june in review || hello july

June is over, y'all. It flew by. But it was a great month and I hope July is as good!

 



As you know from a previous post, I played piano with my bestie at her graduation. I was so nervous, but it went very well. I'm so happy for you, Abigail, for graduating!!! :D

I spent three whole days with Abigail and her family! I had so much fun with them! :D

I lost a piano student (Chloe) and gained a piano student

I read three whole books and half of two other books, plus I listened to an audio book!

I finished 11th grade! Hallelujah!! :D I'm officially a senior!



We celebrated Emma's second birthday, Kristen's twenty third birthday, and Ben's fourteenth birthday

(sorry it's so dark)

We went to George Washington's Birthplace at Kristen's birthday request

I won a giveaway from The Zephyr blog

I got 40 followers! Thank y'all so much!

 



seeing my bestie and her family

fresh eggs



listening to our neighbors cows

the ability to play the piano



my siblings

air conditioning

my Daddy

(sorry the picture is so dark :( )

getting a new piano student

hot and spicy chicken wings! :D



Daddy helping me with my DMV sessions

Burger King cherry icee's



 



 



 


take a picture I'm actually proud of

Get to 20 hours total in my driving time

go fishing and catch a fish (out of all the years I've lived on the lake, I've only caught one fish :( )

pass out 20 gospel tracts

go for a bike ride

 

Happy Thirty-third Anniversary to the best parents in the world! I love y'all so much!

 



 

 

 

how was your june?
favorite thing about the month?
what are some goals you have for july?

book review || tortured for his faith

I read this book about a year ago and I loved it! Haralan Popov's faith is incredible. He is tortured so much and still he remains faithful to the Lord.



Tortured For His Faith
By: Haralan Popov
146 Pages
5 Stars



Tortured for His Faith: An Epic of Christian Courage and Heroism in Our Day. Haralan Popov was the pastor of one of the largest churches in Bulgaria. The Communist government imprisoned him for 15 years.



I really loved this book. Like I said earlier, Haralan Povov's faith is incredible. He amazes me. He loved the Lord so much that he was willing to go through years of torture for Him.
I recommend that every single Christian read this.
You can purchase the book here.

Also, Happy Birthday to Kris, Ben and Emma! Kristen and Ben's birthday is on Wednesday. They share a birthday and are nine years apart. Kristen will be twenty three and Benjamin will be fourteen
Emma's birthday was last week and she turned two.
I love all of y'all so much!

have you ever read Tortured For His Faith?
how did you like it?
do you enjoy reading real life stories?

7 tips for concentrating on your Bible reading

I know we all have the trouble of concentrating on our Bible reading. I have a very difficult time with that. What is the point in reading your Bible if you're not even understanding what you're reading? If you're just reading words?
Today I will share with y'all some tips on how to concentrate more while your reading your Bible. (I got the idea for this post from one of my Daddy's messages. Thank you Daddy!)

1. Pray
Pray before you start reading your Bible. This is probably the best tip I have.
Ask the Lord for understanding and that He would show you things that you've never seen before. Ask Him to help you concentrate and to help keep you from getting distracted.  If you really have a desire to learn from your Bible, the Lord will help you.

2. Write Down Things That Come to Your Mind
If you're reading your Bible and that thing that your Mom asked you to do yesterday (that you still haven't done) comes to your mind, write it down on a piece of paper. If you don't write it down, you will be worried about it and thinking about it through your whole Bible time and then you wont get anything from your Bible reading.

3. Be Careful About Using A Computer
Sometimes people like using computers or phones to read their Bible on, but this is sometimes a bad idea. There is a good possibility that a text message or a Social Media notification will pop up. It would be very tempting to check those text messages or notifications and they could become big distractions. I know you don't get text messages on your computer, but you will have other distractions. So the best thing to do when your reading your Bible is put ALL electronic devices away.

4. Reread Verses You Don't Understand.
Sometimes I have to read the same Bible verse over about ten times before I understand it. Even if you don't read very much in your Bible (maybe only one chapter) at least you would have understood it very well because you reread the passages you didn't understand.

5. Don't Read When You're Tired
This is probably the worst thing you can do when you're reading your Bible. I have had this happen to me and when it happens, I don't comprehend anything I'm reading. I'm so tired that I'm just reading words. So Do. Not. Read. When. You. Are. Tired.

6. Read Your Bible Aloud
This helps me a lot. I do this almost all of the time and I understand what I'm reading a lot better. I'm shutting out all other noises so all I hear is myself.

7. Read Your Bible in a Quiet, Private Place
I normally read my Bible in my bedroom with the door shut. That is the quietest place in our house. Usually.
It would be very difficult to read your Bible in a room filled with distractions (for ex. people, TV, music, etc.). Make sure you are reading your Bible in a place where you can concentrate on God's Word.

 

I hope these 7 tips have helped you. :)

Also, Happy Fathers Day to my wonderful Daddy! I love you so much and I hope yesterday was special for you!



 

 

 

do you have a hard time concentrating on your Bible reading?
what are some methods you use to help you concentrate on your Bible reading?

a graduation + busy days

I have been SUPER DUPER busy lately. Everything about June so far has been busy. It started out with my going to my best friend's graduation! It was so much fun! She asked me and a few other girls to play "How Great Thou Art" with her for her graduation. Even though I was really, really nervous, I felt so honored that she asked me to play with her at her graduation!

(This picture was taken right before the graduation (sorry its so blurry))
While we were eating lunch together on Sunday, I was asked to come and stay with them from Wednesday through Saturday since my Daddy and Abigail's Daddy were going on a Baptist History tour and Daddy would be going to their house anyway. I was SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!
Wednesday didn't come fast enough. Finally, it was Wednesday morning and Daddy and I were on our way to my best friend's house. I had such a fun time with Abigail and her family!!! I don't think they will ever know how much fun I had!!



(while I was there, we went four wheeling. EEEPPP!!! :D )

I've been reading a lot of books. Abigail and her brother filled me up with tons of books to read. I'm going to try and read them all before July 4th, which is when Abigail's whole family is coming up to stay with us! YAY! I CANT WAIT!! :D

I might be starting to teach a new girl piano! Its up in the air right now on their end, but if they want to do it, I'll probably be starting sometime in July. I have mixed feelings about it. Most of me is really excited, but some of me is quite nervous. I mean, she is a beginner and I will be building her foundation for piano. But she seems like a real nice little girl and I hope it works out.

We've been really busy with house hold work. Getting things done that we haven't been able to get done because of busy times.
We've been doing some deep cleaning inside and outside, mulching, filling some ditches around the house with stone, pulling weeds, and etc.
Us girls spent the whole morning in the kitchen today, and quite possibly will be spending our whole evening in there too, because of our Father's Day meal tonight! It is going to be delicious! (Maybe I'll do another post on this on Monday. We shall see. ;) )



 

 

 

what have you been up to lately?
have you been doing a lot of reading?

summer || how i see it

Summer is my favorite season ever. I love almost everything about it. Summer is so special to me! And not having school helps make that even more special!! :D

Here is what most people think of when they think of Summer.

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And here is what my Summer looks like!! :D <3

 

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When I think of Summer, this is what comes to mind.  I guess I like these things because I'm a country girl. We live in the country and I've grown up with Summer's like this. I love the cookouts, the water fights, the sunflowers, the fishing, the lightning bugs, the sunshine, the tans and barefeet.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy going to the beach, but my family usually doesn't do this in the Summer time! :D

I'm so excited for Summer!!! Its my favorite season of all!

what does your summer look like?
do you like summer?
what is your favorite season?

 

 

recipe || homemade pizza

My family made this pizza not too long ago and it turned out so good!!! :D The hardest part in the recipe is making the pizza dough and chopping vegetables, but it really wasn't too difficult.



Pizza Dough

• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 1 1/4 ounce packet active dry yeast


• 3 tablespoons olive oil


• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting


• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

 

Directions

Whisk 1 1/3 cups warm water (hot from the tap) together with sugar and salt.
Sprinkle in the packet of yeast and set aside, allowing the yeast to get foamy.
Add the olive oil to the yeast/water mixture.
Begin to stir in the flour, stirring until the mixture forms a dough.
Sprinkle a working surface area with extra flour and begin to knead your dough ball for another 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth.
Brush a small amount of olive oil on the dough ball and place back into mixing bowl.
Cover and set aside at room temperature for about an hour, allowing the ball to double in size.
When ready, roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thick (or to your preference).

 

Pizza Sauce

• 1 to 2 tablespoons olivie oil


• 3 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 medium onion, chopped finely


• 1/2 cup chicken broth


• Three 15-ounce cans crushed tomatoes


• Salt and pepper


• Pinch salt


• 1 teaspoon dried oregano


• 8 to 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil into a hot pan over medium heat.
Throw in the garlic and chopped onions and give them a stir.
Cook until the onions are soft, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the chicken broth, whisking to deglaze the bottom of the pan.
Cook until the liquid reduces by half.
Add the crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.
Add salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar.
Add the dried oregano and basil.
Reduce heat and heat low and simmer 30 minutes.

 

Toppings:

You can put whatever you like on your pizza.
This is what we used:

• Italian sausage


• pepperoni


• mozzarella cheese


• peppers and onions (sautéed for a few minutes for extra flavor)


• fennel seed (we sprinkled this on the tomato sauce after spreading it on the pizza crust but before we added the rest of the toppings. The cheese goes on next, then the rest of the toppings)

 

The only thing we would do differently next time is spread the dough a little thinner because it was a lot of crust. We might also brush the crust with butter, and sprinkle it with garlic powder and parmesan cheese.

So that's the recipe! I hope you enjoy your pizza!!



 

 

 

do you like pizza?
have you ever made homemade pizza?
are you going to give this recipe a try?
let me know how it turns out for you!

 

my thoughts on real books vs. tablets

I love reading  (as if you didn't already know that by now ;) ). But when I read, I like having a real book in my hands. I know a lot of you enjoy reading on tablets (I've actually read a book or two on a tablet myself) but its just not the same. There is something just so much more special reading from a real book than it is reading from a tablet.
Today I will share with you why I think real books are better than tablets.

Every time I get a new book to add to my shelf, I normally end up changing its home from one shelf to another about 81717838294 times (ok. I know I'm exaggerating :) ) before it looks perfect. And every time I get a new book, I admire seeing on the shelf with my sizable collection of books.
But when you have a tablet, you cant admire your library like you can when your books are on a bookshelf. Its just a long list of books and its not very pretty.

I love smelling my books. (maybe i'm weird??) Especially when they're really old. They just have that certain smell about them that I love. Even the new books have the scent of newness. But the tablets just don't have that smell. In fact, they don't smell like anything at all, which is really quite sad. :(

Ok. So if you are anything like me, you buy your books mostly by going to thrift stores. I cringe when I spend money on books over $10. Actually I cringe when I spend money on anything over $10! :D
Anyway, when you have a tablet, you cannot buy second hand books to read on it. They have to be brand new.

I love sharing books with my bookish friends, and I love borrowing books from them too. But if you have a tablet I would think that it would be really, really hard to do.

I love pressing flowers in my books. I guess you could say that its a hobby of mine. I love it when I'm reading a book and I turn the page and I see a perfect flower pressed on the page! It just makes that book even more beautiful!

Reading real books is just so much nicer. You can listen to that lovely sound the pages make when your turning them, you can skim through your book without much difficulty, and they're just so much more special. Tablets just don't have that kind of magic.

what are your thoughts on this?
which one would you rather use to read?
do you have another point i didn't mention?