Four Letter Words by Bill Giovannetti Blog Tour

Happy Friday, all! In New Hampshire, we got dumped on with snow and ice all early evening and still as we speak. At home, they got a snow day, leaving me jealous! We keep losing power, so I'm hoping my computer stays charged long enough to write this before I leave for class!

About Four Letter Words:

Thou shalt tolerate every opinion... except the Christian's. Today's postmodern "prime directive" leaves many followers of Jesus tongue-tied. In the global village, isn't it unreasonable, and even dangerous, to suggest that the Bible has a monopoly on truth?

The church needs a new breed of Christ-follower. We need Christ-followers who are alert to today's touchy ideas, the truths that fire up more heat than light. We need Christ-followers who can make a clear case for the Bible's worldview; who are ready to help our friends think through their beliefs; who can recognize inconsistencies and challenge them; and who can do all of this with humility, confidence, humor, and love. For more information visit http://fourletterwords.org.

Link to buy the book: http://ow.ly/8FbUq   

My Review: I was actually really disappointed with this book. Though I had high hopes upon reading the blurb and receiving the book, I was let down upon completion. This book discusses four letter worded topics such as 'hurt' and 'love'. It had many biblical references and quotes from the Bible itself yet it came across as though Bill Giovannetti was trying to beat it against your forehead. I also did not like that he advertised his website and had 'sticks' for it any chance he got; this included the new links for iPhones to scan into their phones and go straight to the website. Some may find that convienant, but I found it annoying that he would feel the need to advertise so much. 

Overall, my hopes and expectations much exceeded my finished opinion. I would try something by this author again to see if his style and choices had changed at all, but otherwise I wouldn't really recommend this book. 

I recieved this book for free for my honest opinion.

 

About Bill Giovannetti:

Dr. Bill Giovannetti is a professor at A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary and the senior pastor of Neighborhood Church of Redding. An experienced speaker and author, Bill informs the mind in ways that touch the heart. He enjoys life with his wife and two kids in northern California. For more information about Bill and his other books, visit  http://maxgrace.wordpress.com  and http://fourletterwords.org. 

About the Giveaway: 

Bill is celebrating the new Kindle edition of Four Letter Words (for only $4.99)! He’ll be traveling coast to coast over the next few weeks on this virtual book tour and he's celebrating by hosting a great giveaway!

Click here (http://fourletterwords.org/2012/01/contest-giveaway) to find out how you can win two gift certificates to Amazon (in the amount of $50 and $25) and free downloads of his yet-to-be-released title, Recession-Proof: Living a God-Blessed Life in a Messed Up World.

The whole scoop here: http://fourletterwords.org/2012/01/contest-giveaway/ 

Please be sure to check out all the other blogs on the tour too:  http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13453469. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful day! Stay warm wherever you are : ) This has been a good blogging week for me, eh? Lol talk to you all soon!

Muah,

Hannah

Think About Yourself

Happy Thursday, my wonderful blogging friends :)
Have you ever wondered "why do I do that?" or "why am like this while my friend is completely different?" or even simply "what is my personality like on paper?"? If so, you are in the right place today! We're talking personalities, people! They make us who we are and always stay with us, unchanging.

Quirky Dr. Jung

Carl G. Jung (1875-1961) was one of the first psychologists to study personalities in 1920. He was able to break down and define many types, as shown by Garfield, that exist. There is one problem with the picture which is that one person is not made up of six personalities obviously, though I think we could all argue that Garfield might! Lol! A mere twenty years later, Isabel Briggs Myers set out on a journey to make these personality types applicable to the common man's everyday life. She succeeded with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), though research is still ongoing on this subject.

Along with the help of her mother, Katharine Briggs, Isabel defined 16 various personality types. Furthermore, it is based on the preference of four opposing characteristics.

These are as followed (pictured above): Extroversion - Introversion, Sensing - Intuitive, Thinking - Feeling, and Judging - Perceiving.

E-I: Extroverted people gain their energy by being around others. They like to party and be social or enjoy going to a big school for college. They are very comfortable in large groups and are known as a "people person" usually. This is different from introverts who gain more energy from their ownself. They focus within themself. They still may like to party, for example, but when it's over they need their space and time by themselves.

S-N: Sensing is very much as it sounds. Sensory people focus on touch, smell, taste, sound, sight. They need stability with their reasoning. They are also very big on taking information from past experiences. Take a book. How do you know it's a book? Sensory people would say it looks like a book, smells like a book, sounds like a book when the pages turn. Intuitive people are the opposite. They are able to look at something and instead of being completely concrete, they can think of all the other possibilities. Sure, it's a book, but what else can it be? A paperweight? A pillow (maybe a little uncomfortable :P)? They also make connections, for example, when a leaf is a seen it makes them think of fall and going back to school, Halloween, state fairs, etc.

T-F: Thinking people are very similar to Sensing people in a way. They need concrete evidence to make a decision. They usually do not let emotions get in the way because that is not the place for it, they need to make decisions. Whereas obviously Feeling people are very in touch with their own feelings. They are ruled not by facts, but by their heart. There is actually a gender bias on this one because from a young age, society says that boys are not supposed to show emotion. Likewise, girls are supposed to be very touchy feely. Knowing that, it is very easy to conclude that many boys will result with T for this and girls with F results.

J-P: Lastly, Judging people sounds really bad, but it's not what it sounds like. Refer to it more as judgement because I think that helps a little bit. This is based on your decision-making preferences. Judging people are planners, every detail is planned out. They are not very spontaneous and are very set in their daily patterns as well. The opposite, Perceiving people are extremely spontaneous! They are usually procrastinators as well, which goes hand-in-hand with spontaneity and very laidbackness.

Now, do you know which you are yet??? I'll give you mine, I am an INFJ. Above you can see the 16 different types. Mine, fits me quite perfectly in fact. It says that I am known as 'the psychic' in many situations because I am very in tune with the people around me. I function best in "person to person" situations and when I can control my own situation yet am not the boss. A good example is being a teacher (which is actually one of the career choices that best match my personality type! Perfect!); a teacher is in charge of their classroom, but that's it! They are not the principal or superintendent, so there is not that much pressure. I need to be able to use creativity and my own original thoughts to be happy in my career. I can handle people with sympathy and understanding and enjoy working with people of integrity and honesty specifically.

I would LOVE to hear some of your results!! If you want to take the indication test, you can HERE for free! I will warn you though, instead of giving you all four letters, it will only give you two I believe. You can use the criteria to decide for yourself, mine was the same pre-test with my self-evaluation and post-test with their questionnaire. Then, you can go to the Myers-Briggs Foundation website to find out what your personality means! You can also find out some of the best career options that fit your type : )

This was me, smiling away :P
Plus this goat is so adorable!!

I know this post was a little long, but I find this stuff fascinating! The fact that so long ago, they were able to come up with a relevant system that still works today. And let me tell you, it is crazy when you find out what you are and choose to read about it how relevant to your life it will be if it's the right match-up for you. Mine literally made me smile as I was reading it LOL it was just like me on a page! So anyway, I know it was a long one, but if you're interested in psychology or personalities or even just learning about yourself a little more, than this is pretty cool!

I have another blog tour coming up that I'll be posting tomorrow for you all, then we'll probably be hitting the road for more of our National tour ;)
Talk to you soon! Hope you're feeling more in touch with yourself after reading this!
Hannah

The Sound of Red Returning by Sue Duffy Blog Tour

Welcome, welcome! Today is yet again another day :) Keep going, it's Wednesday! You've made it halfway through the week already, wahooooooooooo!!!! Anyway lol here we go, on with the blog tour!

About the book:
After losing everyone she loves, concert pianist Liesl Bower has nowhere to go but to escape into her music. Searching for the peace she usually finds in her concertos and sonatas, Liesl can’t shake the feeling that she is being haunted by her past . . . and by someone following her. When she spots a familiar and eerie face in the audience of a concert she’s giving for the president in Washington, DC, the scariest day of her life comes back to her with a flash. It has been fifteen years since Liesl watched her beloved Harvard music mentor assaulted on a dark night in Moscow and just as long since the CIA disclosed to her that he’d been spying for Russia. She had seen that man--that eerie face--the night Professor Devoe was attacked. And now he’s back--and coming for her.

 On the run and struggling to rely on the protection of CIA agent Ava Mullins and handsome newspaper reporter Cade O’Brien, Liesl learns she is the prey of an underground cell of Russian KGB agents determined to restore their country to its former Soviet might. But what she doesn’t know is that she is in possession of something--a piece of sheet music--that Russian intelligence is now frantic to find. Inside that music is a secret code, the hidden transcriptions of her deceased mentor, that clearly identify a Russian mole operating inside Israel’s Department of Defense, a mole with enough power and access to execute a daring assassination that no one would see coming.

 Caught in a deadly conflict between American and Russian undercover agents, this innocent young pianist is just trying to survive her own personal trauma. Through it all, Liesl must learn that no matter how dark her world grows or how fiercely her enemies pursue her, God is still in control--if only she can yield herself to His grace. Read an excerpt HERE

My Review:
Upon reading the announcement about this blog tour, I was excited! It sounded as though it would be including many aspects that I love to read - historical fiction, mystery, suspense, and piano which I've played for about 15 years now. The cover is absolutely gorgeous. They chose a woman with striking features to put on it and she really makes an impression. However, from the first page I was confused. I figured that a lot of books start out confusing, but can definitely get better once more information is relayed to the reader, etc. That did not happen, though. Unfortunately, I did not find that the book for any better. I did not like Sue Duffy's writing style in fact. It seemed all too tedious to get through and too factual. This is a fiction piece of work and though I can appreciate the research that must have gone into this novel, she was not able to get it across in a way for me to enjoy.

I really dislike giving bad reviews, but I could not get through this book. I was sorely disappointed with the outcome of this book that held some intriguing possibilities for me. I would recommend trying it because everyone has different opinions of the same things. However, if you have similar interests to the ones I mentioned above, open the pages with an air of caution.

~This book was furnished to me by the publisher for my open and honest opinion~

About the author: 
Sue Duffy is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Moody Magazine, The Presbyterian Journal, Sunday Digest, and The Christian Reader. She is the author of Mortal Wounds (Barbour, 2001) and Fatal Loyalty (Kregel, 2010). Sue has also contributed to Stories for a Woman’s Heart (Multnomah). She and her husband, Mike, have three grown children. Find out more at www.sueduffybooks.com. Link to buy the book: http://ow.ly/8B9HT


Win a Kindle Fire from @SueDuffy2 and @KregelBooks in the "Red Returning" Giveaway! Sue Duffy and her publisher, Kregel Publications, are celebrating the release of The Sound of Red Returning by giving away a Kindle Fire prize package worth over $200 to one lucky winner!!!! (1/23-2/11)

Enter the Sue Duffy’s Giveaway today and you could win:

* A brand new Kindle Fire with Wi-Fi
* The Sound of Red Returning (Book One in the Red Returning series) by Sue Duffy

To enter click one of the icons below. But, hurry! The giveway ends on 2/11. Sue will be announcing the winner of the “Red Returning” Giveaway on February 13th on the Litfuse website!

Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. 

Please feel free to check out the other stops along the way in the blog tour HERE

So there you have it, folks!! This is my second blog tour :) They're pretty fun to do! Thanks so much for stopping in from time to time. I have some fun interviews coming up!

Talk to you soon!
Hannah

Help, help, help!!

'Ello gov'na! lol :)

I need some assistance from all my smart bloggy friends. I am unable to change the background on my blog and as you can see, it's back to the plain beige again now. I have tried all sorts of different background codes and actual sites as well. I've also tried in Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Firefox. Lastly, I tried on my friend, Cat's, computer in case it was my computer specifically. So far it's none of those things!!!!


Can someone help me please!?
Thanks SO much,
Hannah

Claire de Lune Story

HELLO!!!!!!!

My friends, my friends how I have missed you! It's been a worldwind of a couple weeks. Sheesh! On December 30, I had all four wisdom teeth out - yuck!! I ended up getting dry socket in the bottom left tooth which resulted in a MUCH slower recovery time. It wasn't fun at all, but I'm feeling a lot better now fiiiiiiiiiiiiiinally! Haha!

This is my first week back to school, started yesterday. I've got a full course load: Child Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Desire, Quantitative Reasoning, and Music Appreciation. I'm also taking chorus for the first time this semester. We met today and I'm so excited for it!! We're doing a Disney theme, so all Disney songs will be sung for the concert :D The only catch is that we all have to dress up as different Disney characters lol. Ohhhhhh boy! Right now I'm considering:

~ Minnie Mouse

~ Esmerelda

~ Queen of Hearts

Any thoughts? Lol. I think I'm gonna tell my conductor that I want to do Minnie Mouse, if that's taken I'm not sure which one I'll pick!

Okay, moving onto the title for this post : ) In my music appreciation class, Prof. Sanborn assigned a really cool assignment for homework! We had to listen to a song and write a short story/creative piece to it! Basically she's trying to use the song to evoke emotion and have use that to write creatively. I loved doing it : ) Very, very fun! Now go easy on me all my author friends! So many of your write and I....well.....don't really lol so keep that in mind!

The song - Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy

Now for the story:

One final kiss.

She watches him walk away, backpack in tow. A silent tear slips down her face. Her one true love is leaving her to defend his country. She should be proud, right? Wrong. Her one true love.

Put one foot in front of the other, just keep walking. Constantly urging himself to put more distance between him and her. He had been one of the lucky ones to find his love and in the most romantic city in the world – Paris – of all places. Now, he was leaving her.

~

Walking up the steps, his heart pounding in his chest, he cannot wait to see her reaction. The butler answers his persistent knocks; she is not home. Curtly, he is turned away and told that she has moved on. Moved on? How could his love move on? Sullen steps carry him away.

Her hand lightly rests on the gateway overlooking the Seine as she slowly walks. He is always on her mind, though he has been gone too long to remember now. The hours blend into days and days into weeks then months, yet she receives no word from her love. Is he still alright? Does he still think of her as she does him? A sad, simple sigh escapes her lips while studying the golden sun dropping.

Sipping his espresso at a small café, he looks out across the Seine. His heart is broken. He gazes at the big, beautiful sun as it slowly melts into the landscape.

THE END :)

Okay, so what do you think? Does it sound okay? Technically we were supposed to write one-two paragraphs on it, but I just wasn't feeling the paragraphs exactly so I broke it down more.

Anyway, thank you SO much for reading!! I'm hoping to get back on track with posting now that I'm feeling better :) Got some reviews to be posting too, so look out for those!

Much love to you all, muah!
Hannah

Strength Post #1

Just remember that everything happens for a reason. You're brilliant : )

Hannah

From Seas to Shining Sea Road Trip - First Stop!

Today, we're talking about states! I was out of blogging ideas tonight so my friend, AJ, helped me brainstorm states in our conversation. First of all.....can you all put all 50 states in their correct places on the map!? Try and see if you can beat me HERE ; ) I got an 82% with an average error of 54 miles and completed it in 325 seconds!

America, the beautiful. Our country certainly can be beautiful, can't it? I'm can't say that I am upset to have been born here; I feel fortunate. Yes, I am ashamed of things in our past. I am ashamed of things my white brothers did in their past, but I know things can change. I feel fortunate that I can room with Amanda, my beautiful roommate, and not see the color of her skin. I am fortunate to be able to graduate from high school, go onto college, and choose to study whatever I want. I am fortunate to have a roof above my head every night, food on my table everyday, and running water whenever I need to use it. I am thankful for the opportunities that have stemmed from living in the United States of America. Even though it is not the Fourth of July lol I've been thinking after watching Times Square on New Years. How lucky are we all for living in this country?

This thinking led me to a new idea for the blog. This post begins a discovery of our nation from sea to shining sea. It is a road trip of sorts that will take us into the nooks and crannys of the United States of America : ) Today is merely the first stop of 50 on our From Sea to Shining Sea Road Trip and of course we're starting in the most sensible place to start!

I live in Vermont, as many of you know already. I am so happy to have been brought up in Vermont and New England in general! I love it here with the changing of seasons especially : ) It's so beautiful here and you should ALL come visit me when you get the chance! I'll take you on all the back roads to see things like that picture on the left. It'll be fun, promise.

When I think of Vermont, I think of beauty, cows, blue skies and dark winters, icy roads, dirt roads, muddy roads, roads filled with pot holes! Maple syrup and warm pancakes, hot apple pie (apple pie is our state pie! Apples, our state fruit, ya know :D), apple picking, raking leaves, marshmallows (no, not the edible ones!!), family, home. I can't wait for you all to get a glimpse of my state : )

Alicia and I outside Gramma and Grampa's house when we were little

Some fun Vermont facts:

1) Vermont is the largest maple syrup producer in the country producing over 500,000 gallons a year.

2) Vermont is the second largest state in New England with Maine being the first.

3) Coldest temperature recorded: -47 degrees F Hottest: 106 degrees F

4) About half the milk consumed in New England comes exclusively from Vermont : )

5) Montpelier is the smallest state capital in the US (and also the only one without a McDonalds!)

6) Vermont is the second smallest state in population.

7) Vermont has the least amount of violent crime out of all 50 states.

8) Until 1996, Vermont was the only state without a Walmart! (That's right, we're cool :P)

9) Know as the Green Mountain State.

10) Vermont was the first state admitted to the Union after the 13 Colonies.

Motto: Freedom and Unity

Flower: Red Clover

Bird: Hermit Thrush

Vermont State Song: These Green Mountains

Diane Martin - Composer

Rita Buglass - Arranger

These green hills and silver waters
are my home. They belong to me.
And to all of her sons and daughters
May they be strong and forever free.

Let us live to protect her beauty
And look with pride on the golden dome
They say home is where the heart is
These green mountains are my home.

These green mountains are my home.

So, we're off! On a worldwind adventure, who knows what we'll find, eh? :) I hope you will ALL join me as we visit the treasures our country has for us.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Hannah

Summers spent in Gramma's pool : )

Books Read in 2011

This is just a quick post to recap the books I read in 2011 : )

January:
1) Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
2) I know I'm forgetting the book I read between these two! When I think of it, I'll post it : D
3) In Every Heartbeat by Kim Vogel Sawyer
February:
4) The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
5) A Soldier's Promise by Cheryl Wyatt
6) A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer
7) Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
8) Flavor of the Week by Tucker Shaw
9) The Farther You Run by Davida Wills Hurwin
10) Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
March:
11) The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers
12) When the Soul Mends by Cindy Woodsmall
13) The Lightkeeper's Daughter by Colleen Coble
14) Someone at the Door by Richie Tankersley Cusick
15) Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
April:
16) The Siege: A Family's Journeyinto the World of an Autistic Chid by Clara Claiborne Park
17) Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
18) The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen
19) Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
20) The Lightkeeper's Bride by Colleen Coble
21) A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson by Michelle Y. Green
May:
22) The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
23) Crank (Crank #1) by Ellen Hopkins
24) Room by Emma Donoghue
25) Glass (Crank #2) by Ellen Hopkins
June:
26) The Invention of Hugo Cabert by Brian Selznick
27) A Child Called "It" by Dave Peltzer
28) Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
29) Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
30) Little Bee by Chris Cleave
31) Twisted by Laurie Anderson
32) Plain Wisdom by Cindy Woodsmall and Miriam Flaud
33) The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
34) This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
July
35) Cell by Stephen King
36) An Unlikely Suitor by Nancy Moser
37) The Locker by Richie Tankersley Cusick
August
38) Getting Back Up When Life Knocks You Down by Jeremy Kingsley
39) Homeward by Melody Carlson
40) At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
September
41) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
October
42) Koyasan by Darren Shan
November
43) The Encounter by Steve Arterburn
44) Remembering You by Tricia Goyer
December
45) Precisely Terminated by Amanda L. Davis

I definitely did worse nearer the end of the year, phooey! But I'm hoping to get back on track this year. I've been keeping an eye out for reading challenges and haven't seen a ton, but I think I have a couple in mind. I've already read two books this year so far lol so reviews to come on those. Currently getting started on The Sound of Red Returning by Sue Duffy for my next blog tour at the end of the month.

More to come, stay tuned!

Hannah