Saturday, April 9, 2016

Coffee Shop Chat

Have no fear, I still live (barely, but back to that later)! And I am super jazzed to announce that I am finally participating in my first ever link-up! Welcome to my Coffee Shop Chat and tell me that name doesn't make you happy. :)


~What I Did This Week~

A lot on Sunday. We always do communion, a potluck lunch, and an evening service on the first Sunday of the month. This week I also attended the New Members Class in the afternoon, since I'll be 18 and able to vote on church issues. I've technically been a member since my family joined 10 years ago or so, but they want the young adults to take the extra step and initiative as a coming of age type thing. Anyway, it was a very packed day, but pretty relaxing nonetheless. Until . . .

No one really slept Sunday night because the stomach bug my littlest brother had spread. I didn't get it Sunday night, but everyone else did. One by one, they'd all tromp past my bedroom door and into the bathroom. They lined the halls and couches and floors of the two bathrooms we could use. My grandfather was in for the weekend and sleeping in a room with the guest bath to himself, so we let him be and ushered him out of the house at dawn. I believe he escaped unscathed!

So we got an unexpected week off of school and life and all that adult stuff and did nothing.  All week. It was really kind of nice. I did catch the bug eventually, but not until Tuesday night. Just in time to have to cancel all my weekend jobs. But who needs money when you can lay in front of the television for days? By that time, everybody else was more human than not and we all shared our first real meal since Sunday lunch on Wednesday night. Except for me. I was still living on old Chicken Noodle Soup. But we're all on the mend now and sanitizing the house and wondering what it'd be like to actually step outside and see fellow humans again.

~Movies I've Enjoyed~

I'm just going to go with movies I've enjoyed recently. I watched Belle last night with my mom and sister for my first time. Actually, I hadn't even heard of it until the lovely Olivia highly recommended it. So we rented it from Amazon, and I loved it! Jane Austen meets William Wilberforce. It was very well done :D

I watched Father of Bride with Steve Martin again this week while I was couch-ridden. And it's just a hilarious, relatable, good movie. Not perfectly clean, mind you, but a go-to comedy nonetheless :)

~Currently Working On~


  • reading books! I just haven't been getting to the ones I started, so I'm mainly relying on the ones I'm giving feeback for :)
  • editing for Ivy, Jesseca, and Lydia. These three ladies are all going to be well-loved, published authors some day, so watch out!
  • writing my 20th chapter . . . still :P And ironing out the plots of my next WIPs-to-be
  • blogging this post and trying to catch up with all the posts on my feed!
  • life. Graduation prep, two choirs, that thing called school, keeping my siblings alive and sometimes even fed and happy. All that good stuff.

~Myers-Briggs Type~

I'm an INTJ. That stands for Introverted, Intuitive, Thinker, Judger. Yep, that basically sums me up. But it's not as bad as it sounds! Maybe these Pinterest blips will help explain the complex that is my life. ;)








This quote from Katie's novel Song of the Desert is also me 99% of the time, unless you are my best friend. So you people shouldn't worry ;) 


"I don't know what to say Xander please answer I don't want to talk to you people."

~Coffee or Tea~

I've always thought I've liked tea and disliked coffee. Come to find out, I have never been able to finish a cup of hot tea, so I stick with iced. And I'm just starting to appreciate coffee in greatly doctored Starbucks proportions. ;)

~Favorite Genre to Read~

While Sci-Fi is one of the only genres I dislike on a regular basis, Historical Fiction is probably my favorite to read. It's just . . . so good. Any story that has an element of someone's real life, or a real event, or anything like that is immediately 100x more powerful and interesting to me. I just can't always get myself wrapped up in a completely fictional story. But don't worry, I'm coming over to fangirl land in some regards ;)

~Getting Ready For a New Week~

I just loved this prompt. It's so thoughtful. And it's Saturday, so it works. On Saturday, we always chill, do housework and/or yardwork, and take showers. They're usually pretty open. But last Saturday I was babysitting and did our local Hike for Life, so every now and then there's something out of the ordinary :) On Sunday, we go to church, which currently consists of children's choir in the Sunday School hour and then the service with a sermon from 1 Peter. We come back to the house to a large lunch with dessert. Sometimes my grandfather takes us to see a movie, or has some epic plan. But most of the time, we all just nap and hang out and eat leftovers for supper :) Side note: Papa drives a 400 mile round trip every weekend just to see us. Just kidding, he drives 400 miles every week to do the music at our church. Dedication, man.

~Looking Forward To~

  • my lovely friend of 10+ year's Senior Recital tomorrow *sniff*
  • going to the opera later this month with the entire flock of hooligans that makes up my girls' choir ;)
  • sending out invitations for my graduation in May. Six weeks from today!!!
  • cooler weather (okay, so it's a long way away. so what?)
  • storms. I can hear thunder and see the sky getting grayer right now, so yay!

~Conversation Starters~

These are for all of y'all to answer in the comments in your own Coffee Shop Chat :D

1. What is your favorite book of the Bible?
2. What is the landscaping around where you live? (trees, soil, horizon, civilization proximity . . . all the details!)
3. What is your favorite sort of blog post to read?
4. What does your ideal productive day look like?

~~~~~

So what did you think? I don't really know how this compares as far as link-ups go, but it was fun :) Are you going to do a Coffee Shop Chat? Be sure to check out Tessa's blog (which I linked to at the beginning) for all the lovely details!

21 comments:

  1. I too am taking a new members class at my church. Though I really am a new member! I've only been going to church for the last 7 months (April being the 7th month). I find both church, and the class, to be very rewarding.

    I understand your frustration with sci-fi. I also have a hard time reading science fiction and fantasy. It's a little too hard for me to feel grounded in the world if it's so different from the one I live in.

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    1. I'm glad you're enjoying them both! I really liked the class as well. It was neat to be walked through my church's history and theological standings.

      Ah, YES. You're comments on sci-fi/fantasy sum up my feelings exactly!

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  2. Ahh, I loved this post. :) Coffee Shop Chats is such a delightful name for a link-up. ^_^
    Oh, a stomach big is noooo fun. Glad you all are recuperating!!
    Ahh, Starbucks is AWESOMENESS...in a cup. ;)
    You call your grandfather Papa!? Sorry, that sorta came out wrong. *cough* My grandfather was always Papa, I've never known anyone else to use it that way. :)

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    1. I've never known anyone else to do it, either, so how cool! I don't even know why he decided on that name, to be honest, but there you have it :)

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  3. I loved this post! So fun to read (and to write!) :D

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    1. I'm so glad! I liked all the flexibility and connecting

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  4. Well this blog post title actually does please me, despite my dislike of coffee. For some reason I still love coffee shops. *shrugs*
    Ugh, stomach bugs. Hate those things. Glad you guys are out of the woods though! :D
    Aaaannnnd yeah we all know I'm an extravert so EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS ARE KINDA MY THING. xD Actually I'm kidding I'm a bit of a Vulcan myself.
    Great post though! :)

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    1. I've always loved coffee shops, too, even when I would just order iced water or something boring like that ;)

      Oh, cool. I always thought it'd be neat to meet a Vulcan. But I gotta say, that's not what I would have pegged you as, first glance ;) My sibling always peg me as the stern, withdrawn skeptic of every movie we watch, hehe . . .

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    2. XD Well I'm not a STRICT Vulcan. :P
      But yeah same. I'm known to "watch the movie" which pretty much entails pulling out my laptop and then every ten minutes blurting out a random question like "Who is the dude in the brown hoodie?" Etc. :P

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  5. Oh, you're an INTJ! I'm not 100% sure what I am, but those pinterest quotes pretty much sum me up. Especially the one about not being awkward today. I've had too many of those moments. :P

    Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres too, especially if it's based on real people. What are some of your favourite historical fiction books?

    And you're looking forward to cooler weather? I should send you some. :) It's getting cooler over here, which I like, except when it comes to getting out of bed in the morning.

    Anyway, this was an enjoyable post to read, Abigayle - it's interesting to find out more about you and your life! And your editing and writing amaze me - keep up the good work! :)

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    1. "The Cat of Bubastes" by G A Henty, "God King" by Joanne Williamson, "Timna" by Lucille Travis, "The Princess Adelina" by Julie Sutter, "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare, and "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Emmuska Orczy are all HF novels that I love. Some are about real people, and others about events or eras. Now I want to go reread them all . . . ;) What are some of your favorites?

      Yes, please do! I am not a fan of summer, and they're always brutal in Texas :( But it's raining right now, so that helps keep me happy :P

      Thank you!

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  6. Being sick sucks, glad your family is all better now!

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    1. Yeah, it really does. It was kind of nice for a week off, though, even if we were all out of sorts :) Thank you! I'm glad we're past it, too D:

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  7. This was a pretty neat post, Abigayle. I'm an INFJ, so that's fairly close to yours there. I sympathize with you on the stomach-bug bit, but at least you had a good week off to just lie around and hang out. That's always pretty nice.
    You say you don't like sci-fi? *sad face* Do you like fantasy? I really enjoy historical fiction as well though fantasy is definitely my favorite. Basically I'm good with any genre so long as the book is well-written. :P

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    1. Thanks, Emily! Hey, so we are pretty close :) Yes, the break was super awesome, even if we all had to throw up to get one :P

      Well, I say I don't like sci-fi. I mean, I enjoyed "Frankenstein" and "The Time Machine" a lot. Does those count? But "A Wrinkle In Time" I have a hard time getting through, and "The Giver" wasn't my favorite, either. I've heard all of those classified as sci-fi, but I guess I'm not entirely sure what that genre contains . . .

      I like fantasy if it happens in the real world or is an analogy to Christianity. So I liked Harry Potter, Narnia, and the Sentinel trilogy. :) And, yes, well-written is important!

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  8. Sorry you caught the stomach bug! I'm glad you're doing better now!
    Also, INTJs are awesome. I'm not one (I'm an ISTP), but a lot of my friends and favorite characters are.

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad, too :P

      Aw, I'm glad you think so :) Oh, I'd be interested to know what characters?

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  9. Aww, ew stomach bucks. :/

    I CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS NEW STORY OF YOURS. Contemporary again? Or will you branch into sci-fi? ;) *jumps up and down*

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    1. I have two that I am considering for my next WIP. One is set in the Caribbean in the 17 or 18th century and I'm having to be careful to keep it from sounding like Pirates of the Caribbean ;)

      The other is actually fantasy/sci-fi, believe it or not ;) It is an analogy to Christianity and the one my short story is based off of. Soooo, I don't know which one to focus on next.

      The newer story idea I had was just a plot that came together of all the things in life that make me happy. A girl searching for inspiration for a novel through traveling with her photographer friend and coming home to find the "true meaning of inspiration" or something like that :P

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  10. Aww, sorry you had the flu. I despise the sneaky bug and will go to all measures to avoid it. :P

    I don't really know what my favorite book of the Bible is . . . so hard to choose! :)

    Ahh, my surrounding landscaping changes pretty munch biyearly . . . or yearly. My dad is in the military, so we move a lot. :D I'm currently in Nevada . . . surrounded by soil, palm-trees, and a surprisingly green yard with 50+ rosebushes. We've been blessed here in the desert. :)

    I like to read all kinds of blog posts by sweet people like you, Katie Grace, Christine (http://musingsofanelf.blogspot.com/), and Athelas (https://craftingstoriesinred.wordpress.com/). :D

    My ideal productive day would probably be getting a lot of schoolwork and music practice done, plus a couple of ping-pong games and time both alone and with my family. :)

    I enjoyed this post a lot! :)

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    1. I know! I thought I might miss it, but no such luck :( I would have a much harder time picking a favorite if Esther weren't a factor!

      Ah, I see. Wow, that is a lot of roses! I visited my aunt when she was in 29 Palms and that was definitely a desert!

      I'm glad you like my posts! I'll have to check out the other ladies you mentioned :) Your productive day sounds exactly like mine! (Minus the ping-pong).

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