Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2018 TBR

Happy Tuesday! It’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday, and this week is one of my favorite topics. I absolutely love every time I get to talk about books on my TBR, so I was super excited when I found out this week’s post was all about books I want to read this fall. On the one hand, I know I’m probably not going to get around to reading all of these, but on the other hand, it just reminds me that I have so many great reads to look forward to!

Currently—November

        How is it November already? It feels like it was just August two days ago, and yet here we are, with only 52 days until Christmas! Here’s what I’m currently up to this October, I mean, November.

        I’m currently cooking all kinds of things. Although you wouldn’t think I’d be doing any cooking since I don’t have a kitchen, but I have actually been able to go back home fairly often to make myself some yummy lunches and dinners. I’m actually cooking anything at the moment, but this past weekend I was able to make mac & cheese, chicken enchiladas, and this super delicious dish called pizza casserole, which is sort of like the top of a pizza—tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni—and you put it over pasta, but sometimes I fill a tortilla with it just because I think that tastes pretty good. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been cooking lately.

Just ignore the fact that this pic says a different year, I just really think it's cool so I wanted to add it. 

        I have been planning fun events for my youth group at church. Although I am working alongside with the other volunteers who teach in our group—which is fine with me because I love both of them and since they have lots more experience than I do I feel like I could learn quite a bit from them—I now “officially” have the title of activities coordinator for our youth group. Lately we’ve been planning a tailgate for the Carolina vs. Clemson football game at the end of this month, full of food and plenty of games because we know none of us are really going to end up watching that train-wreck of a game. I’ve also been assisting in planning a Christmas party with fun games and secret Santa gifts. I’m pretty excited about it.

        I’m currently smelling my Pumpkin Pecan Waffles Wallflower from Bath and Body Works. I was looking for something fall smelling to spice up my room for the season, and I found this scent the last time I was at the mall and I pretty much fell in love with it. I really love things that smell like food, and this scent was perfect because it was strong, which meant I would actually smell it in my room, and because it is just the perfect fall smell.

 

        I’m currently appreciating, well, I’m not really sure how to answer this one. I know what I’m thinking…just kidding. In all actuality, there are so many ways I could take this, and I’m not really sure which one is the best. So, I’m just going to say, I’m appreciating the color of the trees this fall, I’m appreciating the way that all of my loved ones have really been backing me up lately—they all believe in me, even though I probably don’t deserve their confidence, and have not been afraid to show it. Those are the things I am currently appreciating.

        Lastly, I’m currently anticipating this weekend! Why, you ask? Because I am getting to chaperone my first ever youth trip! This really ties in to what I am appreciating, because the only reason I am even able to go, and with all my expenses paid for I might add, is because the youth leaders and board members of my church and our district NYI (Nazarene Youth International) president all believe in me enough to give me this opportunity. So, that’s what I’m anticipating, and appreciating.

        That’s what I’m currently up to! What about you? What are you up to this November?

        Happy November!

Linking up at Anne in Residence.


All credit for both pictures goes to the internet, which is where I found them.

Fall!!!

                I am coming back from my hiatus to say, it’s fall, it’s fall, it’s fall!! My favorite season is finally here and that is a reason to celebrate! So in honor of that, and the fact that my birthday is in only seventeen days, and the fact that I hope to have my first book finished and ready to publish by the end of the year, I am posting a short story! Since I wrote it for my homework for the writing class I am taking, and I got an A on it, I thought you would like to read it. Enjoy!

                                                       Her Wayward Uncle                                                          

                                                         By. Mackenzie Carol

                From her chair in the middle of the library, Amelia clutched the book in her hands, her eyes searching the room. She had been engrossed in the story before her when a sound had jerked her back to the present. Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, the nineteen year old turned back to her book, but she continued to listen for noises. Since she was alone in the large house, the strange and unknown noises scared her more than they usually would. She shook her head. Clearly the book she was reading, a thrilling mystery, was making her imagine things that were not there. She knew there was an old, ornate object cleverly hidden in the room, and that was not helping matters either, but she tried to focus on her story. When she had just reached the scariest part, Amelia heard and detected a person in the room. Hugging her book to her chest, she slipped out of her chair, her jaw dropping at what she beheld.

                Her uncle was swinging on the chandelier! With a gasp, Amelia dropped her book, frightened and wondering what her uncle was doing there. As if reading her mind, her uncle called down, “I was looking for a book on one of the top shelves when I saw a mouse.” Calmly he continued to tell her his absurd story, claiming his ladder, which he was using to grab a book from the top of the shelf, got toppled in his fright, so he jumped to the chandelier to keep from falling. Amelia knew better. A smart girl, she was sure he was looking for the valuable and mysterious object that was somewhere in the room. Her great-great grandmother had cleverly hidden it in the house, and had admonished her children never to search it out, not for the next hundred years. Since it was a story the whole family knew, there was no doubt someone would not follow her wishes. Apparently her uncle, still hanging from the chandelier, had decided he was not going to wait the five years left before the youngest member of the family was given the go ahead to find it.

                Lowering herself back into her chair, Amelia retrieved her book, still on the floor, and placed it back on her lap, never taking her eyes from her uncle. He must have realized she knew why he was really there as he looked like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Quietly he asked Amelia if she would help and put the ladder back against the wall. For a moment, she considered leaving him there, but her good sense won out, and she replaced the fallen ladder. He quickly scrambled down. When Amelia shot him an angry and reproving look, he cowardly sped from the room, slamming the door behind him. Amelia smiled from her chair, wondering if that would finally teach her wayward uncle to follow the rules.