A List of Lists of Links

So, I love posting lists of links on the weekends. But the truth is, there are a lot of people out there who do it better than me, and I am their unabashed fans*. Here are a few lists that I love:

-Like Mother, Like Daugther - this Catholic mom-and-girls site posts a list of links called "bits & pieces" every weekend. Lots of stuff on religion, parenting, and homemaking.

-Challies.com - Challies is the best. He posts links every morning. His daily "A La Carte" entries are mostly on topics of Christian interest.

-Mere Comments - Touchstone magazine's blog posts their "Mere Links" one weekday mornings. These, like Challies' links, are on topics of Christian interest, but with a more ecumenical flavor.

-Everyday Theology - more Christianity-related links, posted most days.

- The Fug Girls - Now we get to the slightly silly. But this hilarious website (I love their coverage of the fashion of royalty) posts a list of (usually) fashion-related links every Friday.

-College Fashion - this fashion site hosts "haute links" just before the weekend, and I like their links mostly for the interesting DIY links.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


*okay, I am slightly abashed: but only by some of the items that sometimes show up on some of these lists. It should be noted that I like these websites' links posts, but I don't necessarily agree with the perspective of every site, or every link they link. I just think there's enough good reading there that they're worth looking at. Or, at least, fun to look at.

Recently-tried Recipes

I've found out recently, that I can get rid of a lot of the plodding feel of cooking dinner again (it's the again (and again, and again) part that gets difficult) by regularly throwing new recipes into the mix. Here are a few I've tried - and liked - recently.

"Almost Famous: Ikea's Swedish Meatballs": These were creamy and wonderful. Though I had to both make the meatballs and the sauce from scratch, it still didn't feel like a fussy meal. The meatballs came together easily, and the sauce was just a basic white sauce, with a few extra touches. And the results? Deeee-licious.

"Grilled Turkey, Apple, and Cheddar Sandwiches": After hearing the ingredients, our kids opted for regular ol' grilled cheese. Which is probably a good thing, because the mango chutney I bought for this recipe turned out to be pretty spicy (it had a lot of ginger in it).

I loved these. So did my husband. He said, "they're good. Despite the parsley".

And I said, "They're good. Despite the ginger."

So there you go: these sandwiches were good enough to overcome not one, but two mild dislikes on the part of the eaters. We're totally planning on making them again. They were excellent.


If you've tried any new recipes recently that were a hit with your families, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

self-motivation for writers

A conversation I overheard myself having with . . . myself:

"Hey, if you write another 300 words, you can have some 10 jellybeans."

"What do you think I am? A five-year-old?"

"Hey, do you want the jellybeans or not?"

". . . Fine."


:D

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Weekend links!

Just a few this weekend, but I hope you enjoy them!

"10 Lessons from 10 Years of Public Schooling":

The third lesson is this: You do not send your children to public school—you send your family. What I mean is that public schooling requires the participation of the parents which, in our experience, is something the school values just as much as we do. 

This video is funny and informative:

Book Notes: "Words of Radiance", by Brandon Sanderson

"Words of Radiance", the second book in the Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson, was great. It was even better than the first one (which I loved; see my review here).

In this book, a character I disliked in the first one becomes someone I truly sympathize with, , which is an impressive feat of writing.

What occasionally dragged in the first, just flies in the second.

The world is deeper and even better than in the beginning.

I really just loved it. What else can I say? I really just loved it. Well over a thousand pages, but it went much, much too quickly.

Write faster, Brandon!**


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell



**I kid, I kid. (Well, as a fellow writer, I kid. As a reader? . . . um . . .)



This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Yarnalong: "Say Goodbye to Survival Mode" and the "Everything Nice Hoodie"

Oooh, which do I start with first? The book or the knitting? They're both so lovely . . .

Okay, let's start with the book.

I've been a fan of Crystal Paine's site, Money-Saving Mom, for a long time now. I even had the privilege of guest-posting there once.

So, when she came out with a book with the inviting title of "Say Goodbye to Survival Mode", I had to pick it up. And you know what? It's good.

If you've ever heard the Internet meme "how do I adult?", well, this book is the answer to that question. This book is all about "how to adult".

It's the sort of book you want to pick up when life leaves you flailing, and unsure of what to do next. Probably most of us could predict what sort of tips are going to be in this book. That doesn't matter. What makes this book nice is that all of those orderly, comforting principles are all put in their orderly, comfortable place by a woman who's clearly learned them all through hard experience.

It's the sort of book that you want to read through when you're wondering, for the millionth time, "How do I do this again?"

I'm liking it.

Now, onto the knitting.

We're planning on going camping this summer. And last summer, I took up my first real, true, handknit sweater to the mountains with us. And it was wonderful. It was so warm.

But, it was a v-neck, and so it left my neck cold.

So, as summer's approaching again, I've found myself wanting a new sweater. Once that buttons all the way up to my chin.

And I found this beauty. It buttons all the way up! And it has a hood. And it has extra-long cuffs with a thumbhole in them, so that you can pull the cuffs down over your hands and they become fingerless gloves!

This pattern is so, so cool. I can't wait to finish it and try it on.

Other yarnalong posts can be found here, over at Ginny's place.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Book Notes: "Outliers", by Malcom Gladwell

All I really knew about this book was the "10,000 hours of practice" idea. It's a great observation, and I figured that since I'd read about it, and understood it, I didn't need to bother to read the book.

But when talking to my sister about how we both look at our separate careers, she said, "It's all about that stuff I learned in Outliers." She told me a lot of her success was due to practicing principles she'd learned about in this book. And when I told her my impression of the book that I hadn't read - that it was all about the 10,00 hours of practice thing - she said, "You should really read it. There's a lot more to it than that."

So I did. I did read Outliers.

More precisely, I gobbled up Outliers. It went as fast as a good suspense novel, it was so fascinating.

It talks about how our ideas about success are wrong.

Well, no. They're partly right. We think success is all about hard work, and that's true. As far as it goes.

The problem is, it doesn't go far enough.  Success does come to hard workers. If the opportunity comes to you at the time when you are poised to jump on it - poised to take that wave at the curl - then you'll have success. Having those "10,000 hours" under your belt will ensure you're ready to jump when the opportunity comes.

But the opportunity has to come.

The most fascinating part of Outliers is how the opportunity comes. And how we're set up for the opportunities.

My absolute favorite part of the book were the bits about our cultural programming. I don't want to recount it all here, because I'm afraid I won't do justice to it, but Gladwell does a great job of showing how our cultures both limit us and make us excel. I loved reading all his stories about different countries and how their traditions prepare people for different kinds of opportunities.

And I guess, in the end, that's what I really loved about this book: I loved the stories. This book is non-fiction, but the truth is, it was full of ripping good yarns. It gave me a lot to think about, sure, but it also just pulled me along because of the winsome nature of its narration. I truly enjoyed it.

Highly recommended.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)