Happy November!

Wow! I feel like I haven't been on blogger in forever! *pulls up a chair and a mug of pumpkin spice coffee* How have you all been? I've missed you lovely peoples!

Wait... what? I didn't tell you? Yeah, I drink coffee now. Not black coffee straight out of the pot, mind you. No, that fancy, New-England style stuff that probably has more creamer and milk and sugar than coffee. 

Never in a million years would I think that I would be drinking coffee. But that's what college does to a body. And I'm finding, in a very strange way, I'm enjoying it.

I don't have much time to stop and chat, but I did want to assure you all that I am still very much alive. College is busy, but I am learning a lot. Plus, there's some brief moments to have fun and breathe, which is nice. I enjoy those moments. And then Thanksgiving break is only two weeks and two days away. *glorious sigh*

I desperately wish I could be stuck in the middle of NaNo with you all. Please feel free to drop me a comment below - let me know how your crazy month of writing is going, or what November has in store for you, or what the best way to drink coffee is! 

God bless!

In Summer!

Hey, guys!! I'm back!!

Oh, how I've missed you all! It just hasn't been the same not seeing those fun, quirky, thought-provoking posts from the wonderful world of blogging. Honestly, I feel like I've been gone for years rather than months.

Freshman year is behind me, done and dusted. At first, I was a little uneasy about going into college at twenty-one and being older than just about everyone in my class by a full three years, but God truly did amazing things this year. In all truth, the things He taught me this year couldn't have been learned if I had not been a freshman. Praise Him for His perfect timing! I did not understand before why things were happening the way they did, but He had a plan. God knew. And I grew because of it.

But enough about me. How have you guys all been? I've spotted quite a few good books having been published while I was away and I see there are a bunch more publications coming this summer, so I know you've been busy! This is shaping up to be a fantastic year for books!

I am hoping to try to self-publish Secret of the Hazel Tree this summer. A big task, I know. I still have a lot of editing to do and the release and all to plan, but I'm praying that God will just have His hand in this. I am very excited to share this story with you all. 

Anywhoz, I hope I will be quite active online this summer and get back in touch with all you wonderful people. I'm looking forward to a great summer!

And because this song is amazing... and very much stuck in my head right now. :)

God bless!

Just a Quick Shout-Out!

Hey, folks!

I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten you all! College is going well, and I'm still trying to adjust to the new pace of life here. Am I busy? Yes. Am I going crazy running here and there to classes and choir practice? Yes. Am I staying up late to do homework? .... *inconspicuous cough* Yes. *moving on* Do I love it here? OH, YES!! Even in the mere five weeks that I've been here, it's been an experience I'll never forget, and I praise God every morning for His faithfulness and blessings. 

But college aside -- I'm making a slip of time to jump on Blogger and tell all of you just how much I love you guys. Lianne Taimenlore just hit 90 followers! Thank you so much, everyone, for making this blog what it is! I hope to find some free time SOMETIME to write a decent post.

God bless!

Do You Want To See Some Costumes?

Oh, you do? Okey dokey, you'll have to pop over to my sister's blog.

What am I talking about? Well, my littlest sister, KT Bugs by name, turned 5 whole years of age on Sunday, and at her special request, we held a costume party for her. It was great fun getting up outfits for everyone, especially as each family kept their own costumes secret from the other families. 

My other sister, Jessa, just posted all the pictures from our costume party over on her blog, Freckled Adventures. She's got a poll up and everything, so please stop by! HERE is the link in case you missed it.

God bless!

The Completely Random and Useless Tag

Jessa Bri (my sister, if you didn't know that already) began a tag that looks absobloominglutely fun, and I couldn't resist so I'm doing it. It's called The Completely Random and Useless Tag. *grins* I encourage you all to pop over to her dee-lightful blog and do it, too!

Rules:
1. Copy this tag and answer all of the questions.
2. Mention me, Jessa Bri, and link back to my blog.
3. Comment on this post and leave a link to your post with the tag.
4. Feel free to tag people... or don't tag anyone at all!

Favorite color?
Blue. 

What book are you currently reading?
Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon. I'm liking it, and this is only my second unabridged Verne! The first was Around the World in Eighty Days, which, coincidentally, is the same book. Two Verne in one copy. Pretty nifty, eh?

Popcorn or pickles?
Ugh, Jessa, you would say that.... if they're dill pickles, I can't choose. Sweet... *shudders* POPCORN ALL THE WAY!

What is your favorite way to eat raisins?
I was going to say "dried" but apparently someone beat me to that. *looks at Jessa* Humiliated grapes, really. I like 'em in a trail mix with craisins and peanuts and cashews, or they're also really good in warm, homemade pumpkin bread. Ahhhh.... :)

Do you like to wear socks to bed?
In the winter, yes, because I can't sleep with cold feet. Yes, I know. I'm weird.

Pick the main character from the last book your read-- he/she is now your best friend. Who is it, which book is he/she from, and what is one similar thing- something odd or unusual- about the both of you that makes you best friends?
Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile. I'm best friends with Hercule Poirot? Wow... I'd guess I'd have to be his Watson, then... but perhaps in a more feminine, rambunctious way. What's similar between us? The love of a good mystery.

Spring, summer, autumn, or winter?
Yep.

Favorite musical (any production or movie counts)?
Either Cinderella (2013 Broadway) or Fiddler on the Roof (1971 film) or... yeah, I should probably stop there. This could end up being a pretty looooong list.

Best song EVAH!

Lefty or righty?
Righty! 

Sausage or bacon?
*glares at Jessa* Not fair.

Would you rather spend the afternoon on Pinterest or reading a good book?
Uhh... no brainer there! The book wins hands down!

White socks or "fun" socks?
White. I'm not a fun socks person. Not really, anyway. Socks are for practical, not decorative, purposes.

Coffee or tea?
Root beer! Pepsi! Lemonade! Apple cider!

Are you shy or outgoing?
Mostly shy, but I can force myself to be outgoing.

What is the goofiest thing you do with your friends/cousins/siblings (whichever it may be)?
Too many goofy things. To list them all would take up considerable space on this blog. One of the goofiest is reenacting songs from movies and musicals. That can get hilarious. Or playing Apples to Apples all the wrong ways. Yes, that's hilarious, too.

Would you rather read a good book; bake up a storm (a good storm) in the kitchen; ride your horse across the fields; spend hours updating your wardrobe; watch your favorite movie/show all day; or simply sit in a tree daydreaming?
Read a good book. How is there a choice? Although, the tree sounds lovely.

Yes, indeed. Snoopy knows. :)

What do you like to eat for breakfast?
A cinnamon raisin bagel with butter. Plain, yummy, and simple.

Would you rather be behind or in front of a camera?
Honestly... in front. I'm not a whiz with taking pictures, nor do I deem myself photogenic, but I'd rather be in front. Or to the side, so you only get half of me in the actual picture.

Foot size?
You should have asked my last name, best friend's name, favorite food, and eye color first, because everyone knows that foot size doesn't matter. ;) Actually, I'm not sure what size my feet are. Somewhere around 9 1/2... I think. I usually don't look at sizes. I just wear whatever fits.

Truthfully, did you enjoy this tag?
Yes, yes, of course, I did.

God bless!

On This Particular Saturday...

... I am attempting to recover from a blast-and-a-half party we had with our classy blood cousins last night. It wasn't necessarily a Valentine's party, other than a few of us wearing red shirts, but we had a fine time freezing while sledding, eating way too much chili, and laughing so hard that we all nearly had to go to the hospital to get our sides stitched back up.

Anywho, I hope you all had a wonderful day, and I just wanted to say again how blessed I was this past week with the Dear Love party. Sure, as the hostess, I didn't expect much from the party, but you all surprised me with your enthusiasm. I've even begun to get requests for a second party the same time next year. We'll have to see...

Just a few statistics from the week that I'd love to share with you:

9 guest posts

2 of my own posts

83 comments 

30 Google+

Over 700 views

Thank YOU for being a blessing to me! The posts are still more than open for further readings, sharings, and comments, so I encourage you to go back through the week and catch up on any posts that you might have missed!

And... I cannot end this post without bringing two giveaways to your attention...

Sink me! Hamlette of Hamlette's Soliloquy is giving away a copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), so go HERE to check it out! 

AND... a wonderful blogging friend of mine (Rachel Heffington, by name) just published her debut novel, Fly Away Home, yesterday, and it promises to be a smashing read! She's giving away two autographed copies on her blog, so be sure to stop by!

God bless! 

"That Is A Nice Rock..."

Is it just me, or is there suddenly a superfluous amount of inspirational blogging posts? Somehow, with the start of a brand new year, something sparked, and now we have a flood of wonderfully marvelous posts. I'm probably spending way too much time on blogger reading them all. 

And then I think, "Oh! Now it's my turn to write a wonderfully marvelous, epically inspirational post!"

....

*crickets*

...

Uh... how 'bout...

...

*more crickets*

... 

Pinterest for inspiration, anyone?

...

*le sigh*

Everyone is writing all of these epic posts, and I'm just under my maple tree, saying to myself, 

"That is a nice rock. I like that rock."

"I wonder how a raven CAN be like a writing desk."

"Oh, look! Chips!"

"I need to finish reading Little Dorrit."

And a lot of other nonsensical things.

BUT...

I do have a surprise for you all! Can't tell right now ya know, of course, as I still have a few wrinkles to iron out, but look for a WONDERFULLY MARVELOUS announcement on Monday! 

God bless!

The Adventure Begins...

...TOMORROW!

Yes, indeed! November is only one day away!! The 30 Day Middle-Earth Challenge begins tomorrow!!

Are you ready for the adventure?

God bless!

Answering Your Questions About The Challenge

First off, I'd like to say how muchly I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm about the upcoming 30 Day Middle-Earth Challenge. Melody and I have been highly anticipating this since June (which was when we first cooked up the idea), and it's great to see the response it's getting so far! And we're not into November yet! Thank you, everyone!

I've had a lot of people commenting and asking me questions about the challenge, and as I realized that many other people are having the same questions, I'm going to do my best to answer them all in one post.

Ready?

Do I have to do all 30 days of the challenge? Absolutely not, if you don't want to! If all you manage to accomplish is one day, we'd still love to have you join us!

Can I group multiple days in one post? Why, certainly! Whether it's anywhere from 2 days in a post or even all 30 grouped together, that's more than acceptable.

May I still participate even though I don't have a blog? Yup. You can leave your answers in a comment either on my blog or on Melody's blog. Or, going into the next question...

May I do the challenge on Pinterest? Totally yes! Pinning one picture a day with a caption is ideal. All we ask is that you leave us a link to your Pinterest board.

What if I discover the challenge after it has started? Can I still join? Sure! You don't have to be with us all the way from day one! The more, the merrier! 

Can I do challenge posts after November 30th? Uhh... the challenge is set for the month of November, so we ask that you publish all of your posts in Novmeber. If, however, you have posts planned and don't manage to get them published before the deadline, you may still publish them, and we will do our best to forgive your tardiness.

Why do I need to tag all of my challenge posts with "30 Day Middle-Earth Challenge" and leave you or Melody a link to that tag? When you tag your challenge posts with that, it makes it easier to find all of the posts. Leaving us a link will tell us that you're participating, so that when the challenge is completed, Melody and I can compile a list of everyone that participated in the challenge and share it with you so that you can read everyone else's challenge posts. If we don't know you're participating, we can't include you on the list, and everyone misses out on reading your challenge posts.

Do I have to follow Lianne Taimenlore and/or The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls to participate in the challenge? As much as we'd love you to follow us and read our blogs, it's not required. You need to link back to our blogs to let people know who the challenge hosts are, but you don't need to be a public follower of either blog. I will say that being a follower of either or both blogs will be beneficial, for if Melody or I post an announcement about the challenge, you, as not a follower, will miss it. Being a follower will keep you up-to-date on what we're doing with the challenge.

Does it matter what pictures I include in the challenge? You may use any Middle-Earth related pictures for the challenge. We do ask that you keep all pictures clean and family-friendly as we have people of all ages and genders participating in this challenge. If we see that you include something that is inappropriate in your challenge answers, we reserve the right to not include you in the final link-up.

Do my challenge answers have a required length? Nope! Whether it's simply a picture, or an essay in length, all lengths are accepted!

Okay, did I cover everything? Hopefully, this clears up any loose ends for you all, but if you happen to have any other questions, please leave a comment!

God bless!

One Hundredth Post!

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy ONE HUNDREDTH POST!

1. And to celebrate, I'm posting one hundred things. 

2. That one counted as number one.

3. And because it counted as number one, I now have less things to think of.

4. Okay, fine! I'll start writing real things (and I said "things" not "facts" so be prepared for the random).

5. Right after I have a good laugh. 

6. To start off, Lianne Taimenlore has 37 followers. 

7. I love you guys!! 

8. Thank you all the way to the moon and back!

9. Consider each and every one of you cyber-hugged.

10. And throw some virtual confetti around. 

11. Every celebration is better than confetti.

12. And cake!

13. But unfortunately, cyber cake doesn't taste very good.

14. Unless it's off Pinterest.

15. And yes, I'm on Pinterest now. 

16. If you were followed by a certain Kiri Liz on Pinterest, know that it's me. :)

17. I couldn't get Pinterest to accept my blogger profile picture, so I had to step back and settle for my old Eowyn pic.

18. Which I love.

19. Because Eowyn is swell.

20. And I've discovered that Pinterest is swell, too.

21. And it's way too easy to pin too many boards once you're on there.

22. Including making a board for each one of your stories.

23. And I have a board for a story that I have not yet posted about on blogger. 

24. I won't tell you the name of the story, but you can pop on over to Pinterest and see it for yourself here.

25. See it? Good.

26. I love the smell of old books.

27. This is starting to get random.

28. But random is my middle name.

29. Not really.

30. But I sometimes think it would be appropriate. 

31. Because I tend to be very random.

32. Actually at the moment, I have something not so random to share with you all.

33. I will not be on blogger this week.

34. Yep, you read that right.

35. I will not be getting on because I'm taking a blogging break. 

36. An everything internet-related break, in fact.

37. Why?

38. Because my sisters and I are going on a trip!

39. Those two sisters are Beth Grace and Jessa Bri, by the way.

40. You should know them because I talk about them a lot.

41. Anywho, we're very thankful that the Lord provided us with a way to go across the state to visit our CBCs.

42. And then go down to visit our other CBC who is currently in college.

43. AND see a blood cousin that we haven't seen since July of last year! 

44. I'm rather excited.

45. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

46. See? 

47. We're leaving tomorrow and won't be back home until next Monday. 

48. I can't believe we're going to be away for an entire week.

49. But I'm still so excited!!!

50. Does anybody else get really excited about trips like I do?

51. Road trips are very exciting; I love them.

52. There's also so much to do on road trips: read, talk, listen to epic music, play the alphabet game, etc. 

53. I also love Christmas music.

54. Beth Grace and I are listening to Christmas music as we pack right now.

55. Rephrase: Beth is packing and I am writing this blog post.

56. I should probably go pack.

57. *hangs head in shame*

58. But I'm already halfway done with this post, so let's just hurry up and finish it.

59. Christmas music is amazing.

60. I could listen to Christmas music all year round.

61. One of my absolute favorite Christmas songs is God Bless Us, Everyone as sung by Andrea Bochelli.

62. It's epic.

63. I love singing Christmas music with my family.

64. You do know that my family sings, right?

65. Every year, on the Monday before Christmas, we always give a Christmas concert at a local mall. 

66. And last year we sang God Bless Us, Everyone.

67. This year we hope to include a bunch of new Christmas songs in our repertoire.

68. Such as Still, Still, Still and Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella and Do You Hear What I Hear? and etc.

69. My family loves Christmas music so much that we usually begin playing and singing Christmas music in October.

70. This year we began in September.

71.  I love pretzels.

72. Pretzels in ice cream are pretty awesome. 

73. I know because I've tried it.

74. Ice cream is good with just about anything.

75. I don't care for either tea or coffee.

76. I survive nevertheless.

77. My favorite color is blue.

78. I've never been out of the time-zone I live in.

79. But I would love to travel.

80. All of America and Europe are on my to-visit list.

81. I am not what you would call a fashionista. 

82. My idea of style is modest and comfortable.

83. Don't kill me for this next tidbit: I don't like clothes shopping. 

84. Really. I don't.

85. I really don't care for shopping at all.

86. Yeah, I know what you're thinking.

87. And I agree: Shopping is such an incommodious business.

88. I don't know what I love more: writing with pencil/pen and paper or typing on a keyboard.

89.  Pencils with dull tips are epic fail.

90. I love the sound of keys tapping on a computer.

91. Because that sound means I'm being productive.

92. Most of the time.

93. My favorite juice is white grape peach.

94. Little Dorrit is my favorite Dickens' tale, even though I haven't yet read the book.

95. All or just about all of my socks have holes in them.

96. I'm not a huge flip flop fan.

97. I prefer my shoes to stay secure on my feet and around my heels. 

98. Actually for the most part, I prefer going barefoot; it's actually healthier for your foot to go barefoot. Weird, huh?

99. The only two hats I own are New York Yankee ball caps: navy blue and pink.

100. And for the last thing (let me try to think of something really random so as to surprise you all into utter astonishment)... hmm.... here's something for you to chew on: I watched and didn't care for The Young Victoria.

Even though this was utterly random and nonsensical, I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully learned something new about yours truly. Happy one hundredth post! Blogging is very rewarding, and I love it a whole biggy bunch!

God bless, and farewell until I return,

Asking For Your Opinion

I have a question to put forth to you all, so please, please, please vote on the poll on my sidebar and comment below and let me know what you think!!! 


Here's the question: What would you think of an epic Disney Blog Party hosted here at Lianne Taimenlore?

I realize that some of the Disney movies have objectionable things in them, so I wouldn't be including every Disney film, just those I deem merit a mention here on my blog. And as for time, I'm thinking sometime in late August, which is open for change if I find myself too busy to get to it in time. What I'd be posting here all week long would be film reviews, character posts, and lots of games (it's called a party, for cat's sake, so you have to include lots of games!). 


So please, please comment and vote away!!! I'm eager to hear what you think of this! :)

This Is Me...

Okay, fine... that's not really me. It's my center of operations: my desk. Well, that's not exactly true either. It's my brother's desk, but he is very kindly letting me use it for the summer while he's not doing school (and yes, that's a sewing machine behind my laptop... I sew and write all at the same place). 

But this is what I'm doing: RESEARCH! I'm working very hard on the big magic post, and decided I'd let you all in on how everything is going. It's going... slowly. But going! This is a rather large project for me, and it's quickly getting bigger by the minute. I cannot tell you how much prayer I'm dedicating to this study. 


You see, to contrast the magic in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, I found it necessary to get right down to the core and get into the study of magic (yeah, I get funny looks when I tell people I'm studying magic...). 


I'm the type of person that, when I'm studying, I like to have hard copies of my resources and have everything out where I can see it all at once. As you can see, I've labeled with letters everything in the picture above so that I may be able to tell you what everything is (I used letters rather than numbers because five and six don't work on my keyboard, and I didn't feel like copying and pasting them). 


A. My most important resource: My trusty, KJV Bible. And yes, it's falling apart from avid use.


B. My dad's NAS study Bible, to compare translations.


C. Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings by Richard Abanes. 


D. My clipboard full of notes.


E. Companion to Narnia by Paul F. Ford.


F. The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien. This is like the prequel to both LOTR and The Hobbit, depicting what occurred before Sauron settled in Mordor and more.


G. Printed notes written by David A. Padfield. He did a survey of the minor prophets and I find myself referring back to his study on Canaanite superstitions and the passage concerning magic in Deuteronomy 18.


H. American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster, for all the long, hard core definitions.


I. Scholastic Children's Dictionary, for simple definitions.


J. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, all seven Narnia books wrapped up into one volume. Quite spiffy.


K. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien included a h.u.g.e concordance in the end of The Return of the King and I find it most intriguing.


L. Last, but not least, my laptop, complete with 7 broken keys and access to the internet, from which I have read numerous articles to aid in my study. 


So, anywho, that's me right now......


................ *crickets* ......................


How's your day going? :)

One... Two... No, Three Things

Thing Number One:

The Mad Elvish Poet has given me the I Love Your Blog award! Thank you ever so much! I love hearing about how much people love my blog (and yes, I said that in a very humble manner....)! :D

Rules:

1. Award 5 people

2. Tell who awarded you

3. Tell the people you awarded them

4. Always put the picture above the post
5. Always show the rules

I won't be lazy and not award any like I did with the last awards I won. ;)

Beth Grace of The Musings of Me, Myself, and I... And Other Such Fantastical Nonsense

Jessa Bri of Life Of A Michigan Homeschooler

Anne-girl of Scribblings of my pen and tappings of my keyboard

Kathryn of Hidden Orchards

Eowyn of inklings press

Thing Number Two:

Is it too late to join in? I noticed that many of my cyber friends were participating in a Charles Dickens Reading Challenge over at Newly Impassioned Soul, and I wondered if there was still time for me to jump on the bandwagon. Since the event is going on until the end of the year, I assume it's safe for me to join. :)

So, I'm reading five Dickens books this year, my selection being (the first four already in my possession):

David Copperfield (already finished)

Nicholas Nickleby (in progress)

Oliver Twist

Hard Times

And then Little Dorrit, Bleak House, or A Tale of Two Cities (depending on which book I first get my hands on)

Thing Number Three:

Just a note on my LOTR/Narnia post which I published yesterday. The page views on that post SOARED yesterday, much quicker than I even thought they would. I took this screencap this morning: 

And actually, now the count is higher. It's currently at 54. That number, I must say, amazes me. I knew this would be a big post when I wrote it, but it's just going to get bigger still once I finish my magic research and publish that post. 

My study is going well, but as I've said to my family, this very well may turn out into one of those long research papers. There's so much more there than most people think. I was actually glad for an excuse to dive into this study, because for the longest time I have wondered about the magic in LOTR, Narnia, and Harry Potter. I knew somewhere in my mind that it was different, but how? Now, I know how. And I will share it with you all sometime soon, once I get all my thoughts organized.

As always,

Two Posts You Simply MUST Read

A little while ago, my sister Beth Grace wrote a lovely, lovely post on her blog, Modestly Stylish. I would definitely recommend for ALL ladies to read this post!!!


Click here... Reflection of the Inward Character.


If you haven't read it yet... that's just inexcusable. Go back, click on the link, and READ IT!


Don't continue on in this post. Please go read it.


Read it? Swell. And now moving on...


And, I'm certain you all know by now that I have two wonderful sisters on blogger, Beth Grace and Jessa Bri. HOWEVER... did you know that I have a cousin on blogger as well? Indeed, I have a CBC. And if you want to know more about her, drop by THIS BLOG and read THIS POST! :)


Did you read that one, too? Okay, good. That's just swell.


Yours obviously,