August 27th, 2015

What a time for an update! It's almost been an entire year since I last posted. My promises to keep up this blog tend to fall short, I've noticed. Let's go over some things that have happened in my life!

• February 17th, 2015 - I got my very first boyfriend, Connor. He's 18, graduated, and currently at bootcamp for the Marines until November 13th.
• I was diagnosed with Hashimoto Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that I have agreed to go the natural way with, and try to bring back the function in my thyroid through diet.
• I went on my first mission trip to the Dominican Republic over spring break.
• Three more of my poems were published.
  
  It's so cool how things have been turning out in life. Of course this year has had it's bad days as well as its good, but I'm not writing a depressing blog post today. I mean, who really wants to read that kind of stuff, right? You're not here to read about my personal problems - that's for my diary. ;-)
  
  Besides, it seems like all you ever hear about are sad, scary, and depressing things that people of all around the world are facing. I've really noticed that lately. I can't even open my Facebook account without hearing about a murder, a kidnapping, persecution, death. We live in a world where evil is more popular than good.
  
  Why is it that this is? Some may say it's because "the end is near" or that we just live in a cruel world. I think it's crazy how drawn to bad stories this world is. And perhaps, if these stories didn't overtake our televisions, phones, radios, etc., they wouldn't be so popular.
  
  I'm sure you've heard the term "fifteen minutes of fame."
  Just in case you're unfamiliar with the term it basically means that people do stupid, evil things just for those fifteen minutes of fame that they receive on the television. They do disgusting things for that news article written about them, or that investigation that they want. People today are full fledged attention seekers.
  
  They will literally do anything for attention, which is atrocious. I'm not talking about that vain girl in class who hooks up with boys, I'm talking about that man who shoots up a movie theatre, school, or church. Our own selfishness and need for everyone's undivided attention is why these things happen. Meanwhile all of the good in the world is being sucked away because no one ever hears about it.
  
  No wonder everyone is so depressed; they see the population going to crap and when people try to help, it just makes things worse. There is unnecessary attention aimed towards subjects that were completely calm beforehand and in return create more drama and heartache. No one is okay just letting things be - there always has to be a new issue or a new scandal. In case you haven't caught along yet, I'm referring to the race issues that have been brought upon this world and the homosexuality issues that today's society is so obsessive over.
  
  Discrimination didn't exist until we make it exist.
  
  All of these problems we tag as racial- or sexuality-related issues aren't those half of the time. I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist in America, or that homophobia isn't a real thing. I am saying that if someone's sexuality or race is different than someone else's, and that person doesn't get their way, they will always try to find a way to get their way.
  
  It's usually through pleading the discrimination card. People will never be content with what they have until they realize that what they claim to be theirs is truly God's. Everything we experience on earth does not belong to us. Everything we do should be for the glory of God. Everything we own is His. When did this country every forget that? Or did they ever know?
  
  Do we really think that God just "forgot" about us. No, no. God sees us, alright; He sees our continuous sins and wrongs and our prayers and our love and our hate. He acknowledges us always, but why should a God that loves His creation remember it whenever it doesn't even remember Him?
  
  Honestly, He shouldn't remember us, yet He does.
  
  He hurts because of what He sees, yet He disperses blessings upon us day after day, even after already paying the debt of the all of us undeserving sinners.
  
  Well this post became more emotional than I ever intended it to be, but I hope it convicted one passerby. Maybe not. Either way it was enjoyable to write.
  
  Here are some happy news articles for a change:
  Happy Facebook News
  
  Gap Features Models With Disabilities
  
  Dog Saves Owners Life
  
  4 Year Old Cancer Patient Marries Favorite Nurse
  

Insomia Related Writing

Hello fellow bloggers!

Are you enjoying the creativity of the beginning of this blog post? I sure hope so. Well let's see what I actually inteded this post to be about: insomnia related writing. 

That sounds pretty interesting as a title, doesn't it? Yeah, I thought so. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the type of blogger that literally sounds like I'm having a conversation with myself with the contents of my blogs.
That's beacause I most likely am. This blog is more of an online babble-to-the-screen type diary than it is a real blog. I'm not complaining though, are you?
No, seriously. If you, a human being reading these words, have anything to say about my posts, SAY IT.
I would just like to know that someone other than myself is actually reading these things. And hey, maybe we'll become friends. Those are handy to have. 

So anyway, back to the subject of insomnia related writing...

Because of the creative writing class that I took this year, I'm supposed to write a short story of about 1,000 words. I haven't been able to fulfill this duty - Yes I said duty - until later at night, more so in the middle  of the night. Most of my inspiration for writing (i.e. poetry, Kidnapped) come in the afternooon or evening, not in the middle of the night. But last night was a sleepless night, and I mean that very literally. I can truthfully estimate a good 2 1/2 hours of on and off rest last night.
The weird thing about me (okay, one of the weird things) is that with this short story I've only been inspired at night. For example about two o'clock in the early morning yesterday I decided to take a different angle on the short story I had already prepared.

I copied the beginning of my story because I thought it would do well with the same general concept, and began to type, type, type for two hours 1,200 words. I wrote what I believe to be a raw, emotional subject that, with my soft piano music playing in the background, I teared up to.

Multiple times.

Now I start to conclude this blog post, by first asking a question:

Ever have those middle of the night writing sessions?

Please do comment. I would be more than happy to respond to any of your comments. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break and that you're blending into the new year quite well. This sleepless body now needs rest, for the words that I'm typing are beginning to blend together, just as I am into the new year. 

Happy 2015, Blogspot. Keep the happy years a'coming. 

Kidnapped - chapter 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12!

Hello everyone! So the title of this blog post might seem a little bit.. extreme. Don't worry though, I didn't write all of it in the past few days (duh!), this has been a long process. Well just in case you're interested, you can find all of what I have of Kidnapped right here!

I hope you all will enjoy it! Feel free to give me feedback on here or on Figment! All criticism is welcome. :)

Music of the Week

As Christmas rolls around the corner at an excitingly quick speed, so does the music and decor. So as the spirits of Christmas begin to take over, I have decided to go along with it by making a playlist for the upcoming holiday.

Most people have probably heard of the a capella group called Pentatonix, but if you haven't, let me introduce you to them - you will certainly find a lot of their music on my Christmas playlist. PTX was founded in Texas by five members: Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstie Maldonado, Avi Kaplan, and Kevin Olusloa. Kirstie, Mitch, and Scott were high-school buddies and met the other band members of Pentatonix through a mutual friend and YouTube.

Together these new friends decided to audition for the TV show Sing-Off. They successfully moved up the ladder of the show and ended up winning season three. Since then they have gained popularity through YouTube. Their music style ranges from pop, dubstep, reggae, and much more.

So let's continue on to the playlist now that you know a little bit about my "featured band."

"Mary, Did You Know?" performed by Pentatonix.

"That's Christmas to Me" performed by Pentatonix.

"Let it Go" performed  by Pentatonix.

"Silent Night" performed by Pentatonix.

"The Christmas Shoes" by Newsong.

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" performed by Casting Crowns.

"Away in a Manger" performed by Jeremy Camp.

"Emmanuel" by Chris Tomlin.

"When Love was Born" by Mark Schultz.

"O Come, O come, Emmanuel" performed by Big Daddy Weave.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" performed by Sidewalk Prophets.

Well that's my Christmas playlist for everyone to see. I hope you all enjoy it and listen to more of Pentatonix's music!

The Wonderful Topic of Holidays and Fudge

Well with the holidays literally right around the corner, it's about time to get our baking skills out of the old cookbook. Unlike my older sister, my baking skills don't come naturally, they come from cookbooks and the great land of Pinterest.

However! I am excited (okay, ecstatic) to say that I have a lovely recipe for chocolate peanut butter fudge that I practically came up with on my own. My proportions simply stemming from multiple fudge recipes. Can I call it my own? I think so.

Here's what you will need:

• 4 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/3 of a cup of milk
• 1/2 a tablespoon of salt
• 1/3 of a cup of natural peanut butter (natural is optional)
• 1/4 of a cup of butter
• 3/4 of a cup of cocoa or carob power (I used carob - tastes great, but again, carob is optional)
• 1/2 a tablespoon of vanilla extract

Now that you have your ingredients, here's what you do with them:

1. Melt your butter in a sauce pan. Once completely melted, mix in milk and vanilla extract.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa or carob powder.
3. Sift the mixture of powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa or carob powder.
4. Gradually add the sugar mixture into your butter mixture, mixing well.
5. Once this is completed, stir in peanut butter. If the mixture is too powdery and beginning to separate, add milk by the tablespoon until the correct texture is made.
6. Pour fudge into a container of your choice (the length and width effect the size of your fudge).
7. Cool fudge in fridge for at least 2 hours, longer if necessary. 

Easy peasy recipe, right? And trust me, it is delicious.

Now let's move on to your next subject: holidays. What is a holiday? Well by definition a holiday is..

"A day of festivity or recreation when no work is done."

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Thanksgiving a lot of work? Preparing for this holiday is quite exhausting and today more than ever, a lot of hard work goes into preparing a Thanksgiving feast and cleaning up after all those Thanksgiving beasts. Yeah, that's right. Those people that dig into the delicious food before it has been served - they're Thanksgiving beasts.

And then you have the shopping beasts. Those people who insist of staying out in the freezing cold weather just for a good deal on something. Their Black Friday actually starts the day before Black Friday - on the day that is supposed to be set aside for giving thanks to everything that we take advantage of throughout the year. Instead of doing just that, they take advantage of the good deals that are going on.

I am definitely not saying that Black Friday shopping is wrong - I go shopping on Black Friday. I just believe that maybe, instead of overlapping Christmas and Thanksgiving by waiting until Christmas to be thankful, everyone could be a little more thankful on Thanksgiving and leave Christmas to celebrate it's own purpose, the birth of our savior. And leave Black Friday for shopping. 

Holidays aren't for working out your brain thinking about gifts or food or shopping, they're about celebrating what God has done for us in a festive manner and celebrating it with the people that we love most. So what are you thankful for? What are you especially thankful for this year?

I'm thankful for everything that God has done for us in this year. In this lifetime. Even though sometimes it doesn't seem like He has done much,  I just remember that He is doing things in my life even when I don't notice it. Moving here was a blessing, not a curse, even if I don't know it yet. God provides the clothes on my body, the food on my family's table, and the very computer that I'm writing this post on. Although sometimes it seems like my Father or my Mother is providing me with these things, I humble myself and remember that if not for God, they wouldn't have the chance to provide these things. 

So there's my answer. It may be a simple one, a lame one, but there's much more depth to it than a lot of things I could have answered. Well good afternoon everyone, I really hope that you will enjoy this holiday season with your family and stay true to the real meaning of all of these holidays. 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you have fun things planned. 

So what are you dressing up as? Comment below!

As for me, my costume can be seen below. I'm going as a car hop girl. Don't know what that is? Think Sonic worker... but 50s syle. 

Adorable, right?!

Yes, I may be too old to go trick or treating, but I'm not at the age yet where people find it extremely strange that I am. I can totally pull this off.

Hopefully.

As you know, I recently moved to Georgia. My neighborhood is very up and coming, so most of the couples are younger, Unfortunately that means I may stand out against little five and six year olds.

So will my giant Lego 16-year-old sister. Yep, giant Lego. Her costume is amazing and very on point, but also very bulky and uncomfortable. But it's all worth it.

Well I hope you all have a great Halloween and give out / get lots of candy!

Abbi's Book Nook / Mind Games

Notice a few changes about my blog, my nonexistent readers?

Well, if you didn't, you might want to refresh because as of today, abbisbookblog.blogspot.com no longer exists.

Yep, you read that correctly. It is now abbisbooknook.blogspot.com. Cute, right? I thought so.

Also, there has been a pretty drastic change in my lovely layout. It's much lighter and floral-y. And music-y. I guess my point to all of you is - although my url may say this is a book nook, it's really more of a book and music diary so to speak.

I hope everyone isn't upset with this decision, but if you are, I would like to point out that 85% of what I did on here was not talk about books. It was a just lot of rambling about my life and whatnot.

Fear not!

There will certainly still be book talk. Trust me, book talk is a must.

With that note, I would like to take you on a journey into the exiting and hilarious book Mind Games by Kiersten Whites. This book was certainly something for me to read. Originally, the cover got me thinking, "Hmm, this seems a bit weird, do I really want to read it?"

And again with the description of the book. Putting those odd thoughts to the side, I forced myself to sit down and take a look into the book. What I got out of it was more exciting that what I could have imagined.

Sofia aka Fia is in a rough situation with her beloved, blind sister Anna. In order to protect her special sister, Fia must do whatever the Keane Foundation - a foundation for kids with special 'powers' - wants her to. Although her stunning instincts told her not to go, Fia found that she had no choice because of what the Foundation offered her sister.

The powerful, insane, and hilarious Fia finds herself struggling to follow orders one day and does something that could cost her sister's life. In order to cover this mistake up, Fia returns to the Chicago headquarters and pretends to act normal. Well, whatever is normal for Fia.

See, Fia has done some crazy things because of the Foundation - things that have driven her to attempt suicide and worse. So it isn't surprising when Fia returns to her home with a defiant spirit and a cold, crazy heart.

If I have anything to say to Kiersten Whites it's this: If you ever decide to make this into a movie, cast me for Fia.

Her character was incredibly relateable (for me at least) and I felt like Fia really brought out my inner crazy. I would certainly play the part well.

The book ended with a dramatic turn. An end that brought me to tears. Lots of  tears.

But again, fear not! There is a second one already out! It is called Perfect Lies.

So get yourself to your local bookstore or library and get these wonderful books. They will make you laugh, cry, scream, and become a bit nuts.

But it's worth it.