13 Things You Need to Know!

If you're busily cruising Thursday Thirteens and you don't have time to check out these links, do bookmark this page and come back later!

1. The cute Gingerbread House you see here is just too much fun. Created by Jenny of Allsorts, you can decorate it yourself by going here. Should be lots of fun for your kids too! (Hat tip to Barb at Stray Thoughts for this one.)

2. At this time of year, I start getting a rush of traffic from people trying to find info about beloved Christian singer Evie Tornquist Karlsson, whose "Come On, Ring those Bells" is a holiday classic. I'm setting up another holiday interview with Evie--but you may want to check out my past interviews with her.

For an audio interview I did with her last Christmas, go here. For a transcripted interview from 2004, go here.



3. Looking for a lovely Christmas-themed fiction book to enjoy while taking much-needed breaks from the holiday madness? I've got it for you. I just interviewed Robin Jones Gunn about her novella, Finding Father Christmas. The perfect gift for yourself or someone on your list who loves fiction.

4. BlogRush--Have you been noticing the BlogRush widget on my sidebar? I've been a part of BlogRush for several weeks now, but I decided not to blog about it until I'd tried it out for a while. It claims to potentially increase you blog traffic like crazy. I've found it, so far, to have increased my readership only very modestly, but I'm still giving it a go. If you're interested, go to the website and watch a video about it. There's no harm in trying it. I've positioned myself in the books category. I was initially in the "Christian" category, but all sorts of things were showing up that weren't remotely Christian.

5. I mentioned yesterday the wonderful diabetic-friendly pumpkin pie recipe I made for Thanksgiving (hat tip to Mel of The Amazing Shrinking Mom.) It occurred to me that people often make pumpkin recipes for Christmas as well, so if you're interested, it's here. Trust me, no one will be able to tell it's "healthy." My whole family enjoyed it.



6. Christmas Music Alerts: My daughter, who works at Borders, tells me one of their top-sellers every day is Josh Groban's Christmas CD, Noel. I must have this!

7. Another Christmas CD I can't wait to hear is Michael W. Smith's It's a Wonderful Christmas. Since his previous two Christmas CDs are among my favorite Christmas music, I can't wait to see if this one measures up. My friend Randy, a former radio colleague, highly recommends it.

8. Speaking of Christmas music, Jars of Clay has a new Christmas album out as well, and they will be doing a Christmas special on the Gospel Music Channel this weekend.

9. Ethan Powell--If you believe in prayer, please add this precious little boy to your list. Diagnosed with leukemia when he was taken for his eight-week check-up, at almost one year old, Ethan is still fighting for his life. If you can watch this video and not be moved, you don't have a heart.

10. Very interesting article about the producer of X-Men, Planet of the Apes and Star Trek III: Hollywood Heavyweight: How Ralph Winter's faith influences some of Hollywood's biggest movies. (Hat tip to
Thunderstruck.org)

11. How to Encourage a Blogger (hat tip to Evangelical Outpost.)


12. Look up "cute" or "appealing" in the dictionary, and there might very well be a picture of him.

13. Sherry of Semicolon posts her list of Top Ten Best Movie Musicals Ever. I actually haven't seen four of Sherry's picks, but one of my personal favorites? The Phantom of the Opera.

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