Top 9 Books I Read In 2011

Hello, Everyone! I hope you all have been having a wonderful 2012 so far. With the help of goodreads.com I finally managed to keep track of all the books that I read in a year. Below are my top nine favorites of 2011: That Printer of Udell's This book was great! I LOVED the story line. The call to Christian living was beautiful. It reminded me of "In His Steps," but "That Printer of Udell's" was more practical and real. P.S. The Lamplighter copy of the book is one of the most beautiful book covers that I have ever seen. Note: This book deals with some pretty low parts of society, and I would be careful about letting a young child read it. I Kissed Dating Goodbye Incredible book! It far exceeded my expectations. It was so much more than just reasons not to date. It was a call to holy living. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It covers a vast array of topics from the harms of dating to what is biblical love, to what to look for in a future spouse. Note: If you are looking for a book on purity that is good for a young age I recommend: Before You Meet Prince Charming: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67185... A Tale Of Two Cities This book was fantastic!! It's on my new top ten list. It's so intricate! Dickens weaves together the characters, places, and events flawlessly, like a beautiful tapestry. Or better yet, knitted together. ;-) I can't recommend this book highly enough. The plot is absolutely wonderful. Nothing is lacking from this book. The Courtship Of Sarah McLean Sweet story. Simple/easy to understand writing. Good morals. (The rest of this series is really good too). Tortured For Christ Inspiring, powerful, and moving. A must read for all Christians. Joyfully At Home This book was great! Very inspiring, and insightful. I would recommend this book to any girl/woman striving to make an impact in the life of those around her. Even if you are not planning to pursue stay-at-home-daughterhood this book if full of insights that will help you to further your walk with Christ. (If you are staying at home this book is a must read). Abigail Adams; Witness To a Revolution Great book! Abigail Adams was a wonderful woman. First and foremost Abigail believed in God. Her convictions were grounded in her faith. Her bond with her husband was nearly perfect. She was practically the perfect blend of submissiveness and assertiveness. Although Abigail did a few things behind John's back, their relationship was so strong that their relationship remained strong through more than one, several year long separations. I applaud Abigail's life and I loved the way in which N. Bober told her story of trust and love. To the Golden Shores This book plainly tells about the life of Adoniram Judson, one of the first missionaries from the U.S. The trials that he faces for the Lord are many. His faith is inspiring. You can never read it too many times. . . . The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe I just read this for the second time as part of the curriculum "Starting Points." Even when doing a world view study this book holds the same beauty and magic as the first time I read it. One of the best books ever written. I know I say this in every Lewis review I write, but I love his writing style. Thanks for stopping by! Bible Verse: Proverbs 13:20 "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." Blessings, Sarah

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! May God bless you and yours this holiday season!

If you click on the card, you can see it bigger.


Luke 1:35

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.

Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Blessings,
Sarah

Thanksgiving Everyday

Well, Thanksgiving's over and Americans everywhere have settled back into their day-to-day lives. On Thanksgiving I'm always inspired by gratefulness of  people everywhere.

Today is November 29th. What does that mean? It means that America is back to normal. Back to our greedy, ungrateful, self-seeking way of life. Thanksgiving was nice while it lasted, but as soon as the Black Friday ads came out greed replaced gratefulness once again. A woman I heard on the news said, ". . Two days a year [Thanksgiving and Christmas] it's really important to be thankful and to give. . ."

Did she just say two days a year? Only two? But that means that for 363 days of the year she's being ungrateful, greedy, and not-giving. Do you think that maybe, just maybe this attitude of two days a year could be hurting our society? Could this be why Americans are going bankrupt while they have three cars in the garage and every Apple product that they could grab? What if instead of complaining about how bad the economy is, Americans spent their money wisely? What if instead of protesting our bad luck on Wall Street, we were thankful we even had money to invest?











What if we lived every day like Thanksgiving? Don't you think that America would be a better place?




                   "Therefore let us be grateful."
                                          Hebrews 12:28



Blessings,
Sarah
Bible Verse:

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"
 Psalms 118:1

Giveaway Winners!!

First and foremost I want to thank everyone who entered the giveaway! I had fun putting the giveaway together and I hope that you all had fun participating.

Here are the winners:

The winner of the tea is. . . .
Meriwether!

The winner of the Scotty dog is. . . .
Joanna!

And the winner of the book is. . . .
Heide!

Thank you all so much for entering! I will be contacting the winners soon to work out the details.


Bible Verse:
Phil 4:13: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.


Blessings,
Sarah

Triple Giveaway!!!

I wanted to thank you all for following "Girl From Ohio!" I've loved having you all here with me. To celebrate having 20 followers I want to do a triple giveaway! Three winners will each win one item. The three items are from categories that are close to my heart:  tea, books, and sewing.

Item 1 - Persuasion

Persuasion is one of Jane Austen's most loved books. I read this book when I was ten and although I had some trouble keeping up with the old English, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. (Of course, you will be winning a new, unread copy.)

Item 2 - Hand-made Scottie Dog

I made one of these Scottie Dogs for my little sister's birthday present (pictured) and I thought that it turned out really well! The winner of the Scottie dog should remember that the dog will take longer to ship because it will need to be sewn.

Item 3 - Custom Tea Bags

Besides the fact that tea is warming and easy to prepare, tea has many health benefits. If you win the tea, you will receive five custom, hand-bagged herb teas. I will discuss the details further with the winner.

Giveaway rules and how to enter:

• Mandatory entry: To enter this giveaway you must leave a comment on this post saying which giveaway(s) you are entering. (The book or the dog or the tea).

• All comments must be made by the 18th of November.
  

• The three winners will be announced on the 19th of November.

*Update:    Sorry I didn't make this clear before. Feel free to enter for as many of the prizes as you want! Just remember that you can only win one of the things that you enter for :-)

 Additional entries:

• Become a follower of Girl from Ohio. 

• "Like" Girl From Ohio on Facebook.

•  Put my blog button on your blog.

Leave one additional comment for each of the above that you have done.


Thanks again for being a part of Girl From Ohio!

Bible Verse: Eph 2:8: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Blessings,
Sarah

Card Making 3/3

Hello, everyone! For the final post in the card making series I want to share some pictures of a few random cards that I made. I hope that they inspire you to make your own handmade cards. :-)

The first two are made basically the same way as the wrapping paper cards from Part 1:

 Calligraphy is fairly simple, and very pretty:

 These are hand drawn with Sharpie and highlighters:

 This one is Calligraphy and stamping:

Thanks for reading! I hope you have been inspired to make something today. 

ANNOUNCEMENT!! Thanks to you all, Girl From Ohio now has 20 followers! Soon I will be announcing how you can enter my 20 follower celebratory giveaway. So don't forget to check back in!

Bible Verse: 

Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Have a blessed week!

Sarah

Homeade Cards 2/3

Today I have a tutorial for you about how to make cards with pressed flowers. These cards are so easy to make, and they look super cute!

Now before you actually start constructing your cards you are going to need pre-cut cards and some pressed flowers. Here is a video on pressing flowers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmOoELQLMmo

1. Choose your flowers, leaves, grass, etc., and lay them out on your card in the position you want them.

2. Dab some glue on the back of the flowers and press onto the card.

Here's what we have after step 2 is finished.

3. Paint a thin layer of glue over the entire design.

You'll have something like this now. Don't worry; it will dry clear.

5. (This step is not really needed, but I think it helps the card to dry straight.) While still wet, place a piece of wax paper over the card and press inside a book.

As soon as the card is dry you can go ahead and use it! 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week, and enjoy the cooler weather!

Bible Verse: And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. Romans 8:38 (NLT)
 

Blessings,

Sarah