photography | rifle paper co. books

How beautiful are these classic books designed by Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co.? 

I love when publishers do special editions of classic books and of course, I love most of the 

illustrations by Rifle Paper Co... so these books are amazing! I was so excited when my sister 

bought these, because it meant I could take photos of them... Yay!!

(You can buy these books as a set of 4 or individually.)

love as He loves...

"Love the LORD your God, and love one another.

Love one another as He loves.

Love with strength and purpose and passion and no matter what comes against you.

Don't weaken. Stand against the darkness, and love.

That's the way back into Eden.

That's the way back to life."

- quote from -

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

* * *

flowers & a favorite quote...

{ a favorite quote from Mere Christianity }

{books i love} the hiding place...

One of my goals this year is to read more books & one of the specific books that was on my list to read, was The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. So many times my mom & sister encouraged me to read it & I am so happy that I finally did! 

{The Ten Boom Family}

It is truly an amazing book, that tells the story of Corrie Ten Boom & her family, living in Holland & running a watch shop. This story tells of how they used their home as a "hiding place" for many Jews & others who were the target of such horrible evil during the Holocaust. Because of what they did the whole family was arrested & they had to endure many horrible things... BUT also because of what they did, God worked in amazing ways & they were able to show His love to so many people! People's lives were saved physically & spiritually!

{The Ten Boom's watch shop & home}

It is a beautiful story of how God always provides & how His love can help us overcome the worst hate & pain. After all, even through the most horrible circumstances, so many amazing things happen to them. There is no way to deny that God was with them through it all! I love the message it shows of great faith, love, forgiveness & hope! It's a message everyone should hear!

Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from the book...

“Do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.” 

"And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself.” 

“And so I learned that love is larger than the walls that shut it in” 

This book is a beautiful example of one of life's hardest things to do...

"give thanks in all circumstances"!

It challenged my faith, in an amazing way! 

Have you ever read The Hiding Place?
Do you have a favorite part or quote?

If you haven't read it, you should, because it's a blessing!

it's almost fall...

knitting... drinking peppermint tea in my new yellow mug... reading a good book... 

it is a cozy kind of day... :)

& since it is almost scarf wearing season (yay!) 

i added these two scarves (knitted last winter) to my shop!!

visit my etsy shop >>

my life, lately...

lately i am happy about...

...being outside, just soaking up what is left of this summer. it has gone by so fast! there are still a few more fun summer activities coming though... water park, the fair, my cousin's wedding, etc... yay!

...my cute new index card book. i am using it to write my favorite Bible verses. it's great to have something that will keep them all together so nicely. a great find at office max!

...exercise! i did pretty good this week. i went for two walks, played tennis, & did yoga/pilates twice. it feels so good to have accomplished that! hopefully i will keep it up.

...my love for all things Jane Austen!! i am currently reading "Emma". i finished "Austenland" by Shannon Hale this week, which was a fun, quick read. & i picked up "A Jane Austen Education" by William Deresiewicz from the library, which i am looking forward to reading, too! oh, i love reading!

...Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares with caramel... they are pure bliss!

...& of course, my doggie's cute face!

life is beautiful...

i hope you have a happy weekend!

journey through jane austen...

A few years ago I really started to fall in love with Jane Austen's books (& the movie adaptations...) there is something so special about escaping to the charming English countryside in the early 1800s. I love the style, the language and the stories of life & love from back then... I guess, I first fell in love when I saw Pride & Prejudice (the 2005 Keira Knightley version)... I know there are many debates about the different movie versions, but this one will always be my favorite, because it was pretty much where it all started for me. (In my opinion, the movie was cast perfectly and the cinematography & music were done so beautifully that I could just watch it over & over again...) After watching the movie, I definitely wanted to read the book... and as I read the book, I really enjoyed getting more into the story, as it was originally written! Since then I made it a goal to read all of Jane Austen’s books...

Just recently I finished reading Sense & Sensibility! Except this time, I had not seen the movie yet, so it was fun to first see the story unfold in the pages of the book this time! I really enjoyed the story of the Miss Dashwoods and their relationship with each other... I love how they are so different, as represented in the title of the book. Yet they love each other so much... it's a wonderful story!

Over the weekend, I was so excited to finally get to watch the movie...

I loved seeing the interpretations of the characters from the book to the movie. I think that the characters were really well cast & acted! Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and played Elinor! She was very good in the role, and even though she was quite a bit older then Elinor is in the book, she made the part very believable. Kate Winslet played "sensibility" perfectly, just as I imagined she would! They are both amazing actresses, so that alone made the movie so good! I also really loved Alan Rickman, as Colonel Brandon, such a gentleman! :) It was really wonderfully done and for a 2-hour movie it covered the whole book very well!

This movie is definitely on my favorites list now! :)

Do you have a favorite movie adaptation of a Jane Austen book?

book review: "reshaping it all"

like so many, i grew up watching DJ Tanner grow up on tv...
(confession: full house is still one of my favorite tv shows!!)
so when i heard that Candace Cameron Bure had a book coming out,
i definitely had to read it...

because i looked up to Candace when i was younger, i knew that this book would be fun to read! i really love how she shares so much about her Christian faith & the way she lives her life! this book is more than a typical biography, as it is mostly about keeping physically & spiritually healthy every day! so often the two go together & i really believe that we need encouragement in that area on a daily basis.

Candace shares the struggles she has had with food & how the Lord has given her freedom from that. it's easy to she how truly healthy she is now, in every way & she always gives glory to the Lord. throughout the book i felt so inspired, because she genuinly loves the Lord & living a healthy life!

one of my favorite thing about this book is that each chapter has scripture applied throughout. each passage touches perfectly on the subject that she is sharing at the time. because of that, i got even more out of the book than i expected! i also love that she included letters from fans, recipes that she uses regularly & many other quotes & pieces of advice! & of course it was fun to read a little bit about candace's life growing up & her sweet family... (bonus, this book has a section of photos & who doesn't love that?!)

i thought it would be fun to share a some of my favorite parts from the book...

"no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." {Heb. 12:11}

"we as believers follow the Spirit of truth, and we do our best to stick to that truth as we yield to to God's plan for our life. The world sees it another way: the body is in charge, and if the heart longs to overindulge in food or narcotics, it does."

"being a Christian who is trying to live a life that's pleasing to God doesn't mean that life is a drag. I haven't lost out on anything; i've only gained perspective on life, peace, joy, fulfillment and purpose. God gives me all those things. that's something the world can never fulfill because it constantly begs me to get more, reach a higher status, and keep acquiring stuff. it never satisfies."

"things that you think are imperfections are God's own craftsmanship. in fact the most beautiful things about us are usually those things we don't see in the mirror."

resolution: read more books.

i don't have a set list of "new years resolutions", but i would say that one of them is to read more!

reading makes us grow & learn! it definitely should be an important part of our daily lives!
i love to read! ♥

here's what i am currently reading:

i got the lost memoirs of jane austen by syrie james from the library recently, because i love jane austen! i wasn't sure what it was all about, but since i started reading it, i have been loving the story!
(i am about halfway through) it is a "historical fiction" about jane's life, love, & writing. it is really fun to learn more about her, through a light-hearted fictional story!


the other book i am loving right now is more last-minute knitted gifts by joelle hoverson of the purl bee. a current goal for me is to be able to successfully knit from reading patterns. in the past, i have only done the basic knit & purl stitches straight through to make a simple scarf or hat. i really want to learn how to do more interesting stitches! which is why i am so excited that my mom got me this book for christmas! it has tons of beautiful projects, for all skill levels, that are broken up into chapters based on how long they will take. i have already started a scarf from the book, called the "big lace scarf". it repeats 4 rows, so the pattern is pretty easy! i am not always good at keeping track of where i'm at, but it has gone pretty good so far. :) here is a picture of the project i am working on now! it's so pretty!

another one of my big goals for this year is to read something from the bible everyday! i often use our daily bread, because it gives a short devotional along with a verse & additional scripture you can read too! i like that it is short, because then i can try to meditate more on the selected verse(s). & i can take it one day at a time! also, i will be starting a new beth moore bible study on daniel, later this month & i always grow so much through reading her studies, so i am excited for that! :)

there are so many great things to read out there!
what are you reading right now?