Language of my Heart

Diaries and journals have always interested me. As much as I journaled while growing up I was always curious what other people wrote in their diaries.  There were several different times when there were some journals among the things Daddy brought home from estate auctions and we always enjoyed reading them. I still remember the day I discovered my Mom's diary's in the attic. And how disappointed I was when she went and destroyed them. I have always wondered what all she had written and wished that there would have been a way to read them and learn to know the teen that grew up to be my mother.

Another box I discovered several months later contained hundreds of letters from her sister that she wrote to her while she had been a teacher in Gorrie, Ontario, far from home. I read those letters and enjoyed them immensely. A whole series of books could be written simply from the contents of those letters. The peek into the life of a young Amish school teacher's life was delightfully entertaining. I laughed and cried my way through the entire box of letters. Later I was really glad I did when my Mom returned the letters to her sister.

One of my favorite books from when I was a teen was called The Language of my Heart it was the real journal an Amish girl wrote during her teen years. I read and reread my copy more times than I can count, it was out of print for quite a while but last year the publishers decided to do a reprint and today I'm offering you the chance to have your own copy by having a giveaway.

To enter the giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment telling me if you ever tried journaling.

For a second entry post a link to this giveaway on your blog or Facebook and come back and leave another comment telling me you did.

I will be choosing the winner on Friday, November 1st.

 

Giveaway is now closed and a winner has been chosen.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. When it comes to good manners, what two top your list of most important?

Saying please and thank you. And simply obeying the golden rule.

2. Let's open a proverbial can of worms...Common Core.  Are you familiar with the term (talking education reform in the USA)?  If so, care to share your thoughts? In your opinion, what is one of the biggest issues schools (in your home country) face today?

Common Core? My parents tried to teach me, if I don't have something good to say, to say nothing at all. I'm choosing to follow that advice here.

3. Name a celebrity whose fashion sense you admire and share why.

I have so much going on in my life that I pay next to zero attention to fashion. I don't care what anyone chooses to wear. I don't have any celebrities that I can think of that have a fashion sense I admire. I couldn't care less what they wear.

4. How are you affected by the changing seasons?

I love all season changes except when spring turns to summer. I'm loving this season change. More time to enjoy working on indoor projects. It's that time of year when crafts get pulled out and worked on, many new recipes are tried, and we begin making plans for the holidays.

5. Scariest book you've ever read?

The scariest book I have ever read has to be a tie between The Neighbor and The Haunted Mesa. Both of them had me looking over my shoulders days after I finished reading them.

6. What time of day are you most hungry? What's your go-to snack?

I'm most hungry late afternoons. I don't really have a go to snack. Most of the time it is what ever we have on hand, it might be anything from baby carrots to chocolate chip cookies.

7. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others?

Probably too independent. I don't care what others think of me and following the crowd and keeping up with the Joneses is something that I never have to worry about trying to do. I'm happiest doing my own thing.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

It's snowing!!!

Bits and Pieces

Outside my window instead of a clear blue October skies it appears as if November would have already arrived. Bleak, gray, and drab.

It makes me feel like doing some sewing and trying my hand at some Pinterest-y crafts.

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I'm making our favorite fruitcakes. It takes quite a while to make it. A full 45 days. But the end results always make me say it was worth all the aggravation, so I'm doing it again this year.

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October is fire safety month and Buddy seems to be playing the part. He loves Sailor's old fireman hat.

 

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I have been enjoying some good books lately and when digging through our big book cupboard I found some books I had bought in hopes to share them with you. Stay tuned for some fun giveaways in the near future.

Speedy Brownies

One of our favorite sweet treats happens to be brownies. They get made quite often because we really like them, an added bonus is that they are one of the easiest things to make.

 

Speedy Brownies

2 cups sugar
1¾ cup flour
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp salt
5 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl measure all ingredients in order given. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9"x13" pan. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes.

Rosebud likes sprinkling candy coated chips on top before baking, but that is totally optional.

Simple, easy, and yet so delicious!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What was your biggest worry five years ago?  Is it still a worry?

One of my biggest worries five years ago was that Sailor would have a really hard time with school, especially with math.

Thankfully that is no longer a worry. Somewhere along the line something clicked and he is now a math whiz and counts it among his favorite subjects.

2. Yesterday (October 15th) was National Grouch Day...what makes you grouchy? What cheers you up when you're feeling grouchy?

Heat makes me grouchy. Having a nice air conditioned place to cool off cheers me up, as well as a tall glass of ice cold lemonade.

3.  In one word, how does it feel to be photographed?

Awkward.

4. Besides your parents, who would you say had the greatest influence on you in choosing your life path?  Explain.

LV.

All the major decisions and happenings in my life have been directly influenced by my husband.

5. The crisp days of autumn are here ...what's something you like to eat, but only if it's crisp?

Iceberg lettuce.

Sailor loves cooking and experimenting in the kitchen and I usually cheerfully taste any concoction he creates, but being served with wilted lettuce dripping in melted butter was too much.

6. What's the most useless object you own?

A bread dough mixer. I never, ever use it. It's much faster and easier to simply make a loaf or two by hand than drag out that contraption and use it. Maybe if I'd make six loaves of bread at a time like we used to while I was growing up I might give it a try again, but for the past fourteen years it has been resting in the storeroom.

7.  Share a favorite fall memory.

One of my favorite fall memories is the day LV and I attended a wedding in a neighboring church district. The twelve mile ride in the buggy was perfect, the horse seemed to know we weren't in a hurry, having started off early enough to allow him to walk most of the way. Orange and yellow leaves glistened in the morning sun as the frost melted away. We both knew that the entire community would find out we were courting that evening when all the steady couples entered the house together and we would be among that group.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Rosebud and I are already working on choosing our Thanksgiving menu. We don't do the whole turkey thing since we would all much rather have a feast of our favorite foods and try out a few new recipes as well.