Current & Recent Reads

I wanted to write a quick post talking about some of the books I am currently reading and have recently finished. I have been going through a bit of a reading slump that I think was brought on by Covid-19 quarantine so I am trying to be kind to myself and get back into reading without forcing it. If anyone has any suggestions for managing reading slumps as a mood reader(I am a notorious mood reader) I would really love to get some ideas.

First I will talk about the books I have finished reading.

I listened to the audiobook The Five: The Lives of Jack The Ripper's Women by Hallie Rubenhold. It was amazing and I highly recommend it. She does not talk about the actual murders but writes 5 biographies about each of the women and focuses on how history had painted them as prostitutes when in actuality only one of them was. She also really dives into the social and cultural atmosphere of London and public welfare of the time. I read this book shortly after reading the entire Call The Midwife trilogy and I highly recommend reading the Five in conjunction with those books. It paints a fascinating picture of the East End of London and welfare.

I also listened to a couple of Audible Originals. Caffeine by Micheal pollan was interesting to listen to as an avid coffee drinker. He talks about the social and economic development and impact that coffee or rather caffeine has had on specifically the western world. My other listen was The Science of Sci-Fi. I really enjoyed as a lover of science fiction, especially how much the author talks about Star Trek. If you enjoy Sci-Fi I highly recommend giving this a listen.

Now on to what I am currently reading.

First I am so close to finishing Reclaiming The Atonement. It is a bit more of a heavy theological but there have been so many interesting bits in it. I know it is the first book and I am looking for books two and three to add. I really enjoyed Reardon's chapter where he talked about how St. Paul was educated by the tradition of the church.

My other current reads are The Innovator's Mindset which I am reading for work. The author focuses mainly on innovation in education but there are some takeaways I have for my future in social work. My last current read is The Power of Self Compassion. I started this book as it seemed good timing with current events in the world and there are some bits about science and practice. What I am not enjoying is the guided practices maybe there are people who need that but I would much rather read about the science of why and various options for self-practice and then do it on my own. But that is just me.

What are your current or recent reads?

Bug & The Internet

This is our cat Bug. She is super picky about having windows open at certain times so that she can properly sun her self. She demands that all humans are home in time for curfew and if they are not she will give them a verbal warning.

Bug also likes to complain and ask to see the manager to express her displeasure that her exact and specific requirements are not being met or followed.

Bug loves to play with string. Protect all yarn projects from her or she will come and steal the yarn ball. Bug stole one yarn ball and it has been officially been dubbed "Bug's yarn ball." She has also absconded with a hoody string and shoelaces for toys. Her favorite color is blue. She will eat and destroy plants but only the ones in the blue pots.

Bug is an amazing cat who is not afraid to say what she wants and to tell people when she wants it. She knows what she likes.

Pizza Appreciation

I love pizza.

It is a well-known fact among my family and friends that I love pizza. I would eat pizza multiple times a week if allowed. Typically when I go to pick out a restaurant none of my friends are surprised when I pick a pizza place.

One of my close friends gave me a keychain that has pusheen eating pizza because I love cats and pizza. I have a mug from a friend that says "but first pizza."

I enjoy watching documentaries about pizza and learning about different pizza cultures that exist in the world.

This picture of The Pizza Bible is from when my best friend and I went on a road trip and came across the book in a restaurant. It was very interesting to flip through and learn about different types of pizza.

What is one of your food obsessions?

Summer Beaches

Last year my best friend and I went on a road trip to see the Olympic National Forest and some of the Pacific coast. It was a wonderful time and we both at one point spent an entire morning and afternoon on the beach reading our separate books.

My friend and I didn't pack very well for actually being on the beach and had to stop at a store to pick up some beach towels to sit on on the beach. I plan to put the beach towel to good use in the future for more beach time reading sessions.

As an extremely pasty white person, the sun is not always my best friend. I am more likely to turn red as a tomato from sunburn and still be pasty white when it fades than to every tan but I try to get some sunshine and then spend a good amount of time in the shade. For the beach though there was no shade so I had to apply sunscreen regularly.

I generally love living in Washington state. I can have the best of every world. I have beaches, forest, mountains, and an overall mild climate. I am biased but it is the most beautiful state in my opinion.

What are your favorite outdoor places to read?

Cattitude

This is Bug. But is a black polydactyl cat who is very LOUD. If you look in the picture you can see her thumbs which are her extra toes. I laugh at how tiny she is but her paws look giant.

She also had no problem climbing on whatever she pleases. She owns the space and the humans are only borrowing it from her. She loves to climb but hates to be held and will yell at you. She also is very particular and likes to have the curtains and blinds opened up for her in the morning or she will let you know exactly what she thinks of the type of service she is receiving. She likes structure and has a schedule. She wants her breakfast in the morning around 6-7am and will let you know when you are late.

She lately has discovered cat treats and now begs for them and has conned us out of many. She is also particular about where she eats them. She has a specific box with all her toys and some soft bedding that she eats them out of or her little cat house. Not from the floor.

Bug is eccentric and a bit of an oddball and very loud but I love her.

A Year in Books

This year in books summary from Good Reads is pretty cool. I like seeing how many total pages I read which were the shortest and longest books I read and also which were most popular. I will admit that I am not surprised that Middle March is the longest. It was a 35-hour long audiobook on Audible. I which Goodreads had a way that you could say you were listening to audiobooks on your currently reading.

I am also not surprised that 101 Careers in Social Work is the least popular book I read. I read it on a plane ride while I was applying to grad school so that I could have a better idea of what kind of social work I wanted to go into. I am surprised that The Night Circus is the most popular. I read many popular books last year and would have expected Six of Crows to be on the most popular.

Have any of you checked out your year in books from Goodreads? Anything interesting that you found out?

In Reflection & Resolutions

2018 was a long year with many ups and downs. I have had 3 different jobs in the past year. I got accepted to grad school and came to a head with my own mental health and anxiety. I also completed my first quarter of grad school. However, all that being said I think I am the stronger for it. I feel more confident as an individual and stronger in who I am.

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions. I find that they tend to make me feel guilty and that is more counterproductive. I think the closest to a New Year's resolution I get is my good reads reading goal. However, I think making goals for a new year is productive. Such as my goal to buy a car this year, complete my first year of grad school, read more daily devotionals, and pray more. I prefer goals to resolutions. Goals sound more attainable and flexible while resolutions sound stiff and ridged. I also find that in a year so much can change that a resolution you made may be completely impractical halfway through the year. I can make goals that are short term and long term and also be flexible with the dates for them.

Which do you prefer? Goals or resolutions? If you make resolutions or goals what are some of yours?

Tea and Coffee

So I generally consider myself as more of a coffee drinker but college as helped me to appreciate other forms of caffeine as well. Such as tea. Mostly black tea. The fruity teas don't have the strong flavor that I like. My favorite brand of tea is The Republic of Tea which is sold at my school. My two favorite flavors are Cranberry Blood Orange and Ginger Peach.

I love that these are black teas so that they have more caffeine and the strong flavor I like, but also come with some really interesting flavors. I actually dink more tea during the school year than coffee as it is just more convenient and cheaper. I just have to pack the tea bags and my hot dink bottle and there is hot water provided at school. I get up so early that I don't have time to make coffee in the morning. It is just cheaper to get a bunch of tea bags for 10 or 12 bucks than to pay 4 to 5 buck everyday for the coffee at school. That is not to say I don't occasionally as a treat get a nice coffee.

I will say that I am still more of a coffee person but I do have a growing love for tea.
Elizabeth

Been a While

So..............

School really takes a lot of my time leaving little time to for fun on the internet. When I do have time I must admit I don't spend it writing post instead I spend it doing things that require less thought. I don't like writing post for the sake of writing posts. I want to write something of value for others to read.

Some cool stuff has happened at school. I got to play in a ton of concerts this semester and sing with a choir. My piano teacher said that I was a performance monster this year. I have had some very good classes this semester with some wonderful professor.

Also a monk from a local monastery came to school and I got to have my picture takes with him.

I wish I had some more interesting stuff to say but I just lack the time to create and organize a topic. Maybe I will have some inspiration to write a fantastic post at some point. 

Love

Elizabeth 

Reading in the Summer

My goals for summer break before I go back to school are to learn a few songs and memorize them. I have also dedicated myself to reading as many books as possible in the three months or so that I have before school starts again.
I am mixing some pure fun books, like The Mark of Athena, with more serious books, such as a Tale of Two Cities. I am also currently reading a book for a review that will hopefully post this month very soon! Some of my books are audio books to listen to while I do chores and weed or other activities. I really enjoy audio books I find them to be relaxing especially if it is read by someone who has a good voice and is talented at reading aloud. Reading aloud well is definitely a talent and also requires practice.

Writing Music

I have started writing lyrics lately and then writing music for them. I am extremely proud of what I have done so far. They are not very good but still as first tries go. I think they are quite good. It has been relaxing for me and I have been enjoying myself while doing it.
I wish I could record them. That would be fun, but sadly I do not have the equipment to experiment with that maybe someday I can.
I have also checked out like 10 0r 11 books I would have to go count them. Three of them are audio books. I am really excited about getting back to reading. I have really missed it in college. I was reading but it was not the fun recreational reading. I have a goal for how many books I want to read this summer before school starts.
I will also be doing some camping this summer which is going to be awesome.
Hopefully I will be inspired soon to write some more interesting content for my blog. For now though I do not have much to tell you.
Love!
~Elizabeth Hamre

Finished First Year!

 

To day I took my last final for school and turned in my last project. This has been an awesome year and I feel like I have grown up so much in the past year. So much has happened and so many awesome people that I have met! It has been an amazing time. I have learned so much.

I love music theory it has probably been my favorite class. I now feel like I really know how to compose music and I understand how it works better. I hope to compose over this summer.

I am planning on writing a bunch of blog posts and reading tons of books. I have lots of practice goals too.

Love!

~Elizabeth

Music Major

Hey Everyone! I am super excited to tell you that I got into the music program and am now officially declared a Bachelor of Music in piano performance!
I also recently got to perform for the first time in college. It was a short piece called Etude in E-Major by Heller. It was really exciting to get to play. I was also nervous but it went really well and I did not forget how to play it. It was really wonderful to play the piano that is used for performances. It has to be one of the most wonderful feeling pianos in that I have ever had the pleasure to play!
PE is over and I am way less stressed now! I will not me missing that class. I am looking forward to registering for class in the fall.
Music theory has been wonderful and amazing to do. I love to understand music, and now I can talk about music with much more depth.
Overall things are amazing right now and I hope you all are having an amazing time. Thank you all for still following me despite my inconsistent posting.
Lots of Love!
~Elizabeth

My new phase in life: College

Ahhhh!! My summer has flown by so quickly. I have lost track of time. It has been a great summer. Not only do we have much better weather than we had last year, but I am also graduated from high school and going off to college. It feel like only a little bit ago I was starting high school. Time flew so fast. I will miss being homschooled but I look forward to this new phase of life that will have so much to offer me, so much to learn, and so much to look forward to.

I am  going to talk a little bit about what I have been doing this summer and what I am going to be doing this up coming school year. I am so excited about school! I also what to let you know that school is going to be a priority in my life and while I love to blog it might have to be set on the back burner for a few months. I will try and schedule posts when I have time so I don't completely fall of the planet. 

I am super excited and really nervous about college. I am really happy about the school that I am going to and I cannot wait to start classes. Which actually start on the 9th of September. So they start really really soon!

I am going to be majoring in music. I have only one class this semester that is not music related. It is a writing class. It is a required class for all first year students at my school and it is mostly to help us get use to writing in college. Other wise I have just music. Which suits me just fine. Although I would not mind taking a history, or literature class. I do enjoy other subjects besides music. I am sure I will have an opportunity to take non-music related classes in the future.

I feel sad to be leaving homeschooling behind. I am not sure how I feel about not being home all day. On the one had glad. I was starting to get tired of always being home. Not that I was always home mind you. I did do other things in my life. I won't be seeing my family every hour of every day. That could make me sad on the other hand it might be a relief to see other people and not be stuck with them. Though I am not sure who would be more relieved me or my family. :)

I have really been enjoying my summer break. I didn't take one last year and I really felt like I needed one. Especially with college starting. Overall I have been enjoying my summer to the fullest extent possible.I have not gotten all the books read that I wanted to, but I have been reading. That is something that I am slightly worried about with college. I keep hearing about how college students who were big readers before college found that they didn't have as much time to read while in school. Reading is a big part of who I am and I don't think I will give it up easily. Honestly what is going to happen is I will be going through some kind of withdrawal. I hope that isn't to true. I know I wont have as much time, but I don't want to completely lose my reading time!

That is what has been going on in my life. Basically I graduated and I feel like my life is starting. I have also realized how completely obliviously happy we are as children. We don't have to worry about anything really. I mean the things we worry about really were not all that stressful to worry about. All that is gone now. I feel like I have now officially said goodbye in a way to childhood. However, I don't really think the kid in us ever truly leaves. We all still wish to go to Hogwarts, or Narnia, or to do what ever it was that we pretended or wished for so hard growing up. 

That is all for now! I hope you have had a wonderful summer. For my Australian friends I hope you have had a wonderful winter. :)

Blessings
~Elizabeth

PS. The pictures are from my senior photo shoot.

Wanting to Write

I love to read books. I enjoy writing. When I was still very little I thought it would be great to write a book. To tell a story. It is not that I have not written stories. I just have not gotten to the writing a book part. I feel a little lost when it comes to writing a book.

It is not that I lack ideas. I really do have quiet a lot of them and they come from the strangest things. I even write down these ideas. I just feel that I lack a certain ability to give characters life. Most of the time I find my self very dissatisfied with the characters that I just don't know how to give them life. Knowing how to write well when it comes to grammar, paragraphs, structure and style I can do that. I just can't seem to get things to come alive.

I do want to improve. I think with practice I could. But practice requires time. Time that for much of the past couple of years I have not been able to spare. Getting ready for college, making sure I can graduate from highschool really takes a lot of time. Not to mention practicing the piano. After it all I just want to not think about anything. So I go off and I read a book.

It is not like writing is the only thing in my life that has suffered from lack of time. Crafts is one. It is a lot of work to cut things out, plan what to do, glue and dry, cut some more, and all the little details it can be exhausting. I  really enjoy doing them though.

The other big thing with writing is that my family has 2 computers at the moment and 5 people who all want to use them for their own school, social media, and what not that they need the computer. It is a amazing that I was able to post any post during the past school year.

My dream of writing a book though might wait a little longer. With college coming I am not sure what my schedule will be like. That age old question of time will strike again. What I really want to do is just grit my teeth and just start something. I think I would really enjoy it. And someday hopefully I will. I just don't have a clue when.

So this is what I am thinking about today. I hope you don't mind me blurting out my random thoughts on your computer screen.

Blessings
~Elizabeth

PS. A very productive thing I did today was invent a new kind of cookie, that according to my family is absolutely delicious.

Artist John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse is one of my favorite artists. There is just something about his art that I find particularly wonderful. Here are a few of his pieces. 

Study for The Lady Clare

The soft tone and gentle curves. 

Not sure what this one is called. 

The flowers. 

Flower Picker

The flow of fabric and the vibrant colors. 

The Crystal Ball

The vibrant red int his one is just so striking. 

Do you have a favorite artist? 

Blessings 

~Elizabeth 

What I Read: February

MoonBlood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of American History by Richard Shenkman

The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen

The Turning by Gloria Whelan

The Clue In the Crumbling Wall by Carolyn Keene

   

The Clue of The Velvet Mask by Carolyn Keene

The Clue in the Old Album By Carolyn Keene

Blessings

~Elizabeth

Pretty People: Taylor Swift

This a post series I just about people who I think look pretty, lovely, or beautiful. That is all there is to it.

So for this post I am doing Taylor Swift, who I think is very lovely.

I must ask who doesn't like Taylor Swift's Hair? I love how curly it is. :)

One other thing is that I really like her eyes. They are the first thing you notice about her. 

The poofiness of the dress. (is that how you spell that word? Is it even a word?)

I ador this dress. It is so Medieval Tudor looking. 

I have not yet decided if I like the strait hair and bangs. look she is doing lately. I do like her happy yellow dress. :)

That is all I have for now. I hope you all are having a lovely week. 

I do apologies for my lack of posting. I am in really in the grove with doing school and my blogging is just not taking priority right now. I will be so happy when highschool is over! :)

Blessings

~Elizabeth 

What I read January

I am going to try and do a post a month about what books I have read for my reading challenge, and update you on how far into my challenge I am . I might do a more detailed review of the books I mention at a later date. This is just to show what I have read. I am going by what month I finish them in not necessarily it is just easier for me to keep track that way. So these are all the books I read in January. 

A Kid's Guide to America's Bill of Rights by Kathleen Krull.

I read this book for School and was really pleased with it. It was more focused on older kids and talked about how the Bill of Rights effects kids. It went through each one and discussed it with examples of what it means to day and meant in the past. This book was very interesting and informative. 

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen 

I read this one for school as well. I love history and it was really interesting to look at all the different lies that are in our history. A very interesting read that everyone should read.

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Known in the UK as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The Harry Potter Series is one of my rereads. :)

I am doing a more detail on this latter.   

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

See above. 

Midnight Magic by Avi

This was a fun book and I have enjoyed other books by Avi. This book deals with one of the hat and rabbit kind of magicians, and Castle intrigue.

Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren

I had read Waterfall quite a while ago and in January got around to reading the other books in the series. I really enjoyed this book and I will do a more detailed post later. 

                              Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren

See Above.

That is all I read. and I have read 12 books total for 2013. 

What have you read? 

Blessings

~Elizabeth

Harry Lloyd was in Doctor Who!!!!

So I have finally joined the ranks of the Whovians. My family has been working our way through the series, we are currently on season 4 with the 10th Doctor. 

We were watching this episode, don't remember the title but it was with Martha, and during a pause that my dad was looking up some other actor on IMDb and we were looking at the cast list over his shoulder. Now this one actor was looking super familiar but I just could not place him. Then I saw the name and my sisters and I started laughing and giggling hysterically.

 It was Harry Lloyd. Not only that but he was playing an evil character.

So here he is. He really was brilliant though pulling of the creepy evil thing. He was so young looking too. 

See here is creepy Harry Lloyd. 

I could not stop giggling after I figured out it was him. The character was just so the opposite of Will Scarlet from Robin Hood. 

Anyway I hope you will forgive my log absence and then me coming back with a totally random post about Harry Lloyd and Doctor Who. 

Blessings

~Elizabeth