Operation Beautiful #21

Today I am having a special person and very special feature on my blog. Shane from Whispering Sweetly is here with her amazing project 21st round Operation Beautiful. She was kind enough to let me join in. I really want to spread the word of this amazing project. So I am just going to let her do her thing. 

<center> <a href="http://shaneprather.blogspot.com/search/label/operation%20beautiful"><img border="0" src="http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz180/x3shanerx3/blog/op.jpg" /></a></center> As expected, I received overwhelming interest in my Operation Beautiful project. Thus, the showcase will roll out 3 lovely ladies each Monday until I stop receiving entries...hopefully never!

This project is to make you think, ponder, appreciate the simple things about yourself, that add up and make you truly beautiful. The smaller qualities that you adore about yourself, like your lips or eyes, that make you feel pretty on the worst of days.

This project is about your talents, your secret hidden abilities, your amazing personalities. Those quirks which make you, uniquely you. And, I sincerely hope that after you read through the finished product to discover how these other ladies feel about themselves, you can spend the rest of the day, sincerely feeling great about yourself.

If you feel vulnerable, insecure, or hesitant to send in an entry, don't be! We're in this together. It will hopefully make you realize a few things about yourself. This will by far be one of my favorite posts I'll ever do on this blog, and I won't even write it, you guys will. Take it away ladies!

Cody

I feel most beautiful when… I laugh. I think laughter works the best on everyone and I love making myself and others laugh.

My favorite physical feature is my... Eyes. They change colors so I always look a little different plus they are a good portion of my face.

Something non-physical that I love about myself is...That when I have something on my mind I don't stop until I finish it, all of it and it's most perfect form. Kinda OCD and perfectionist speaking.

I'm happiest when...At the end of a full day when I get to think about what I accomplished on my to do list, fun or non fun.

Haley Navey

I feel most beautiful when… I get all dolled up. There's just something about looking my best that makes me feel confident!
My favorite physical feature is my... Hair or eyes. I'm lucky to have long, thick hair and my blue eyes are a lot less common than other colors, so I like that!

Something non-physical that I love about myself is...My love for helping other people. Acts of service is definitely one of my love languages and I just love lending a helping hand to those around me!

I'm happiest when... I'm surrounded by family! There's always so much laughter and fun--there's nothing like it!

Courtney

I feel most beautiful when… I'm smiling, laughing, wearing cute clothes and jewelry, and just being myself.
 
My favorite physical feature is my... eyes and hair. My hair has natural gold/blonde highlights in it and when it's sunny out, that's when the color really shows.
 
Something non-physical that I love about myself is...how funny, caring I am, and how I can bake like it's nobody's business.

I'm happiest when... I'm with my fiance, traveling, blogging, writing, baking, eating frozen yogurt or ice cream, and just being my quirky fun self.

Interested on being featured in future rounds?
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OLW Freeing Myself // Life Changes + God Control

 I am excited to introduce you to my new series, OLW (one little word) freeing myself. Each time I post on this series, I will be writing about a new area in which I learned to free myself in.
Catch up with what my One Little Word is.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 5am completely unexpected so I just went on with my day. BUT life dropped a bomb when my foot was hurting. This told me that I wasn't going to be able to take the class that I wanted. I had visions of what I was going to do in the class and I wrote a post all about the how excited I was. I was really bumped out that I wasn't able to do that class that I wanted. Top all that with other unexpectiveness that life brings and it seemed that nothing was going my way.

But that was the point, nothing was going MY way. I had plans. I had ideas. Yet they weren't what God wanted. God was trying to talk to me and I wasn't listening til now.

I know I don't usually mention God in my posts but to be honest that was because I was mad at him. There were things that happen last year that just totally threw me. I wasn't prepared and I felt that God was laughing at me. However, over the end of the last year I started to realize that wasn't true. God isn't mad at me and that he is really trying to help me.

My point to this is that I am freeing myself to let God take over. I am freeing myself of the control I have. So you might see more about God in my posts to come. I will probably loose readers but I have no control over that. I also have no control over what God does. What he says goes peoples.

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Book Review December 2013

I can't believe that the month got away from me. I didn't even get time to post my books that I read in December. For those that a new here: I like to post the books I read in one post because I am not a true book reviewer.

Short-Straw Bride  by Karen Witemeyer 

Goodreads Summary: No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk. Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again. Four brothers. Four straws. One bride. Despite the fact that Travis is no longer the gallant youth Meredith once dreamed about, she determines to stand by his side against the enemy that threatens them both. But will love ever be hers? Or will Travis always see her merely as a short-straw bride?

My Thoughts: I normally don't read this genre of book but I was attracted to the title. After reading it, I can say its' adorable. Just plain adorable. If your looking for a cute, simple read this is it. 

Rate: 4 stars

Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall

Goodreads Summary: Amid the mayhem of the Civil War, Virginia plantation wife Iris Dunleavy is put on trial and convicted of madness. It is the only reasonable explanation the court can see for her willful behavior, so she is sent away to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a good, compliant woman. Iris knows, though, that her husband is the true criminal; she is no lunatic, only guilty of disagreeing with him on notions of justice, cruelty, and property. On this remote Florida island, cut off by swamps and seas and military blockades, Iris meets a wonderful collection of residents--some seemingly sane, some wrongly convinced they are crazy, some charmingly odd, some dangerously unstable.

My Thoughts: When I started this book, I thought it could go so much better but as the story progressed it died. The characters didn't develop and there was hardly a plot. It was like reading pages of a diary without knowing any of the beginning or the end. 

Rate: 1 Start

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Goodreads Summary: On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of Texas, Crockett Archer can scarcely believe it when he's forced off the train by a retired outlaw and presented to the man's daughter as the minister she requested for her birthday. Worried this unfortunate detour will ruin his chances of finally serving a congregation of his own, Crockett is determined to escape. But when he finally gets away, he's haunted by the memory of the young woman he left behind--a woman whose dreams now hinge on him. For months, Joanna Robbins prayed for a preacher. A man to breathe life back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. A man to help her discover answers to the questions that have been on her heart for so long. But just when it seems God has answered her prayers, it turns out the person is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett to stay in her little backwoods community? And does the attraction between them have any chance of blossoming when Joanna's outlaw father is dead set against his daughter courting a preacher?

My Thoughts: This is the second book of the Short-Straw Bride but it deals with another character from that book. I really like how she did it. I think the first was more adorable because of the story. Yet this book was just as entertaining and easy to read. 

Rate: 3 Stars 

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