Friday, June 3, 2011

life right now


Mostly, it's been raining.


 Which means I'm bumming around in the house, taking bleak pictures through windowpanes.





And, to cheer myself up, I wander into my room and look at my shelf. My graduation card from Benjamin, my dream sunglasses, a picture of Benjamin and I on the way to Seattle last summer...

The other thing to do on rainy days is, of course, make cookies. Especially these cookies. 


For some reason, they are the most incredible cookies of all time. I don't even know why. Eating them with cranberry juice is the best. thing. ever.


At the mall, I found this book. A songbook for piano and vocals, chock-full of Disney goodness. I love it so.


In other news: I am now the proud owner of an Apple device. I have never had a phone or and iPod. Awhile ago I had sweet little black mp3 player, but it was crushed by a car. Not a happy day. I have been destitute for awhile now, but now my world is full of joy and beauty once more. Because Sam gave me an iPhone for my graduation! I don't have service for it, but I can text and call using the internet, play games, and most importantly, use it as an iPod. He's beautiful, and I love him. His name is Bruno.


And this? This is Othello. My brand-new lens. 70-300 millimeter, baby. Huge, black, and powerful. A dream come true.

by Benjamin

My mom and Benjamin went down to San Francisco for the weekend, and brought back scrumptious pictures, which make me desperate to go. I want to grab some awesome people, jump in a car, and spend  a few weeks driving across America and taking thousands of photos.

  Also, I want to go here. Really, really bad.


So I'm going to be crazy-productive this summer. Which includes lots of reading. I'm making a huge book list (but have been getting distracted by drawing lions), and I'm looking for suggestions. What are some books that you think are must-reads?

30 comments:

  1. I loved Rebecca, A Mere Interlude and What The Chinese Don't Eat as some recent {well, old books but new to me} reads. And beautiful photos!

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  2. I hope the sun comes out there soon so you can stop bumming around. :) But those are lovely "rain pictures". Those cookies you made look delicious! A Disney songbook! I want one. Do they happen to have Tangled songs there? Have a nice time with Bruno and Othello--they look so cool!

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  3. Fun post! :) I think you should read "Lorna Doone" (Amazing book) "The Scarlet Pimpernel", and "Bleak House". :)

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  4. Cool post! I do have a few book recommendations for you. I don't know if you already read them, but here goes; 1. "A Young Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George 2. "Joyfully at Home" by Jasmine Baucham and 3. "Safe, not Sorry" by Tanya K. Metaksa

    Hope this helps. :)

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  5. Why don't you try reading "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield? It's a really awesome book in my opinion. (:

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  6. Yum! Those cookies look so good!

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  7. I've recently heard of a book called "Heaven is for Real". My aunt tells me it's an amazing book. You might want to check it out!

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  8. Anything by the LampLighter company is amazing. They take books written long ago and put them back into print. All of them have a lesson behind them and are good CHRISTIAN books. Also I just read "A Little Princess" and it was one of the best books I have ever read :)

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  9. Ahh! What a lovely lens!

    It was raining a lot here for about 3 weeks. Now it's so sunny, and I can wear shorts and flip flops!

    I know so many books...Hmm. I don't know, this part of the comment is pointless. If you know me, than this is completely normal.
    ;)

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  10. I'm impressed - when it rains here, I just want to curl up and sleep. You managed to take great pictures. Love the first one.

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  11. Your posts are always perfectly happy and wonderful!! Goooorgeous pictures!

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  12. Lovely photos.

    ♥ sécia
    www.petiteinsanities.blogspot.com

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  13. whoa, holy awesome lens batman!! let's see some pictures, mkay? ;)

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  14. I love the picture of your cat!!
    --Love MCat
    {glitteringcompositions.blogspot.com}

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  15. Nice pictures,the cookies look yummy:)

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  16. Read:
    A Tale of Two Cities.
    The Count of Monte Cristo.
    The Scarlett Pimpernel. =)

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  17. Paperdoll by Natalie Lloyd and Flipped by Wendelin van Draanen.

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  18. Lovely pictures!!! It rained here today too :(

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  19. Oh, read The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's amazing :) Tyndale publishers is having a summer reading program where they send you a free book every time you read five, so you may want to check that out.

    Those cookies look really good, too. :)

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  20. Oh, read The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's amazing :) Tyndale publishers is having a summer reading program where they send you a free book every time you read five, so you may want to check that out.

    Those cookies look really good, too. :)

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  21. The Monstrumologist, The Curse of the Wendigo, Percy Jackson, Going Bovine, You Don't Know About Me.

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  22. Awesome!!!
    I would highly recommend Francine Rivers' books...they are ALL sooooo good! They will bring you closer to God ^_^

    Shalom!

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  23. Oh man, so many books I could list!

    Courting Morrow Little - Laura Frantz
    A Daughter's Inheritance - Tracie Peterson/Judith Miller [1st in a 3 book series!]
    Forgotten God - Francis Chan

    There's a start, if I think of more I'll tell you :)

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  24. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers if you haven't read it yet.

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  25. Ohmygoodness, absolute MUST-READS are the "Above the Line" series by Karen Kingsbury. She's an AH-MAZING Christian author, and I can never put her books down. They're incredible.

    'TAke One', 'TAke Two', 'TAke Three', & 'TAke Four' are the four books in that series. Check.them.out. You definitley WILL NOT regret it!!!

    ta ta
    Love,
    Manda

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  26. Hello there Ms. Red Shoes!! I came upon your blog some time ago and have been enjoying your youthful insights ever since! Ohhhh, and photographs!! In fact I think that is what first brought me here.

    Glad that I can share a tidbit with you!
    http://www.laurakurk.com/
    My friend Laura Kurk wrote this amazing Christian fiction book Glass Girl, for young adults!
    I happen to know that the sequel is off at the publisher right now, so it won't be long before we have more of dreamy Henry and his love for Christ and Meg!
    Thanks for being a "light" out in the blog world!!

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  27. Oh my! You most definately should *NOT* have asked me the book question. You're in for it now. :)

    Must reads:

    1. "Gone-Away Lake" and "Return to Gone-Away". Written for younger kids, but super delightful stories. Love.

    2. "The Beekeeper's Apprentice". This is the most wonderful spin on Sherlock Holmes EVER. So so so amazing. This one does have some swearing and stuff, so I don't know if that bothers you. Otherwise one of my favorite books. It's full of great plots and wonderful British wit and sarcasm and language. There are more in the series that are awesome as well.

    3. "The City of Ember" series. Especially the first one. Love those books.

    4. "The Search for WondLa". I was kinda skeptical, cuz it looks like a really weird book. And it is weird. But captivating! Couldn't put it down.

    5. "The Mysterious Benedict Society" series. Super duper fun and mysterious and intriguing.

    Ummm ... let's see.
    "Holes", "The Great Good Thing", "Garlic and Sapphires" (a hilarious, interesting and true story about a food critic. Some swearing, but otherwise clean if I remember), "All Creatures Great and Small" (very funny and witty true stories about an animal vet in England. I love 'em, but some people might find the things he has to do gross. Also swearing in this one. Bleh. But I love it anyways. :)
    "The Secret Garden" is really good. Ummm ... yeah. I guess that's all for now. Oh, and I'm reading "The Lord of the Rings" for the first time and loving it.

    Sorry. I knew I would get carried away. I love books too much. :)

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  28. woww nice lens girl!
    i definitely kill for those haha
    your cat is so cutee

    xx
    Velvet Codeine

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  29. Congrats on the iPhone, girlie! They are pure goodness. :)

    Ooo...I *love* The Lion King soundtrack...such breathtaking music.

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