The Joy Dare

Not too long ago I noticed that my friend Denise was sharing a list of blessings on Facebook as part of The Joy Dare. I thought that sounded kinda neat, and I wanted to look into it. About the same time I got an email asking if I would be interested in reviewing One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I had been hearing a lot about the book, and I thought it might be connected with The Joy Dare, so I agreed. My book came a few days ago, and I've started it... but I'm only in Chapter 3, so no review yet. However, I decided to go ahead and start The Joy Dare.

The idea is to make a list of "1000 Gifts" in 2013... a gratitude list. To make it easier, Ann provides a list of prompts to look for 3 gifts each day. Obviously, I'm very late in starting for 2013, but I decided I'd still like to try to do it. So I'm going to start with today's 3 prompts, and then go back to January's list and use the prompts there as well. I don't expect to post every day, so my lists will be longer on some days than others. And I don't know that I'll use all the prompts. I expect I'll just ad lib some of the time. But that's okay, don't you think? I'm looking forward to counting my blessings!

1. A Gift of Rhythm: The rhythmic clicking of the printing press that provides Lyle with work.
2. A Gift of Rhyme: Reading aloud The Llama Who Had No Pajama three times in one evening to the delight of my sweet little nieces last month.
3. A Gift of Reason: "He's the only Reason I live, but oh, what a Reason!"
4. A Gift Heard: Lyle's voice.
5. A Second Gift Heard: The laughter of my children.
6. A Third Gift Heard: Joe's guitar at Bible Study.

More to come...

My "About Me" Page

Lately I've been working on updating certain sections of my blog. Last week I spruced up my blog header. Today, I worked on my About Me page. Most of you probably know as much about me as you care to... especially if you've been reading my blog for awhile. But for newcomers who might be interested, I thought I'd add a short bio. Obviously, you could click on the About Me tab at the top of the page, but I'll make it easy for you and copy-and-paste it here for you. (And I'm sure my Fan Club-- a.k.a. my husband, kids, and parents-- will be the most interested, even though there's nothing new here for them to learn!) Enjoy!

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Hi! I'm Karla, and I'm so happy you've wandered onto my blog where I'm likely to ramble about anything that catches my interest. I'm an avid reader, life-long learner, and most importantly, a follower of Jesus Christ. Over the years my plans have not always turned out the way I expected them to, but I've found life to be a joyful adventure.

I have been married to my college sweetheart, Lyle, since 1985. He is my best friend and favorite driver. We love to go on road trips whenever we can. We both think we'd love to just live on the road, but so far that hasn't worked out. Instead, we make our home in the panhandle of Idaho, where gorgeous scenery and miles of back roads are within a half days' drive in any direction.

We've been blessed with two beautiful daughters, Laura and Becky, who bring much joy into our lives every day. We are currently in the Golden Years of Parenting, when our children are pretty much all grown up, but still living at home. I have been privileged to homeschool the girls from the very beginning. Laura graduated in 2011, and Becky will graduate in 2014. Then it will be on to a new season of life for me.

If you had asked me 20 years ago what I thought I would be interested in doing once the kids were grown, it's likely I would have said, "Go back to school." Instead, I find myself with a completely different goal. I have aspirations of writing a novel. I'm working on a coming-of-age story set in Oklahoma during the Great Depression, inspired by my Grandmother's letters and diary. For 18 years I published a monthly newsletter for my extended family, as well as two family cookbooks. I have always enjoyed researching my family history and collecting our stories.

I am the oldest of five preacher's kids. Our family moved around quite a bit, as Dad pastored several different churches during our growing up years. I've been privileged to live in 11 different states, and I've been in 39 of the 50. I always thought it was fun to move. Maybe that's why I think it would be cool to be full-time RVers. So many places yet to visit.

For the present, I travel every chance I get... and read voraciously... and write as much as I can. I've been blogging since early 2002, sometimes more than others. I don't know that I have a specific goal for my blogging, like "they" say you should... but I've found it a very satisfying way to record my thoughts, and share my experiences with others.

I'm honored that you are interested in what I've shared. I hope you'll stop by again frequently!

Warmly,

Blog Header Makeover

I've been thinking for awhile that my blog needed a face-lift. I've had the same theme and blog header since 2008, which is actually quite awhile when it comes to internet trends. After looking through lots of different blog templates, and visiting many other blogs just for ideas, I decided I still like the basic sage green and forest roads theme I had, so no point in making major changes. 

I thought I would at least re-design my blog header, though. Where to start? Some of the cartoony or artsy water-color headers out there are fabulous, but that style is outside my design capability. Besides, it doesn't really fit with my theme. After thinking about it for awhile, I made a list of design elements I wanted to incorporate and then scoured the public-domain graphics sites looking for images I could use. I downloaded several free fonts to play around with, and then just re-worked my existing blog header.

Here's what it looked like before... 

...and you can see what it looks like now, above. You probably wouldn't have even noticed, if I hadn't pointed it out to you, right? Still, I'm happy with how it freshens up my blog for now.

I'm especially fond of the library card-catalog card I incorporated (using a "card" I generated at blyberg.net). I know it's impossible to actually read in the header, but here is the original image-- just for fun!

I'd love to know what you think!

Small Town Girl - review

Small Town Girl by Ann H. Gabhart is a gripping love story set in, as you might assume from the title, a small American town during the early days of World War II. While it probably would be considered a romance novel, the story had a little more depth to it than your typical romance. I loved the characters and found the plot to be engaging and believable. Here's the publisher's synopsis:

In the autumn of 1941, rumors of war whisper through Rosey Corner. The town waits in anticipation as if holding its breath. But for Kate Merritt, it seems life is letting out a prolonged sigh. As Kate watches her sister marry the man Kate has loved since she was fifteen, her heart is silently breaking. And even the attentions of handsome best man Jay Tanner can’t draw her interest.
Then suddenly, Pearl Harbor changes everything. Kate’s friends are rushing to get married before the boys go off to war. The newspapers talk of women making airplanes and bombs. Everyone in town begins rolling bandages, planting victory gardens and collecting scrap metal. Kate finds herself drawn to Jay in surprising ways, and when he enlists she can hardly breathe worrying about him getting killed. Could she truly be in love with him? And if she is, will she ever see him again?

Thank you to Revell for providing me with a review copy.

Sunday Afternoon Drive

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills,

Like that above.
{Verse 2 of My Country 'Tis of Thee by Samuel Francis Smith}