Adah's world is turned upside down by the sudden death of her fiancée. After years of declaring that she will always be single, David broke down her walls and she fell hopelessly in love.

But just three weeks before their wedding, he is killed in a car accident. A happily-ever-after ending becomes a distant dream. Adah is lost without him and she tries to drown her grief in a crazy social life, but finds no peace.

In desperation, she heads off into the mountains, searching for a cure for  her broken heart.

Her lack of wilderness experience gets her into many predicaments as she attempts to live life as the pioneers did. No running water, no electricity, a rock slide, an uncooperative wood stove and an unexpected late spring blizzard nearly overwhelm her.

As if that wasn't adventure enough, a nearly frozen man appears on her doorstep in the middle of the raging blizzard. Adah is shocked to discover a young child cradled in his arms.  

While the little girl, Sarah, seems unharmed, Adah works desperately to save the man's life. With limited medical knowledge, she does the best she can, but a high fever and other injuries threaten his life. 

 The man, whose name is Ethan, regains consciousness and seems to be recovering just as the storm abates.

But flooding, mud slides and avalanches force the trio to remain in the cabin for the unforeseeable future.

Adah is disturbed by Ethan's talk of God. Raised to be an Atheist, any talk of religion bothers her. But the more Ethan speaks of his God, the more curious Adah becomes. Something about the relationship Ethan has with his God calls to her. It is more than just a religion. Could God be the answer? Can He heal her broken heart?

Join Adah in her search for the truth. Will she finally find the love she has been searching for all her life?

A few weeks ago, my Photo Friday post was about a three week old kitten we were bottle feeding. At the time, we did not have a name for him…but now we do! His name is Pete. He was in the house up until a week ago, when he graduated out to the goat barn.

But of course, the little guy had to have some friends, right?

That's what Grandma Kathy thought, and three new kittens from the dairy farm down the road mysteriously appeared in the barn.

So Pete is having the time of his life with his new buddies, Spanky, Darla and Rose.

The first photo is Spanky. I'm not much of a cat person, but I've always liked the looks of black cats and I like this photo.

Read the captions below each photo for names J

What are your favorites?

Four years.
Wow. It is hard to believe Bannie and I have been together that long. It has been a long road...we didn't get along at all at first, but we persevered and are best buddies today. He still frustrates me...but if horses could talk he would probably tell you the same thing about me :)
This first photo is the first day we met. After a four hour drive, it was love at first sight. I knew this was the horse for me.
Bannie was a rescue horse. At 15 years old, he had seen much in his lifetime. Used as a western pleasure show horse, he had seen his fair share of life's cruelties. He had been starved, among who knows what else.
Our first meeting that day was memorable. I was nervous about riding such a big, intimidating horse, but once in the saddle, I knew we were made for each other.
A few photos of our first ride together:

More photos of us together:

And this is us today, best friends. When people ask me if I have a boyfriend, my answer is yes, my horse is my boyfriend :)

We have been through a lot together, we've even been in the newspaper! I'm so thankful we have had these four years to learn from each other and I hope we have many more.

Good news! I found the camera! It had slid down behind a stack of books out of sight...I couldn't imagine where it had gone so I was relieved to find it safe.
So these pictures are actually from last week. Beautiful Ashwin outlined against the dark sky, my handsome man Rio, hay bales and a dilapidated fence with those pretty, but very nasty pickers. It's no fun stepping on a small one of these with bare feet, something I do frequently as I tend to go bare foot in the pasture. Not the smartest thing to do, but it's worth it :) I don't know how many of these things I've dug out of my feet over the years.
My favorite this week would have to be the fence and pickers. Ashwin comes in second (Sorry, Ashwin). After nearly a year off of riding, I have started working him under saddle again and he is doing well. A bit stubborn, but I like to see him showing some spirit. Rio is recovering well from his procedure and it does seem to have mellowed him out a bit. He's still pretty sassy though, but he wouldn't be our Rio without a little bit of an attitude!
What is your favorite this week?

1. Coffee or tea?

Coffee!!! I do enjoy a good cup of tea every now and then, but coffee is my staple drink.

2. Rainy days or sunny days?

I really love rainy days...the only time I don't like rain is when I had plans that had to be canceled. Other than that, rainy days are the best.

3. What is one food you couldn’t live without?

Rice. My mom's side of the family is middle eastern...I think that is where I get my love of rice from. I nearly always have a container of rice in the fridge and I eat it with a variety of other foods.

4. Give three words that describe you.

Umm...stubborn, creative, impulsive

5. What would you do if you had a free hour and could do anything you wanted to?

Wow, I can think of so many things I'd do with a free hour, but I would probably spend it sitting along the creek bank with my dog and a book.

6. What is your favorite book-to-movie adaption?

I'm not usually a fan of book-to-movie adaptions, but I do like Anne of Green Gables.

7. If there was one location from a book you could go to, where would it be?

I can't think of a specific location from a book, but I have read some great books about England...it would be neat to see some of the places I've read about.

8. If you could meet one character from a book, who would it be?

That's a tough one...I'm not really sure. Anne of Green Gables would be neat I guess. J But then, Frank and Joe Hardy from the Hardy Boys books would be great too!

9. If you could ask one author of the past a question, who would it be? What would you ask?

I would ask Samuel Clemens why he used a pen name.

 10. If you could change one event you didn’t like in a book, what would it be?

I would probably change the ending of It Took A War by Emily Putske. It was a good ending, but very sad.

Okay, so this was supposed to be a great photo post. We had an auction ending last night, so as soon as we got home from work, I dashed out with my camera and took a bunch of photos of the horses. I usually prepare the photo posts ahead of time, but I was watching the auction so I decided to wait and put the post together today in between customers.
When I got up this morning, I went to grab the camera to put it in my bag and it was missing! I searched my entire room and it has simply disappeared. I still have not found it!
So, since most of us are probably sweltering right now, I thought I'd pull some winter photos for you today. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to winter!
My favorite is the first shot of Abby and #2 would be the old manure spreader.
Do you like the heat or are you waiting for winter? What are your favorites?

I was super excited to get my cover for Be Still My Soul back today. My designer, Perry, did an incredible job and the cover is beautiful! I cannot wait to share it with you, but it will be a few weeks yet so be sure to check back often!
Now that the cover for BSMS is finished, I am working on the cover for Thunder, sequel to Whisper. I still have a ton of work to do on BSMS before I will able to begin seriously working on Thunder, but it never hurts to plan ahead :)
As with Whisper, I will be using my own photos for this book. Whisper is about Ashwin, and Thunder is about Bannie.
Below are three photos of Bannie, focusing on the eye, same as Whisper. I have a favorite picked out, but I want to hear which photo captures your attention.
There are numbers in the lower right corners of the pictures, leave a comment with the number of your favorite!!

Here's a quick snippet from Thunder:

One month later, I was still adamantly refusing to have anything do with horses.

          I was careful to not ask any questions about the horses lest Rachel think I was getting interested again. I wondered about Thunder from time to time and occasionally heard Rachel discussing him with Dad. I often eavesdropped on their conversations, not wanting to admit even to myself that I was curious about Thunder's progress.

          According to what I overheard, Rachel wasn't making any progress with him. He refused to go into the barn and even when she moved him to a paddock with a small shed, he would stand outside in the driving rain rather than go inside. Rachel had tried everything she could think of to help him, but he just wouldn't be helped. Thankfully he was young and healthy. Though it was spring, the nights were still cold. The cold didn't seem to bother him however and he wasn't losing weight.

          Rachel said she had tried, but he wouldn't join-up with her. I thought that was strange and very extreme behavior on his part. I had never seen or heard of a horse that wouldn't join-up.

          From what I knew about his previous experiences, it didn't sound all that bad. Sure, he had been through a lot, but I had known horses that had been through a lot worse and responded a lot better than he was. It seemed that he was over reacting to everything.

          Despite my resolve not to think about him, I couldn't keep my mind off him. I found myself analyzing his behavior and Rachel's observations, trying to come up with a solution.

I really had no idea what to post on today…my mind felt blank. I sat at my keyboard, and looked around my room, hoping for something to jump out at me.

And something did.

This book, Living Virtuously by Erin Harrison, was sitting on my night stand. My mom bought this book for me several months ago. Up until recently, it had been lost in my stack of to-be-read books, but I came across it a week or so ago when I was cleaning.

I haven't read the whole thing yet, it's a rather thick book, but I have read far enough into it to know that is a priceless treasure for both married and unmarried women.

My family and I have known about the Harrison's for several years. We have all of their DVD's and benefited from them greatly.

This book is specifically for women. If you have been following Erin for any length of time, you will have heard something about the struggles she went through as a young married woman.

Before we get any further, here is a synopsis of Erin's book:

Living Virtuously does not mean perfection. Victory and virtue are gifts to those that persevere on their own journey that God has given no matter what life may bring. It is learning contentment, choosing joy, and being teachable. In this book, we will journey together through Proverbs 31 in the Bible, discovering the traits of a Virtuous Woman. I will take you from the spiritual to the practical, giving you a complete, well rounded perspective of what it means to keep your heart and your home.

In this helpful guide you will learn how to…
• face adversity and find joy in your circumstances
• clean and organize your home so that it is a haven of rest
• be frugal and meal planning
• organizing life so you have more time
• teach your children a good work ethic while embracing motherhood
• control your words and actions
• keep your heart pure
• honor your husband
• find balance in all areas of life
• LIVE VIRTUOUSLY!

As I said, I have not read the entire book yet, and I know from reading some of Erin's other writings, on her blog and such, that I do not agree with everything she says, but overall, you need to read this book. (And while it is written for ladies, I've read some reviews by men who were very blessed by it as well.)

It doesn't matter if you have been married for fifty years, one year, or are not married at all, this book is written for you.

Erin teaches you how to live your life to the fullest. She concentrates on the duties of a wife and mother, but most of the things she says can apply to all areas of our life. She includes some humorous stories and a plethora of things she has learned the hard way over the years. If you want to be blessed, uplifted, encouraged, and told like it is with no sugar coating, Living Virtuously is the book for you.

Available as an eBook or a paperback.

I've got my saddle, my horse and my barn, oh, don't forget that soft fluffy baby mane, I'm all set!
After a crazy few weeks of getting a large auction ready, I have a few days of downtime before the rush starts again...so hopefully I'll be able to put together a better post next week :)
My favorite today is my sweet Bannie. He's such a handsome fella in the summer when his coat sparkles. And he loves hugs and kisses.
The saddle is my dad's roping saddle (no, he doesn't rope). I use it when I need to pony another horse because it has the thick roping horn that won't break. My saddle is a performance saddle and has a tall narrow horn for hanging on too. This saddle is a Hereford Textan saddle....an expensive older make.
And I love Rio's soft baby mane. It's starting to come in thicker and longer now that he is maturing.
The barn is our neighbors.
What is your favorite?

Yesterday we had a really nasty storm come through our area. We had been gone to church in Ohio from six in the morning and we got back around six that evening. The storm clouds chased us for the last hour or so of our drive.

We had only been home a short time when things really began to get bad. My aunt called and told us to get to our basement, as there was a tornado on the way.

I never really remember being afraid of storms, even as a child. As a matter of fact, I loved them! I would lie awake at night, in my dark room, watching the lighting flash on the walls. It was deliciously spooky.

If a bad storm came through during the day, I loved to snuggle down by a window, perhaps with a hot drink, watching the rain and lightening and listening to the thunder. My mom used to tell me thunder was the angels bowling J

If I happened to be outside during a storm, I would stand against the wall of our hip roof barn and let the rain sliding down the roof soak me. Hey, it was more fun than taking a shower! I liked sloshing around in water filled boots….saved me the trouble of rinsing them out every once in a while.

There have only been a few times that I have really felt scared about a storm. Once I was riding my horse on the back edge of farm, about a mile from the barn when a storm came up. My horse was a bit spooky and the lightening was crazy! I wasn't thrilled about being out in an open field, on a horse, with lightening all around. I never really enjoyed driving in bad storms, when I could feel the wind pushing the van around, or feel the tires skidding over the wet pavement.

And as I have grown up, my feelings about storms haven't really changed. My most productive times to write are at night, or during a storm. There is just something about storms that get my creative juices flowing. That may not be true for everyone, and there certainly is nothing wrong with being afraid of storms, but to me they are inspiring!

The storm we experienced yesterday was quite interesting. There was a fair amount of lightening…I was disappointed at the lack of thunder, but the swirling green clouds were amazing!

Our house sits in the middle of a cedar swamp and as we stood on the porch, watching the developing storm, we could hear trees crashing down in the swamp. Dad hurriedly moved all our vehicles to a safer location, and we did retreat to the basement for a short time.

The power went out….just as I was in the middle of making a cup of coffee!! Horror of horrors! A bunch of breakers blew….and when Dad tried to turn some of them back on, some of the electrical outlets started exploding, so back off they went J

When we got up this morning, we still had no power, but our old house at the farm did, so we moved all our freezer and refrigerator foods to the freezer and fridge at the farm and Dad hooked up a small generator to run the sump pump so our basement wouldn't flood.

A call to the electric company confirmed our suspicions that we would be out of power for quite some time, along with 31,000 other people. We were moved up on the priority list because there appears to be a wire hanging from one of the poles near the house, so perhaps we will be back on shortly. For now, we are feeling like the Amish….and I still haven't gotten my coffee!

Thankfully the auction hall still has power, so I am able to charge my phone and computer. Dad had to go buy a bigger generator that can run the whole house, so we should be able to cook supper (and make coffee) tonight when we get home.

Were any of you affected by this storm? Do you like storms? What are your favorite things to do while it is storming?