From the Start: Book Review

by Em on April 8, 2015 in Bethany House Review, Books, my opinion • 0 Comments

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From the Start by Melissa Tagg

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ –

(four out of five hearts)

Synopsis: (from GoodReads)

Kate Walker used to believe in true love and happily ever after. While her own love life may have left her brokenhearted, it hasn’t kept her from churning out made-for-TV romance movie screenplays…until a major career slump and a longing to do something meaningful send her running back to her hometown of Maple Valley.

Permanently sidelined by an injury, former NFL quarterback Colton Greene is temporarily hiding out in a friend’s hometown to avoid the media and the reminders of all he’s lost. Maple Valley seems like the perfect place to learn how to adjust to normal life. The only trouble is he’s never really done normal before.

While Kate plays things safe and Colton is all about big risks and grand gestures, they both get what it’s like to desperately need direction in life. An unexpected project gives them both a chance to jumpstart their new lives, but old wounds and new dreams are hard to ignore. Starting over wasn’t part of the plan, but could it be the best thing that’s ever happened to them?

My thoughts:

Being honest, at first I was unimpressed with From the Start. I was excited to read it, but once I started it, the characters were too typical, I could predict scenes, and the characters’ reactions. I felt that Kate was a bit cliché, because she had been hurt but was obviously going to fall for the ex-football star who was also struggling. As I kept reading the book though, the characters all became deeper and a little more complex too. I was happy with the ending too, which is sometimes the hardest part to please me. Going into details…

Characters:

I liked Kate once I felt like I knew her better, she was a little quirky, but very funny and dedicated to her family. I think she was a little shallow in certain scenes, but I think her character was supposed to grow a lot during the time the book covered. Colton was funny, the humor between the two of them was great. Colton struggled with his past and present situation, but he was not so involved that he chapters weren’t interesting. I think he really owed Kate an apology at the end of the book, but I don’t want to give anything away. Surprisingly, my next favorite character is Megan, she was kind of sassy and closed, but I like that she opened up a little. (I do wish that everything regarding her hadn’t been so mature, but it was okay.)

Plot:

I liked the romance between Colton and Kate, they were in denial a lot of the time, but they cracked me up. One thing though – the rest of the book’s plot was sort of just about one bad thing happening after another. I felt like the disasters were just piling up.

Writing:

I loved the way the book was written. It was told from the point of view of both Colton and Kate, but it was almost in third person so I never felt like I needed to know what the other character was feeling. The book was an easy read and the plot moves quickly, there are almost no down moments.

I received a copy of From the Start from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Facing the Blitz : Book Review

by Em on April 7, 2015 in Bethany House Review, Books, Jesus, my opinion • 0 Comments

Facing the Blitz by Jeff Kemp

♥ ♥ ♥ – –

(three out of five hearts)

Overview:

Facing the Blitz was written by an ex-NFL football player and the whole book explained it’s three strategies for overcoming trials. Each strategy is thoroughly explained in several chapters, it’s divided up enough that it’s easy to understand and doesn’t skim through important topics. Mr. Kemp writes with many different life examples – ones such as in football, his home life, marriage, in fellow teammates’ lives, friends’ lives, as well as outside sources.

Pros:

This book was fantastic. I really can’t wait to go back through it and mark passages that really stood out. Even if you are not currently facing a blitz, this book goes into morals and tips for assessing your own life. Early in the book, Mr. Kemp writes that in times of hardship you can’t tell people to just stop being upset, but instead he writes to you when you need to move on and when it’s okay to be struggling. The strategies are like close friends, comforting you, but pushing you forward and towards Jesus. If you don’t know that much about football, it’s okay, because the examples are all pretty easy to understand. (Even if you don’t catch one or two examples, you will still get the idea/purpose.) Football does not dominate the suggestions/conversation more than it should. Facing the Blitz supplies tips to people who aren’t facing problems just by giving exercises that require you to check your morals and motives for the way you live.

Cons:

I really did like nearly everything in the book! I would say the only few things I would change if I could would be: a few more examples aimed towards home life. Just because I felt like we got to know more about the teammates than his own family in some chapters. Certain chapters were also mildly mature, so the book is probably best for adults and possibly young adults based on the individual case – I would recommend this book to any adult though, it’s a great book.

I received a free copy of Facing the Blitz from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Easter OOTD

by Em on April 5, 2015 in Fashion, Jesus • 5 Comments

Happy Easter, everyone!!

This is my OOTD (outfit of the day). I’m wearing a peach-colored tanktop from LandsEnd, dark wash jeggings from Indigo Rein, and gladiator wedge sandals that I have no clue where they’re from.

Have a great day, I’ll blog again soon!

He is Risen!

Book Review ~ February

by Em on March 30, 2015 in Bethany House Review, Books, Jesus, my opinion • 4 Comments

I know it’s no longer February and it’s practically not even March, but my book came later so I couldn’t post it until now.

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Overview:

The Pleasure of His Company was a very good book. Mr. Sheets made some very good points in quick, easy-to-read chapters. Nearly every point was backed up with a personal life experience as well as a passage from the Bible. Some chapters included life experiences or notes from other people/authors. Following those, Mr. Sheets discussed the point he made in humorous conversational writing.

Pros:

Many of the points that were made were out of the ordinary and not something I might have thought of on my own. I found the discussion to be sound, in the biblical sense, as far as I understand it. The chapters all followed the same rough pattern, making the option to study the book, rather than just read it, appealing. The writing is conversational and pleasant as well. Each chapter covered different topics that encouraged more thought and depth, I would say the book was age appropriate for young adults and above. Chapter topics covered many different situations, showing how it’s possible for anyone to come to Christ, no matter what their life is like.

Cons:

Because of the “study” layout, I found that it was actually slightly difficult to just read the book. (Due to time pressure, I had to read the book and was unable to stop and study.) I wish the book had been a little more friendly towards that regard, but I am looking forward to getting the chance to go back over it later and “study”. Also because of the layout, I saw too much of a routine. It was almost always the same order of information per each chapter (life story, bible story, discussion), but again, I think this is just a studying thing. So all in all, I liked the book, just take note that it’s more like a devotional or a book to just be read slowly.

I received a free copy of The Pleasure of His Company from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

A Little More ‘Bout Me…

by Em on March 28, 2015 in Favorites, Life, Me, Myself, and I, my opinion • 0 Comments

So, as you might have noticed, I wasn’t able to post last weekend. I realized that I had a final and I should study. 😛 (So I took my final on Wednesday and it went very well!)

Today’s post is adapted from a post from Bryleigh’s blog, which I recently ran across. (Metias and Me is not affiliated with her blog in any way though, I just emailed her to ask to borrow the idea.) She was super nice and you can check out her version on her blog. I’m going to answer some questions about myself, so you guys can all get to know me a little better. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment! Let’s get started!

The Basics:

Name: Emily

Nicknames: Em, Emmy, Lulu, Emily-Bemily, Bem, Катя, Sizzle, Bacon Sister #3 (There’s a lot, guys… My dad and friends make up new nicknames like there’s no tomorrow. These are the most frequently used ones.)

Birthday: July 23 (I’ll be 17, believe it or not)

Job: I have several, but the real ones are – working on websites & coaching swim

Hair Color: Blonde – I think my hair would be more of a brown, but the sun and chlorine from swim bleach it.

Height: I am totally proud of my 5 foot 10 (although 6 ft was the goal originally…)

Left or Right-Handed: Right handed

Favorites:

Movie: Oh, boy these are gonna be the hard questions… I have many, but Captain America comes to mind first.

TV Show: Sherlock, Once Upon A Time, Psych, Rosemary and Thyme, Murder She Wrote (I could never pick just one for that.)

Color: Blue

Song: Another impossible one, right now it’s probably Freewheel by Josh Osho, Classic by MKTO, or Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

Candy: I love chocolate anything. Seriously.

Book: Man, I have GoodReads for that question!

Shoes: Like Bryleigh, I love wedges. But. Even more than those, everyone who knows me well could tell you this, the shoes I love and that are associated with me are high tops. Love ’em.

Currently:

Feeling: Hungry. We are having the most amazing ribs ever tonight and they cook for five hours, so I can already smell them.

Eating: I’m in between lunch and dinner right now, so nothing. For lunch, I had my own version of chicken lettuce wraps from Pei Wei. (Maybe a recipe will come soon…) 😉

Listening To: My dog bark at the birds in our backyard. (No music at the moment)

Thinking About: What I’m going to write, for an essay in French, about my best friend from when I was little.

Wanting: To watch scary movies with my brother tonight. (Who is currently home – yay!!! I miss him when he’s at college.)

Wearing: Navy blue shorts with cute buttons on them and a bright pink t-shirt with pleats on the shoulders.

Future:

Careers In Mind: Ok, I’m looking into being a nurse. It seems so cliché, but I really am interested in being a surgical nurse. Other than that – working in a forensics lab.

Dream Career: In a perfect world where I would succeed at whatever I did, I would either be a coroner or run a small bookstore in a beautiful small town. Drastically different, I know, but it’s me.

Where Do You Want To Live: 50-100 years ago. Bam. Oh wait, like where not when? Umm… Narnia, Wonderland, Neverland, or maybe just my house forever? *Sorry, I have a strong case of I-don’t-want-to-grow-up today.* But probably the same area that I live in now, but in my own apartment or small house later.

Do You Believe In:

Miracles: Yes! I’ve seen some.

Ghosts: Quite honestly, I can’t come up with an answer, but anyways, I know who to call…. (If you yelled GhostBusters: You are awesome.)

Aliens: Define “aliens”, but the green guys with huge eyes? Nope, but that would be cool/creepy.

Hope you all enjoyed that! Until next time,

Studying Essentials

by Em on March 20, 2015 in Favorites, my opinion, school • 0 Comments

A little week-day post for you. Better & longer posts coming this weekend hopefully. Survive.

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The above picture I took about a year ago. Best way to study. The below picture I took this last week. Best way to study continues. Hello Panda is apparently one of the essentials to studying effectively. (Dude… My homework looked way more fun last year…)

[History homework in both of the above photos, for anyone wondering.]

Here are my for-real studying essentials:

quiet company – whether it’s quiet music or a sibling also studying, it’s almost impossible for me to study in silence. I think the silence distracts me because I’m used to working with at least four other people around me, so when given silence, I daydream instead.
mechanical pencils – I found out a year or so ago, that I want to write if I’m writing with a pen or mechanical pencil. So use whatever writing tools make you actually want to write something.
abundance of working erasers – as you could see in the first picture, I need to erase sometimes and erasers that leave gray smears drive me crazy.
snack or drink – although it will never last the entire study session, you can use it as a treat. I was allowing myself one panda after I read a page.
clipboard – don’t try to write on top of your books, just have a cute clipboard. Mine has little owls all over it.
breaks – take them to: stretch, grab a snack, attempt a handstand, run around the house, scream in a pillow, etc.
time limit – don’t sit down and say you’re going to study for a while, have a set ending time. Otherwise if you’re like me, you’ll study too long, get a headache, and be crabby until the test or final is over. (Which could be days later so have a set end time.)

I have a final and a few tests next week, so studying in on my mind. Good luck to anyone else with tests or possibly finals/midterms coming up!

Arachnophobia

by Em on March 17, 2015 in God's Creation, Photography • 0 Comments

I used to have arachnophobia when I was little, but I’m good now. I have even saved a few spiders or carried them to safety {inside a cup or something, not my hands}. And apparently, instead of squishing spiders, I take photos of the little things instead…?

I know, these are not my normal photography subjects. I won’t make spiders a habit. 😉

Question for you though: spiders – squish or save?