All posts by Emily

january 2015 recap

February 2, 2015 Emily 16 Comments

Hey, guys! Whew, January went by fast. I can’t believe it’s February already! … but can you believe it? I’m already pining away for summer. That’s not supposed to happen until at least March! 😉 I was definitely happy with January’s “WordPress statistics.” I haven’t really looked at them in a while (mostly because they sometimes disappoint me, and I don’t like comparing numbers to numbers. Pssh, so what if I only have some 15 subscribers? That just means my awesome blog is still undiscovered…) but I thought it would be neat to share some of them with you.

The two days For the Bookish got the most views was January 23rd and 26th, when I posted “Why I Write” (the second ‘Friday Ramblings’) on the 23rd and my first recipe post for “Chocolate Cereal Cupcakes” on the 26th. I’m pretty happy about that, since I was very excited to publish both posts. However, the post with the most views in January was “My Top Three Favorite Styles.” (!!!)

The top referrer to my blog (meaning, the place which directs most visitors to my blog), is search engines! 102 clicks from Google, 9 from Google Images, and 1 from Ask. What are these visitors searching for, you might be wondering? Much to my bewilderment, the top search was “wendy mass theme of leap day.” (?) I’m curious as to how my blog popped up for this search, since I’ve never posted a book review by Wendy Mass, nor have I read Leap Day. I picked it up from the library once, but never read it, so maybe it was featured in a Stacking the Shelves…? The second search was “gifts for the bookish,” which I would assume links back to Audrey’s (from The Measure of a Book), wonderful guest post back in December.

What can you look forward to this month? Two guest posts from some awesome bloggers, Valentine’s day themed posts, more book reviews, and possibly more recipes. (You seemed to like those, right?) Stick around for more, okay? And leave a comment below! What are you looking forward to this month?

xx, Emily

god & the bible

a message to our generation

January 30, 2015 Emily 10 Comments

Molly Kate Kestner is a really cool youtuber I first discovered through her song “His Daughter.” (It was actually on the news one night, and so I subscribed to her channel!) She posted this video about five months ago now, but I just now checked up on her channel and watched this video. I was blown away by how true it is and how well Molly said it. =)

Check it out here, or below:

My parents don’t allow me to be on social media yet, but I’m still very guilty of being consumed with hopping online or scrolling through Pinterest rather than taking a few minutes each day to even read one bible verse. I really loved this video, and I think you should really take a minute to watch it, too. =)

Until Monday!

xx, Emily

reviews

a corner of the universe by ann m. martin

January 28, 2015 Emily 19 Comments

Well. This is not a book to read if you would like to keep your eyes dry. Somehow I always pick out books that make me bawl like a baby. I wish you could see me right now. I just finished this book and picked up my laptop to write the review, and I’m bawling all over again.

Ann M. Martin’s books always do that to me, especially. She writes from a child’s perspective, and the book is labeled “Children’s book,” but… the content is very deep. The stories are so real. They could be anyone’s story. They’re raw. A Corner of the Universe is written from 12-year-old Hattie Owen’s perspective, and we’re so very much alike I felt like I could step into the book and switch places with her and react and do that same things she did in the book.

You can click here to read the synopsis of the book, but I’ll give you the gist of the the book myself: Hattie finds out she has an uncle nobody has ever told her about. He’s been in a mental institution for twelve years (Hattie’s whole life.) It’s 1960. No one understands Uncle Adam. Except, maybe, Hattie herself.

Goodness me, this book is deep. I can’t even express to you how amazing it was. I was thinking throughout the book “This is a sweet story… probably four stars?” But this is no ordinary sweet story. Good gracious, no it was not. It was… written in a way that there’s no hiding the fact that Hattie’s Uncle is different. Despite Hattie’s family’s ways of acting as though Uncle Adam is perfectly normal, and never talking about these things, it is quite clear. But not in a bad way, if you understand what I mean.

Trips to the carnival and birthday parties and flowers to a pretty girl. As Hattie puts it at the end of the book, the summer of Adam was both awful and wonderful. So was the book, for that matter – I wanted to throw it across the room a number of times, but I really loved this book.

5 stars, without a doubt!

xx, Emily

recipes

chocolate cereal cupcakes

January 26, 2015 Emily 20 Comments

Hi guys! Man, I love Pinterest. This is what happened today: 1) I got hungry. 2) We had no food. 3) I got on Pinterest. 4) I did something out of the ordinary. I baked. On my own! I AM SO PROUD! Just look at these delicious cupcakes!!

So, first, creds to The Pinning Mama, who I first found the original recipe from (via Pinterest, of course.) She calls them ‘muffins,’ but they’re so sweet and made more of cupcake ingredients, they just don’t have frosting, they have chocolate cereal. 😉 Her recipe called for fruity pebbles, but I noticed the cereal she used was the same flaky-kind of chocolate cereal I had. So I substituted the fruity pebbles for the chocolate cereal. (I used the Mom’s Best Cereals ‘Crispy Cocoa Rice,’ but you can use any cereal like this one. =) )

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup chocolate cereal

Directions:

Okay, peoples, grab your spatula! (Or spoon. I don’t think you need a spatula for this recipe.)

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl.

Then mix the butter and sugar together in a seperate bowl until it’s a creamy, frosting-like consistency.

Mix the two bowls together and add the milk a little bit at a time, stirring it all in. (Make sure there aren’t any clumps!)

Then dump in the cereal and keep stirring until the cereal is evenly distributed into the mixture. (At this point, go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.)

Grease a 12-cup cupcake tin and fill each cup half way with the batter. (If you don’t have baking spray, drizzle a little grape seed or vegetable oil in each tin.)

Bake for about 15 minutes or until you can poke a fork or toothpick in one and it comes out clean. =)

The recipe is so simple, isn’t it? It probably took me less than 20 minutes to prepare the recipe and then only 15 for the cupcakes to bake.

One quick tip my mom told me once is if you don’t have baking spray, I used a teaspoon measuring cup and drizzled a little grape seed oil (you could also use vegetable oil), on the pan, and rubbed it around the edges so the cupcakes would come out easier. (I think it works better than baking spray, actually!)

One thing I will definitely do differently next time is add a little more milk or butter. I think they were a little bit dry, so I’ll try and experiment with the recipe a bit more next time. Also, I ended up keeping them in the oven a few minutes longer than I originally did, but 15 minutes was just the right amount of time!

Let me know if you end up making this recipe, and if you do, if it was mmm-to-the-max or mmm-that’s-just-okay. 😀

Also – do you like me posting recipes on For the Bookish? Let me know in the comments below!

xx, Emily

friday ramblings

why i write // friday ramblings #2

January 23, 2015 Emily 19 Comments

Why do I write? It’s something I’ve thought about a lot before. Surprisingly enough, I tend to think up some seriously deep things 90% of the time, so it doesn’t shock me that I know why I write and could tell you right off the top of my head, like I rehearsed it knowing you would ask or something.

You’re probably expecting something really deep and rich with emotion and meaning and all that, but I write simply because I love it. I was born with the God-given ability and ache to write. I need to write, or else I’d probably go insane in the head. (Hehehe. Because I’m so not insane already… ahem.)

Yes, I write to speak the truth, to be able to say what I’m too chicken to say aloud. I write to get my emotions on paper when I can’t get them in words. I write so that one day other people will be able to relate to my experiences and stories, and be touched by what I have to say. I write to do all those things, but through it all, I wouldn’t write if I didn’t love it.

I love the fact that I absolutely know who I am, and who I want to be, and what I want to do. I love the fact that there’s no limit to when or how or how old I am to be able to write. I love the fact when people ask me what I want to be when I grow up, I always answer, “I want to be a published author someday.” I’m already living out my fantasy. (Well, if you don’t count the fact that I have to learn Latin. Blech.) I’m already an author. And I don’t have to ‘grow-up,’ or be an adult before I can become a published author.

I love to write. And that’s all there is to it.

xx, Emily

reviews

the princess spy by melanie dickerson

January 19, 2015 Emily 12 Comments

Whoooaaa, baby, this was good. I can say one thing for sure: I’ve never been disappointed with Melanie Dickerson’s books. They’re action-packed and exciting, and I look forward to every one. The Princess Spy was no different. I found it at my Christian Family Book store for $10, and was so excited because it was the only copy they had! I now have the whole series!

Click here to see what it’s all about! When I first started this book, I thought it was a little bit slow. Princess Margaretha had this mysterious suitor trying to woe her, and I knew next to nothing about him. (Although the descriptions of his silly hats and clothes were very funny to imagine!) Then Colin, an injured foreigner appeared, and suddenly I was flipping every page!

I finished the book late at night (my mom said, “Finish one chapter and then turn out the light.” Needless to say, I was not a pleasure to eat breakfast with in the morning.) But every time I flipped the page, I just had to know what was going to happen! One thing I will say about the book is that it’s a medieval-time fairy tale, and the plot line is an evil, unwanted suitor to the princess, is trying to take over the kingdom. (Killing the king.) There is some violence {mentioned}, such as stepping over bodies, the guard went to “take care of” Claybrook’s men, etc., but other than that, I loved the book!

I really love that although Melanie Dickerson’s books are romantic and sweet, they always portray strong, confident young women finding their own worth and knowing that they don’t need a knight in shining armor or anyone to make them feel confident or beautiful. At the same time, they’re romantic fairy tales and I love to follow the characters as they fall for their prince or princess.

Overall, I truly LOVED this book, and totally see myself reading it again.

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That’s a total of four stars!

Have any of you read The Princess Spy, or any of Melanie Dickerson’s books? What was your impression? =)

xx, Emily

miscellaneous 'bookish' things

libraries & book stores & e-books, oh my!

January 12, 2015 Emily 15 Comments

Hi, guys! News flash: I am broke. Really broke. Like, I-barely-have-50-cents-in-my-wallet-right-now-broke. And to top it off, I don’t have any books to read! (This does not include school required reading. I’m talking about fun books here, hello?! (Hahaha, just kidding! …)) So I was wondering: how in the world am I going to survive on an average $7 book per week when I barely make $10 a week?

So I searched “cheap books” in Google and LOOK WHAT GLORIOUS THING POPPED UP!

In case you can’t tell, in my shopping cart on thriftbooks.com, I have THREE BOOKS for a grand total of $10.70. Now, now, because I am a smart Emily and you are a smart person (you’re reading my blog, so of course that makes you smart), I know you’re thinking, “Oh, Emily, but you’re ordering the books online! What about shipping, silly goose?” And my smug, glorious, wonderful answer?

Shipping is free! Yep, you read that right. Do not second guess yourself, dear blog reader.

Never again shall I buy a new book from Barnes & Noble. (Weeeell… do not hold me accountable for that, okay? New books are nice. They smell good.) Thriftbooks.com has saved me.

The library is nice, too, but I personally love building my own library – on a book shelf, not a Kindle Fire.

What about you guys? How do you buy/read your books?

xx, Emily

fashion & style

my top three favorite styles // classy, yet preppy

January 7, 2015 Emily 16 Comments

Hey, everyone! Today I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite styles via my Pinterest board, because I’d like to start blogging about other things I enjoy, too – and I personally love clothes, if you didn’t know that about me. 🙂

Lately, I’ve been really loving skirts. Mid-length, flowing skirts are my favorite, like these:

That pink skirt paired with the heels and statement necklace?! Yes, please!

I love solid colors paired with patterns, like this skirt with the black stripes.

I particularly love these skirts, because they remind me of these 50’s style skirts:

I’ve also been loving overalls, of which my mom bought me for Christmas!

I love how both styles are paired with ankle boots, but they’re styled a bit differently. In the first picture, the overalls are tucked into the boots, and one of the straps is left undone. But in the second one, the overalls are rolled just above the the boots.

I’m also a HUGE fan of chunky, over-sized sweaters.

The braid and sweater makes for the perfect casual-looking outfit.

Check out the neutral-colored sweater with the maroon tights! Gorgeous!

So those are my top three favorite styles! 🙂 What sort of trends/styles do you like? Why? I love all of these, because I feel like they’re so classy and a little bit preppy, and I love the mix of both. 😉

Until next time!

xx, Emily

lists, personal life

welcome, 2015!

January 5, 2015 Emily 13 Comments

Hey, guys! I know it’s already January 5th (whaaat?!), but I decided to share my top three new year’s resolutions with you all today in honor of the new year.

#1: I want to blog more. Starting this year, I want to make it a goal of mine to post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and maybe on the weekends.

#2: I want to read at least 50 books this year. (That’s about a book a week, which means a review a week!) 😉

#3: I want to finish a novel. Yep, I know, this is a big one.

Those are my top resolutions! What are yours?

2014 was a big year for me. I began home-schooling, became a teenager (it’s tough! Lol!), went on a cruise (my first, and hopefully the first in a long line of cruises!), and I started this blog! Here’s to an amazing, and even better 2015.

Happy new year, everybody!

xx, Emily