To break the long absence from our blog (and what better way could I), it is time for my annual summary of the match up between Texas Tech and Texas A&M in college football. As you may recall, this "personal" rivalry between Anne and I never meant anything to me until I started dating Anne in 2003. She went to TTU and me to A&M - so one Saturday a year since 2003, when we started dating, the game is closely watched and tallied for future reference. Not that we need any further competition in our marriage, though this one is a little safer than the card games at home.
Here are the results since Anne and I started dating.......
2003 - TTU (first game ever with Anne - A&M killed in Lubbock)
2004 - A&M (overtime victory at Kyle Field)
2005 - TTU (A&M killed again in Lubbock)
2006 - TTU (they stole the game on the rode in College Station)
2007 - TTU (A&M killed again in Lubbock - do you see the trend)
2008 - TTU (4 yrs in a row....oh man!)
2009 - A&M (CG is the good luck charm - Gig'em!!)
2010 - A&M (in Hong Kong, Aggies win while I sleep)
2011 - A&M (BK in HKG, Anne in TX with the Aggie good luck charm CG)
We are unsure what the future holds for this game moving forward, especially with A&M ruining it with a move to the SEC. Chances are it will be years until it played again but when it is played you can count us in for watching it and for this scoreboard to be updated. For now TTU holds the one game lead, but CG and myself are happy with her perfect record at 3-0. She truly is Daddy's Little Girl!!!
Love to both my wife and daughter as they spend time with family in the US! A maroon dress from Momma K seems to be in order this year.
October 9, 2011
April 30, 2011
Just 1 Inch {Guest Post by Brendan}
There are many things that can be measured with precision and many others that can not. We all take the size of certain things for granted (say a Subway sandwich) and then with other things you settle with..."oh just a little"...like when getting your haircut. All haircuts start off the same exact way - you sit in the chair, they ask you how you doing, they cover you up with a robe of some sort and then position you directly in front of the mirror and say....."so what would you like me to do". You have thought about what you want before you show up and try to come up with an eloquent way of explaining it to them. Some people bring pictures or other details, but it really comes down to the fact that you are there to get your hair CUT.
Well today was one of those days, not for me, but rather Charlotte Grace. If you have seen pictures of her recently you know that she has a good amount of blond hair. Anne has been perfecting some little girl hairdos - pigtails, parts with hairclips and bows as well as a number of other ways to twist, turn and pull Charlotte's hair. Charlotte is not overly fond of this, always looking to use her favorite two words before you are even near completed with the styling...."all done"! She will move her head, squirm off in one direction or any other tactic that she learns in her close monitoring of other 'small people' that she is with. Regardless of this behavior, Anne has worked very hard to learn a thing or two and as Charlotte's hair keeps growing...it seemed more and more things could be done.
If I had not been with Anne, there is no way that I would believe that she only told the stylist to take off "just 1 inch". Granted this conversation was in English and not the lady's first language, but still Anne said 1 and she clearly understood that word. So 1 what....inch? That could be confusing for the lady as we are in a culture that uses the metric system and as such she may not know what the exact measurement of an inch is - but she did repeat the word after Anne and did not hesitate or ask for clarification. This led us to believe our desires would be followed and Little Girl would have a nice trim to even out her hair for further growth.
From the 'Before' and 'After' photos below, we will let you wager on how many inches were taken - but from my estimate it is close to 3 inches....2 more than expected when it all started. Anne is sadden by this result, but is recovering nicely during an afternoon nap and confident statement of....."it will grow back"!
Well today was one of those days, not for me, but rather Charlotte Grace. If you have seen pictures of her recently you know that she has a good amount of blond hair. Anne has been perfecting some little girl hairdos - pigtails, parts with hairclips and bows as well as a number of other ways to twist, turn and pull Charlotte's hair. Charlotte is not overly fond of this, always looking to use her favorite two words before you are even near completed with the styling...."all done"! She will move her head, squirm off in one direction or any other tactic that she learns in her close monitoring of other 'small people' that she is with. Regardless of this behavior, Anne has worked very hard to learn a thing or two and as Charlotte's hair keeps growing...it seemed more and more things could be done.
If I had not been with Anne, there is no way that I would believe that she only told the stylist to take off "just 1 inch". Granted this conversation was in English and not the lady's first language, but still Anne said 1 and she clearly understood that word. So 1 what....inch? That could be confusing for the lady as we are in a culture that uses the metric system and as such she may not know what the exact measurement of an inch is - but she did repeat the word after Anne and did not hesitate or ask for clarification. This led us to believe our desires would be followed and Little Girl would have a nice trim to even out her hair for further growth.
From the 'Before' and 'After' photos below, we will let you wager on how many inches were taken - but from my estimate it is close to 3 inches....2 more than expected when it all started. Anne is sadden by this result, but is recovering nicely during an afternoon nap and confident statement of....."it will grow back"!
BEFORE
AFTER
April 24, 2011
The Reason for our Joy, Peace, and Hope
Today is Easter Sunday. Today we celebrate a risen Savior!
What a joy it was to celebrate with other believers at our church in Hong Kong today (including the song below)! What a joy to begin sharing the Easter story with our 18 month old daughter! What a joy to know that as I head to bed tonight, our family and friends in the U.S. will be celebrating Christ's resurrection as well!
What peace our family has in knowing our Lord has conquered death! And we have the ultimate hope of eternal life with Him!
Happy Easter to all!
What a joy it was to celebrate with other believers at our church in Hong Kong today (including the song below)! What a joy to begin sharing the Easter story with our 18 month old daughter! What a joy to know that as I head to bed tonight, our family and friends in the U.S. will be celebrating Christ's resurrection as well!
What peace our family has in knowing our Lord has conquered death! And we have the ultimate hope of eternal life with Him!
Happy Easter to all!
April 21, 2011
Charlotte's Lollipop Dance
Charlotte's new favorite song and dance. (This is the best video we could get because she normally stops what she is doing when the video camera comes out.)
April 4, 2011
March {Month in Review}
Basketball
March in the Kinne household always means BASKETBALL!
From the time I was young, I can remember watching the NCAA college basketball tournament every March. I have wonderful family memories of those 3 special weekends, and am so glad that God provided me with a husband who shares in that excitement like I do!
Even though we have been away from the U.S. for March Madness last year and this year, we still find ways in stay in the action. I must confess that I almost didn't fill out my bracket this year (gasp!) but my husband gently
The great thing about our move to Hong Kong is that it actually offers us a much better time zone difference to communicate with family and friends in the U.S. - and to watch the NCAA tournament. So for the past 3 weekends, you could find us each morning eating breakfast while watching basketball games on our laptop. Charlotte really enjoys the commerials - especially the one with the baby driving his walker all over the country (I think it's a printer commercial) - she yells her favorite word, "Baby!"
And our brackets - well, those were busted pretty early on, even Brendan had no hope after the 2nd weekend of games. We really love watching good games and seeing underdogs be victorious, so it has been an awesome tournament to watch!
 |
| Charlotte & Brendan watching a game |
Other Adventures
On the weekends, we started exploring some of the islands that surround Hong Kong. We only made it to one island - Lamma Island - but have many more on our list.
For our trip to Lamma, we packed up Charlotte's jogging stroller with snacks, drinks and layers of clothing and headed to Central Pier. Although the weather was overcast, it wasn't threatening rain and the temperature was great - a great chance to get outside in Hong Kong! On our way to the pier I remembered that there is a Subway there, so that was our lunch stop - exciting for us, maybe not so much for you who see Subway everyday. :)
 |
| Brendan on the beach in Lamma |
The island itself is so different from Hong Kong...laid back, no skyscrapers, no cars! There are two small villages that begin and end an easy hiking trail, and a beach is located halfway through the trail. It was a really great day! We plan to spend much more time there while we are in Hong Kong - such a nice, quick escape from the crazy city.
During the week, Charlotte and I have been making friends at our new church, Island ECC, and with other moms and toddlers in our area of Hong Kong. I'm sure Charlotte doesn't appreciate these friendships nearly as much as I do, but over the next few months it will be great for her to have little friends as well.
 |
| Me & Charlotte at the playground with our local playgroup |
Reading
In January, I posted my reading list for the year. It has helped me a lot to have a list to refer to when I finish one book and want to pick up another one. I didn't actually finish any reading in March. I continued - and am almost finished with - Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. This book is so full of weighty spiritual stuff, I just haven't wanted to race through it. I feel I've really needed to let certain chapters really soak in. (I've read from many others who have felt the same way.) I've just got one more chapter to go, so I should be wrapping it up in April.
Another book I started reading in March is The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. I really wish I would have known about this book and taken the time to read it last year when I first became a mother. God used other things last year to help me begin to form a biblical understanding of motherhood, and now this book is really helping me build on that. It is encouraging and challenging and also full of stuff that I don't want to read too quickly through. I'm hoping to finish it this month.
I hit a point in the middle of March when I really wanted to read some fiction. My mind just needed a break from all the challenging, weighty stuff! :) I didn't have anything around, but have since started re-reading Pride & Prejudice because it was a free download on my Nook app for iPad. Oh, how I have enjoyed reading this again! I'm now on a Jane Austen (and similar genre) reading kick. Up next, I think, is Mansfield Park.
Gratitude
I'll wrap up this review of March by sharing some of my gratitude journal with you...enjoy!
646. morning trips to the playground
647. surprise! running into new friends at the playground
649. daughter helping me unload groceries
656. taped-up board books are like brand-new books to little one
658. neon cross out our kitchen window
659. nursery rhymes
660. little daugher learning to feed herself oatmeal
661. Big Mama learning to let go as oatmeal only sometimes makes it to little one's mouth
663. figuring out what "o-mang-o-mang" means after months of Charlotte saying it ("no more monkeys"...jumping on the bed!)
667. long, strong hug from my husband
671. pictures - reminders - of a short-lived home in a foreign land
672. British voice telling us to "mind the gap" on the MTR (subway)
683. sweet emails from friends
694. talking to my grandparents on Skype
695. good news that Daddy Jack is feeling stronger
697. "Uh-Ba" = Uncle Boo
700. husband offering to do the dishes so he can listen to his 28 minutes of Bible reading (You've Got the Time)
703. watching a ship come into the harbour on a clear morning
705. relaxing bus ride with Charlotte in my lap
709. calm, peaceful mornings together as a family since Brendan doesn't need to leave early for work
711. Brendan working so diligently, using his gifts for God's glory
715. view of the island mountain out our kitchen window
March 31, 2011
Let me introduce you to 675 square feet {Kitchen}
I'll start with the kitchen. :)
675 sq. ft. is actually the size of our entire apartment, not just the kitchen. I'm not sure what portion of 675 sq. ft. the kitchen takes up, but it doesn't really matter - it's still small. To be fair, the space itself is not terrible by Hong Kong standards. It is actually much more similar to standard Madrid kitchens, however we were super-spoiled in Madrid with a huge kitchen.
I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that every person who came into our apartment in Madrid made a comment about how large the kitchen was.
It was awesome! And now I regret speaking any harsh words against it. :)
I've decided that living abroad wouldn't be nearly as meaningful if I didn't really get stretched out of my comfort zone...even in my own home. Well, God is sure stretching my homemaking abilities here. Not just by the small size of the kitchen, but by what is missing from it.
The two big items missing from our kitchen - and most kitchens in Hong Kong - are a dishwasher and an oven.
After living here now for a few months, I am getting use to living without these appliances that I have taken for granted my entire life. I have learned - and am continuing to learn - to adapt my cooking to stove top and microwave dishes. We also have a little toaster oven which works pretty well despite it's small size.
And the dishwashing...my dad is probably laughing at the fact that I must wash all our dishes by hand everyday! Dishwashing has long been my most hated of household chores. Here's a view of my little dishwashing station...
I do have a nice little view out the window, don't I? I have done my fair share of grumbling and complaining about this dishwashing situation, but God is giving me contentment in it. Instead of dreading it, I am trying to view it as a normal part of my evening, an important way to serve my family, and to make it more enjoyable (listening to music, talking to Brendan, or just praying or thinking about something). I also have a wonderful husband who has known about my dislike for washing dishes since we got married. He likes to serve me on occasion by doing the dishes for me. He's pretty awesome!
I also hope that when we do have a dishwasher once again, I won't be nearly so bothered by washing a couple of pots & pans each day. We'll see. :)
I do need to be completely honest and share with you that our kitchen here in HKG does have something we missed in Spain - a dryer! Yay! It is a washer/dryer combo and it's great! Sometimes I kinda miss hanging our clothes out to dry...maybe we'll do that again someday by choice...but having a dryer again sure is nice.
Hope you enjoyed the view of our kitchen in Hong Kong. I'll introduce you to the rest of our apartment another day!
 |
| Kitchen in Hong Kong |
675 sq. ft. is actually the size of our entire apartment, not just the kitchen. I'm not sure what portion of 675 sq. ft. the kitchen takes up, but it doesn't really matter - it's still small. To be fair, the space itself is not terrible by Hong Kong standards. It is actually much more similar to standard Madrid kitchens, however we were super-spoiled in Madrid with a huge kitchen.
I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that every person who came into our apartment in Madrid made a comment about how large the kitchen was.
 |
| Kitchen in Madrid |
It was awesome! And now I regret speaking any harsh words against it. :)
I've decided that living abroad wouldn't be nearly as meaningful if I didn't really get stretched out of my comfort zone...even in my own home. Well, God is sure stretching my homemaking abilities here. Not just by the small size of the kitchen, but by what is missing from it.
The two big items missing from our kitchen - and most kitchens in Hong Kong - are a dishwasher and an oven.
After living here now for a few months, I am getting use to living without these appliances that I have taken for granted my entire life. I have learned - and am continuing to learn - to adapt my cooking to stove top and microwave dishes. We also have a little toaster oven which works pretty well despite it's small size.
And the dishwashing...my dad is probably laughing at the fact that I must wash all our dishes by hand everyday! Dishwashing has long been my most hated of household chores. Here's a view of my little dishwashing station...
I do have a nice little view out the window, don't I? I have done my fair share of grumbling and complaining about this dishwashing situation, but God is giving me contentment in it. Instead of dreading it, I am trying to view it as a normal part of my evening, an important way to serve my family, and to make it more enjoyable (listening to music, talking to Brendan, or just praying or thinking about something). I also have a wonderful husband who has known about my dislike for washing dishes since we got married. He likes to serve me on occasion by doing the dishes for me. He's pretty awesome!
I also hope that when we do have a dishwasher once again, I won't be nearly so bothered by washing a couple of pots & pans each day. We'll see. :)
I do need to be completely honest and share with you that our kitchen here in HKG does have something we missed in Spain - a dryer! Yay! It is a washer/dryer combo and it's great! Sometimes I kinda miss hanging our clothes out to dry...maybe we'll do that again someday by choice...but having a dryer again sure is nice.
Hope you enjoyed the view of our kitchen in Hong Kong. I'll introduce you to the rest of our apartment another day!
March 19, 2011
Mommy Makes Toys {Dyed Pasta}
Things have been a little quiet around the blog this month. Sorry about that. I've had blog post ideas bouncing around in my head, but since I haven't organized the Blog Plans section of my Home Planning binder it's hard for me to be purposeful about getting those posts written. My desire is to have this little planning section in my binder so that I will be more consistent in my blog posting; however, we don't have a printer at home or a local FedEx Kinko's so I've got to send Brendan the files to print off at his office...and I'm just lazy and haven't gotten around to doing that.
Anyways...this post is not about my desire to plan blog posts better, but about a fun little activity Charlotte and I did together recently.
One of my goals for this year is to plan more purposeful learning activities for Charlotte since she is now at an age (currently 17 months) where she is much more engaged with the world around her. One blog I follow [Totally Tots] recently posted instructions for making dyed pasta. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would work great for us. I could easily find the needed supplies, and I knew Charlotte would enjoy playing with the little pasta shapes.
Dying the pasta was super easy! I was also pleasantly surprised with how quick the pasta dried even in our crazy humid climate. The finished pasta...
There are really LOTS of different things we could do with the pasta, which I'm really excited about. The first thing we did was to keep the different colors separated in small plastic containers. Then, I just set Charlotte up at the table and let her do whatever she wanted to do. :) Well of course the first thing she wanted to do was eat the pasta (I even did this right after a large snack to avoid that)! So, we established that this pasta was not to be eaten, and then she just had fun playing with it.
Charlotte played with the pasta for 30 minutes and would have kept playing longer if I hadn't decided to move on to something else. This really gave me a great confidence boost as I look to plan more activities for Charlotte in the future. Dyed pasta = Success!
[If you're at all interested in the instructions for dying pasta, here's the website.]
Anyways...this post is not about my desire to plan blog posts better, but about a fun little activity Charlotte and I did together recently.
One of my goals for this year is to plan more purposeful learning activities for Charlotte since she is now at an age (currently 17 months) where she is much more engaged with the world around her. One blog I follow [Totally Tots] recently posted instructions for making dyed pasta. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would work great for us. I could easily find the needed supplies, and I knew Charlotte would enjoy playing with the little pasta shapes.
Dying the pasta was super easy! I was also pleasantly surprised with how quick the pasta dried even in our crazy humid climate. The finished pasta...
There are really LOTS of different things we could do with the pasta, which I'm really excited about. The first thing we did was to keep the different colors separated in small plastic containers. Then, I just set Charlotte up at the table and let her do whatever she wanted to do. :) Well of course the first thing she wanted to do was eat the pasta (I even did this right after a large snack to avoid that)! So, we established that this pasta was not to be eaten, and then she just had fun playing with it.
Charlotte played with the pasta for 30 minutes and would have kept playing longer if I hadn't decided to move on to something else. This really gave me a great confidence boost as I look to plan more activities for Charlotte in the future. Dyed pasta = Success!
[If you're at all interested in the instructions for dying pasta, here's the website.]
February 28, 2011
February {Month in Review}
I cannot believe that February is coming to a close, and yet, with it's 28 days, February always does seem to be a month that flies by.
As I've been making little (and big) changes to our blog recently, I've also been thinking about changes in what and how often I post. Since this blog is purely a personal blog about what God is doing in our little family, I know there will be dry times when I am not motivated to post or time is better spent on other things. Thankfully, there are also times when the opposite is true! I thought that a good way to balance that would be to do a {month in review} post just to highlight what has happened in the past month.
I've also decided not to post my gratitude journal weekly, but I wanted to find a way to include part of my gratitude list into my blog posts. So as I review a month in the life of our family, I think that's also the perfect time to share with you how God has been blessing me during that month.
So, February for the Kinne's looked something like this...
We experienced our first Chinese New Year. The "Year of the Rabbit" began at the beginning of February, and Brendan had a few days off work so we enjoyed some nice time together as a family. As the month progressed, we realized that Chinese New Year is actually celebrated for about 2 weeks. The decorations around Hong Kong were amazing. I was a little sad to see them taken down but it freed up LOTS of space...I couldn't believe the transformation in our local grocery store - I actually didn't feel claustrophobic while shopping in there!
During Chinese New Year, Charlotte received some lai see. These are red envelopes which are given to children, unmarried juniors, service people, and employees. We thought it was quite sweet when a lady on a bus gave a 'red packet' to Charlotte because Charlotte had been friendly to her. We equated the red packet tradition as similar to giving a generous tip at Christmas to your postman, newspaper carrier, hair stylist, etc.
During Chinese New Year the weather was great, but then we hit a spell of cold, wet weekends that didn't offer us much in the way of exploring Hong Kong. But last Saturday that changed and the weather was clear and warmer. We found ourselves hiking up the Peak with some friends. Yep, Brendan pushed Charlotte up the paved trail in her stroller! Too bad we weren't prepared with her jogging stroller. Instead she was in her lightweight umbrella stroller and it wasn't intended for use on a rugged, although paved, trail. Oh well! We were excited to get outside and see some new areas of Hong Kong, and now we're really motivated to set out exploring more outdoor areas around Hong Kong - hopefully we'll have that to share with you next month!
And what about our little family? How are we all growing together?
Charlotte is now 16 months old which means she is constantly testing us to see if we really are in charge or if we'll finally give in and let her run the house! :) As trying as this is, we know that if we stay the course of disciplining our child it will reap rewards for her and us later in life. Her language has finally taken off a little bit in the past week or so. So while "bow", "ball", "bowl", "box", and many other "B" words sound like the same word out of Charlotte's mouth, she is intentional about giving them a name rather than pointing and grunting (which was driving me crazy!). She also demands Brendan and I to sing nursery rhymes to her and her absolute favorite books right now are Mother Goose by Gyo Fujikawa (this book has the BEST illustrations!) and Dr. Suess' ABC's (which Charlotte will bring to us and say "A, B, D!").
God has also opened up a new level of communication between Brendan and I that has been very exciting for me! We often find ourselves discussing something we've been reading or listening to (Brendan has an hour or so everyday to listen to podcasts while he commutes to work) which in turn leads to us figuring out that it applies to our life today too. I have been reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and sharing with Brendan some of what sticks out to me. He was excited one day when one of the podcasts he listens to was interviewing the author of this biography about the book! Brendan is not a big reader, but to listen to some of what the book was about was a great way for him to then be able to discuss it with me.
The other book I have been reading this month is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Finding her blog a year ago is what lead me to begin my gratitude journal. I am only five chapters into the book but it is definitely helping me better understand my need for expressing gratitude to God and the role my gratitude journal plays in that. I highly recommend you pick this book up!
I hope you can rejoice in some of my gratitude over the past month:
624. an afternoon with new friends getting a foot massage
625. long holiday due to Chinese New Year
629. Pizza Express on the promenade at Stanley - yum!
630. blond-haired, blue-eyed girl in her red Chinese outfit
633. American friends coming over for lunch and games
634. online grocery shopping and delivery
635. routines developing
637. homemade cookies from friends - when you don't have an oven to make your own
642. making Valentine's Day cards with Charlotte
643. the Spirit giving me insight into my husband's heart/emotions/response
Blessings!
As I've been making little (and big) changes to our blog recently, I've also been thinking about changes in what and how often I post. Since this blog is purely a personal blog about what God is doing in our little family, I know there will be dry times when I am not motivated to post or time is better spent on other things. Thankfully, there are also times when the opposite is true! I thought that a good way to balance that would be to do a {month in review} post just to highlight what has happened in the past month.
I've also decided not to post my gratitude journal weekly, but I wanted to find a way to include part of my gratitude list into my blog posts. So as I review a month in the life of our family, I think that's also the perfect time to share with you how God has been blessing me during that month.
So, February for the Kinne's looked something like this...
We experienced our first Chinese New Year. The "Year of the Rabbit" began at the beginning of February, and Brendan had a few days off work so we enjoyed some nice time together as a family. As the month progressed, we realized that Chinese New Year is actually celebrated for about 2 weeks. The decorations around Hong Kong were amazing. I was a little sad to see them taken down but it freed up LOTS of space...I couldn't believe the transformation in our local grocery store - I actually didn't feel claustrophobic while shopping in there!
During Chinese New Year, Charlotte received some lai see. These are red envelopes which are given to children, unmarried juniors, service people, and employees. We thought it was quite sweet when a lady on a bus gave a 'red packet' to Charlotte because Charlotte had been friendly to her. We equated the red packet tradition as similar to giving a generous tip at Christmas to your postman, newspaper carrier, hair stylist, etc.
During Chinese New Year the weather was great, but then we hit a spell of cold, wet weekends that didn't offer us much in the way of exploring Hong Kong. But last Saturday that changed and the weather was clear and warmer. We found ourselves hiking up the Peak with some friends. Yep, Brendan pushed Charlotte up the paved trail in her stroller! Too bad we weren't prepared with her jogging stroller. Instead she was in her lightweight umbrella stroller and it wasn't intended for use on a rugged, although paved, trail. Oh well! We were excited to get outside and see some new areas of Hong Kong, and now we're really motivated to set out exploring more outdoor areas around Hong Kong - hopefully we'll have that to share with you next month!
And what about our little family? How are we all growing together?
Charlotte is now 16 months old which means she is constantly testing us to see if we really are in charge or if we'll finally give in and let her run the house! :) As trying as this is, we know that if we stay the course of disciplining our child it will reap rewards for her and us later in life. Her language has finally taken off a little bit in the past week or so. So while "bow", "ball", "bowl", "box", and many other "B" words sound like the same word out of Charlotte's mouth, she is intentional about giving them a name rather than pointing and grunting (which was driving me crazy!). She also demands Brendan and I to sing nursery rhymes to her and her absolute favorite books right now are Mother Goose by Gyo Fujikawa (this book has the BEST illustrations!) and Dr. Suess' ABC's (which Charlotte will bring to us and say "A, B, D!").
 |
| "Not Getting What I Want" Face |
God has also opened up a new level of communication between Brendan and I that has been very exciting for me! We often find ourselves discussing something we've been reading or listening to (Brendan has an hour or so everyday to listen to podcasts while he commutes to work) which in turn leads to us figuring out that it applies to our life today too. I have been reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and sharing with Brendan some of what sticks out to me. He was excited one day when one of the podcasts he listens to was interviewing the author of this biography about the book! Brendan is not a big reader, but to listen to some of what the book was about was a great way for him to then be able to discuss it with me.
The other book I have been reading this month is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Finding her blog a year ago is what lead me to begin my gratitude journal. I am only five chapters into the book but it is definitely helping me better understand my need for expressing gratitude to God and the role my gratitude journal plays in that. I highly recommend you pick this book up!
I hope you can rejoice in some of my gratitude over the past month:
624. an afternoon with new friends getting a foot massage
625. long holiday due to Chinese New Year
629. Pizza Express on the promenade at Stanley - yum!
630. blond-haired, blue-eyed girl in her red Chinese outfit
633. American friends coming over for lunch and games
634. online grocery shopping and delivery
635. routines developing
637. homemade cookies from friends - when you don't have an oven to make your own
642. making Valentine's Day cards with Charlotte
643. the Spirit giving me insight into my husband's heart/emotions/response
Blessings!
February 27, 2011
For the Zaxby's Fan
If you've lived in the Carolinas - or, heck, even driven through - you've probably seen and maybe eaten at a Zaxby's. If you've never even heard of Zaxby's and therefore don't know how yummy their dipping sauce is, then just trust me on this and try the following recipe.
I love perusing blogs and other recipe websites like AllRecipes.com and MyRecipes.com for new recipes to try. Not long ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for a Zaxby's-style chicken finger dipping sauce. Yummm!
Brendan and I really enjoyed Zaxby's when we lived in North Carolina, and we really liked the sorta spicy sauce, so I figured I would give the recipe a try. We LOVED it, so I thought I'd share it with you! Here goes...
I love perusing blogs and other recipe websites like AllRecipes.com and MyRecipes.com for new recipes to try. Not long ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for a Zaxby's-style chicken finger dipping sauce. Yummm!
Brendan and I really enjoyed Zaxby's when we lived in North Carolina, and we really liked the sorta spicy sauce, so I figured I would give the recipe a try. We LOVED it, so I thought I'd share it with you! Here goes...
Homemade Zaxby's Dipping Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/4 ketchup
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
- black pepper
Mix first 4 ingredients together. Sprinkle on a layer of black pepper, then stir into mixture. Repeat. (I'm a black pepper lover so this makes me happy!) Let sauce chill for at least 2 hours. (This is SO important. I tasted the sauce right after I mixed it together and was NOT impressed. However, when we pulled it out to eat with dinner, it was really amazing...like I licked the bowl clean kind of amazing!)
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
February 23, 2011
The Rain in Spain...oh wait, we're in Hong Kong now!
For the past week that's really felt like forever, it has been cold and rainy. During Chinese New Year the weather was beautiful and we were so spoiled. We had great ideas of going on outings to explore Hong Kong on the weekends, but there's not a whole lot to do when it's raining, so our plans changed.
Last weekend, we did venure out in the rain simply because we were all going a little stir crazy. But the only thing to do in Hong Kong when the weather's bad is shop...because Hong Kong is like one big shopping mall!
We live on Hong Kong Island, but decided to venture across the harbor to Kowloon to go to the appropriately named, MegaBox.
We had no other goal for shopping but to eat at IKEA for lunch...such yummy Swedish meatballs!
When we made it back to our apartment, some friends stopped by for games. We taught them (and Charlotte) how to play Skip-Bo.
These are the most exciting things we've found to do in Hong Kong when it rains - go shopping and play games.
Do you have any fun rainy day activities?
Last weekend, we did venure out in the rain simply because we were all going a little stir crazy. But the only thing to do in Hong Kong when the weather's bad is shop...because Hong Kong is like one big shopping mall!
We live on Hong Kong Island, but decided to venture across the harbor to Kowloon to go to the appropriately named, MegaBox.
We had no other goal for shopping but to eat at IKEA for lunch...such yummy Swedish meatballs!
When we made it back to our apartment, some friends stopped by for games. We taught them (and Charlotte) how to play Skip-Bo.
These are the most exciting things we've found to do in Hong Kong when it rains - go shopping and play games.
Do you have any fun rainy day activities?
February 20, 2011
Be Blessed (Guest Post by Brendan)
If any of you know me (Brendan) well enough, you know that I struggle with the English language. I attempt to use "big" words when I do not even know the meaning, and that leads to it being out of context for the subject I am speaking of - or even better I may use the word correctly but it doesn't fit into the sentence very well as every other word would not score anything in a Scrabble game. I could blame this on a multitude of things, but I blame it on myself and my loathing of reading. It never really matter the type of book or what the cause was for, I have NEVER liked to read. Pizza Hut read-a-thons when I was a kid - I cheated to get the pizza at the end of the week. Book reports at any level of schooling - tried to rewrite the wording from the inside flap to pass as my own. Spanish class - what a joke - and we paid for that during our time in Spain.
So after traveling half way around the world and being in a location that readily has English available for me to read - my interest has sparked for Chinese. Not speaking it, as I have already learned my lesson with Spanish, but rather in reading it! It has to be one of the most foreign languages to that of English, but I am drawn to it by the numerous symbols that people tell me really do mean something. In my line of work there are a number of Chinese documents that pass through my desk and though I am years and years away from reading at a sufficient level, I still like to scan through to the document and look for the basic characters that I do know - mainly that an upside down Y is "people" and numbers 1,2,3 are horizontal lines that match their respective quantity. A couple other characters I can take a guess out and then after that I attempt to make it up based on what the symbol looks like. There is no alphabet to start with and I would guess that actually taking on the (insert big word here) would be way to much for me, especially because I have already admitted my loathing for reading. The only hope I have is that Chinese is made of pictures (characters) and I love looking at pictures to learn what they are about.
Take the title of this post - Be Blessed. The Chinese word for "blessed" is made up of four characters which describe the original blessedness of man. Wait, the original blessedness of which man - who could that even be referring to? Per the picture inserted below - one man in a garden, with the Divine!
I was shocked to learn the meaning of these characters. How is it possible? Adam was this man, created in the image of God and intended to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him - as a Christian this is an image of true blessedness, but to find it in a Chinese character has interested me greatly.
Through the past two weeks and our first Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, we experienced a lot of Chinese culture. This time of year is very important to them and many of the celebrations are in direct conflict with our beliefs. This new Chinese character that I learned was throughout the city on decorations and being shared amongst the people - though often times not based on the original intention of what it means to be Blessed.
So after traveling half way around the world and being in a location that readily has English available for me to read - my interest has sparked for Chinese. Not speaking it, as I have already learned my lesson with Spanish, but rather in reading it! It has to be one of the most foreign languages to that of English, but I am drawn to it by the numerous symbols that people tell me really do mean something. In my line of work there are a number of Chinese documents that pass through my desk and though I am years and years away from reading at a sufficient level, I still like to scan through to the document and look for the basic characters that I do know - mainly that an upside down Y is "people" and numbers 1,2,3 are horizontal lines that match their respective quantity. A couple other characters I can take a guess out and then after that I attempt to make it up based on what the symbol looks like. There is no alphabet to start with and I would guess that actually taking on the (insert big word here) would be way to much for me, especially because I have already admitted my loathing for reading. The only hope I have is that Chinese is made of pictures (characters) and I love looking at pictures to learn what they are about.
Take the title of this post - Be Blessed. The Chinese word for "blessed" is made up of four characters which describe the original blessedness of man. Wait, the original blessedness of which man - who could that even be referring to? Per the picture inserted below - one man in a garden, with the Divine!
I was shocked to learn the meaning of these characters. How is it possible? Adam was this man, created in the image of God and intended to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him - as a Christian this is an image of true blessedness, but to find it in a Chinese character has interested me greatly.
Through the past two weeks and our first Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, we experienced a lot of Chinese culture. This time of year is very important to them and many of the celebrations are in direct conflict with our beliefs. This new Chinese character that I learned was throughout the city on decorations and being shared amongst the people - though often times not based on the original intention of what it means to be Blessed.
February 12, 2011
DIY Blog Makeover
Did you notice something different with our blog today?!
About a year ago, I became a blog follower and not just a blog writer. Since then I have seen SO many different blog designs - super-duper custom designs; simple & sleek photo blogs; and fancy scrapbook-style blogs - to name a few. To be honest, there were times when I did covet other people's blog designs, but then I got over my blog-design envy and realized I just wanted to improve the look of our blog and make it a better reflection of who we are and what our blog is about.
I know very little about blog design, but thankfully there are many people out there who know MUCH more than I do and have crafted nifty little tutorials to teach others how to do different design elements. So, I'm just getting started on my do-it-yourself blog makeover. My first project was our new blog header - tutorial found here.
My parents blessed Brendan and I with an awesome DSLR camera for a joint birthday gift recently, and we wanted to find ways to use our pictures on the blog. My desire is to update our header regularly with a new design and, more importantly, new pictures.
You'll also probably see on-going little changes around the blog. We hope these changes make our blog easier to read and more fun to follow along on our God adventures!
About a year ago, I became a blog follower and not just a blog writer. Since then I have seen SO many different blog designs - super-duper custom designs; simple & sleek photo blogs; and fancy scrapbook-style blogs - to name a few. To be honest, there were times when I did covet other people's blog designs, but then I got over my blog-design envy and realized I just wanted to improve the look of our blog and make it a better reflection of who we are and what our blog is about.
I know very little about blog design, but thankfully there are many people out there who know MUCH more than I do and have crafted nifty little tutorials to teach others how to do different design elements. So, I'm just getting started on my do-it-yourself blog makeover. My first project was our new blog header - tutorial found here.
My parents blessed Brendan and I with an awesome DSLR camera for a joint birthday gift recently, and we wanted to find ways to use our pictures on the blog. My desire is to update our header regularly with a new design and, more importantly, new pictures.
You'll also probably see on-going little changes around the blog. We hope these changes make our blog easier to read and more fun to follow along on our God adventures!
February 11, 2011
The Best Fireworks We Never Saw
Hong Kong sits on a harbour - Victoria Harbor. Every night they have a light show in the harbour (which my sister-in-law, Erin, and I thought was nothing special) and HUGE fireworks displays on New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year.
We've heard that the fireworks for Chinese New Year actually out-do the ones done for "normal" New Year. Brendan and I thought we'd try to see the fireworks for Chinese New Year since they were scheduled for 8pm on Friday after New Year.
But...after Charlotte was not-at-all happy with the loud drums at the dragon dance, we decided that 23 minutes worth of extremely loud fireworks probably wasn't the best idea. Our apartment faces the opposite direction of the fireworks display, and we are on the eastern side of HKG island which is further away from the central part where the fireworks would take place...but Brendan ventured down the the 47th floor viewing deck to see if he could catch a glimpse of anything. He reported that nothing could be seen since a large hill was blocking the view.
Maybe we'll try to go down to the action and watch the fireworks next year. For now, we can enjoy some YouTube footage. Below is a clip of just the finale (~3 mins).
We've heard that the fireworks for Chinese New Year actually out-do the ones done for "normal" New Year. Brendan and I thought we'd try to see the fireworks for Chinese New Year since they were scheduled for 8pm on Friday after New Year.
But...after Charlotte was not-at-all happy with the loud drums at the dragon dance, we decided that 23 minutes worth of extremely loud fireworks probably wasn't the best idea. Our apartment faces the opposite direction of the fireworks display, and we are on the eastern side of HKG island which is further away from the central part where the fireworks would take place...but Brendan ventured down the the 47th floor viewing deck to see if he could catch a glimpse of anything. He reported that nothing could be seen since a large hill was blocking the view.
Maybe we'll try to go down to the action and watch the fireworks next year. For now, we can enjoy some YouTube footage. Below is a clip of just the finale (~3 mins).
February 10, 2011
Our 1st Chinese New Year
Last week marked the beginning of the new lunar year, so we had the chance to experience our first Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.
My opinion is that the very best part of Chinese New Year is that last Thursday and Friday were public holidays! Yay! So, we had a nice long weekend with Brendan at home.
Our apartment complex has a large parking garage downstairs where they held a Chinese New Year festival with dragon dance (and other traditional blessing ceremonies that we are not at all familiar with). Since it was so close, we thought we might as well go down and check it out.
A sweet lady who Brendan works with blessed Charlotte with an adorable Chinese outfit, so we got Charlotte dressed up...
Then went downstairs to pose with the CNY decorations...
Then, to the parking garage for the festivities...
We also found out that Charlotte has hit an age where loud noises and strange people dancing around in costume scare her...go figure! :) This was her response to our CNY experience...
There is much much more we would love to share with you all about Chinese New Year but will have to wait for future posts (which we really want to get around to doing!). Very intricate tradition is wrapped up in CNY that we only scratched the surface of this year.
It is by far the most unique cultural experience we've had in our past year living abroad.
My opinion is that the very best part of Chinese New Year is that last Thursday and Friday were public holidays! Yay! So, we had a nice long weekend with Brendan at home.
Our apartment complex has a large parking garage downstairs where they held a Chinese New Year festival with dragon dance (and other traditional blessing ceremonies that we are not at all familiar with). Since it was so close, we thought we might as well go down and check it out.
A sweet lady who Brendan works with blessed Charlotte with an adorable Chinese outfit, so we got Charlotte dressed up...
Then went downstairs to pose with the CNY decorations...
Then, to the parking garage for the festivities...
 |
| Some kind of blessing of the apartment building was happening here |
 |
| Dragon dancers getting ready |
 |
| The group then proceeded to each tower to bless each one for the coming year |
We also found out that Charlotte has hit an age where loud noises and strange people dancing around in costume scare her...go figure! :) This was her response to our CNY experience...
There is much much more we would love to share with you all about Chinese New Year but will have to wait for future posts (which we really want to get around to doing!). Very intricate tradition is wrapped up in CNY that we only scratched the surface of this year.
It is by far the most unique cultural experience we've had in our past year living abroad.
January 31, 2011
Gratitude in Silence
It's Monday. It wasn't too long ago that I would post my gratitude list every Monday, but I haven't done that in a while. Maybe you noticed. :)
Instead of continuing my blog gratitude silence in silence, I thought I'd just let you know that I am still recording my blessings from God in my gratitude journal. And I think I will return to posting my gratitude list on this blog - maybe not weekly, but at some regular schedule (maybe monthly).
Right now, I feel that I need to keep my gratitude between me and God in order to really get to the heart of why I'm keeping a gratitude journal at all - to acknowledge God's everyday grace in my life. Because there have been many times when I thought a little more about other people viewing my list than I did about what I was truly thankful for. I'm not okay with that. I want my gratitude to be genuine.
So, please excuse my lack of gratitude posts on Mondays...I'm going to be recording my gratitude in silence for a little while.
Instead of continuing my blog gratitude silence in silence, I thought I'd just let you know that I am still recording my blessings from God in my gratitude journal. And I think I will return to posting my gratitude list on this blog - maybe not weekly, but at some regular schedule (maybe monthly).
Right now, I feel that I need to keep my gratitude between me and God in order to really get to the heart of why I'm keeping a gratitude journal at all - to acknowledge God's everyday grace in my life. Because there have been many times when I thought a little more about other people viewing my list than I did about what I was truly thankful for. I'm not okay with that. I want my gratitude to be genuine.
So, please excuse my lack of gratitude posts on Mondays...I'm going to be recording my gratitude in silence for a little while.
January 27, 2011
Learning to listen for God's plans
One year ago, Brendan, Charlotte and I boarded a plane headed to Madrid.
My plans for this evening included writing a post reflecting back on our past year of being expatriates.
God's plan was for me to hold my 15-month old daughter when she woke up crying from her sleep because way too many nasty teeth are coming in at one time...and that hurts. :(
So, we held her and brought her all her favorite things to help her calm down - milk, cold grapes, and of course, music. Charlotte just loves listening to music these days (especially this). And she eventually calmed down enough to go back to sleep.
God has been speaking to Brendan and I a lot recently about listening to Him and seeking Him for direction to our days. So, tonight I'll put off writing about living abroad in exchange for being a mommy-always-on-call....because that was God's plan.
I'm so grateful I was listening.
My plans for this evening included writing a post reflecting back on our past year of being expatriates.
God's plan was for me to hold my 15-month old daughter when she woke up crying from her sleep because way too many nasty teeth are coming in at one time...and that hurts. :(
So, we held her and brought her all her favorite things to help her calm down - milk, cold grapes, and of course, music. Charlotte just loves listening to music these days (especially this). And she eventually calmed down enough to go back to sleep.
God has been speaking to Brendan and I a lot recently about listening to Him and seeking Him for direction to our days. So, tonight I'll put off writing about living abroad in exchange for being a mommy-always-on-call....because that was God's plan.
I'm so grateful I was listening.
January 23, 2011
Want to read a book with me?
January has been busy for us - receiving our "stuff" via shipment from Spain, buying more stuff so that we can organize & store the stuff in our shipment :), and then getting settled into our apartment, plus Brendan's very busy work schedule.
During all this time, I was feeling very stressed. I wanted to get my life more organized and begin working towards my goals for 2011, but I completely did not take into consideration that I just moved - internationally! God's released me from that stress, showing me that I need to take time to settle into a routine here in Hong Kong before I begin working on some of those goals.
One of my goals for 2011 is to read 20 books that will enrich my life and faith in different ways. I am so thankful that I have time to read - I may not know how to get started on some of my other goals, but it's pretty easy to pick up a book! Yay for books! :)
One book on my list is Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. I am SO excited about reading this book! I have been following Ann's blog - A Holy Experience - since last winter, shortly after we moved to Spain. [If you have not checked out her blog, you really MUST.] It was through Ann's writing on her blog that I started to see how important intentional gratitude is in my relationship with the Lord.
So, I'd like to invite you to read One Thousand Gifts with me! Well, me and probably hundreds or thousands of other women (and men too :)) on the (in)courage blog. Click here to find out more about the logistics of how (in)courage will be coordinating this web-sized book club. The online discussions begin on February 6th so you have plenty of time to pick up this book and read along - whether you join the web discussions or not.
To be honest, I don't know how involved I'll get in the online discussions, but I think its a great opportunity to hear what God's doing in the hearts of His people through Ann's writing. Plus, there will be videos each Sunday from Ann sharing more about the week's reading.
If you decide to read One Thousand Gifts along with me, will you leave a comment or send me an email at annekinne(at)hotmail(dot)com? I'd love to know that you're reading along with me, and who knows, maybe it will spark some discussion among friends!
I love you, sweet friends and family who follow this blog! I hope you are seeing God's blessings in all things in this new year!
January 6, 2011
What I Want to Accomplish in 2011
What is the due date for New Year's resolutions? I have no idea, but I hope I'm not too late. :)
My friend Lily posted her New Year's resolutions this week and asked people to share their resolutions as well. Hmmm, I thought "I've had all these goals for the coming year bouncing around in my head. Why don't I write them down (or use my new iPad as a note-taker!) and keep myself more accountable to achieving those goals?".
These aren't necessarily your typical New Year's resolutions, which for me normally means trying to change something and once I fail, I give up completely. Instead of resolutions, these are goals for 2011 - things I would like to see myself accomplish in the coming year.
I'm excited about having goals for the year because I think it will help me filter what is important and not-so-important to include in my life right now. Example: I am considering doing X activity, but it doesn't really fit in with any of my goals for the year. Well then, I say "no" to that activity and have time for things that DO help me achieve these goals.
Goals for 2011
1. Keep in touch with family and friends better than I did while in Spain, and use different means of communication (written cards, letters, packages; Facebook & blogging; Skype dates; and email).
2. Become a better organized homemaker and mommy. Create a motherhood mission statement, a homemaking binder, and add structure to my day so that I don't wander along aimlessly.
3. Create a warm, welcoming, and peaceful home out of our new 675 sq.ft. apartment in HKG.
4. Find community in HKG and a place to serve in our church.
5. I SO desire to be more patient and less angry...especially with Charlotte and Brendan.
6. Read 20 books that help enrich my faith and roles of wife, mother, and homemaker, and are pertinent to my current life situation.
7. Wake early enough to have morning devotion/quiet time (prayer & Bible reading) and get myself ready for the day.
8. Pray consistently for family.
9. Encourage Brendan more. Become more understanding of who he is, his struggles, his work, etc.
10. Prepare/plan activities for Charlotte that are fun, engaging, and mindful of her personality. Learn more about homeschooling.
11. Blogging goals - more consistent, more planning, learn more about technical aspects, and begin Charlotte's blog (more about that another day). :)
My friend Lily posted her New Year's resolutions this week and asked people to share their resolutions as well. Hmmm, I thought "I've had all these goals for the coming year bouncing around in my head. Why don't I write them down (or use my new iPad as a note-taker!) and keep myself more accountable to achieving those goals?".
These aren't necessarily your typical New Year's resolutions, which for me normally means trying to change something and once I fail, I give up completely. Instead of resolutions, these are goals for 2011 - things I would like to see myself accomplish in the coming year.
I'm excited about having goals for the year because I think it will help me filter what is important and not-so-important to include in my life right now. Example: I am considering doing X activity, but it doesn't really fit in with any of my goals for the year. Well then, I say "no" to that activity and have time for things that DO help me achieve these goals.
Goals for 2011
1. Keep in touch with family and friends better than I did while in Spain, and use different means of communication (written cards, letters, packages; Facebook & blogging; Skype dates; and email).
2. Become a better organized homemaker and mommy. Create a motherhood mission statement, a homemaking binder, and add structure to my day so that I don't wander along aimlessly.
3. Create a warm, welcoming, and peaceful home out of our new 675 sq.ft. apartment in HKG.
4. Find community in HKG and a place to serve in our church.
5. I SO desire to be more patient and less angry...especially with Charlotte and Brendan.
6. Read 20 books that help enrich my faith and roles of wife, mother, and homemaker, and are pertinent to my current life situation.
7. Wake early enough to have morning devotion/quiet time (prayer & Bible reading) and get myself ready for the day.
8. Pray consistently for family.
9. Encourage Brendan more. Become more understanding of who he is, his struggles, his work, etc.
10. Prepare/plan activities for Charlotte that are fun, engaging, and mindful of her personality. Learn more about homeschooling.
11. Blogging goals - more consistent, more planning, learn more about technical aspects, and begin Charlotte's blog (more about that another day). :)
January 2, 2011
My Reading List 2011
It is with great excitement that I have been putting together my reading list for the coming year!
I have always been a bookworm, and I think my daughter is taking after me...
As I've grown into my role as a stay-at-home mother and homemaker, I've found that I do indeed have time to read, but that I need to read with purpose. I've ran across many book titles in recent months that I would love to read, but I thought it would be best to comprise a list of 20 (non-fiction) books so that I have direction for my reading.
While making my list I also thought about what the coming year would look like for me. My baby is now a toddler, so discipline and potty-training are looming in the distance. We have just moved to Hong Kong, and I'd like to learn more about the history and culture of this city as well as learning about Buddhism and how to approach Buddhists with the gospel of Jesus. Then there are faith issues that God has been laying on my heart, and of course my roles as wife, mother, and homemaker.
I also know that my life will change over the year, so my reading list is a guide only.
I'm going to post my reading list here for accountability. When I finish a book, I plan to come back here to mark it off my list and also give reviews from time to time because I find that very helpful to me as I seek out books to read.
(These are all non-fiction titles. I LOVE novels - and have a personal list of ones I'd like to read - but will read them as I have time instead of trying to get through a specific amount during the year.)
Reading List 2011
Shepherding a Child's Heart (continue reading w/Brendan) - Tedd Tripp
Sacred Parenting (continue) - Gary Thomas [I was very challenged by Sacred Influence, and this one is going the same way. My perspective on marriage and parenting is really changing!]
Sacred Pathways - Gary Thomas
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - Eric Metaxas
Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community - Dietrich Bonhoeffer [I decided to read a book written by Bonhoeffer as well as a biography of him.]
First Family: Abigail & John Adams - Joseph J. Ellis
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp
For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home & School - Susan Schaeffer Macauley [a title for me to explore as we consider ways of educating our child]
The Hidden Art of Homemaking - Edith Schaeffer
So What's the Difference? - Fritz Ridenour
Jesus Among Other Gods - Ravi Zacharias
The Mission-Minded Family - Ann Dunagan
Treasuring God in Our Traditions - Noel Piper
The Misson of Motherhood - Sally Clarkson
The No-Cry Potty Training Solution - Elizabeth Pantley
Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs - Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others - Lisa Tatlock
No Other Gods: Confronting Our Modern-Day Idols - Kelly Minter
(2) Books on Hong Kong History/Culture (will pick up here in bookstores)
*I also want to be more purposeful about my Bible reading. I've seen many different Bible reading plans with different time-frames and approaches - I just haven't decided which is right for me right now.
I hope you are also able to find time to read good books that will enrich your life and faith this year. If you have any suggestions of books - fiction or non-fiction - that I should pick up, let me know!
I have always been a bookworm, and I think my daughter is taking after me...
 |
| Can you tell that the book is up-side down? :) |
As I've grown into my role as a stay-at-home mother and homemaker, I've found that I do indeed have time to read, but that I need to read with purpose. I've ran across many book titles in recent months that I would love to read, but I thought it would be best to comprise a list of 20 (non-fiction) books so that I have direction for my reading.
While making my list I also thought about what the coming year would look like for me. My baby is now a toddler, so discipline and potty-training are looming in the distance. We have just moved to Hong Kong, and I'd like to learn more about the history and culture of this city as well as learning about Buddhism and how to approach Buddhists with the gospel of Jesus. Then there are faith issues that God has been laying on my heart, and of course my roles as wife, mother, and homemaker.
I also know that my life will change over the year, so my reading list is a guide only.
I'm going to post my reading list here for accountability. When I finish a book, I plan to come back here to mark it off my list and also give reviews from time to time because I find that very helpful to me as I seek out books to read.
(These are all non-fiction titles. I LOVE novels - and have a personal list of ones I'd like to read - but will read them as I have time instead of trying to get through a specific amount during the year.)
Reading List 2011
Shepherding a Child's Heart (continue reading w/Brendan) - Tedd Tripp
Sacred Pathways - Gary Thomas
Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community - Dietrich Bonhoeffer [I decided to read a book written by Bonhoeffer as well as a biography of him.]
First Family: Abigail & John Adams - Joseph J. Ellis
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp
For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home & School - Susan Schaeffer Macauley [a title for me to explore as we consider ways of educating our child]
The Hidden Art of Homemaking - Edith Schaeffer
Jesus Among Other Gods - Ravi Zacharias
The Mission-Minded Family - Ann Dunagan
Treasuring God in Our Traditions - Noel Piper
The Misson of Motherhood - Sally Clarkson
The No-Cry Potty Training Solution - Elizabeth Pantley
Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs - Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others - Lisa Tatlock
No Other Gods: Confronting Our Modern-Day Idols - Kelly Minter
(2) Books on Hong Kong History/Culture (will pick up here in bookstores)
*I also want to be more purposeful about my Bible reading. I've seen many different Bible reading plans with different time-frames and approaches - I just haven't decided which is right for me right now.
I hope you are also able to find time to read good books that will enrich your life and faith this year. If you have any suggestions of books - fiction or non-fiction - that I should pick up, let me know!
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