"I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their pefect readers." - Dawsey Adams, to Juliet Ashton

I was going to write a review about how much I enjoyed this darling book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but I think what I wrote to Jessie (and the comments that followed) about the book sums it up:

If there is any book in the world that will leave you with an overwhelming desire to tell others to read it, it's this one.

I'm sorry for the wedding spam but...

THIS PHOTO IS AWESOME. Can I have a lens like this, please?

♥ Kiss Me, Kate ♥

So my darling Kristy has blogged more than once on The Royal Wedding, and thus I feel that this second post on said subject is completely justified. If you're not into all that fairytale royal marriage stuff then fear not, it is perfectly okay if you stop reading now. I don't even know who you are, non-reader of my blog.

If you are, however, still with me, please take the liberty of click HERE and looking at this before you continue. The rest will make much more sense if you do. 

So, now that you're back with me and you've looked at that lovely little gif,  there is one thing more that I must mention before I continue - I love any excuse to quote Shakespeare. Hence the title of this post. I was rather excited when I came up with it. Sorry, I'll stop interrupting myself now. On to beautiful things!

That moment in the gif there was one of my favorites of the wedding, because - and I suppose this may sound a bit funny, but it's true - it was so real. So much of what you see on TV is fake, or glammed up, but when Kate stepped out onto the balcony, she just couldn't help herself - she was genuinely wowed at the amount of people standing out there to see her. She actually said it. I love it! It makes me happy. 

Speaking of 'wow', I most definitely wowed over this.

Oh my. Isn't she stunning? If I can't get married in something like her wedding dress, then this will do. This will do just fine. Gosh, I'm just absolutely in love. And I never fall head over heels for a dress. Sarah Burton, you are amazing. It's just unfair that one girl gets two delicious dresses on her wedding day - I mean, you do only get to wear them once. Such a waste. If I were Kate I'd would definitely dance around Buckingham Palace everyday in that. Hee. 

Yes, I'll live in London and get married in that dress, and this dashing young man will be my husband (unless Kristy beats me to it - yes, I know you're still reading!). And we'll ride out of the abbey in a horse-drawn carriage, and then we'll live happily ever after and become King and Queen and fill the palace with many pretty little red-haired children.

 

Hey, I can dream, can't I? 

All right, all right. Enough wedding spam (for now, anyway). I shall leave you with this:

You have permission to say, 'aww'. 

"If you were lucky enough to find someone who loved you, then you must protect it.” ~ Princess Diana

 Good afternoon.

 I bought my first bottle of champagne last night and we cracked it open in honour of William and Kate, along with some chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows. It was a lovely evening, and it's fun to think that one day when William is King I'll be telling my children that I remember the day they got married, and how a third of the world was watching them on TV.

I'm not even kidding when I say I was dreaming of weddings all night. Kate's dress was just gorgeous. I love it. What's disappointing about the fact that I love it is that now everyone's going to want one like that. I mean, there's nothing to set a trend like a royal wedding. I was looking at pictures last night of Diana's wedding and of my mother's wedding, and even though she was married ten years after Diana, Mum's dress does have a striking resemblance, so I'm willing to bet that Kate is what will be 'in' for the next ten years, unless Harry gets married soon and his wife wears something even more splendid.

The photo above of Kate and her sister Pippa was my absolute favorite of all that I have seen online so far. Such a beautiful moment between the sisters, and the photographer's framing of the young man in uniform attending the car door just makes it even more striking. I'm sure that will be one that Mrs. Middleton will hang on her wall. What a great memory. I wish I had been there to photograph that wedding, because there was one moment that I saw on TV that no photographer actually captured as a still frame. But it would have been amazing. It was after William and Kate came out of the abbey and they got into the carriage and drove down the street past the thousands of thrilled onlookers, and after a few moments of Kate and William waving and smiling, the camera panned and rested between the two drivers of the carriage and focused in on Kate, and it was beautifully framed because everything else was blurred and only her face was clear, with that gorgeous tiara of the Queen's sparkling on her head. The moment that I would have loved to capture was just then, when she lowered her hand and her eyes and just then, she realised. That was when it hit her. It was done. She had married him, a prince. She was not Kate Middleton anymore, but Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales, and it wasn't just a long title anymore, but who she was. I saw it flicker on her face for just a moment, and then she raised her eyes once more and smiled at the crowd. That moment would have been the photo to top them all. I wish I had been there just for that.

How to know who your real friends are:

No matter what you do, or say, or feel in front of them...

...even at three in the morning....

You will not be judged.

You will be loved.

Here's to a whole new year of poetry readings, guitar strumming, singing, playing with fire and enjoying everything just the way it is. Let's stay this old forever :)

MIGHTY TO SAVE!

Hi guys,

So I'm here to update on my previous post about Yulia - our prayers have been answered!!! $20,000 were raised for her in less than a week - and now there is a wonderful family who is totally, unconditionally in love with her and they want to bring her home.

YULIA HAS A FAMILY! She is coming home. She will soon know how much she is loved. And hopefully, she will one day know how much Jesus loves her too. I am completely over the moon! How good is this news?!

Nothing is impossible for our amazing, wonderful, loving, mountain-moving God! Praise his name, for he is mighty to save! <3

If you'd like to read a little bit more about Yulia, click here. :)

Pray.

Today I read several blogs about families adopting young children from China, Ethiopia, and the Ukraine. The Lord has moved me through the words I read about the conditions in which these orphans live … I grieve for them and can only imagine how the Lord aches for them too. This is now my desktop background, so that I won’t forget what I have read today, and so that I will remember to pray every day for each and every child who does not have a family yet. I know that God has a plan for me, and maybe this has had such an impact on me because it’s part of His plan for my future. I don’t know. But I will hope and pray and trust in the Lord, because he has a plan for ALL his children.

Boxes of Joy

The boxes I ordered from Operation Christmas Child came today! :)

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Operation Christmas Child is an event run by Samaritan's Purse. Last year OCC sent shoeboxes full of gifts to 8 million children in different countries all over the world who might not have ever received a gift before. 1 million children heard of Jesus through this ministry.

My church is participating this year and we're going to try to fill 10-12 shoeboxes for children with stuffed animals, games, school supplies, hygiene products and other toys, and send them off with Samaritan's Purse, where they will bring a very joyous smile to a little girl or boy's face.

I have a few extra boxes, so if you're interested in going on an early Christmas shopping trip, let me know and I will give you a box. I seriously encourage you to get involved, it's SO much fun, I know you can afford it, and really, why wouldn't you want to be part of this? Watch the video below, it's total worth the 27 seconds you will spend viewing it. 

 

No I won't be the last to love you ♥

Hi.

It's our last night in Maui. My step-aunt and her beautiful, beautiful kiddies came by, so our little ol' house in Haiku was packed with my Grandpa, Grandma Linda, Aunty JJ, Mom, Dad, Justin, Annie, Val, Josie, Jeremy, myself and of course Lily, the crazy dog.

The first thing Jeremy did was give Aunty JJ a blanket because she was leaving on the plane tonight, and you need a blanket on the plane to sleep, he says. What a darling.
It was such a beautiful night. Grandma Linda gave me a pair of beautiful little earrings she has been wanting to pass down to me since I was 8. We took a family photo on the couch. We danced around each other in Grandpa's tiny kitchen, frying eggs and bacon and slapping them on bread for dinner. We laughed about the broken microwave, and Jeremy stirring up the dog, and Josie spitting egg into Annie's lap right when she least suspected it. We talked about a house, two school shirts, a magnifying glass, spilled milk, missing paper towels, the road to Hana, clothes shopping, and a million other things that big families talk about. And it was so perfect, and it felt so right, and I'm going to miss it so much it hurts. I'm scared I won't see them for another five years. I hope it's sooner. Somehow, I think it will be.

See you next week.

Hey little girl, look what you've done - you've gone and stolen my heart.

This is my cousin Jeremy. He's five. He's adorable. And he thinks I'm totally awesome. Love him. I also love his middle name - Kulani. Annie says it means "Stands for Heaven" in Hawaiian. :)

And this is Josie. She's seven. She's gorgeous. She doesn't talk, but she has the cutest laugh ever. Love her.

Chilled on the beach today with my Aunt and cousins. Total bliss. I'm sorry, but I have to say that while I was lying on the beach taking pictures of my cousins, watching them surf, and talking about Hawaiian and stuff with my aunt, I didn't miss you at all.

Back in ten days :)

I can't live with or without you

Finally get the the meaning of those words. Funny how someone can be so wonderful and then so annoying in the space of a minute... so perfect and yet sometimes so unpleasant. But hey, love overcomes any other feeling in the end. :)

"There’s some people in this world who you can just love and love and love no matter what."

I would give anything in the world right now to have the power of teleportation for like, the next 48-72 hours. Like seriously anything.










p.s the quote above is from a book by John Green called An Abundance of Katherines. I have never read it but now I am curious. Can anyone tell me if it's worth investigation?

Ty! ♥

Hello!

This is, officially, my 200th blog post, and I thought I would use that fat round number to welcome my blogger-buddy Keira's brand-new baby brother into the world!

Here he is:

Isn't he wonderful?! I can't wait to meet him. :)

I love you, you idiot ♥

I love this photo so flippin much. It's hanging on my wall. Right next to this quote: "It's a curious thought, but it's only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them." I think it's rather fitting, don't you?

for you ♥

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh," he whispered.

"Yes, Piglet?"

"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw, "I just wanted to be sure of you."

Come Lord Jesus and save us....

... make things perfect again.

And I can't find satisfaction anywhere else. I hope I never stray from you again and look elsewhere ... because I know I'll never find anything better than what you have to offer.

so is life and love

lights will guide you home and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you

I love your ways, your true, your perfect ways ♫

'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.' ~ Philippians 4:6-7


I love this verse. But I always forget how important the word 'transcends' is. Transcend means to pass beyond the limits of something, to be be greater than something in intensity or power, and to exist above or independent of something.

It's so incredibly important to remember that God, and his peace, is beyond my understanding. It's greater than anything I can understand, it's more powerful ... and his peace exists and did exist before my worry. So I don't need to be anxious because God is here even when I feel alone, and even when I don't understand his ways. God guards my heart and my mind in ways I cannot even fathom ... because he cares.

you're silver lining the clouds

Things that make everything better: 

A warm jumper straight from the dryer

Crunchy peanut butter

A kitty on your lap

Getting a trenchgun in COD
French Toast made by Mommy
When Justin makes me laugh
Hugs from Katherine
A text that says 'I miss you!' received 2 seconds after you left the person. :)