The Social Porcupine

Happy 2015 :) And, no, I do not believe in New Year's resolutions. I believe in everyday resolutions - the kind that you can actually complete. Why have new lists to fail? January 1 is no different than August 1. Live each day like a new day!

PG-13: War, violence, brief language and some disturbing images. My rating: 5 stars. World War II is all around Louis Zamperini, former star Olympian Athlete. In the air, surviving multiple times, witnessing death, and more, he just wants it to be over. His memories of the past come to him, reminding him of the struggles he had over come, and the good times that were no more. But the words of his older brother keep him going. "If you can take it, you can make it." After surviving a dangerous plane landing, Louis and his team embark on another mission only to crash out on the ocean. The survivors stay alive on a raft, praying to be rescued. For days, they go through many harrowing, near-death encounters only to be rescued by something even worse. The torture, humiliation, starvation and horror that follow test him to his limits. No one should survive. Most would give in. But Louis remembers "If I can take it, I can make it." Even if he doesn

Thank you, Bethany for letting me read this wonderful story!!!!! Prince Bartholomew is just about the most selfish human you could ever meet. And being the Prince, no one can stop him. Poor Kendall Thatcher finds it is his "honor" to become the squire for the prince. Being mute, Kendall is the perfect candidate - he can't talk back. But as Bartholomew will find out, those that look out for themselves reap only havoc. Overnight the prince finds himself in an unusual predicament. The two boys must set out on a journey to discover how to right this, and bring every thing back to normal. The only clue are the words of a scorched paper "What Thou Need'st: A Pr". What "Pr" stands for, the boys guess with much disaster. New people come on the scene and make it more complicated, as this unlikely fairy tale comes to a close, the Prince and Kendall wonder if it will have a fairy tale ending after all? Thoughts: This is the second time

I finished the challenge writing every day for 100 days! My word count for that time is 17,980 words, which isn't that much, but more than I would have had. I've discovered writing 100 words a day is really easy, and plan to continue doing it forever! And my book, Silent Thoughts, is coming along very nice! Ready to start chapter 5 of the second draft.

Warning: -For those of you that have watched the movie, you may not like this review. -For those of you that have not watched the movie and plan to, there are several major spoilers ahead. -For those of you that have not watched the movie and do not plan to, proceed and learn. You are missing out on nothing. Read the book and be satisfied. Getting ready to see the movie. I went with some friends, Tuesday night, to see The Battle of The Five Armies (the last installment of The Hobbit). The best part was that it was IMAX 3D - I'd never seen one before, and it is totally awesome!!! Very expensive though. I loved how the fire and snow seemed real, and to be coming towards you, and quite often logs, rocks, and arrows would be "coming" straight for you. The movie had a glitch, and we had to wait like 45+ minutes for it to work, so pretty much every one was given back their money. To the movie itself. If you like movies and have read the Hobbit bo

First to the title. Yesterday I took a phone-order. After completing it, the lady said that with her last order she received a thank you letter for her donation. Now with every donation we get, we send the person a typed, highlighted letter. Nancy Campbell signs it, then one of us Above Ruby girls write a little note at the bottom of the page, date it, and address the letter with a word starting out with the same letter as the person's name. Example: Dear Sarah, Serving Jesus everyday. Well, this lady's line said, Dear Amy, Always wearing a spider. The first image that comes to my mind is Spider-man :) I laugh, of course, and so does this lady named Amy. I mean, it was funny. She said that when the girl was writing the letter they probably meant to write smile but saw a spider on the wall and wrote spider without even knowing it. Since I'm on the topic of phone calls, I'll tell you about two other's that have stood out. The one was also yesterda

1. On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), how well do you think this book turned out? It's my book, so of course it's awesome ;). But, no really, I do feel like I have written a great story here. Since it is still in mostly first draft form, I'll give it a six - I doubt most others could understand it yet :b. 2. Have you ever rewritten or edited one of your books before? If so, what do you do to prepare yourself? If not, what’s your plan? I have completed several short stories before. I don't exactly know what you mean.... plenty of rewriting, lots of work, an aching hand, and just wait to see what ever the characters decide to say. :D 3. What’s your final word count? Do you plan to lengthen or trim your book? 13,864. Just look at that number. Yup, I'll try to lengthen it. Something I don't have much luck with ever. 4. What are you most proud of? Plot, characters, or pacing? All of it! I have some very unique characters, some great plot

I was so excited to find this book at Goodwill! I love this author's books. She writes so amazing. Her other books are Bronze Bow, The Sign of the Beaver and The Witch of Blackbird Pond . That last one is not about a witch, but Puritans :b . Calico Captive 5 stars. Appropriate for all ages. Buy at Amazon. Based on actual events and people. Amazon Review: In the year 1754, the stillness of Charlestown, New Hampshire, is shattered by the terrifying cries of an Indian raid. Young Miriam Willard, on a day that had promised new happiness, finds herself instead a captive on a forest trail, caught up in the ebb and flow of the French and Indian War. It is a harrowing march north. Miriam can only force herself to the next stopping place, the next small portion of food, the next icy stream to be crossed. At the end of the trail waits a life of hard work and, perhaps, even a life of slavery. Mingled with her thoughts of Phineas Whitney, her sweetheart on his way to Harvard, i

The quote by Ben Franklin, Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing   is very mind provoking. It inspires me to write BIG. Literature is and always has been a huge part of my life - in just about every form. In a way it is me. This may be hard for some to comprehend. It may seem wrong to others, and again, it might seem unrealistic. Whatever it seems, it is real to me. Everyone has their talents and their ambitions. Writing is mine. And it is far from unreal. It has temptations, struggles, victories, and all that stuff just like anything else. And just like everything else, there are two extremes in writing. The unimaginative by choice (basically only strictly true or "Christian") and the "write anything" attitude. Let me explain why these two are (in my opinion) wrong. - 1. First off, to write unimaginative is not like Yahweh. He is very creative, and loves creating, and seeing his creations create. Fiction is j

So, of the many things that have been keeping me busy, these shirts are one of them. And they are so fun to do! I hope you enjoy the post and pictures! And check out the store! These shirts will make lovely gifts for others and yourself! Email if you have questions. Monique and Esther, an AR helper. Interview With Monique Campbell: Monique (daughter-in-law of Nancy Campbell, Above Rubies) is owner and artist of the Blessed T-shirts. Mother and wife, though, is her career. She brings her children with her when doing the shirts! And, yes, she wears her own shirts! Hello, Monique! Thank you for joining me on my blog today. Maybe you could start out by saying a bit about yourself ( and something about your children, too ). Hi Keturah, thank you for having me! My husband and I are originally from Australia, and we came to the States 10 years ago with our 3 yr old son Josh (now 13). The main reason we moved is because there were about 30 cousin

So here are pictures from my friend's wedding. I was her bridesmaid, as was one other girl :) I made my dress, and Mary ( the bride ) made her dress. One thing really neat though - Mary didn't use a pattern for her dress, just cut it out and sewed it up!!!!!! My whole family went to the wedding. Jonathan and Jerushah (two of my siblings) did her photography. It was really fun and there was a lot to do - talking included ;). Oh, and I got to do Mary's hair (the blue flowers were my mom's idea) and Jessica, the other bridesmaid, did my hair. Keilah Left to right: me, Mary, Jessica. Jerushah and Jonathan

Just to let everyone know, I got the commenting fixed! Some how, with out realizing it, I disabled the comments a couple weeks ago, and just realized it last week. It took me forever to figure out how to turn them back on! So, any ways, feel free to comment again!!!!!!

Saved from  Pinterest Someone posted this picture on Ravelry a while back. My first reaction was laughter. But looking at it a second time, I gave it more thought. In fact. I thought about it so much that I HAD to do a blog post on it. This picture describes most of Christianity. Just think about it. People say that they are saved, born again. Their heart is what counts. It doesn't matter what they do, say, or look like. Their heart. As long as it is right, that's all that counts. The ten commandments, the laws, rules, dress code - none of that matters to them. But it does. As that picture said, certain things are just stupid. Dressing in a certain way is basically sitting on the edge of a cliff, waiting to fall. Certain actions and situations that are borderline could be like sitting on a cliff. Yeah, they aren't wrong, but they sure aren't far from the real thing. One false move, and you're dead. If you ask me, that's just too c

Thanks to a very good friend, I'm now a huge fan of G. A. Henty and R. M. Ballantine, authors from the late 1800's - early 1900's. Henty's books are sold here , and both are available on Amazon and other online book/antique stores. I can rarely find their books at Craigslist, thriftstores, and antique stores. Be sure to check out their books! Goodreads: The sacred cat of Bubastes has accidentally been slain; now young Chebron must pay for the offense with his own life, as this is the law of the Pagans in Egypt, 1250 BC. Chebron, the son of a high Egyptian priest, flees for his life taking his sister Mysa, one of the household slaves Amuba and several companions with him. They escape through closely guarded Egyptian exits only to find themselves in unfamiliar and dangerous lands inhabited by a very different culture of people. Along the way, the roving band of refugees encounters and befriends a Hebrew girl, who exposes them to very strange ideas including the w

Hey, everybody, how are you all? Life has been crazy busy here. And a lot has been going on. I have a really good friend that just got married (post on her wedding will come soon), and I'm in Tennessee now volunteering at a place that does the Above Rubies magazine. So, yes, life has been very hectic! Getting ready was lots of work. I had to catch up with all of my house cleaning jobs, custom sewing, and mending - and my sewing and mending, all the books I was reading, and of course pack. One of the sewing projects I did, before I left. Originally I wasn't going to put lace on it, but as the first picture shows, one of my little siblings took a pair of scissors to one of the skirts. So I cut off the ruined fabric, and added lace... I'm so glad they hadn't touched the bodice! I also wanted to sell four of my 8 goats, but that didn't end up working out. The trip was halfway long. My friends wedding was on the eighth. I was supposed to be her brides

When the Jost family came to church a couple weeks ago they had some CDs, books, and other neat stuff for sale. So, we splurged and got a variety of what they had available. This post will be about the book we bought, called Extreme Romamce: A Single's Guide To Building True Love written by Jesse and Heidi Jost. Available here and on the Jost Family's website. Back Cover: Marriage can be the sweetest thing that ever happened to you, full of rich surprises and fantastic adventure. However, it can also be something that can fill your life with pain and heartache, and not only your life, but also your spouse’s and your children’s. A bad marriage can be a terrible chain around your neck that will torment you for years. What kind of marriage will yours be? It’s up to you. The decisions you make in your single years will go a long way in determining the quality of your marriage. Your choices are going to affect your future. Wise decisions are going to bear delic

Here is post number two!!!! Post #1 This post isn't really about movies, but short YouTube videos made by the Jost family, a homeschooled Canadian family with 11 kids. They ( the kids ) have a YouTube channel called Jostie Flicks...and it is so good! Every video is hilarious. I have liked all I saw so far, but some of my family has not liked the Martha videos. Some good ones to check out are A Suitor's Tale, Fork Control, Why A Microwave is Harmful, Pretty Stripes, Home Alone, and Now And Then. I first found out about their videos about a year ago. I've watched them off and on since then. Then they ( the Jost family ) came to visit a church nearby about three weeks ago, and we got to see them. They are really funny ( and mean to each other ;b ), and sing REALLY good. - They had the entire church service, and sang the whole time. They make wholesome comedy videos with occasional morals, lots of pun and twist, and much craziness ( it's fun :D ). Quite si

1. Be honest: how is your writing going? I started out really excited. Half way through the book the excitement wore back, but the last few days it has returned full force. 2. What’s your first sentence/paragraph? First days. There is something about them. A sort of ambiguous eerie feeling, and the knowledge that this day holds an important place in your future life. Good and evil. Both are at work. Each have a hold on first days, but it isn't until the last day when you find out who won. Taylor Ibori had thoughts similar to these running through his head. But he was pretty certain that only good was at work on this first day. It was the beginning of a real life. 3. Do you have a book cover, and/or pictures that reflect your book? No, but I want a very science/modern cover. 4. Do you have pictures of each of your characters? If not, describe them for us! (Be as descriptive as you can.) I got pinterest yesterday hoping to find pictures of Taylor at

So, we all know that movies have a huge impact on us. They inspire, teach, discourage, guide, and so much more. I love movies with a strong plot. Effects and all those awesome little things that give a movie depth. I love a movie that is well-made ( to all of those out there that know the book lover I am - no, I'm not turning traitor. Books still top it on my list. But there are some pretty good movies ). So, everyone, I'm going to do a two part blog post on two of my new favorite movie makers... and these two have lots of talent - and comedy! Today's will be about a small independent company called Heumoore Productions. We first saw their movie in the Vision Forum catalogue. For some reason the movie caught our kids' attention. We ordered it off of Amazon ( since the catalogue is no longer available). I tell you, it was sooo good! THE WIDOW'S MIGHT five stars ( I don't care for what others may say about the poor acting or such. It was fabul

Even before I finished these I was asked to make a bridesmaid dress. I had by this time got burnt out with custom sewing... not a good start for a difficult project :P. But I agreed to do it. I helped the lady pick out fabrics from Joann's and helped her design the dress... Mom did a lot of this, too. But before I actually began sewing, I did these; I added straps to the wedding dress, I hemmed this dress that one of the ladies attending the wedding wore. And I altered the flower girl's dress, making it smaller in the bodice. Getting around to the bridesmaid dress was hard!!! But I had a deadline. It was the beginning of August. I had till August 31. I started with cutting it all out... with help from Mom. The fabric was difficult to cut out, and we kept having to trim and re-trim it. I did some of the small sewing, then started with the embroidery - my mom drew the design. She penciled it on one half, then I traced over that with a gel pen so it s