Fall, Pumpkins, and Voting

Yes, I know I'm missing a comma. I'm too lazy to fix it. ;)

Sarah, Rebekkah, and me!

Me at the pumkin patch

Fun events of late:

On Friday I got to vote for the first time. The lady's at the polling place were so excited to have a first-time voter. They had the whole place clap for me. ;D It was kind of funny having someone spend five minutes explaining how the machine worked and only spending a minute voting. ;D It was surprisingly underwhelming, but I enjoyed getting to do it. 

Afterward, my sister took me to a pumpkin patch and we just spent a lot of time taking pictures and picking out the perfect pumpkin. Actually, the one I have in the picture above is not the one I ended up buying because I wanted a smaller one for my desk. It was so fun to go around the churchyard in the evening light, trying to find the most perfect pumpkin. 

That night, when my sister and I were leaving our Bible study, we came over a hill and the moon was rising the biggest I've ever seen it. It looked GINORMOUS. Talking all the way home in the moonlite car was amazing. 

Sometimes, God just sends you reasons to smile. =) 

What has your week been like so far? 

My Life Doesn't Go Like I Want

My life rarely works the way I want it to. I've got some magical idea on how I want my life to go, and only once in a blue moon does it actually go that way. 

This post was going to be excerpts from my book, but Word won't let me into my documents because I need to buy the full version of the product to even copy things out of it. 

Today my phone froze three times while I was trying to work on it. Any time I get on the WiFi it freezes, so I know I shouldn't get on the WiFi on it, but I do anyway. 

My sister and I did clay masks together for fun and both ended up with our faces red from a bad reaction to it. 

None of these things went how I planned them. But God's been showing me things, sometimes after things happen. 

My frustration with Word keeps reminding me that good things are not always free, and I can't just expect life to be handed to me on a silver platter. 

My phone freezing it reminding me to put it down and be where I am. I am so prone to ignore this lesson though, and just keep getting frustrated. 

The clay masks, well that just gave my sister and me a good chance to laugh as our cheeks very quickly returned to their normal color. It was good to laugh at myself like that. 

So yeah, my life doesn't go the way I plan, and I am grateful for it. Everything I come to is a chance to grow. While I know I have passed up countless opportunities to grown (with the phone, mainly), I'm grateful God gives me so many chances to grown in Him. 

Photos of Ascari

This is the second day we got him. He loved pouncing flowers.

I keep catching peoples shoes in these shots because Ascari loves to keep up and sit on peoples feet. 

Ears perked, waiting for a pet. 

Mimicking Luke's posture.

In case you missed it, my family got a puppy. His name is Ascari (Uh-scar-e) and he's an Australian Shepard Lab mix. I've got a couple more hundred more photos I could post, but I didn't want to bore you, so I picked my top five. 

Ascari is a very high energy puppy who would spend all his days chewing on things if he didn't also want to chase the cats. He's always ready to bound into our lap, or sit down on our feet. He loves mimicking Luke (Our full grown dog), and playing tug-of-war. If you leave a styrofoam cup out, it will be confetti in an hour, and if you tell him to sit he'll do so and perk his ears forward while he waits for pets. He's already hyperactive about barking at things and hates leashes with a vengeance. He keeps wearing Luke out, and then they'll curl up together and take a nap. 

Overall, it's a lot more work to have a puppy then I remembered, but it's fun. Asacri is learning fast, and despite having to save my cats from his playfulness, it's been good. 

What do y'all think? 

We're All Messy Here

We keep talking about "Perfect people" 

We keep wishing we were one of them 

We talk about how great their lives are

Well I'm here to tell you I found a place

Where we all belong. 

I found a home 

For all of us messy people 

It's called Planet Earth 

There's nothing new about it 

We're all messy here 

So that wasn't my poetic poem, but I felt like it was a good opener. 

I rarely feel like the only messy person, but I do view some people as "perfect." Now I use perfect in a loose term, but that's still how my brain feels about them. I have this idea that there are people out there who have some kind of magical life. Silly? Yes, I know. 

This week I was faced with just how messy I am. I have ignored some important things. I've been easily annoyed. I've let myself get frustrated. I've gotten jealous of silly things. 

I took a walk I was SO frustrated with everything, and I just asked God why I am such a messy person. And I heard a gentle whisper of "Everyone else is messy too, Mikayla. And all that messiness is to draw you closer to me." 

Well, that put some things into perspective. 

We're all messy here, and instead of getting mad at ourselves for being messy, we need to give it to God. I have found such peace and joy these past few days by just remembering that God didn't expect me to handle this by myself. Messiness is just another to make me realize how much I need Him.

What's something you've been learning lately?

A Messy Blogger's Update

I've tried to write this post three times today. For some reason, I am having trouble with my words this week. 

I'll be honest, it's been crazy. I have dealt with more roller coaster emotional moments this week then I have in a little bit. Trying to figure out how to balance my emotions and figure out how to get work done around stuff has been rough. I would love to sit here and tell y'all that I had this all perfectly together (I'd like to be able to tell that to myself) but we're all messy people here, so I don't think y'all mind. 

So some interesting things have happened that I haven't gotten the chance to talk about so I'm going to tackle some of those happier subjects first. 

1. I got a laptop. Up until now, I have been working on my moms and brothers laptops, and it worked out really well. But, I finally saved up enough and I got myself a refurbished HP Pavilion which is was so much better then I expected. I went a little above what I had wanted to pay for it, but that's because I found one with way better graphics than most and literally everything I had ever wanted in a computer. So yeah, I'm really loving it. My only problem is I haven't gotten Microsoft Word yet, which I use all the time. So yeah, I've got to get that ASAP. 

2. And probably what is going to be most peoples favorite (I don't blame you if it is): My family got a puppy. We've been looking into getting another dog because my awesome Luke is getting a little older and we want him to train our puppy. So we found an Australian Shepard puppy online and went and picked him up. We named him Ascari (Uh-scar-e). He's already been picking up a lot of Luke's behavior, which is so fun to watch. =D I'll do another post about him with a lot more pictures, I promise. 

Here's a rather goofy photo of Ascari who has a love of plopping down on peoples feet.

So yeah, that's a couple fun things in life lately. I don't want to ramble much longer, but I did have one more thing to add. I pray that I have never come across as saying I have a perfect life. But if I have, I'd like to take a moment and apologize. I have recently been faced with how rough it can be when someone is posting about only the good things in their life. We all know everyone is flawed, but it's hard to tell when they're only posting the good stuff about their life. 

I am a deeply messy blogger who has more problems then I care to count, the one I'm pushing up against the most right now is a bad attitude. 

I'll be posting more on what I've been learning this week on Friday, and hopefully next Monday I'll have some awesome puppy photos up for y'all. 

Recovering from Last Week || Libester Questions

 Hello. Since there was such a crazy week full of posts last week, today I'm just answering the questions from a Libester tag. =) Rebekah from Read Another Page tagged me.

What blogger would you like to meet in person?

Oh, Kate Willis from Once Upon an Ordinary, if I had to choose just one.

Do you review books you read?

Yep! I try to do at least a small review for every book I read.

What is your favorite thing to do in summer?

Swim, and take walks down the road. Unfortunately, Summer is poison ivy season, so I can't take as many walks in the woods as I would like, but I love being outside.

Would you consider yourself more of a fall or spring person?

Spring! I love spring so much. All the flowers and warm weather is the best. I also like fall a lot.

What are two things you can’t stand in books?

Love to hate relationships, and insta-love. Yeah, just plain nasty.

Do you listen to music while you write or read? If so, what kind?

Nope. I am a reader who loves complete silence. One of my favorite times to read is right before bed when the whole house is silent.

What is your favorite blog to read?

There are too many amazing ones to just choose one, but I would say A Purpose and a Promise and Once Upon an Ordinary are two of my favorite.

Have you ever met a favorite author in person? If so, who and when?

I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few authors, but some of my favorites have been Kelsey Bryant, Abigayle Claire, and Jessica Greyson. (also I live with this author, who happens to be one of my favorites of all time) All of them are even more delightful than their books.

Do you usually run out of money because you bought books?

No. I would have at one point, but I realized what a bad habit it was to just spend all my money on books.

Do you wear socks when you go to bed?

No.

Have you ever helped in a political campaign before?

Nope. I am not into politics at all. =P

Are you enjoying fall?

Five Fall Favorites || Top Five Books so Far

Today is the last day of Five Fall Favorites. While I've had fun hanging around with y'all it's time to wrap this up with my favorite books of the year so far. So gather in the barn and scroll onwards! 

Kiera by Kate Willis 

This beautiful book was probably my favorite that I've read all year. It's got amazing characters, themes, and goodness I could go on about this book forever. 

Goodreads || My review

Before Amen by Max Lucado 

I've already mentioned this book but that's because it's amazing. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. 

Goodreads || My Review

The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas

Yeah, I've mentioned this one two. I have never read a book that made me understand bible times as much as this one.

Goodreads || My review

The Elusive Miss Ellison by Carolyn Miller

This Jane Austen style book captured me from the first page. The main character was a great example of a strong, yet feminine, woman. 

Goodreads || My review 

Beautiful Blue World by Suzanne LaFleur

This may be a kids book but it was heartbreakingly beautiful. It got me to thinking about my motives behind things and wanting to be a better friend to those around me. 

Goodreads || My review

Five Fall Favorites || My Favorite Military Books

Welcome, take a seat on the bench and let's dive into my favorite military books. I'm not a huge fan of this type of book, but I did manage to find five that I loved.

Brothers-in-Arms by Jack Lewis Baillot

This is one of the most tear-jerking, amazing books I've ever read. I never read a book that focused so much on a brother relationship and it was amazing. 

Goodreads || My review

The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas

 

This is one of the most underrated classics. Filled with amazing descriptions and great character is doesn't get much better than this. 

Goodreads || My review

A Place Called Lonesome by Jesseca Wheaton 

This short, but deep story really hits home. I actually teared up, which I rarely do at books.

Goodreads

With Every Letter by Sarah Sundin

An amazingly realistic view of war with some of the most realistic characters I've ever read. Talk about someone who nailed that relationships are messy. 

Goodreads || My review

I Don't Dance by Jesseca Wheaton 

Yes, this is the second by Wheaton, but I told you I don't read many Military stories, didn't I? While this book mainly focuses on the relationship of the main characters, the romance not got overwhelming. 

Goodreads || My review

Hop over to Read Another Page to enter this giveaway! 

Here's what it includes: 

Gift from the Storm by Rebekah Morris

Kiera by Kate Willis

There Was Always Laughter in Our House by Sarah Holman

Love Needs No Words by Faith Potts

Bound by Victoria Lynn

A Five Fall Favorites mug (designed by Rebekah Morris, created and donated by Salsa and Tea)

Five Fall Favorites || My Favorite Contemporary

Alrighty, we've got bushels of awesome books today! This is my personal favorite genre, contemporary! 

Dear Mr Knightly by Kathrine Reay 

This is my all time favorite book and I will never get tired of it.

Goodreads || My review

Martin Hospitality by Abigayle Claire 

This is one of those books that makes you feel like you've met all the characters in real life. It inspires compassion, and loving those who aren't the easiest to love. 

Goodreads || My review

Kate's Innocence by Sarah Holman 

This combined my favorite author with mystery, suspense, and amazing characters. What's not to love? 

Goodreads 

Journeys of Four by Rebekah Jones 

I get something new out of this book every time I read it. It is incredibly powerful, and full of great life lessons. 

Goodreads || My review

Becoming Nikki by Ashley Elliot 

This is one of those beautifully realistic books that makes contemporary fiction so beautiful. This author brought a realistic point of view on sibling relationships.

Goodreads 

Hop over to Read Another Page to enter this giveaway! 

Here's what it includes: 

Gift from the Storm by Rebekah Morris

Kiera by Kate Willis

There Was Always Laughter in Our House by Sarah Holman

Love Needs No Words by Faith Potts

Bound by Victoria Lynn

A Five Fall Favorites mug (designed by Rebekah Morris, created and donated by Salsa and Tea)