I made a book book!

Mead Fat 'lil notebook $1.47 + leftover scrapbook paper + glitter glue +dollar bin iron-on = super cute book book!

And now I have a tangible place to keep track of what books I read. It's hundreds of tiny pages to fill with thoughts on books. What I read. Why I read what I read. Who gave me the book or suggested the title. Where I read it. How it made me feel. Whatever I desire to write about that book at that time.

Not just a list, an archive, an inventory.

2011 Books Read

No, I did not read 2011 books. Maybe there should be a hyphen... 2011 - Books Read. Or Books Read - 2011. Anyway here they are. Listed most recent at the top.

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett


• Dreams Underfoot by Charles De Lint


• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen


• A Plain Life: Walking My Belief by Scott Savage


• House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones J


• esusWith Dirty Feet by Don Everts


• The Age of Reason by Jean Paul Sartre


• Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones


• California Gold by John Jakes


• Jane Austen's Little Advice Book by Cathryn Michon and Pamela Norris


• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley


• Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman


• Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes


• Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones


• Bella novelizationby Lisa Samson


• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt


• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri


• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte


• Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King


• Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers


• Surprise Me: A 30 Day Faith Experiment by Terry Esau


• Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring


• I Am by Steve Fry


• Fireworks by Elizabeth White


• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle


• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair


• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader


• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian


• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy


• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe


• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew

That's 31. That makes an average 11.7 days to complete each book. {Because I like doing the math.}

Word of 2012

I've come across the idea of having a word of the year ~ kind of in place of a resolution ~ in a few different blogs. Of course now I can't remember which blogs I've read them or anything. When you Google "word of the year" all you get is dictionary type results. The words that were big in the world not for individuals.

My word for 2012 is SEEK. God gave it to me yesterday while I when I saw a Word of the Year mentioned on The Rusted Chain blog. I wasn't planning on having a word. It just was there in my head when I read the post.

Seek can mean so many things. Seek first His kingdom. Seek your passion. Seek beauty. Seek peace. Seek relationships. Seek God.

I decided to use the black canvas I got for Christmas and went through my stash of found items to come up with something to put in my room for the year. Since most of the items that came to me were gold, I went with it and painted "Seek" in gold.

Then I stapled gold ribbons on the back (I adore using my craft stapler-it makes such a satisfying noise) that came off my gift from Elizabeth. Now it is hanging on my curtain rod for me to see every day and remember to Seek! As a happy accident the small medalion in the bottom center is magnetic. Each week I intend to pick a verse that uses seek, search or another synonom and attach it to the magnet (handy-dandy note card and gold paper clip), so that I can memorize verses.