Kelly's Korner- Favorite Books/Children's Books

This week at Kelly's Korner, bloggers are invited to share their favorite books and/or children's books. I love to read when I have the time...which is usually during the summer! Over the past few summers I have read some amazing books! Now recently, as a teacher, I'm able to read some of my favorite children's books which is fun!

#1. Redeeming Love. This is the first book I ever read by Francine Rivers, which then inspired me to read several of her other books which are all just as good! I love this book. Read it a few years ago and it is absolutely amazing. If you have never read it, I highly recommend this one!


#2. The Atonement Child. Oh my gosh...such an awesome book! I've read this twice and love it!! It's got a powerful message.


#3. The Scarlet Thread. Just another great one by Francine Rivers.


#4. Leota's Garden. Yes, Francine Rivers is my favorite author! I'd love to buy a new one of her books soon, it's been a while.


#5. Stolen Innocence. This was a book that, while shopping at Target one night, I just randomly picked it up off of the shelf and decided I wanted to read it. It was a very interesting book and while reading it I was just so frustrated with some of the behaviors of these people. Ugh! Good read, though!


#6. Witness. I read this book a few summers ago and although it wasn't a terribly thick book, I finished it within 2 days. I remember watching the Laci Petersen case and so it was interesting to read Amber Frey's account. Glad she turned him in!


And now onto children's books....

#7. Mr. Gumpy's Outing. Looooooved this book as a child. I remember my mom reading it to me and I always liked the part about all of the animals getting into the boat.


#8. Rumplestiltskin. I actually just read this book with my students not too long ago. The cover in this picture isn't the cover I had on the book when I was little. But anyway, good book!


#9. Goodnight Moon. I have loved loved loved this book from a very young age. My mom has told me that I knew all of the words to it and I would whisper the "hush" part. This will definitely be a book I plan on reading to my own children someday.


Speaking of Goodnight, that's what I need to be doing. Tomorrow is Friday!!! :)

Top 2 Tuesday: Dream Houses

Today's Top 2 Tuesday theme is dream houses! So I thought I'd share what my dream houses look like and some fun things they might have in them!

I have always loved the look of brick/stone houses. I think they're gorgeous. Of course, a brick house could come in many different styles and looks, but I didn't want to spend forever looking for a brick house on google images...when it's a "dream" post anyway! Ha! :) So here is an example of one I wouldn't mind living in someday!



And inside that house, this is an example of what my dream kitchen might look like...granite countertops and the cabinets a deeper wood color.



Another dream house I have looks like this:

Not exactly the colors I would choose, but I love the style of northern homes. I would LOVE to live that close to the mountains, what a view!!!

Two things I would love to have in a future dream home are:
red front doors (that of course match with the color of the house)


and...a soda fountain! I would have it in installed in the pantry so that my kitchen didn't look a restaurant....but I have a thing for fountain sodas and I would love to have one of these in my very own kitchen someday! I'm totally serious!


Wouldn't everyone think I had the coolest house if I had my own soda fountain?? Ha!

Oh to dream....

Singleness....inspired by a Mother's Day Sermon

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers in the world! Always know, mothers, that your job is THE most important on earth; giving birth to and raising children in a positive way which prepares them for the messed up world we live in! Never take for granted the blessing of your children, especially when there are thousands of women who struggle to conceive! Your children were given to you by The One who created you! What an honor! I cannot wait to someday share in your joy of motherhood, but I'll be patient. ;)

I am not with my mom today, but let me explain so that you don't think of me as a heartless, good-for-nothing daughter! My car is a lease, and this past week it reached its maximum mileage and so if I took the trip to Sarasota, I'd be putting 200+ miles on my car...which I'd have to pay for. This next weekend I'm planning to trade in my lease and buy a new car, but my mom completely understands! I miss her though, and plan on celebrating Mother's Day with her in my own special way in a few weeks!

Today's message in church was absolutely excellent! I got so much out of it!!! Our pastor made it clear that the message would not be aimed just to mothers, but rather to all the women in church. He also spoke to the men and explained what their role is in honoring women, in a Biblically obedient way. Anyway, Pastor Bob talked about how women are to be honored not because of what they do, but because of WHO THEY ARE-daughters of the King! That is such a heavy thought but it is what we are commanded to do, by God. This is also true for women honoring women, not just men honoring women. It may be easy for some people to say, "well she did this or she did that [to me], why should I honor her?" GOD says we are to honor women BECAUSE they are daughters of the King-and for that reason alone! The scripture reference Pastor Bob spoke from is 1 Peter 3:7,

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."

And here is where the "Singleness" of this post's title comes into play. I'm single. Completely single. No boyfriend, no fiance, no husband...no prospect! And...I am okay with this! I am content right now and do not see a need to act, look, or seem desperate to find a husband, especially when I know and have faith that God has it all taken care of already! He already knows who my next boyfriend will be, whether or not that guy will become my husband, what the guy's name is, what he looks like, the day we get engaged, the day we get married, how many children we're going to have, and how He plans for us to meet.

With that being said, I feel like many people think that something is wrong with us girls who are my age (only 23 mind you!) and don't yet have a serious boyfriend, fiance, or husband. Or they think because I live with my best friend who is my roommate, that maybe I'm a lesbian. Not true! It's sad that so many people put energy into other people's relationship status, and make judgments based on what that status is. But I have faith in a God who is real and I know in His perfect time, he will reveal his special plan for me and I'll meet the "man of my dreams." I have had a few boyfriends in the past in which I have learned a lot from and I think that these years of singleness will be so healthy for my future marriage as I focus on who I am as a person and in God.

Pastor Bob shared a personal story of his daughter relating to this very issue, and I was teary-eyed through the whole thing, which is really what inspired me to write this post. Pastor Bob's daughter recently got engaged to one of the church's missionaries. Before his recent trip to Germany for missions work, he worked under Pastor Bob as his assistant for a little over a year. He flew from Germany a few weeks ago to ask Pastor Bob's permission to marry His daughter. Because of Pastor Bob's and the church missionary's close relationship, it was easy for Pastor Bob to give him the permission he was seeking. Well anyway, Pastor Bob shared today that his daughter is 28 years old. She had been crying herself to sleep at night wondering when God would send her the man she would marry. Our pastor shared how he would always remind her, "Don't settle for less than God's best. You are a queen, a daughter of the King. Just be patient, God has a plan for you." And then, when she wasn't even looking, she met this missionary who she will be marrying in less than 8 weeks. After hearing a story like that, I need not worry!!! I may be 28, 30, 34 before God brings my husband into my life, but I have got to trust that He will provide, and not to settle for less! I know that if I'm 28 and still single, I'll have my days of wondering, "God? Are you there? Do you know I still don't have a husband yet?" But he DOES know. Of course He knows. Let me allow Him to do His work!

I will say, though, that I very strongly desire a husband. Oh my gosh do I ever! I've dreamed about my wedding day and my husband since I was a little girl. I'm not overtaken with the whole "fairytale" aspect, but I definitely have thought about my future husband and our marriage for a long time! I am so looking forward to having a husband to share life with someday, and raising a family together. I seriously cannot wait, but at the same time, I can wait. I'm sure if I were closer to 30, this would be harder to write and that it would be a lot harder to hold true to this faith that I have now. But I'm going to always try and keep this faith as long as it's necessary to! I would love to be married with at least one child by the time I'm 30, but those are my plans, and only God knows the timing on everything. So in the meantime, I'll be patient and wait, and enjoy life...single!

How Tacky!

So tonight, Dayna and I were at the Lakeland Mall eating dinner in the food court. It was about to close, so not a whole lot of people were there, but right above us was a couple eating their dinner. Kids were playing in the "Kid Area" next to all of the chairs where people sit to eat. Well, all of a sudden, the woman above us yells "SHUTUP" loudly, making known that she is annoyed by the sound of the kids playing. She gets up and throws her things away, and I think she catches my eye and the disgusted look I have on my face at her socially inappropriate and immature behavior. Not to mention, I doubt the kids heard her-as she was sitting opposite from where they were playing. The food court is NEXT to the kid's play area, like what did she expect? And even still, to yell shutup is just SOOOO tacky, immature, inappropriate, childish...and so many other words! I mean, first of all, that is how young children respond to having fun- making noise, but not thinking twice about how loud they might be. And second of all, this is a M-A-L-L, not some fine, 5-star restaurant with candle-lit dinners!

Get a grip, lady and loosen up! I'm just astounded as to the way some people act!

Virginia Trip-lots of pictures!

I have been meaning to create this post for a while now, but just have not had time to do it!

A few weeks ago, I went to Virginia for my cousin Chloe's First Communion. I am her Godmother, and so it was important to me to be there to support her on her special day. Although I am no longer Catholic, I still will support Chloe in her religious upbringing. Plus, that girl means a lot to me!

I was able to bring Dayna with me which made the whole trip experience a lot more fun! She had some major assignments to work on before she graduated, so the condition of her going was that I'd help her do them and we were successful! I took a half day off of work on Friday and then the whole day off on that Monday. It's nice being a teacher and having paid personal days! Ha! Anyway, here are pictures of our trip!


Just arrived in Virginia! So excited to see the season of Spring...and Spring we saw!


Chloe in front of the fireplace at Cracker Barrel




Carson and Chloe at Camp Creek's beautiful river. Dayna and I took the kids to the river and had so much fun!


Dayna LOVES rivers! They're so beautiful!


Me and Chloe enjoying the river!


She loves to pose!




Beautiful!!


Love this pic! Amazing Friends!


She sat down in this spot all on her own and said, "Kaitlin, take my picture!"


Making use out of nature!


These two kids had so much fun! So did we!


After we left Camp Creek, we stopped and got icees. Here is Carson with his icee!


Chloe with her icee!


My cotton candy icee! Cotton candy and bubble gum are the only kind of icees I ever get, I just love them! Dayna was asleep in the car during our icee experience.


Chloe's First Communion Day!




Such a sweet girl! This was my sister Keleigh's First Communion Dress.


Chloe and her Godmother :)


Dayna and I went shopping and exploring that afternoon and I wanted a picture with the mountains in the background..I LOVE mountains!


I got Chloe a Bible as a gift-developmentally appropriate for a 2nd grader-that's the teacher in me!


I am fascinated by how green everything is up north...so much more beautiful than Florida!


Beautiful colors of spring flowers everywhere!!! I have been so deprived of this beauty having lived in Florida my entire life!


Chloe lost her front tooth playing soccer in the yard! Tooth was never found, but with a special note to the tooth fairy explaining the situation, money was still delivered!


Dayna with Pumpkin




Reading to Chloe from her new Bible.


Some fun glasses we found in a gift shop...I wish I would have bought the pair I have on and incorporated them into my teaching somehow!


Watching planes land before heading home!

You may not even be reading anymore considering the large amount of pictures in this post...but if you are, I hope you enjoyed seeing a glimpse of my recent trip to VA!

Friday Fives....a day late

Yesterday's Fridays Fives was about favorite movies. I was too exhausted by the time I got home yesterday to post, so I figured posting it a day late wouldn't hurt too much. I should mention that I'm not a huge movie person, but I think I can come up with 5 movies that I have enjoyed throughout my lifetime. I'm not promising that these movies are recent, so don't make fun of me!

I'll begin with my FAVORITE movie. Not just favorite Christmas movie...my favorite movie. I'm so serious. ELF!!! Absolutely hilarious movie and so many quotable lines!


Another favorite movie: Parent Trap! I've always liked this movie, even the one that is older than this!


This next movie came out when I was in 8th or 9th grade, can't remember. Love this movie!


You probably think my choices are lame, but I don't watch new movies often! This movie is a classic if you grew up in the 90s.


I'm gonna end with my favorite movie as a child. My siblings and I loved this children's singing show. I'll be honest and say that I have seen this movie in my 20s. I like to reminisce, what can I say? I'll be sharing this with my children someday, if I can get it converted into DVD considering 10 years from now, VCRs will be long extinct. Anyway, have you ever seen Sillyville?


Well, that sums up 5 of my favorite movies in a nutshell! I told you they'd be oldies!