Thoughtful Thursday ~ Fiction

Fiction becomes a curse when true stories lose their power.

Cheesecake Brownie Bites

I tried a recipe today, and I think it turned out rather good! Cheesecake Brownie Bites (recipe found on the Just a Taste blog) are chocolatey, cream cheesy, and believe it or not, bite-sized!



For me, the batch made far more than the recipe suggested, but for the last batch, instead of making the mini muffin size, I switched and made a normal muffin size. I had 48 mini muffins and 6 regular muffins when I was finished. 
Cheesecake Brownie Bites would would make a good dessert for a picnic, because I'm quite sure they will store well, if you have any left over to store. 
Definitely give them a try!

Free Weekly Laundry Schedule

A laundry schedule is extremely helpful in a large household where there is a load of laundry in the machine at least once a day. Have no more confusion over whose day it is to wash!

Click on the image, then right-click and select "save image as" to download.

You can use a fun metallic colored marker to write in the names, or you can download the Quicksand font, and add it in a image editor before you print. Finally, the size of the image is quite large, so you might prefer to make it a bit smaller.

Book Review ~ Not Regina

Not Regina by Christmas Carol Kauffman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Regina Strahm is an innocent nineteen-year-old girl in tumultuous times. The teaching of the Anabaptists is seeping in throughout Switzerland, but the state church is firm in it's attempts to suppress it's spread. Regina doesn't know what to think, and she is kept miserable by seeing Anabaptist prisoners being marched away, by the increasing silence and confusion of her father, and the weekly struggle the pastor has with choosing a passage to read to the church. As time goes on her heart begins to yearn for the peace and assurance that the Anabaptists seem to have. It is after she witnesses the public execution of Felix Manz that she truly desires this new way of life for herself. Events then move quickly when she becomes re-baptized (her first baptism having been as an infant), is accused of associating with the Anabaptists, and is subsequently placed under arrest. Sweet Regina remains firm in her new-found faith, despite the many friends who beg her to remain true to the state church.

"Won't you please swear and tell the board of trustees today you'll forget it all and come back to us and start over?"

"Catri," answer Regina, "I could never do that. I would be giving up my joy, my everlasting life. I would sooner spend the rest of my life in prison that do that. If you could only understand how happy I am" (pg. 189)

Not Regina started out slowly, as the writing is far from spectacular and the complete innocence of Regina was somewhat hard to believe. Her speech and manner seemed to be that of a much younger girl. Later on, however, I became more drawn into the story it didn't bother me as much.

It was easy to sympathize with her confusion though. I am not a strong thinker myself, and I could easily place myself in that situation and understand that I would have been no more decided than she started out, probably less so. Fear kept her silent for so long, and that too is understandable from a human perspective, but she finally took the step of faith and proclaimed her new allegiance even if it meant imprisonment or death. The peace that she had so long searched for finally came.

It is not a brilliant book, yet it is interesting look at what it meant in the 1500's to truly follow Christ, and the turmoil that came of it.

View all my reviews

Thoughtful Thursday ~ Bess Streeter Aldrich

Davis Lake, Oregon

“I think that love is more like a light that you carry. At first childish happiness keeps it lighted and after that romance. Then motherhood lights it and then duty . . . and maybe after that sorrow. You wouldn't think that sorrow could be a light, would you, dearie? But it can. And then after that, service lights it. Yes. . . . I think that is what love is to a woman . . . a lantern in her hand.” 

~Bess Streeter Aldrich, A Lantern in Her Hand

Here's a sneak peek at my current knitting project. I'm not the most accomplished pattern designer in the world, so mainly my method consists of entreating the pattern and charts to "please work out!" I'm sure there's a more mathematical way to do this, but I'm afraid it would muddle my brain.

Felt Coin Purse Tutorial

I have barely entered the world of crafting with felt (lack of materials makes a project rather difficult!), but  upon being given a few sheets of brown felt this afternoon, I excitedly began sifting through ideas of what to make.

This was the result:




Materials

3" x 4" piece of felt
Embroidery Floss
Needle
Zipper





1. Embroider your design on one or both sides of your felt. Folding it in half helps with placement of your design. I just free-handed mine, since the felt was so dark. I don't really know if there's another way to do it.




2. With your sewing machine sew back and forth across the zipper to shorten your zipper so that it is just a little longer than the short end of your piece of felt. Cut off the excess.




3. Place one short end of the felt over one side of the zipper. Using the embroidery floss, sew the felt to the zipper with a running stitch.




4. Fold the other end up to meet the zipper as well. Again, using a running stitch, sew the felt to the zipper. Now you should have a nice tube-shaped piece.




5. Flatten the tube, and once more use a running stitch to sew up both sides of the purse. On the second side it is helpful to unzip the zipper to finish.




Hooray! Now you have a cute little coin purse, easily customizable to suit your tastes, or that of a friend's.

Another Day

A drive, a picnic, and a little walk on a gorgeous day makes for one happy family. These are the golden-tinted days that we never specifically remember individually, but rather as a collective impression of the first enjoyable weeks of summer.

And yes, that's a sleepy puppy on the car-ride home. :)