Goodbye 2016!

"Their joys, their woes, their highs, their lows, their ups, and then their downs. Their days so filled with God's dear Son, and lessons yet to learn."

Sing We Now of Christmas

by Bethany

Christmas music just seems to be synonymous with this joy filled holiday, so no wonder there are so many songs, both secular and Christian. 

Over the past years, it's been kind of a tradition for Becca and me to join our friends Jon and Emma playing Christmas music at the nursing home in town, and maybe a few other places. It's always a lot of fun, but with this year being a little different, Becca and I had to go solo. :) 

Hey Stranger :)

By Becca

AAAAAAHHHHHHH- ahhhh, hello there!

Well it's certainly been a while since the last post. Skipping over an entire month is a record for us, and it's not for lack of blogging material :) Life has just been busy - Plus Beth has always been the better blogger anyways. 

So, let's play a bit of catch up, shall we? 

Along For the Ride

By Bethany

It's been a little quiet around here lately, hasn't it?

If you've missed us, here's a kitten to make you feel better.

Her eyes match my jeans!

I've been off being a rural home missionary nanny,
(that's a very official title, ;))
and it's high time I give you all an update on life.

Beautiful People || September Edition || Bethany's characters

I've shared a few novels in progress before, mainly "Long Road from Canaan", and "Regrettably a Gentleman", that seem to disappear, never to be heard from again.

(Just so you know, they might pop up again, after some major replotting and such)

But, I'm feeling pretty excited about "Mithras & Myrrh", as I'm about 57,000* words into my first draft, and still writing steadily onward!!!

Let me tell you about "That Thing You Do!" :)

Beautiful People || July edition || Bethany's Character

Who to do, who to do?

(I sound like an owl)

You're welcome

Rufus Ignatus would be fun...

Quintus, stop glaring at me.

Or Domnius, or Marcellus...

Beautiful People || July Edition || Becca's Character

Hello there! It's been a while since I've posted... did you miss me? :) 

One of the reasons why my posting has been... well, non-exsitant in the last few months is because I have a job now! ( Jobs are cool ) Yet quite time consuming and often exhausting. 

Also life in general has been a tad of a rollercoaster and a lot of things have fallen to the side... blogging being one of them. 

Let's pick it up and get on with it then shall we?

Along with Felix Tovar, and Rory Sonders, another character found in my WIP "In the Present Age" is Gilead Hart.

Bookish Book Lover Tag

by Bethany

I've actually had more time to read this summer then I thought, and while that hasn't been a large amount, I still have some fun books to share with you.

Thank you, Abbey, for the tag!

Rules: 

Use the Banner

Answer the Questions

Use Lots of Book Covers 

Tag Your Bookish Friends

1) What Book Are You Currently Reading?
    I just, like, still on the first page just, started reading The Rakshasa's Bride by Suzannah Rowntree. I loved her other fairytale retellings, so I'm expecting no less from this. :)

2) What’s The Last Book You Finished?

That would be-

This was interesting. You could tell it was originally a play, because most everything happened in one room, but it was a good little mystery.

3) Favorite Book You Read This Year?

   That goes to Pendragon's Heir.

 I have to admit, after reading the synopsis, I thought it might be a bit silly and cliched, but it blew all my expectations out of the water. I loved the writing, the characters, the plot. All favorites. :)  The only other books I've read about the legend of King Arthur were  The Merlin Spiral, which I liked, but not as much as Pendragon's Heir.

4) What Genre Have You Read Most This Year?

   Non-fiction, actually. Some of my favorites being-

5) What Genre Have You Read Least This Year?
  Contemporary, which would be a zero.

6) What Genre Do You Want To Read More Of?
    I'd like to read more classics. There's a few I'd like to re-read, but there's some others I've picked up still sitting on my shelves unread. From the picture below, I still need to read Romola by George Eliot, A Child's History of England by Charles Dickens, Just David by Eleanor Porter (author of Pollyanna), and Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

7) How Many Books Have You Read This Year, And What’s Your Goal?
   I've read 15, and my goal is 40 (it was 50, but there's no way I'll make it to that). Goodreads tells me I'm 6 books behind, so I better start reading faster. :)

8) What’s The Last Book You Bought?

E-book: The Rakasha's Bride. Hard copy:

Doesn't it have a darling cover?

And as a gift for Becca-

That's a hollyhock next to the book, and for those of you who are curious, hollyhocks mean ambition.

9) What Book Are You Saving Up To Buy Next?
 I'd like to buy some of K.M. Weiland's books, like- 

10) How Many Books Did You Check Out Last Library Visit?
 Last time I checked out books at the library I was reading the Ranger's Apprentice series, so it might have been three or four.

Book 5 and this one were my favorites.

11) What’s A Book You Can’t Wait To Read?
Hmmm, I'm not sure.

 12) What’s A Series You’d Recommend to Everyone?

If you haven't ever read the Chronicles of Narnia, go do it right now. My favorite: The Silver Chair.

13) Who’s An Author You’re Hoping Writes More?
  Suzannah Rowntree, definitely. I've really been loving her writing lately.

14) A Few Books Your Heart Adores?

Just a few??? Ok... (sorry for the weird configuration, some of the books didn't like being next to each other.

15) What Series’s Coming Conclusion Makes You Sad?
I don't think I've read any series that have a conclusion coming.

16) What Books Are On Your Wish-List?

   The books that fill in the places between The Ides of April and Beyond the Desert Gate by Mary Ray. There are five books in total in that Roman Empire Sequence, and they've never been reprinted so they are super expensive. I really, really want to read them though, so if I ever find some buried treasure, I know what I'm going to spend it on.

If you wold like to join the fun of this tag, go ahead! I always have trouble figuring out who to pass tags on to. 

Or, feel free to answer some of the questions in the comments!

What book are you currently reading?

What's your favorite book you've read this year?

Have you read anything by Suzannah Rowntree? (you really ought to.)

Beautiful People || June Edition || Bethany's Characters

For this month's Beautiful People post, I'll be digging into the childhood of Porcia, the daughter in the household my MC Milo belongs to.

She actually won't be keeping the name Porcia, because after a little more research into Roman names, I found daughters' names were usually derivatives of their family name. That would make her name Cassia, which I like too, especially since Porcia is actually derived the word for pig. :) I didn't know that when I originally named her.

But as I'm only about half way through the first draft, she'll keep Porcia for now so it won't be confusing.

1)What is their first childhood memory?
One of her clearest early memories is of a time her father brought a pet quail home from his travels, and it would follow Porcia about the garden.

2)What were their best and worst childhood experiences?
Hmm, her first four years of life were a pretty good experience, until the birth of her little brother Junius. He cried constantly, and took all of Mother and Nurse's attention, leaving Porcia rather lonely. But Milo, who would have been about 12 at the time, would be around to cheer her up.

3)What was their childhood home like?
She and her family still live in her childhood home in the city of Salonae. It's not a mansion, but it's a fairly large home with an open atrium, garden/courtyard, and an upper level where the family bedrooms are. Her father often had guests over for business deals, and sometimes he would ask Porcia to sing for them after supper. She would be shy at first, but her sweet young voice always garnered lots of praise, and she enjoyed the attention.

4)What’s something that scared them as child?
Storms always frightened her- the way the sky would grow dark in the day time, the howling wind, and the house shaking thunder. Her nurse would tell her it was just Jupiter showing off his power, but that never gave her much comfort.

5)Who did they look up to most?
  Her mother, who always seemed so put-together and patient, even with her little brother's fiery temper. She also looked up to Milo, even though he's a slave for her family. She admired his kind heart, and how he would be there for her when she needed him, even if it was just to bring her spirits up.

6)Favourite and least favourite childhood foods?
   Porcia has always loved sweets, her favorite being a kind of fried doughnut with orange cream inside.  Her least favorite food was a crushed herb salad, that her mother loved, but she could never stand.

7)If they had their childhood again, would they change anything?
  Sometimes she wishes she would have tried to get along with her brother better, but other then that, no.

8)What kind of child were they? Curious? Wild? Quiet? Devious?
   Porcia was a pretty well behaved child, although she had her moments of willfulness. She was fairly quiet, and spend a lot of time playing alone.

9)What was their relationship to their parents and siblings like?
    Her father was gone quite often, but he always tried to spend time with her when he was home, and would be her gifts from the places he went to. Her mother was busy, but Porcia stayed close with her. And then there's Junius. You've already gotten a glimpse of their relationship. They never got along very well, and he was always messing with her things.

10)What did they want to be when they grew up, and what did they actually become?
   Porcia knew she wouldn't have much choice in the matter, as soon as she was old enough, her father would find someone to marry her. She hoped she could do as good a job as her mother had done. As you know from the Valentine's edition of this linkup, she marries Quintus, and she gets a little taste of having a family and household of her own before the storms come. 

Warning: Leaving Comfort Zone

No, this picture really has nothing to do with the post.
Except for the fact that you may feel like someone is holding a tiny cannon to you when they ask you to do something out of your comfort zone.
Hey, I tried making it fit. :)
It's Don and Phil Everly by the way.

Comfort zone is an interesting phrase.

What does it mean?

An area in our realm of skill, knowledge, experience, where it's easy to do things, not stressful, but familiar and comfortable.

More often then not, we use it as an excuse. We say something "isn't in our comfort zone", and that's really just a euphemism to say, "we would feel uncomfortable in that situation, and don't want to do it".

Go introduce yourself to that person- No, that's not in my comfort zone.

Hey, you should head up this project- Nope, not in my comfort zone, I'm not a leader.

You should call so-in-so and ask about..- Call someone on the phone? That's definitely not in my comfort zone.

(I know introverts can relate to this, but if you are an extrovert, you'll have to come up with your own examples) :)

Or mine this week:

"I need you to be a dorm leader for Teen Camp this week"- "What? What? Whoa, whoa!" (this really needs a sound clip to do it justice. For those of you who listen to AIO, all I should need to say is Abraham and Isaac)

I love working with kids, but teens are scary, they're outside my "comfort zone".

I wasn't a typical teeneger, so I find them hard to relate to. I know pretty much nothing about social media drama, boyfriends, and whatever else. 

But I do know these will be girls with faults and shortcomings, just like me, that God loves, and cares for, sent His Son to die in their place, and it's my privilege to share that with them during this week of camp.

A scary privilege, but a privilege none the less.

But why should it be scary? Why should I be nervous about leaving the area I'm comfortable being in?

It's in our weakness that God shows His strength, right?

I was talking to Marie, the camp director's wife, and such an amazing lady, and she was saying how it's so much better when we aren't confident in our own efforts and knowledge, because then God can work through us and use us.

I certainly don't have confidence in my own efforts, but did I have a humble trust in God to use me? 

Out of my comfort zone meant out of my control. I could mess up, fail, be embarrassed.

That's not humbly knowing my shortcomings and depending on God to work through me.

That's pride, and self focus.

I don't think it's good to squish who you are in a personality type box, but it is interesting to see aspects of who you are reflected through tests like the Myer-briggs one. 

I found this on Pinterest, and could relate it.

This isn't true about everything I do, but I do like learning things by myself, so that when other people see me doing them, I can do it pretty well and not embarrass myself. I don't like practicing in front of others, asking for help in a rough draft of writing, or jumping into to something with no previous experience. (Although I have survived situations of that kind.) :)

But again, that's pride. Just because I don't have confidence in my own efforts, doesn't mean I shouldn't do it.

If God has placed me here this summer, and given me a job to do. He will provide what I need to it, and then the glory will go to it's rightful place, to Him, and not me.

What do I know compared to the knowledge of my all-knowing God? Isn't it so much better to trust in Him, instead of my own measly "comfort zone"?

We shouldn't even have a comfort zone- an area where we can trust in ourselves that things will be ok. Because absolutely everything in is God's control, and the process of our sanctification will involve the weeding out of things like self dependence, selfishness, and pride, things I often struggle with. 

The theme of camp this year is "Drink Deep", going along with the story in John 4 with the woman at the well.

Anything we try to do on our own to fulfill our needs is useless without God. Only He can provide the living water that will strengthen and sustain us through His power. 

We need to drink deep in that, through reading His word, through prayer, and through fellowship with other believers.

Camp staff 2016

I'm not alone at camp. If I don't know what to do, there's lots of people I could turn to for help. And best of all, God will be with me, and any spiritual insight I can give these teen girls this week will from Him.

How about you?

What lessons has God been teaching you this summer?

Do you have a hard time leaving your "comfort zone"?

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

Hebrews 13:20-21

Fit for a Parlor

Free stuff is cool, isn't it? Especially when it looks like this.
A friend gave me these a while back, and I finally got the opportunity to work on them!

Yes, they're in rough shape, but aren't they beautiful?

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

If you've read "What Thou Need'st", you'll recognize the above picture as Allan, my mysterious minstrel. I can't take any credit for it, I found it on Pinterest. But it's very cool, don't you agree?

A Wild Hair :)

By Becca

As I type this, my head is wrapped in a plastic wrap turban. 

I'm starting a new trend :)

Mission: Mad for Plaid

Please excuse Baby Shadow. She thinks every new piece of furniture that come in the house is her new throne. 

This chair was my newest special order. It has a really cute shape, and the fabric was really fun too, but the chair had seen better days, and what was up with that lumpy seat?

Beautiful People || May || Bethany's Character

Now it's my turn to introduce another character from my WIP "Mithras & Myrrh".  For this round of questions, it took me a bit to decide who to use them on. I could have given either Porcia or Quintus another chance, but I ended up with a side character, Linus, the physician Milo is apprenticing under.

He's become a favorite of mine, with his quirky personality and atypical mentor relationship with Milo, so it will be fun to explore his character more with this month's questions!

Beautiful People || May || Becca's Character

Hello there!

It's time for another beautiful people post.

In March you met Rory Sonders, and this month I'll introduce you Felix Tovar. 

He's also in the story "In The Present Age." 

There are some very interesting questions... quite thought provoking for me, since Felix is rather mysterious.

Here goes!

What's Baking? || April

This month I actually have some pictures of my own, but they're not very pretty. I'm sure you'll be able to sympathize with recipes not turning out exactly as pictured. I mean really, does it matter how good it looks if it tastes good? :)

Botanical Beauty

That's right, Ivy, another upholstery project for you to hinder, I mean, help me with. :)

Tag, You're it!

We have Victoria to thank for this tag. She has a lovely blog, with lots of good writing advice,  and if you've never stopped by, go check it out! 

Rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link their website 

2. Use the award logo on your post 

3. Answer the 10 questions provided by the blogger who tagged you 

4. Nominate 10 bloggers

5. Ask them 10 questions

Twin Spin

We give you, for your listening (and viewing) enjoyment, two songs today!

The first, "His Eye is on the Sparrow", we are playing for special music for a church event tomorrow. As we were practicing it, and re-familiarizing with the tune, all we could find were videos of people singing it very slowly and dramatically. It's a joyful song, and that doesn't come through with a tempo that drrraaaagggs on fooorrreeevvver. 

So we went with a quick, upbeat tempo, praising God that since He's in control, and takes care of even the little brown sparrows, we can have joy and rest in Him.

And for another hit by the Clever Bunnies, we give you "I've Just Seen a Face" by the Beatles.

When we got done recording our hymn, we wanted to do a "fun" song, and this is one of my favorites  I know how to play without guitar chords. Becca also had fun playing with the filters on my laptop camera, so first we appear above in "plastic camera" and then "comic book" 

Thanks for listening!

Five Fat Fluffy Fur balls :)

Hello everyone!

We have baby bunnies to share once again. 

They are three weeks old now and getting to the peak of adorableness :) 

Shall we introduce them?

We don't know their gender yet, but they still have been named :) 

Never Let Your Cat Do Upholstery with You

Have any of you heard of this book before? It was a favorite of mine growing up and tells the story of girl who lets her cat make lunch for her, and finds some pretty interesting sandwiches (mouse sandwich anyone?)

Well, my most recent upholstery project is the first one I've done since Ivy came to our house. She found it very interesting, and while I doubt she was trying to help, she certainly attempted to get involved.

Easter Bunnies!

What would Clever Bunnies be if we didn't get to post about baby bunnies every once and a while?

But since we don't have our own rabbits any more, and they've passed on to a few friends of ours, then we get to visit them, and share the cuteness with you.

Our friend Emma's doe Daisy had a litter a week before Easter with her new buck Demi. He is a grandson of our dear Sarah Jane, and was mistakenly called a girl in our Spring Break post last year!

Demi