The Book Sale!!

Shaynie is having a fabulous book sale over at her blog!  All books are $1.75 (plus shipping).  You definitely have to check them out!  She has quite a variety up! ;)

http://bookreviewsbymyself.blogspot.com/p/books-are-1.html

Pray for James

A friend of mine, James M., is going to be having knee surgery this coming Thursday, September 30th.  He would appreciate prayer for the surgery to go smoothly and for a quick recovery.  Pray that the surgeons hands will be guided by the LORD's. 
Thank you all! ;)

30 Day Challenge...

Quite a few people have done this 30 Day Challenge, and since there wasn't a specific 30 days that you *had* to do this, I decided to go ahead and try it too. ;)  The ones that I kept up with the most were: Susannah's (at Life Is Too Short Not To Wear Red Shoes) and Laurel's (at His Handmaiden)
I hope I'll be able to do every day, but...we'll see how it goes.

(Starting October 1st ;)

Day 1: A favorite song.

Day 2: A favorite movie.

Day 3: A favorite book.

Day 4: A favorite television program.

Day 5: A favorite quote.

Day 6: A moment you wish you could relive.

Day 7: Five things you couldn't possibly live without.

Day 8: A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life.

Day 9: A photo you took.

Day 10: A photo of you taken over ten years ago.

Day 11: A photo of you taken recently.

Day 12: A song that you want played at your wedding(or was played).

Day 13: A guilty pleasure.

Day 14: A vacation you would like to take.

Day 15: A person you admire.

Day 16: A song that makes you cry.

Day 17: An art piece.

Day 18: A time when you felt passionate and alive.

Day 19: A talent of yours.

Day 20: A hobby of yours.

Day 21: Something you know you do differently than most people.

Day 22: A website.

Day 23: A way in which you want to be remembered.

Day 24: A movie no one would expect you to love.

Day 25: A recipe.

Day 26: A childhood memory.

Day 27: A physical feature you love.

Day 28: A scar you have and it's story.

Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans you have for the next 365 days.

Day 30: A motto or philosophy.


Join me? Comment with your blog link if you want to do it, too!

Ocean Park Family Beach Vacation

Last Saturday, my family and I all packed up and headed out to Ocean Park, WA for a beach vacation.  We stayed in a beach house that we rented from a co-worker of my aunt's.  It was...lacking in some things - and was only 2 beds. and 1 bath.  Whew!  BUT, guess what?  We fit SXTEEN people in that house!!  That's right!  A dear family of friends came and spent a night with us, and yup...we fit everyone in the house! :)  All the teens/older kids, slept in the living room...wherever we could find a space. ;)  Mother, Dad, Josiah and Grace shared one room, then Mr. and Mrs. M. (and Mrs. M's mother who was visiting for NY!), Julie M., and Prisky all shared another room.  Whew!  We were packed - but had a BLAST!! :)

We didn't get any pictures of when the M. Family was over, but here are some pics of the rest of the trip. :)  We stayed Saturday through Wednesday - so Noah and I could get back in time for art school ;)

Grace and Dad

Eunice and me trying on hats at a fun hat shop we stopped by :)

Prisky, in a hat - her favorite color :)

Little Josiah...actually, he's not so little anymore :(  He's growing so fast!!

A sunrise that Noah caught on camera one morning!

Eunice, Prisky and Lydia with an orca statue in a park.

Dad and the girls (except me ;) with a statue of Clark and Lewis...

Dad holding Eunice and Prisky, before we entered the well-known Scoopers ice cream parlor! :)

eating yummy ice cream!

Grace really enjoyed hers :)

The girls with...two HUGE crabs :D

The ocean :)

Eunice on the beach :)

we were about to leave and I snapped this pic of myself :) 

So long for now!

Hope you enjoyed the pics ;)

Blessings!

NFW - Day #6

Forget-Me-Not

These are one of my all.time.favorite.flowers....ever! :)  They are just so small and delicate...and beautiful.  I'm so glad God created these! :)

NFW - Day #5

I was gone Thursday and Friday (for art school!), so I had to skip those days...but here are my posts for days 5 and 6 of National Flower Week!

Butterfly Bush

These flower bushes are just amazing!  They come in SO many different colors, and yet they're always breath taking and stunning to come across.  They are fabulous flowers to do photography on too ;)

NFW - Day #4

~*Day #4*~

Violet

Violets have to be one of the best-smelling and most adorable little flowers in the world!! I could sit with a bouquet of violets under my nose for...a very long time! :) (I was about to say 'forever', but hey! There are so many other things to smell ;) I LOVE the fact that they are eatable! I remember my Mother making a cake for someone and putting violets all along the rim! It was the cutest thing! And also, my Aunt makes little Violet Candies, where she dips them in sugar/water (heated) and then let them dry until they're solid. They're such fun little candies and so easy to make. And the violets themselves taste wonderful! :) ♥

NFW - Day #3

~*Day #3*~

Dahlia

Dahlias can come in SO many different colors, it's unbelievable!  That's one reason I like them so much. ;)  Also, I think they're just gorgeous, fluffy, cute flowers. ;)

I remember visiting a dahlia farm once, a few years ago, with my family and grandma and aunt.  I think the farm was something crazy, like...15 to 20 acres of DAHLIAs!!!  AMAZING!!  And the smell there was just...wonderful.  Anyway, I remember looking at all the different colors and just being in AWE of the colors that God splashed these beautiful flowers with!!  Oh, just breathtaking! ♥



NFW - Day #2

~*Day #2*~

Black Eye Susan

This flower holds special memories for me.  Besides being pretty, whenever I see it, I always have to stop and look a second time at it. :)

By the way, it's Maryland's state flower. ;)

By Brett Harris

Something beautiful, written by Brett Harris.  Click the link...have a tissue ready, though.  You're going to cry.

http://www.joshharris.com/2010/09/you_need_a_mother_very_badly_b.php

Second Oldest...

I actually got the idea for this post from a sweet fellow blogger (Anna at Send Me a Song).  I thougt it was such a fun and good idea, and decided to do a similar one here on God's Daughter. ;)

Well, I am the second oldest of 7 children, actually...but I just decided to compare myself with other second oldests ;) - from movies AND books!  I wonder how many of my followers are second oldests too...? ;)
And like Anna said, 'It's interesting comparing personalities with these characters!' ;)

Miss Elizabeth Bennett ~

Pride and Prejudice

Marianne Dashwood ~

Sense and Sensibility

Josephine March ~

Little Women

Hodel ~

Fiddler On the Roof

Dorcas Galen ~

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

Susan Pevensie ~

The Chronicles of Narnia

Can you think of anymore? :)

Blessings!

Photography at Grandma's...

A couple weeks ago, we visited Grandpa and Grandma. :)  We actually visited them today, too but I don't have today's pics on the computer yet...but I remembered that I hadn't posted pics from the LAST visit! :) 

So!!  Here are last-visit-to-Grandma's pics...

Red, Red Rose ♥

Pink Mini-Rose :)

Blueberry

Pear

Red Apple

Another Red Apple :)

Grape cluster

Close-up of grape cluster :)

a half-eaten apple ;)

Another red rose...

A Peace Rose

A red rose-bud

Which do you think wins for best of show? :)

Blessings!

PS:  Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!!!

The Foreign Word - Patience

‘Patience’…wow. A word very foreign to our culture. How many times do we find ourselves impatient? Tapping our foot while waiting in line. Sighing when told to ‘please wait’. Getting upset when our siblings interrupt us. All these are examples of impatience that we tend to do – sometimes without even knowing. Being patient is a fruit of the Spirit that the LORD wants us to strive towards. Patience is a virtue. Do we practice it enough? It certainly doesn’t come easy. Our sinful natures detest being patient. It’s not something that we can train ourselves in, in the course of a day. It takes a lifetime to learn patience – but we can start early. As the oldest sister of five siblings, I have seen many times in my daily life that I can use this virtue. How many times do I actually use it? Sad to say, not many. Like I said…patience does not come naturally for us. We need to plant it, cultivate it and, with LORD’s help, it will grow. If the LORD has been patient with me, shouldn’t I learn to be patient with others? His beautiful example of patience is found throughout Scripture, continually. God was patient with the Israelites, when they turned from Him. He was patient with people who did not believe that He was the Messiah. He was patient when they beat Him…spat on Him…tortured Him and hung Him on a tree. He did not utter one threat, one word of anger.

“He was oppressed and He was afflicted. Yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”

~Isaiah 53:7

He was tortured, yet He was patient. And we are impatient when our food isn’t served to us quickly. Let us remember the example He set.

“For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”

~1 Peter 2:20

Strive, my brothers and sisters, to be patient. To cultivate this beautiful fruit of the Spirit. The LORD will richly bless you for doing so.
And…think about it – you are storing treasures up for yourselves, every single time you exercise this virtue. Keep that in mind. :)

Blessings!

In celebration...

of my new blog layout (all credit goes to Miss Emily at Practically Pink!)...AND my 400th post!!...

Any of you ready for a giveaway?? ;)

"What?" you will ask, rubbing your hands together expectantly and scrolling down quickly, "is Miss Raquel giving away this time?" :)

Well...how would you like an autographed copy of a CD from two guys who are (in my opinion) two of the best Christian artists that I know, personally.  (oh yeah, something to brag about :)  No, just kidding...not about knowing them, though! :D)  Anyway...

Yes, here it is :)

(and actually, just as a sidenote...Sol is actually the guy on the left, and Caleb's on the right ;)

Oh, and just to PROVE that it's autographed :)...

There you are! :)

BUT, before you're like 'Oh, this is SO neat!' and everything, I'm gonna have you work for this a little. :)  I know, I'm so mean, right?

Well, it's not that hard, really...all you have to do is tell people about my giveaway - AND have them follow my blog!  The more people you get to follow God's Daughter, the more entries you get.  BE SURE TO TELL PEOPLE TO MENTION YOU IN THEIR COMMENT!!

Also, you can get more entries by...

1. Commenting on this post :) (1 entry)

2. Commenting on one of my Posts of Note (1 entry)

3. Follow The Christian Fashionista. (2 entries)

4. Become a fan of 'God's Daughter' on Facebook.

5. Tell me something that you would either, like me to write an post/article on, or something else you'd like to see me post more often about. (1 entry)

6. And every person you tell about this giveaway (and who follows God's Daughter), you receive 3 entries each.  Let your friends know via your blog, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. (be sure to comment with your direct link to your post on your blog!  And if you're a fan/friend on Facebook, tag me or God's Daughter in your post about this giveaway).

PLEASE remember to leave me some way of contacting you.

Giveaway ends: September 20th, 2010 at 11:59PM.

Well, what are you waiting for? ;)

Blessings!

PS:  Oh, and if you'd like to sample Caleb and Sol's music, try clicking on the link (below).  Let me know if it doesn't work...

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=522574282#!/video/video.php?v=1067932986086