Today I Am...{8}

This sort of encompasses today, this past weekend and last week.

Pinterest

{writing} 

I've been doing research for my Margaret story recently. What is that you ask? Well, Margaret is a story set in early 1800's England that I've been writing off and on for several years now. I had about half of the story written in first person but the plot had several holes so I set it aside for quite a while. After reading Jane Austen's Lesley Castle recently (my review here)  I took up the story again with new inspiration and started doing Beautiful People (answering personality and story questions) with my characters. It has helped me a lot to get to know my characters better but I'm currently running into difficulties with a couple of the male character's education and occupations so I'm reading up on Regency and early Victorian history for those.

 {reading}

My sister and I just finished reading (re-reading for me) Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke aloud to each other. It is such a good read and I now have a craving to read the rest of the series but don't own them or have a church library at my disposal right now.
On my own (yes, I did just sing those words) I've also been reading Christmas At Pemberley by Regina Jeffers which is a Pride and Prejudice continuation. It's an interesting read for the stories of Georgiana Darcy, Kitty and Mary Bennet, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Anne de Bourgh and the Bingleys but I'm not really enjoying Lizzy and Darcy's part of the story as much as I'd hoped to. They've been married two years but let's just say "their passions have not cooled" so there's some bits I've been skipping over. :-/

{listening}

I've been really into soundtracks and classical music recently, so peaceful and great for reading and writing.
For soundtracks I've been enjoying the BBC Merlin theme song and just found a piano cover that is really gorgeous. Also the BBC Sherlock theme song and other tracks like The Game Is On and Irene's Theme. I also found this YouTube channel that has lovely soundtracks such as Mirror, Mirror, all three LOTR soundtracks and a couple of fun animated ones as well.
For classical music I've been enjoying Chopin and Bach as played by the guy at Achtelnote on YouTube. I especially liked C.P.E. Bach Solfeggietto c minor and then found Drew Henderson's C.P.E. Bach - Solfeggietto on 8 string guitar. Now I've been watching classical guitar videos on YouTube too - when played right the sound is just beautiful!

 {watching} 

Watched Sarah, Plain and Tall with my sister the other night. I forgot how much I love that movie! My family and I used to watch that and Skylark all the time - so many times that the sound of the actor's voices and the soundtrack music is embedded in my memory! heehee
I've also finished re-watching seasons 5 & 6 of Doctor Who (seriously Rory always makes me cry! liked Amy Pond better this time. I desperately need to see season 7 now!), Rosemary & Thyme (British detective show about two gardeners that have a knack for finding corpses and solving crimes, very mild, great guest stars and quite good), watching season 6 of Psych with my sister (tons of fun but the last episode is such a cliffhanger! can't wait to watch season 7!), and have watched the first two seasons of BBC Merlin (not bad, the actors and costumes are amazing, don't like it as much as BBC Robin Hood though). Throw in a few cooking / food shows for fun and you pretty much have what I've been watching for the past couple months. 

 {looking} 

Rain, sunshine, rain, sunshine. That's what it's been doing today.
Inside as I type this I'm looking at two sleeping cats on my bed. They've both taken to sleeping in my room in the afternoons and early evenings. My sister and I enjoy reading to each other or watching things in the evenings (when we're not busy) and Shawn and Gunther always seem to find their way to the bed and steal our afghans on cold nights!

Source

 {learning} 

Well, I'm learning as I'm researching Regency England, so there's that. But in the past few weeks I've been learning a lot about various "Christian" religious groups and what they believe compared to what I personally believe. I've been reminded again how important it is to be like the Bereans (in Acts 17:11) who "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." And how important it is to not just take people's say so about a portion of scripture but to read it for myself to find out what God is really saying in His Word.

{feeling} 

Special. At church yesterday I met a sweet older lady and when I went to shake her hand she told me "Oh, I'm giving everyone hugs today" so I went to hug her and she continued "and you're so pretty!" I know older ladies tend to say things like that often but it just made my morning to hear her call me "pretty". :)
I also had a disappointment yesterday and it's sort of carried over to today. Nothing life threatening but a bit hard to swallow nonetheless. :( 

 {anticipating} 

Bible study on Tuesday night. For the past few weeks I've been able to meet with a group of young people (most of whom work at AiG or the Creation Museum) and get to know some people my age (no close friends yet just a few possibilities). We have such a great time singing hymns, studying God's Word (we're in 2 Corinthians right now), praying together and chatting.
I'm also really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year, there's just so much to be thankful for! :)
Also Christmas! My sister and I enjoyed browsing through the Christmas section at our local Walmart on Friday - it's so fun to see all the different decorations and wrappings!

 {wishing} 

For some energy. Supper is coming and I could use a little bit more steam to get me through the rest of the evening. 

 {loving}
This Fail-Proof Pizza Dough recipe I found on Pinterest and used for the first time last week! It's pretty much the same recipe I've been using except with honey instead of white sugar and different treatment of the dough that makes all the difference!  I made the Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks to go with our dinner last Tuesday night and it was pretty much love at first bite! Definitely a keeper recipe and I highly recommend giving it a try! It is a bit time consuming but the finished product is so worth it, I promise! :)


and I'm adding one more category this time...

{excited about}
400 wonderful followers here at OFC! Thanks bunches!

So what has been special about your day (or weekend)?

Are you looking forward to Thanksgiving?

What have you been learning from God's Word lately?