Thursday, November 30, 2006

Thirteen "Carols of the Year"



Since 1986, Northern Illinois University professor emeritus William Studwell has been selecting a "Carol of the Year." For many of those years, I have been interviewing him about the featured carol, and I will be doing so today.

Here are 13 of Studwell's picks for "Carol of the Year," starting with 1994 and ending up with his current pick, "The First Nowell" (yes, that's "Nowell," not "Noel," according to Studwell.)

Carols of the Year

1994--God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
1995--Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly
1996--The Christmas Song
1997--O Holy Night
1998--Sleigh Ride
1999--Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
2000--It Came Upon a Midnight Clear/Frosty the Snowman (tie)
2001--O Come O Come Emmanuel/Silver Bells (tie)
2002--The Holly and the Ivy
2003--Good King Wenceslas
2004--Go Tell it On the Mountain
2005--Angels We Have Heard on High
2006--The First Nowell

So, what about you? Got a favorite carol? Mine is "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Are those "Lost" loose ends frustrating you?


If, like me, you're a fan of the show "Lost," you've probably been fairly frustrated of late.

First, there's the fact that after just a handful of fall episodes, the show is on hiatus until February.

Then, there are all the "loose ends" that have been dangling annoyingly, episode after episode. Yes, part of the enjoyment of "Lost" is that you can't possibly have anything all figured out. Theories abound at the same rate as do the inevitable questions. But must there be SO many loose ends?

In case you're a "Lost" fan and you've become lost (no pun intended!) in the maze of loose ends--and you want to get them all straight (although you won't get answers to them, of course)--here's a way to pass the time until the show returns in February.

IGN.com has gone to the trouble of rounding up the Top 50 "Lost" Loose Ends. Enjoy.

And here's an irresistably fun time-waster:

Make my people sing.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I did. :)

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!


..as I prepare to take a blogging break...

I will be taking the time tomorrow to give special thanks to God for His many blessings. So many things for which to be thankful!

Also, this note: I'll be taking a blogging break as I head off to Texas to visit my loved ones there. Lord willing and if the creek don't rise, as they say, I should be back on Wednesday, November 29th.

And good news for you Evie Tornquist Karlsson fans: I have made contact with Evie and I will be interviewing her shortly after I return. And of course, you'll hear all about it in this blog. The thirst for Evie knowledge never seems to diminish, and I promise we'll get caught up on all things Evie.

And now, my traditional---

Thanksgiving Day Forecast

Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190F. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.

During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.

A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway. During the evening, the turkey will dimish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34F in the refrigerator.

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.

Happy Thanksgiving Day, and may God richly bless you!

Monday, November 20, 2006

It's a little early for American Idol talk, but...

Jennifer Hudson

...it's hey, it's Monday. And I'm in TV limbo, because while "Lost" is on hiatus and "American Idol" is still waiting in the wings, there is hardly anything I care to watch on television.

Anyhoo...about Jennifer Hudson.

Anyone who watched Season 3 has to remember the travesty that occurred when Jennifer was voted off. Some blamed it on a massive power outage in Hudson's native Chicago; some cited it as one of the reasons AI needs to look into its voting procedures.

All during that season, I had been rooting for Hudson. She has, quite simply, an amazing voice. In this day when popular music seems to be mostly people talking, or singing in breathy whispers, Hudson is a throwback to an age when people really sang. And I mean, really sang.

She was voted off way too soon, appallingly too soon, and Fantasia ended up winning that season.

Fast forward to December 2006. Not only did Jennifer snag a role in the movie Dreamgirls, based on the Broadway hit of the same name--well, now early critical buzz is that Jennifer Hudson OWNS the movie. That she outshines Beyonce, the nominal star of the movie--and even that she could be nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.

Wow, triumph has to be really sweet for Jennifer Hudson right now.


Original Supremes: Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross

By the way, you may know that Dreamgirls is based on the story of the Supremes, the classic 60's Motown girl group. In real life, Diana Ross was put out in front of Florence Ballard as lead singer of the group, because Motown producer Berry Gordy thought her high, light voice would have better cross-over appeal than Florence's powerful, soulful voice.

Diana zoomed to super-stardom while Florence ended up drinking too much, getting fired from the group, and dying in poverty of a heart attack in her early thirties.

Apparently, Dreamgirls' plot closely mimics the real story.

The lilting tunes of the Supremes never fail to take me back to my childhood and remind me of my older sister Bev. It's hard to imagine what the Supremes would have sounded like with Florence Ballard at the helm, or whether Flo's life would have had a happier ending. But things are looking really good right now for the singer/actress who plays the woman based on her.

Related Tags:

Friday, November 17, 2006

This and that...


...ruminating on OJ Simpson, the Black Smoke on "Lost," and The Nativity Story

I received with great interest a package from Tyndale House earlier this week, full of companion books and info to the upcoming movie, The Nativity Story.

I first heard about this movie through the blog of one of my favorite authors, Angela Hunt.

Angela has written a novel based on the screenplay by Mike Rich, whose screenwriting credits include "Finding Forrester," "The Rookie," and "Radio."

Angie writes on her blog, "I got a call last May from Tyndale House--the film was being produced by New Line Cinema, and Tyndale wanted to know if I would take the screen play and write a novel from it. A rush job, but I'd just written MAGDALENE, and all my first-century research was still in my head. So I jumped at the opportunity, I loved the script, and wrote the novelization in a matter of weeks."

She adds humorously that writing the book wasn't such a tough gig because "the story was already plotted."

I have Angela's book, and hope to get around to reading it within the next several days.

As for the movie--Hollywood has burned me before when it comes to Bible-based films, so I truly hope this won't be the case with "The Nativity Story." I've heard some good things about it. If they are faithful to the Biblical account, I'll be very happy. This is a story that needs to be told to the masses, and alarmingly, in today's politically correct society, many people aren't familiar with it.

I'll say this: I like the casting of Keisha Castle-Hughes as a very young Mary. And all the pictures I've seen from the film look amazingly authentic.

The Black Smoke on "Lost"--nanotechnology?

My only problem is that Darren Marlar loaned me Michael Crichton's Prey, and I'm totally absorbed in it. Darren loaned me the book after I mentioned that some people theorize the black smoke on Lost--the cloud that killed Mr. Eko--was based on "swarm" nanotechnology like that featured in Crichton's book. I've heard that the producers have denied this, but the swarm in "Prey" sure does remind me of that smoke in many respects. Hmmmm.

What is OJ Simpson thinking!?!

I have to agree with La Shawn Barber on this one. The fact that O.J. Simpson actually participated in a book called "If I Did It, Here's How it Happened," is so mindboggling as to leave me dumbstruck.

I'll admit, I've always wanted to know the "rest of the story," and I would be sorely tempted to read the book. Is that horrible?

The publisher of the book, Judith Regan, is saying that she didn't pay O. J. for the book...that he was paid through a third party and that she was told the money would go to his children.

It's Friday!!!

Everyone go out and have a blessed weekend!

Related Tags:

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Thirteen Things On My "Life List"


Ireland's Cliffs of Moher

My cousin Kathy recently encouraged the group of Garrett cousins who stay in touch via e-mail to write down things we'd like to do before we die...a sort of "Life List."

I thought it would also make a good Thursday Thirteen. So here goes--not necessarily in this order:

1) Take a trip to Ireland, Scotland and England--my main dream since I was a child has been to visit Ireland!

2) Go to Paris

3) Go to Savannah, Georgia

4) Go to the Western Colorado Rockies for a vacation

5) Take a trip to New York City with my mom and sisters

6) Get my voice-over career going to the point where it's more than just a supplemental income

7) Get down to a healthy, reasonable weight and stay there

8) See my son Justin graduate from college

9) See my daughter Elizabeth find the direction God wants for her life

10) See Justin and Elizabeth in marriages as happy as Jonathan and Daylyn's

11) Sing in a production of Handel's Messiah

12) Spend as much time as possible with my future grandchildren

13) My life mission statement: "O Lord, let Your light shine on others through me."


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Way-back Wednesday



Reprise: The Best Banana Bars Ever


Peeking back into the archives of NITKOL, as I've been doing on Wednesdays lately... I find that a year ago today, I was blogging about the death of Adrian Rogers.

It's hard to believe that good man has been in heaven for a year now.

However, that week I was also blogging about the fun I had at a party of the adult Sunday School Class my husband teaches. And I posted one of the most delicious recipes ever. You MUST try it:

The best banana bars ever...


Besides a pot of chili, I took these amazing banana bars to the party. This is the second time I've made them, and they fly off the pan like hotcakes and get tons of compliments.

Credit where credit is due: I got this at allrecipes.com, although it is exactly the recipe my friend Toni (one of the best cooks I know) has made for years. She tries to keep the ingredients on hand at all times, because she's often stuck with bananas that have ripened too much to eat.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 (16 ounce) container cream cheese frosting

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting with the cream cheese frosting.

NOTE: I do one thing differently...I actually buy two containers of the cream cheese frosting and put about one-and-a-half containers of frosting on the bars. It just seems to make them more luscious. But they're great with just the one can, too, especially if you're not a big frosting fan.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Today is Young Reader's Day



Every day on 101QFL, Darren Marlar and I take a look at what we call "Holidays That Make You Go 'Hmm?'" Sometimes the holidays are weird or wacky, but today is something really special--National Young Reader's Day.

I've been a voracious reader ever since I could string words together on a page, and I had some definite favorites as a child.

I blogged about some of my favorites on 12/15/05:

*****

I went to a British school for two years, and read "Jane Eyre" at the age of eight or nine. It remains one of my favorite books of all time other than the Bible...probably my very favorite.

I remember one Christmas, when I was nine or ten, I got several classics, including "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, and "Villette" by Charlotte Bronte. But probably one of my very favorites was a large anthology of Enid Blyton.

Enid Blyton
was a British writer who was very prolific. I loved everything she wrote, including a series she did about a girl's boarding school called "Malory Towers."

[NOTE 11/14/06): I'm delighted to find that you can buy many Blyton titles new now, and they are also available new or used on sites like eBay and amazon.com.]

The anthology was a huge,almost coffee-table size book full of her stories. I loved that book and wish I knew where it was today. (By the way, I still have many of the hardcover books my parents gave me in those days, and re-read them every now and then...even the ones that were for children.)

(I blogged last year about my delight in finding one of my childhood favorites, "Red Knights from Hy Brasil," by Christine Savery.)

It was during this era that I also fell in love with Noel Streatfield's "shoes" books, C.S.Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, and anything by Louisa May Alcott.



Beirut also had a Christian bookstore in those days, owned by a British missionary society. They had a great selection of books from Moody Press (anybody remember the Danny Orlis series?) as well as many by British authors. Again, I still have many of those books.

And today I ordered another of my childhood favorites...

It's "Auntie Robbo," by Ann Scott-Moncrieff.

I've probably read this book at least once a year throughout my entire life. The problem is, my copy--yes, the paperback one my parents bought for me circa 1966--is coverless and missing the last couple of pages of the book.

The engaging, quirkily humorous story is about an eighty-something Scottish lady who is highly eccentric and stubbornly independent, and who totally refuses to act her age.

Seen through the eyes of her great-nephew Hector, who is a boy of eight or nine, Auntie Robbo is a highly admirable and fascinating character. The two live a carefree and rather undisciplined life in the Scottish hills, and Hector's perfectly happy with the status quo.

When the second wife of Hector's late father shows up to claim him as her own--Hector has never met this obnoxiously annoying lady until now--Auntie Robbo and Hector go on the run. Their adventures make for delightfully absorbing reading, even at my advanced age.

******

I did get my copy of "Auntie Robbo," by the way, in very good condition, and thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it.

Now that I'm about to become a grandmother, I realize that my knowledge of children's fiction is pretty limited. If you can give me some recommendations, I'd really appreciate it!

Monday, November 13, 2006

A cool story out of Iraq


Edgar Feghaly

Our church just completed our annual missions conference, and for me, one of the highlights was getting to spend time with an old friend from Lebanon. Edgar Feghaly is around my sister Beverly’s age, and he was a teen-ager when Lisa and I were little girls while our parents were missionaries in Lebanon.

Edgar, or Eddie as we called him, ended up coming to America for his education, then went back to Beirut and pastored a church there. He later felt God calling him to be a missionary to the entire Middle East region. He now focuses on planting churches around the Middle East and northern Africa, and God is using him in an amazing way. He helped plant a Baptist church in Baghdad that is doing very well.

We had a wonderful time visiting with Edgar and his adorable wife, Rosann. Eddie has great things to say about my parents, and it brought back a lot of sweet memories of my dad.

Last night, Edgar told our church about a very cool incident. I’m going to try to relate it to you.

A cool story

Every year, Edgar asks American churches to donate money, totaling about 500 dollars, to buy presents for the children in the Baghdad church. He says when he first came to Baghdad, the children rarely smiled. He wondered what he could do to bring a smile to their faces, and he thought, “Toys!” So the pastor of the Baghdad church usually takes the money and spends it on toys, wraps them, and the children open them in a Christmas celebration at the church.

One recent Christmas, the Baghdad pastor called Edgar and said the children really needed clothes that Christmas. He asked if he could take the money and spend it on clothes instead.

Edgar was reluctant, because he really wanted the children to have toys. But he told the pastor, “Fine, get clothes instead—but be sure and wrap them and put them under the tree so the kids can open them as presents.”

When it came time to have the Christmas celebration, the pastor of the Baghdad church loaded a bus with kids and church members. However, their progress to the church was halted by a group of U. S. Marines. One of the marines asked the pastor where they were going, and he said, “To our church, just around the corner.”

“There’s a church just around the corner?” the marine asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

“What kind of church?”

“An independent Baptist church,” replied the pastor.

“There’s a Baptist church around the corner?” the marine repeated. “Take me there.”

So the pastor led the Marine, along with several other Marines, to the church, where the Christmas tree waited with its presents—clothes, but not toys, for the kids.

At one point, the pastor was told that the area around the church had initially been blocked off because the U. S. military had confiscated some explosives that, if they had not been found, could have destroyed the church and the entire surrounding area.

As the service began, several of the Marines disappeared for some time.

When they returned, they were carrying multiple bags of toys for the kids.


*******

You can read more about Edgar Feghaly and the Baghdad church here

Read my brother's post about the children of Iraq

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Thirteen Things I Like About Texas



In a couple of weeks I'll be heading down to the Great State of Texas to visit my loved ones who live in the Austin area. So I thought it was appropriate that I have a Texas theme for my Thursday Thirteen today.

Here we go...things I like about TEXAS:

1) The fact that several of my dearest loved ones live there

2) The fact that it will be (in all likelihood) the birthplace of my very first grandchild

3) The fact that Texans are so proud of their state, you can get just about anything, from tortilla chips to lawn ornaments, in the shape of the Lone Star State. See the pic above, which my son Jonathan took with his cell phone at the HEB supermarket last night. Only in Texas!

4) Texas accents. They are different from other southern accents...a fact that the producers of the show, "Dallas," never seemed to catch on to. Texas girls do NOT talk like Southern belles.

5) Round Rock Donuts--IMHO, better than Krispy Kremes.

6) Tex-Mex food. Amazing.

7) Sonic. (I know other places besides Texas have it, but Texas is where I'm able to enjoy it.My personal fave is the cherry limeade.)

8) The way that most Texans don't feel the need to be politically correct.

9) Bluebonnets. Breathtaking when they're in full bloom.

10) Dillard's. Another thing we don't have in Illinois.

11) Austin. A very cool city.

12) The fact that I can go there in January and wear summer clothes.

13) Dr. Pepper. Yep, it originated in Waco, Texas. Someday I'm going to make it to that Dr. Pepper Museum!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Way-back Wednesday

Continuing my new Wednesday tradition of delving into the archives of "Notes in the Key of Life"...

A year ago, I was blogging about fiction. You'll remember, not too long ago, I added my voice to BJ Hoff's opinions on "honest" Christian fiction. A year ago, I was having similar thoughts. Check out this entry from November 9, 2005:

I'm not crazy about the trend toward "edgy" Christian fiction


The opposite of edgy?

I've been a lifelong reader, supporter and proponent of Christian fiction...ever since I was a little girl and hoarded my Felicia Cartright, Danny Orliss and Joy Sparton books (and if you've been a Christian fiction reader for as long as I have, you'll recognize those names!)



And let me say right off the bat that I don't care for formulaic, pie-in-the-sky, Christians-are-perfect fiction either. I stopped reading Grace Livingston Hill books when I was in my teens (although I must say I was always intrigued at the names she gave her characters); I have no problem with realistic situations and even controversial subjects, like homosexuality and abortion.

However, I'm concerned about the current trend in Christian fiction toward "pushing the envelope." (By the way, would someone please tell me exactly what "the envelope" is, and where it needs to be pushed to?) I'm told that Christian authors are being urged to be more "edgy" and "gritty."

I don't know about you, but one of the reasons I read more Christian fiction than any other kind, is because it is clearly, obviously, DIFFERENT from mainstream fiction.

Christian fiction offers an ultimate hope--Jesus Christ--that most mainstream fiction can't offer.

In recent years, I believe Christian fiction has handled the seamier side of life with discretion and care--not shying away from the troubling and controversial issues of today's culture, but portraying them in a way that is not offensive and degrading to readers who are trying to obey Biblical injunctions to keep their minds and hearts pure.

In encouraging their authors to "push the envelope"...to go for "grittier" and "edgier" content--well, if that means including profanity and sexual frankness that crosses a line--I believe Christian publishers are doing their readers a great disservice. And guess what? I don't believe it's what most readers want.

One of my most admired Christian authors, BJ Hoff, blogged eloquently about this very issue the other day. Although BJ dwells more on the definition of "edgy fiction," I love this quote from her: "If your only interest in writing fiction is making eyes bug and jaws drop in CBA, if you want to push the envelope as far as it can be pushed and then go a notch farther--then you might want to ask yourself why."

Just one case in point: I was recently sent a historical Christian novel that I believe came really close to crossing a line. The main thing I remember about the book was not any Christian message at all, but the thick cloud of sexual tension that the writer relentlessly hammered at throughout the story. It was one of those plot lines in which the man and woman had gotten married out of convenience, but began to fall in love with each other. There were constant references to things like the man gazing at his wife's tempting cleavage or rounded rear-end. Frankly, I was turned off. I can read a Harlequin novel if I want that kind of thing.

Contrast that with Liz Curtis Higgs' Scottish series. She manages to portray yearning between a husband and a wife with class and grace; not skirting around the issue when it is germane to the story, but doing so with discretion and good taste.


Liz Curtis Higg's Whence Came a Prince

Not pushing that ubiquitous "envelope."

No doubt there will be an audience for the envelope-pushing fiction books. But this is one reader who is fine with that pesky envelope staying right where it is.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

The joy of getting a magazine in the mail



My reminiscing about "Calling All Girls" magazine yesterday--and Katy McKenna's comment that she used to subscribe to the magazine as well--sent me Googling to see what I could find out about the magazine. And sent me further down memory lane.

As I told Katy, I was reminded that "Calling All Girls" eventually changed its name to "Young Miss," which in later years was shortened to "YM." Above, you can see a copy of the magazine with Lucille Ball, Luci Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. on the cover. (Remember Here's Lucy? I loved that show...more skipping down Memory Lane...)

I remember other magazines that I received while a missionary kid in Lebanon. "Young Pilot" was a small Christian publication put out by the Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada. I loved "Young Pilot," and as a nine or ten-year-old, often wrote to the magazine. I remember the thrill of seeing a couple of my poems in print. I noticed that you can get old copies of Young Pilot on eBay. I should try to do so.

Another one we received was Jack and Jill, which is apparently still in publication. Cool.

Right now, I only get one magazine in the mail--a friend subscribed to Today's Christian Women for me. And my mom subscribed to Focus on the Family's excellent Brio and Beyond for my daughter.

So, my love for magazines got a very early start. And it continues to this day. Ask my husband...I spend way too much money on them in grocery store check-outs.

Happy Birthday, Billy Graham...

...88 years old today.

Today is Election Day...

My daughter and I are about to go do our civic duty, she for the very first time. Whatever your political leanings are, I encourage you to VOTE. If you're a Christian, vote your values.

I don't blog politics very often. I leave that to people who are good at it. However, I do have very strong political opinions, and I pray for my country and the outcome of this election.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Happy Birthday, Sally Field



Sally Field is 60 today, which has me feeling nostalgic (and kinda old).

When I was a missionary's kid in Beirut, Lebanon in the mid-60's, my parents subscribed to several magazines for me. One was the rather cornily-named "Calling All Girls." I really loved that magazine, though--and I remember when the issue arrived with Sally Field, as Gidget, on the cover.


Sally Field as "Gidget"

I thought she was adorable, and I was just sorry I couldn't watch the series. (Remember, folks, I was about nine years old at the time.)

I made up for it when we returned to the states and I became a big fan of "The Flying Nun." Go figure--a little Baptist girl enjoying a TV series about a Roman Catholic nun who could fly.

In later years, of course, Sally left her Gidget and Flying Nun days behind and got her props as a serious actress. I liked her in movies like "Places in the Heart," "Murphy's Romance," "Steel Magnolias" and "Not Without my Daughter."

But serious actress or not...and age 60 or not...she'll probably always have that "cute" factor that grabbed me when I was nine years old.

How about you? Any favorite Sally Field roles?

Friday, November 03, 2006

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Thirteen Blogs I Enjoy



These are in no particular order, and I plan to do a follow-up with more favorite blogs later, so don't be upset if you don't see yours here!

And do please take a moment to visit some of them when you can, if you don't already do so.

Write Thinking--Author Robin Lee Hatcher's Blog--always interesting and appealing

A Chelsea Morning--I love Barb's graciousness and warmth

The Amazing Shrinking Mom--great source of inspiration and encouragement for anyone fighting the "battle of the bulge"

As I See It Now--Debra's thoughts, photographs and nostalgic ambience warm the very soul, and are often as good for me as a devotional

Author Intrusion--the blog of author Lisa Samson--as funny, quirky and appealing as Lisa herself

The Seventh Sola--My friend Joel has such a way with words--and he doesn't mince them!

Reflections in Life--the blog of my friend Randy--always thoughtful and reader-friendly

Semicolon--Sherry's a book fanatic like I am!

She Lives--She does indeed! Carol's blog is infused with her humor, creativity and zest for life

The Journey--What's not to like about a fellow Christian radio broacaster, from the Land Down Under, no less!

My Peace of Mind
--Ashley's personable, charming and reader-friendly--and she takes the time to comment on my blog, so I love her!

Karagraphy--Joy Writing in France--My friend Joy is experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime adventure--living in Bordeaux, France and teaching English as a second language. She's also chronicling her experiences through fascinating photos. I'm living vicariously through her!


Purgatorio
--a one-of-a-kind picture blog. I especially love Marc's regular Divine Vinyl feature. :)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Related Posts with Thumbnails