Thursday, February 11, 2010

Things I am loving right now...

1. Knitting - Yup, I took up knitting! I have been knitting like mad lately.

I started out knitting these hats (that's my adorable niece)...
and these fun leg warmers...
I am currently learning to knit things such as this adorable little pea pod...or this amazingly cute little bear hat!I have also begun knitting these awesome cowls...and am learning how to knit these fuzzy warm mittens!

2. Quilting - Can you believe I have picked up quilting? I can't! :) I have fallen in love with all types of quilting lately and I can't get over how easy it can really be!
Patch-Work QuiltingRag QuiltingI have even been making these awesome rag quilt purses!And this isn't a quilt but it looks like it would come in REAL handy so I am going to attempt to make one!

3. Reading - I've been an avid reader my entire life but I wanted to share some books that I have been enjoying lately!
Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress has inspired readers for over three centuries. It is one of the best-loved and most widely read books in English literature and is a classic of the heroic Puritan tradition and a founding text in the development of the English novel. The story of Christian, whose pilgrimage takes him through the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Delectable Mountains, is full of danger and adventure. Together with his trusty companions, Faithful and Hopeful, he encounters many enemies--the foul fiend Apollyon, Judge Hategood, Giant Despair of Doubting Castle--before finally arriving at the Celestial City. Bunyan's own experience of religious persecution informs his story, and its qualities of psychological realism, and the beauty and simplicity of his prose combine to create a book whose appeal is universal. This edition includes the illustrations that appeared with the book in Bunyan's lifetime, giving a sense of its impact on contemporary readers.

Sarah's KeyA New York Times bestseller. Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

And my newest read: The Kite RunnerThe Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. "I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."

Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg


4. YouTube - I am a die-hard YouTube addict. My husband can vouch for that. Not only do I enjoy watching videos, I enjoy making Vlogs too! I try to upload a new video to my YouTube account at least once a week. I share a little bit of everything on there from school to my family to my TTC journey.



1 comment:

  1. Steph, Hi I love reading your blogs. I'm a card maker and I LOVE sewing! The quilts look so neat, makes me want to quilt. I'd love to see the bags you've been making. Have a blessed day! Cheryl P. in Texas

    ReplyDelete

I always love to receive feedback from my readers!