Friday, January 20, 2017

Reader's Choice

Hi people!
You might have noticed that I put up a poll on the sidebar.
I'd like y'all to give me some input as to what you'd like me to post.
I'll probably get around to posting all of these, but your job is to tell me what you'd most like to read, so I can therefore work harder on providing those posts.
Your choices are:

-Farm life 
-Food for thought (devotional, scripture, etc.)
-Stories
-Writing challenges
-Chats with my siblings
-Photography
-Monthly recaps
-My favorite things (a series about my favorite music, books, etc.)

Ok, there ya go!
I'd appreciate it if you would take the time to just click on one or two :)
Thanks people!
~Kaitlyn

Monday, January 9, 2017

2016 Highlights (Prepare for a Picture Overload)

Hi people!
Most bloggers have published their year-in-review posts already.  But obviously not me.  I haven't even done any monthly review posts.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to get into that or not.
But, I figure I'd give it a try.  I mean, a whole year has gone by. 365 whole days.  This is worthy of a year-in-review post, is it not?
*nods* yes, it is.

If there was one thing I learned this year, it was that Abraham Lincoln was a very wise man.  My dad likes to quote him:

It is far better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Wise words, Abe.  This quote has become my new motto.
I've opened my mouth way too much this past year, and hopefully I've learned my lesson.

So, on to the big part of the post.

Highlights of 2016

January:
Kordell's cows, Sally Mae and Viola (compliments of Hank the Cowdog), had their calves!
Dixie
Dolly
As you can see in the second picture, we got snow!!! :D 

February:
-We went to visit cousins in OK.  Had a great time going to ball games, playing dodgeball (best game ever!!), and hanging out.

-A trip to the zoo.  I hadn't been to a zoo in years, so this was awesome. :)






March:
I participated for the second time in the Golden Belt Vocal Festival.  GBVF is a choir made up of homeschoolers from all over Kansas.  We start practicing in February and the concert is in March.  It's an amazing opportunity for me to sing and meet people who loves music/singing as much as I do. :D


-EASTER!!!  We had a sunrise service Easter morning, and 'twas beautiful--except for the fact that it was cloudy so we didn't get to see the sun rise. XD  But, the night before, it had snowed!  A wonderful reminder of how Christ's death washes us white as snow.


April:

My brothers (Kordell & Birdo) went turkey hunting for the first time!



-My sister and I performed in our homeschool co-op drama production!  It was an allegory of how to get to heaven.

May:

-Kordell got some adorable bucket calves! (You can read all about them in this post)


-My brother Chowboy (yes, that's a pseudonym) got goats!  My dad has never had any goats.  In fact, I don't know of any goats in the history of the Krispense family.  But, Chowboy decided to diversify, and now we have 5 does: Lauren, Moby, Charlotte, Anne, and Ashleigh.  They'll kid any time now.



-I won 3rd place in the Writer's Unite Contest with Katie's War.

June:

-Wheat harvest.


-I got to personally meet Jesseca, a good blogging friend of mine!! :D

July:

A picture Birdo took for the occasion
-Independence Day.  A day we celebrated the freedom of our country, as well as our freedom to worship God.  That day we had a cookout with our church, and then afterwards went to a friend's house to shoot off some firecrackers.




-Our family went to a KC Royals baseball game!  It was Faith & Family day at the K (Kauffman Stadium), so after the game was a Casting Crowns concert.  'Twas awesome.



August:

Our family went to an air show.  To put it simply, it was awesome. :D


September:





-Chowboy finished restoring his 1978 Ford Pickup!  It used to be my dad's, and Chowboy brought it out of being in the shed with packrats and redid the inside, repainted the bed, etc.

Old Blue
-Jesseca's family went camping near us, so I got to re-meet her.  :D

October:




November:

-I got my braces off!

-Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side of the family (which also includes the annual football game), and celebrated an early Christmas with my dad's side. :)

December:

-His Little Feet came to town!  We got to have three girls and a leader from Ethiopia stay with us for three days, and it was a blast. :D

-I participated in the 12 Days of Christmas Linkup hosted by Faith @ Stories by Firefly.  It was an excellent opportunity to find some other bloggers. :)

-The Krispense family (well, most of us) went to western KS to give a Christmas program with the Living Hope String Quintet!  


-Christmas Eve, we did the same program at our church.  You can find some of the songs here.

-Christmas!!  Celebrating the birth of our Savior, God's Son sent to earth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, there you have it! 2016 in a nutshell. 
(Ok, that was a rather big nutshell, but that's the gist of it.)

And now, I shall leave you, saying to never forget that yesterday was the past, tomorrow is the future, and today is God's gift; that's why we call it the present.

~Kaitlyn

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

2016 Bookish Recap Tag

Hi People!


Faith at Stories by Firefly tagged me for this fun-looking (but also very hard-looking) BOOK tag!!!
I love books.
A lot.
Just ask those who know me well.  So, I am obviously thrilled to be doing this tag.
My brother says that I should be asking important questions like "How many goats did you see this year?" and "How many Royals games did you see?"
Well, I'll keep this to books, thanks, bro. XD

Rules:
-Include the above button in your post
-Answer the 11 questions
-Use as many book covers as you like. (The correct answer to this question would be ALOT. B-))
-Tag 5-10 people and notify them that they have been tagged. 

Questions:
 How many books did you read in 2016? (Exact if you know, or approximate if not.) 
Um, I have no idea.  Maybe 70 or 80?  I didn't read as much as I normally do.

Did you set a reading challenge for yourself and, if so, did you meet it?  
No, I didn't, so it all depends on how you look at it as to whether or not I met it or not. ;)

What was your most read genre this year? Least read? 
Most read: Historical Fiction.  Least read?  Um, probably biographies. *Can't remember if I even read any biographies this year*

What's five of your favorite books from 2016? 
This… this is impossible.  But I'll do my best to pick only five.

-Defy by Tricia Mingerink

-Heartbreak Trail by Susan K. Marlow

-The Last Ride by Susan K. Marlow

-Kingdom's Dawn by Chuck Black

-Beyond the Horizon by Jesseca Wheaton

These are all books well worth reading if you haven't before. :D

What's five of your least favorite books from 2016? 
Um… my mind is seriously going blank right now.  But, I read several books by Gary Paulsen this year, and I didn't like his style as much as I remembered.  So, I guess I'll say that. ;P

// What new favorite author did you discover? (Not necessarily that the author is 'new', but that they became new to you this year.) 
Tricia Mingerink.  I saw Defy's blog tour, and I thought the book looked really good.  So I got them for Christmas.  I read all three of The Blades of Acktar within 4 days.

What's five of your favorite book covers from the year? 

This book hasn't actually been published yet (end of this month!!), but I'll add it anyway ;)
 

How many books did you purchase for yourself in 2016? (Exact if you know, approximate if not.) 
For myself?  6.  Heartbreak Trail and The Last Ride by Susan K. Marlow, Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan, What Child is This by Caroline B. Cooney, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, and Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill Cleaver.
All but the two by Susan Marlow I got at the used book store.

What's the longest book you read in 2016? 
Defy by Tricia Mingerink. It's 385 pages long.

// What's the shortest book you read in 2016? 
The Mystery on the Train (not published) by Lydia Dyslin.  19 pages.

// What's your reading goal for 2017? 
At least 100 books.  If possible. ;)

And now
I Tag:

So, people, I hope you enjoyed looking at all these amazing covers as much as I did, and maybe you found some books you'd like to try. :)
Have y'all read any of these?
~Kaitlyn