice to be able to take showers whenever, and drink some cold, fresh well water if we want to. Besides that, we use water to keep our dishes, house, and clothes clean (I already mentioned the fact that we use water to keep ourselves clean) and to make meals.

Clothes: Have you ever put much thought into each outfit you put on in a given day? Maybe you’ve thought “Hmm, it seems to be really cold this morning and I have to go outside today…probably leggings and a sweater would be good to add to my outfit.” I know I have. Have you ever thanked God for that outfit keeping you warm? Or a different outfit that keeps you cool? I know that I’ll be doing that more often! :)

Food: Sometimes when a sibling turns their nose up at a certain meal in our family we tell them “think of the starving children in third-world countries! They would love to be eating that right now!” Sound familiar? Often, we only say that to get them to eat their meal…but it’s a statement that we should take a little more seriously. Thank God for not only the food you eat (whether you like it or not) but also for your mom or older sisters who make it for you!

Family: These people you have around you ALL THE TIME. And they can get annoying. And sometimes you get frustrated, angry, or disappointed with them. And you take them for granted. Don’t you dare! Family is just like all those other things you have around you all the time: they may seem like they’ll never change, or leave you, but they do. Whether it’s a job that they have to travel to do, or if they get married and move away, or if they die (which will happen eventually if it hasn’t already) they won’t be around you forever. So you need to love them. A lot. And NOT take them for granted.

Electricity: Nothing helps you appreciate your electricity like a power outage. ;) You can’t cook your food, you have no running water, your electronics have a limited battery life, your computer, printer, and other electronics that plug into your wall can no longer be run. No typing out stories until bedtime, no listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving (:P), no taking showers. Yeah, electricity is something we should ever be grateful to God for. Not everyone has the ability to enjoy it.

Freedom: Now, as the world around us appears to be falling apart, sometimes we Christians suddenly realize that freedom to worship God may not always be a part of our life here in America. But still, our ability to come together with other believers more than once a week and pray and listen to our pastor (in my case, my dad) teaches God’s word, is special. Take advantage of this time before it’s gone. Be thankful for all your Christian friends and church family. God gave them to you as a gift. Enjoy it while it lasts. It may not be long before we’re also getting persecuted like the vast majority of Christians around the world.

In conclusion, I’d like to remind you one last time:

Thank God for the basics.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tag! I'm It!

I was tagged by Faith from Stories by Firefly and so now (FINALLY) I'm doing a post on it. ;) Sorry for the long delay...
things have been a little busy (to say the least) on this side of Washington.
I'm planning on giving you an overview of our vacation (which is part of the reason I've been rather silent) and also doing some other tag posts...you'll hear more on that later. :)

Here's the rules for y'all and then my answers to Faith's questions.

1). Thank the person who nominated you, as well as link to their blog.

2). Answer the 10 questions provided.

3). Come up with 10 more questions that relate to food.

4). Nominate at least 5 people.

5). Let those people know they've been nominated.

 

 

 

 

1. If you want an after-school/midday snack, what're you most likely to go for? Probably either a graham cracker sandwich with peanut butter and a glass of milk or an apple. It depends on what my mood is that moment. ;)

 

2. What's your favorite ice cream?
*Groans* Why did you have to ask that! Argh. I'll give you a list. ;)
Butter Finger
Reeses Peanut Butter
White Chocolate Raspberry
Espresso
Blueberry Cheesecake

 

 

3. Favorite meat?
Ground beef on tacos or taco salads.

 

 

4. Favorite breakfast?
I like Cheerios, like ACTUAL Cheerios, not the off-brands, as well as waffles, pancakes, and bacon and eggs. (But we don't eat those as much.)
 
 

 

5. Favorite salad? ('Real' salad or chicken, egg, fruit, etc.) 
Taco salad. ;) I also like potato salads and fruit salads are always yummy too.
 
 

 

6. Favorite dessert?
You're going to get another list... ;)
Anything with peanut butter and chocolate...
...or only chocolate...
My sister Margaret's cheesecakes
Most cookies
Any ice cream flavor within reason (I don't like super weird flavors)
Frozen Yogurt (see above)

 

7. Do you enjoy cooking?
Yep. It's one of the things that I and Emily McConnell's character Breandan (my personal guardian) share in common. B-)
 

 

8. Do you use cookbooks often? If so, which is your favorite to use?
I do sometimes, but I also use recipe cards that have been given to our family and also apps like All Recipes and Pintrist.
 

 

9. Favorite fruit and/or vegetable? 
I like carrots as a vegetable, and also tomatoes. I like pretty much ALL fruits, but especially grapes and pineapple.

 

10. What's your opinion on how a steak should be cooked? 
At restaurants where you get asked how you want a steak cooked I usually say "medium well", but I like how my dad cooks it. :)

Here's 10 questions:

What is the yummiest meal you've eaten this last month?
What is your favorite meal to make?
What is your favorite dessert to make?
What does your mom cook best?
What does your dad cook best?
What is the most disgusting food you have ever eaten?
Which meal would you never make your own future family eat?
Does your family have any traditional meals? If so, what are they?
Do you prefer cake, or ice cream?
Have you ever eaten raw seafood? Explain your experience.

Annnd... here are the people I nominated:

Sarah & Margaret Eddy from Preparing for the Ultimate Career
Sharon Small from The Smallest Small
Madi Hageman from Once Lost, Now Found
And any of you who want to answer my questions! ;)

God bless!

 

Boo!

After a rather long silence on this side of my blog.... I'M BACK! Sorry for not posting sooner...I have some posts coming soon (like, early next week) and then you'll hear the whole story why I haven't been posting, or commenting for that matter, recently.
Be back soon! God bless you until we meet again! ;)

A Visit From A Friend

SOME of you have been looking forward to this post for awhile... Sadly, life has kept me busy up until now. :(
But hey, I finally had some time and decided to give you the long expected post.

Saturday morning...October 17th...
Our family cleaned our home, cleaned Dad's study/the guest room, cleaned the bathrooms EXTRA well, and got food prepared for the next morning.
Emily McConnell was on her way to visit us!

Emily and I
right before our "Good bye".

I had been eagerly awaiting her arrival (Emily will tell you how we counted down weeks, days, and hours) for a LOONNGG time.

It was SO fun to finally meet her face-to-face and get to really know her! I mean, actually talking to a PERSON, not just e-mailing a girl you've seen pictures of is completely different! And MUCH better in my opinion! She was able to show me her Mornelly siblings in better detail and I was able to show her some of my characters for a future book...you all will hear more on THAT later... Also she brought some fascinating WWII espionage books that are now on hold at our library for me to read! ;)

I know I'm making you all jealous now. *sheepish grin*

Sunday morning she was able to go to our church! I dragged her around and introduced her to all my friends (except one who was down in California at the time...and very disappointed that she would miss meeting Emily) and then took her on a tour of our house and woods, as well as some various neighbors. And yes, she got jam from the Kernans. (Inside joke to those of you who have met the Kernans. Jesseca will understand...her family also got some jam from them. ;P)

Ironically, we were having such a great time talking and showing each other characters and books that we only took one picture together. And that was right before she left!

Sorry to you guys... :(

I really meant to take more.

Anyways, we had a fantastic time!

Emily will probably tell you her perspective soonish, so I won't spoil everything by giving you ALL the details. ;)

God bless you Emily! It was so cool to meet you! (And your brother and sister. B-)

A Hobbit House

Ok, I have to apologize about this post. It is WAAAYY over due. September 19th...as in almost a month ago...some of my siblings and I went to The Brother's Greenhouse  in Port Orchard (you can visit the link by clicking on the name) with mom for a surprise visit of their Hobbit House!

Isn't it adorable? ;)

 
We had a lot of fun going inside the Hobbit House, taking pictures, besides exploring all the exotic plants and trees they grow there at the greenhouse.

A couple hobbits posing for me.
(Actually, these are my little brothers Sam and William)

Another posed picture of the inside of the Hobbit House.

Sam, who I nicknamed "Sam Gamgee", stoking the fire.

ALMOST the perfect height for me! ;)

Also, it was my little sister (well, she's not so little now) Tabitha's twelfth birthday! So this was a special treat for her. :)

Mom and the birthday girl! ;)

There was even a mini Hobbit House inside the gift shop that was even more cute than the big Hobbit House! (If such a thing could be possible) I almost wished I could shrink to the size of a large beetle and make it my home! ;)

Tiny, but adorable... ;) Wish it was life sized. *sigh*

Group Photo!

 

All in all, it was a really fun outing! I would love to go again at some point. We had a blast! :) Again, sorry for this post being a little late. I'll try to get you some more updates on life later.

 

Besides...I have a surprise post up my sleeve for sometime next week, so come back soon! B-)

 

God bless you all!

THE ANSWERS!!!

Any one else excited?? ;P Once again, you guys all did really well. I was impressed how many you got right despite some of them being a little vague. ;) Nice job to everybody!

Here are the promised answers:

Little House on the Prairie
1. "A long time ago, when all the grandfathers and grandmothers of today were little boys and little girls or very small babies, or perhaps not even born..."

Misty of Chincoteague
2. "A wild, ringing neigh shrilled up from the hold of the Spanish galleon."

Pride and Prejudice
3. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

The Bible (or Genesis works as well)
4. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

The Silver Flower
5. "It all began when..."

The Hobbit
6. "In a hole in the ground there lived..."

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
7. "Once there were four children whose names were..."

A Wrinkle in Time
8. "It was a dark and stormy night."

Robinson Crusoe
9. "I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country..."

The Red Badge of Courage
10. "The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting."

Thistle the Dragon
11. "Once upon a time there lived a dragon. His name was..."

Mary Poppins
12. "If you want to find Cherry-Tree Lane all you have to do is ask the policeman at the cross-roads."

The Pilgrims Progress
13. "As I walked through the wilderness of the world, I came to a place where there was a den."


And here is how you all did! (Remember, each correct answer is worth 10 "points")

Anonymous: 40
Lydia Scott: 60
Faith P.: 20
Blessing Counter: 50
Sarah Eddy: 80
Rebekah: 50

And this means that my book nerd sister Sarah "won". And Lydia Scott came in as a close second! Like I said before, you all did a FANTASTIC job! :) I know I wouldn't have done nearly as well!

Would you be interested in doing it again?

God bless!

Fantastic Beginnings: The Contest

After an unanimous "yes, do this game" from all you, here it is: the Fantastic Beginnings Game as created by yours truly.
For those of you who didn't read my last post, here are the rules:

1: Read all story beginnings. (They would be numbered for your convenience)
2: Decide which book you think they came from. (Give a title next to the number of the story's beginning in your comment)
3. Publish your comment. (I would not publish any of the comments until the contest "time" was over.)
4: Each correct answer will be worth 10 "points".
5: Please don't look the answers up until AFTER you publish your comment. It wouldn't be fair, or fun, if all of you get 100% on this. Be honest.

And now, without further ado: here are the fantastic beginnings:

1. "A long time ago, when all the grandfathers and grandmothers of today were little boys and little girls or very small babies, or perhaps not even born..."

2. "A wild, ringing neigh shrilled up from the hold of the Spanish galleon."

3. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

4. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

5. "It all began when..."

6. "In a hole in the ground there lived..."

7. "Once there were four children whose names were..."

8. "It was a dark and stormy night."

9. "I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country..."

10. "The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting."

11. "Once upon a time there lived a dragon. His name was..."

12. "If you want to find Cherry-Tree Lane all you have to do is ask the policeman at the cross-roads."

13. "As I walked through the wilderness of the world, I came to a place where there was a den."

On Monday (maybe a smidge later, depending on how busy I am) I'll post the answers as well as how many questions you got right and how many "points" you earned. Please make a comment as soon as possible or you might end up not being able to participate. Have fun coming up with answers! :)
God bless!

Fantastic Beginnings: A Contest Idea

The other day I was contemplating the beginnings of stories. My stories in particular. Have you often found yourself chewing fingernails over your book's first sentence? It's so hard sometimes to come up with original, creative, one-of-a-kind beginnings when you're working on a story. You always want your story to pull a reader into it within the first couple sentences, and keep them enthralled throughout the rest of the book.
Popular beginnings like the classic:
"Once upon a time..."
"A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
"It was a dark and stormy night..."
Just don't work for stories all the time. And besides, they've been used so much, or for such popular things that everyone would recognize them, that you hate to use them for your own precious book.
However, the great story writers of past ages and even the present age have managed to pull of awesome starts. A sentence, or even part of a sentence, that makes you want to read the rest of their book.
After reading some of them, I decided that a fun game could be made out of their work. I would give you either the first whole sentence, or part of a sentence, of the beginnings of books you should have read. They're all pretty famous, and I purposely added some that everyone would know. To warn you, and give you a hint, one of the options will be the beginning of one of my books. :) I'm not ranking myself with Charles Dickens or C. S. Lewis by any means, but I thought it would probably be an easy one for those of you who have followed my story blog. ;)
So here are the basic rules for you if you're up to this game:

1: Read all story beginnings. (They would be numbered for your convenience)
2: Decide which book you think they came from. (Give a title next to the number of the story's beginning in your comment)
3. Publish your comment. (I would not publish any of the comments until the contest "time" was over.)
4: Each correct answer will be worth 10 "points".
5: Please don't look the answers up until AFTER you publish your comment. It wouldn't be fair, or fun, if all of you get 100% on this. Be honest.

Once about a week or so has gone by, I'll post the answers and how many y'all got right in the order of who commented their answers first.
Sound fun?
Let me know so I can start this game next time I post! :)
God bless you all, and sorry about the length between posts...it'll get better I hope. ;)

Guest Post

This was written by my "big-little" brother, Maxwell. His favorite sport is American football, so when asked to write about it in an essay for school, this was what came out of his brain. :)
Yes, we all have a somewhat peculiar sense of humor. B-)
So go ahead, sit back, and enjoy a taste of Maxwell's goofiness.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF FOOTBALL

Very few thrills compare to that of watching a team (which you temporarily want more than anything to win) roll up the field. (For purposes of illustration we will call them the West Albuquerque St. Bumblebees). With five minutes left in the game, and trailing by three, the Bumblebees quarterback throws an interception. The game now depends on whether your team can stop them from making a touchdown, as another score would bring about certain defeat. They’ve been forced to punt it! The bumblebees are back in the game with 30 seconds left they go for the long bomb. They’ve got it! It’s a touchdown! The point after is good, and the Bumblebees East Mountain Tech 24-20.

Football is played with eleven players on each side, on a one hundred yard field. You have four downs (chances) to get ten yards. If this is accomplished you get four more downs to get ten more yards. Once you reach the end of the field you get six points. However, if you are on fourth down and are close to the endzone you may wish to try to kick a field goal. Kicking a field goal is when you try to kick the football through a goal, similar to a soccer goal except suspended in the air. When you are on fourth down and far away from the endzone then you may punt the ball to the other team. Punting is when you kick the ball as far as you can to try to make it harder for the other team to score.

This exciting game depends on the skill and strength of the players, as well as that of a host of different coaches. The star players are generally the quarterback (the one who throws the ball) and the running back (the one who runs the ball). They each have a private coach; other coaches include the Headcoach, the assistant coach, the Quarterback coach, the runningback coach, the linebacker coach, the special teams coach, and the wide receiver coach (each of these coaches have less important assistant coaches). You think you’re done? Wrong. You still have the offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators, cheerleaders, ball boys, water carriers, and, of course, the referees (though they don’t seem to do anything, other than make bad calls, they are essential to keep the teams from getting too proud of themselves ). Oh, and I almost forgot Great Aunt ‘Tilda up in the bleachers. She’s hard of hearing so you have to shout over the crowds for her to hear you. You also have to worry about her sudden attempts (and failures) to stand up. Now, you’re ready to play. Actually you still have to warm up (long pause). Oh; you’re done playing catch on the sidelines, and punting footballs into the stands?  Then now, finally, you’re ready to play! To demonstrate I will give you the basic layout of a game.

                As a general rule the game begins with a lady standing in middle of the field, with a giant American flag, singing the national anthem at the top of her lungs. (Though singing on tune is preferred, as long as it is louder than the drums, it is not required.) Then, it’s time for the kickoff during which one team kicks the ball to the other, and for the first few drives they politely punt the ball back and forth. Though, occasionally one team scores right away. However, if this is the case the refs (who always cheer for the under dogs) will start penalizing them. After this they settle down to scoring. apparently it is harder than it looks, because sometimes they don’t score on a drive. After a few hours, one team will have more points than the other and they are proclaimed the victor. The winning team generally celebrates with pizza or ice-cream, while the losing team walks off the field mumbling something about the dirty refs.

                One reason that football is known and loved in America is that anyone can play it. I love it because it is a way to get exercise while trying to improve your skill. I also play because it is a way to spend time with friends. Another advantage is that you can play it almost anywhere.  Whether you’re in a stadium or in the backyard with your friends, as long as you aren’t paralyzed you can play football.

 

 

God bless!
I'll be back soon! :)

Something to Laugh About

This is a random post, just for fun, and to make you laugh. I was writing my Circle C Contest story and the Western mood came on. So you get this video. :P Have an awesome week! :) I'll be back soon(ish). ;) God bless!