Giveaway is Closing Tomorrow

Dear Readers,

Well, I have just typed up my entries and am counting them right now. I shall announce the winner on May 2nd, so if you have not entered yet, please do!!! And do not worry if you do not win this one, I am close to fifty followers and am thinking of hosting another one soon:)

In Christ,
Grace

More Tags and Sweet Awards

Leah from The Narrow Path and Jenna from Where the Heart Remains both gave me sweet awards and tagged me as well. :) Thanks, girls!!!

So the first one is from Leah and here are the rules:

~Choose any amount of friends, or blog friends or real life friends, and say at least two things (Or More!!!) you admire or like about them.

~Tag the friends you wrote about.

~If those friends have blogs, be sure to link back to them!

This award is so sweet!!!

Okay, so here are some of the people I am going to list (it might take awhile so bear with me:)

Joanna has been my best friend, and I have known her for all of my life (except for the six months in China:). She has been the most loyal and greatest friend! She does not have a blog, so I cannot link to her:)

Okay now here are some of my blogging friends:

Bess,( yeah you know who you are) has been a great Gal Pal! She was one of the first girls I met when I first started blogging. She has been a great sister, and I have enjoyed and appreciated every single comment she has left on my blog!!!

Johanna, has been a sweet sister too. She and I have been corresponding through letters recently, and I enjoy every one of them (including her sweet comments). I admire her gentle-and loving spirit and am very grateful to have her as a blogging sister.

Miriam too, has been a joy to know. We have also been corresponding through letters, and she is quite a blessing to know. She has a kind, loving spirit, and heart for the Lord:) Glad to know you, dear friend!!!

Leah, who tagged me, has been a sweet sister. She has a heart for the Lord, and is a loving person! I am thankful that she is apart of my blogging family. :)

Jenna has also been such a wonderful sister to know. She always leaves the sweetest comments and has been a great Christ-filled sister!!!

Lindsay, too has been apart of my blogging family. She leaves sweet comments, has a heart for the Lord, and is a true blessing to know:)

Let's see....

And to all of my fellow blogging sisters in Christ! I cannot express how thankful I am to have a blogging family!!!

Jenna awarded me this:It reminds me so much of Anne and Dianna:)

Rules:

~Tag at least five 'sweet friends,' on Blogger

~Answer the Tag (below) in your post

~You may tag the person who gave you this award

~Don't forget to comment on the post that awarded you!!!

Let's Get Started

You are _______ in your family.

Well, youngest in my family counting my sister, but she does not live with us (nor has she ever lived with us), therefore I am really the only child.

Do you have your own camera?

Yep, well, my parents gave me their old camera (thank you by the way:) which is a Sony (in which all the pictures that I post on my blog is captured by this camera). It sometimes takes blurry pictures, so I hope that in the future I can afford a really good one:)

List three of your character qualities:

Outgoing, crafty, kind

What is your favorite thing to blog about?

Random things? Well, my favourite stuff to blog about are probably my crafts and recent sewing projects, and it is fun to see how many people comment on your giveaways!!!! :)

~How long have you had your blog?

I started Grace's Garden Walk, you know I really do not know. I accidentally erased my very first post, but I think I started around February this year. I know it has not been that long.

Okay, I am awarding this to...

All the girls that I mentioned above as well, as anyone of my followers that do not have this award already! You deserve it girls!

Yours in Christ,

Thoughts on Courtship

Hello, dear Readers!!!! Hope that everyone has had a wonderful week so far. And special thanks to all of you who are praying and have left such sweet, encouraging comments on my last post. I shall let you know the results soon enough.

For the past maybe year and a half, I have had a great interest about courting and modesty in dress (soon I want to take the Feelin' Feminine challenge:) and femininity. More so acknowledging and being thankful to the Lord for making me a girl!!!! I always get so excited whenever I pick up this book from my shelf and start reading this incredible book:Who has read this??? I think other than the Bible this book is one of the top books that a girl should read! Sarah Malley has definitely inspired me to take the road less taken. And it is such an encouragement to meet so many girls while you are walking on the narrow road who have the same ideas about courtship and dating. This book is so encouraging (and it is even more amazing that the author is waiting for her Prince Charming too!!!) whenever I have some of those low days. Sometimes it is hard when you see all around you, that people are taking the other road and sometimes I do want to follow them; but then I think of Sarah Malley and her sister Grace Malley and my past violin teacher, Shawna (who has been the greatest role model by the way:) who have inspired me to follow an amazing journey. Yeah, girls in their teen years may be walking through a constant battlefield raging around them, but God protects them and leads them along the "back trails," where there beautiful waterfalls and wonderful treasures lay, that the people who go on the "main road,"miss.

When I look back, it is funny to me that when I was younger, I thought that someone dated and got married and that's the way you get to know someone. But how wonderful it was to find the alternative way!!!! I know that I am too young to think of marriage, but one is never too young to keep one's self pure in mind, physically, and in heart.

I love the one chapter in this book; the princess is depressed and thinks that her Prince Charming shall never come. She goes to her father (going to your parents is always the best thing to do; don't you agree?:) and he leads her out to the garden where a rose bush lays. There he askes her to open the rose so that he might see the flower, but she refuses saying that it is not ready to be opened. Her father askes again, but the princess says that if one opens the rose it shall not be as pretty as when it opens at its own pace. So do girls of this world also bloom before their rose has developed and matured

Your sister in Christ,

P.S. Further Books and Links:

Grace Notes

Bright Lights

Feelin' Feminine

So Much More by the Botkin Sisters

And for more information of the book above click on these links below:

Before You Meet Prince Charming By Sarah Malley

Vision Forum

Please Pray!!!

Dearest Readers,

Tonight butterflies are definitely fluttering in my stomach. To-morrow I have my first SAT testing and I am very nervous. So I was just wanting to ask my readers to pray for me to have peace and concentration for the this week please; your prayers will be much appreciated. I am so thankful to have so many sisters in Christ through my blog. MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

Your Grateful Sister in Christ,

Awards and Tag!!!

Dear Readers,

Happy Saturday everybody!!! I have not blogged in the longest time; sorry about that.

My dear friend Johanna from An Old-Fashion Girl (if you have not all ready, you simply must visit her sweet blog:) awarded me this pretty thing:

and tagged me too!!! (Bleeding Hearts are one of my favourite and most beautiful flowers, so I was quite pleased to have this:) Thank you, dear sister!!!

It was funny because I had read a lot of blogs that had been tagged, and wanted to be tagged really badly, now almost simultaneously

Jane from Novel Pretender,

Ashley Nicole from Bramblwood Fahion,

and Johanna tagged me!!! (two different tags though:)

I am not sure how many people I should award this too, so here it goes:

Leah from The Narrow Path

Miss Grace Elizabeth from The Upper Road,

and this is such a beautiful award that I am awarding it to all that want it!!

And my other dear friend, Bess from Bess Bag (visit her blog too:) sweetly awarded this to me too:

Thank you, Fav Sis!!!! You are a great sister!!!

I am also awarding this to all of my fellow sisters in Christ who want it. You deserve it girls!!!

Okay, now for the tag:

#1 Apples, oranges, or bananas?

Hmm.....we have some oranges in the fridge, bananas are great in smoothies with strawberries, but I would have to say that fresh, crisp Pink Lady Apples are probably the best!

#2 How many siblings do you have?

One, but she is older and lives with her daughter a few hours away from us.

#3 Do you live in prarie, woodland, swamp, city, or other?

Well, our town is really called a city, but it feels more like a (rapidly growing) little town. Nothing extremely exciting here, but it is not too sleepy a town. It is nestled in wine country, between San Fransisco and L.A. I love my charming town!!!

#4 Scissors or Glue?

Both, I use glue and scissors in cardmaking and sewing, but probably more so scissors.

#5 Describe your dream home.

Hehehe, ummmm......I could take this whole post up by describing it in detail. In fact, a whole blog could be made about this (that's not half a bad idea:) Let's just say, I would like it to have a lot of old-fashion charm to it, in a Victorian or Colonial style neighborhood where there is a lot of local history where you can be good friends with your neighbors:).

Um...there would be a beautiful backyard with more modern twist (meaning how Japenese style incorporating a lot of water:), and the inside would be very homey.

#6 Is your room clean?

Mostly, yes, I usually keep my bedroom fairly clean (meaning you can see the bed, floor, but sometimes I do clutter my dresser top and desk top:).

#7 If you could be a movie character who would you be?

Ummm....Jane Benett in Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth),

Emma Woodhouse from the newer movie,

and either Lucy or Susan Pevesie from The Lion the Witch and the Wordrobe!

#8 Italy, Greece, France, Spain, or England?

Do I have to decide????? Well....Greece, Italy, France, and England are definitely on the top of my list as well as Germany and Austria.

#9 What Denomination are you?

#10 Do you sleep with a stuffed animal (BE HONEST!!!!)

Nope, just my comfortable, fluffy, cannot-live-without pillow, sheets, comforter, and quilt.

#11 Gum, Chocolate, or Jellybeans?

Is that hard to choose???? Chocolate hands down!!!!

Then Gum, and then Jellybeans.

#12 What is your favourite book?

Before You Meet Prince Charming and The Apothecary's Daughter.

I should make a shelf from shelfari for my book blog:).

#13 If you had to eat one type of food for two weeks, what would that food be?

I love food, so this is pretty hard for me to choose, but I would probably say PASTA!!!!

#14 What is your favourite Olimpic sport?

Umm... Ice Skating and gymnastics and swimming.

#15 If you woke up as Miley Cyrus for a day, what would you do (note, I am NOT saying that I am a fan!!!)?

That would be quite perplexing. Wear decent clothes, tell the director of the Disney channel show that I would not act nor talk so disrespectful to my dad or my friends even if it was in the script, and sing worship songs. (Think of what the crowd would look like if you started singing worship song's at a Hannah Montana concert!!! *giggles*)

#16 Describe yourself in three words.

Kind, Outgoing, Crafty!

#17 Favourite book?

Ahem, (taps foot and crosses arms)

BEFORE YOU MEET PRINCE CHARMING AND THE APOTHECARY'S DAUGHTER!!!!!!

#18 If Elmo came into the room with a gun, what would you do?

You know I have thought about this silly question alot when I read Johanna's answers. IT IS PROBABLY THE SILLIEST QUESTION!!!

Okay here are my answers:

First, Elmo is a puppet, so I would attack the puppeteer if he came to harm me or my family or friends.

Secondly, Elmo is not half that smart to get his hands on a real gun, so he probably would not be a real threat (now if he did have a real gun, then that is a different story).

Thirdly, if the gun was not real, I would just walk over to Elmo, pat him on the head, and lead him out the door:)

Okay, I cannot really think of people to tag, so the first five people who comment and wants to answer these questions will be tagged. How does that sound, k?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Your sister in Christ,

My Other Blog

Dear Readers,

I know I have not blogged in the longest time(or so it feels:) Just wondering what your thoughts are about the story that I posted on my other blog. It is such an intriguing story! Looking forward to reading your comments!

Your Sister in Christ,

Grace

My New Button

Dear Readers,

Meg from Happiness does free blog backgrounds, headers, and buttons. (She kindly made my header from my other blog From the Desk Drawer of a Young Writer) She created my new blog button, and I absolutely love it. What do you think? :)

Love,

Some More Pictures Of the Tea Party

Dear Readers,

Well, my post on the tea outing I had was quite popular, and I got a request to post some more pictures. A lot of the pictures I took looked the same, so I might have a few that I have all ready posted, but I hope you enjoy!

This one is probably my favourite! It looks so perfect!

Hope you are having a wonderful day, dearest readers! I thank the Lord for each of you.

Love,

Dearest Readers,

My! I am so surprised at how many entries I have all ready! A BIG "Thank You," to you all that have entered.

I have written the wrong address from my other blog to a lot of people, so I just wanted to give it to you who were wanting to go onto that site :

http://fromthedeskofayoungwriter.blogspot.com/

Love,

Tea by the Sea

Dear Readers,

Hello! Hope that everyone is having a sunny day! Yesterday was such a lovely day! I went to tea with a friend (special SPECIAL thanks to her for taking me on this lovely outing:) in the English Tea Room, and thought you would enjoy some pictures. I had so much fun making capturing some "professional-looking" pictures of the tea cups, and took so many that I had an extremely hard time choosing which ones I should include in this post!!!

I had ordered the Royal Tea which was tea for two.The first tear had two warm scones with strawberry preserves and double Devon cream (Yummmmmm.....). The second had cakes, petite fours, biscuits (cookies) strawberries, and so much more. The third had sandwiches including, salmon and sprouts, cream cheese, tomato and basil, and egg salad. I thought this was so cool ( and knew my violin teacher would love this:). It is a treble clef!!!A birds nest....too beautiful to eat!And I also took some more pictures of flowers. These were the first picture I have taken (or had known I had taken) with the macro settings. I am so happy on how they came out! Love,

Another Clue

Dear Readers,

Okay, you might have guessed what one of the prizes are. But I still have a few different prizes left. They are small, of course, since I could not spend that much money, but they are sweet with old-fashion charm to them.

Here's another hint: I had made one before in a past post. Now I am using embroidery floss:)

Love,

April's Simple Life

Hello Dear Readers!!! Wow! I have not posted a real post in a long time. Hope that everyone is having a wonderful spring break so far.

I am so excited that I made a home-management binder. I found the instructions from Feelin' Feminine which you can find here http://feelinfeminine.com/?p=3923 for the tutorial.

I am still working on the inside, though. Do you have any ideas? Recipes, homaking skills, cleaning tips, or links where I can find great recipes, would be a great help to me. This is my first Garden!!!! I have planted strawberries and red potatoes. Yum! I cannot wait til' they are ripe!


And here are some of my carrot sprouts!
Here are some other pictures from my garden:

California Lilac....

.....Marigold.....

And Lily of the Valley...

As you can see, this is not from my back yard (though I wish :). When my family and I visited my sister, she took us to this beautiful location.
It would be heavenly if you could go for a dip in the summer, but alas, since we live in California, it will be dried up by then.

Poetry Corner:

The Joy of the Hills
by
Edwin Markham
I ride on the mountain tops, I ride;
I have found my life and am satisfied;
Onward I ride in the blowing oats,
Checking the field's lark's rippling notes-
Lightly I sweep
From steep to steep;
Over my head through the branches high
Come glimpses of the rushing sky;
The tall oats brush my hourse's flanks;
Wild poppies crowd on the sunny banks;
A bee booms out of the scented grass;
A jay laughs with me as I pass.
I ride on the hills, I forgive, I forget
Life's hoard of regret-
All the terror and pain
Of the chafing chain.
Grind on, O cities, grind,
I leave you a blur behind.
I am lifted elate - the skies expand:
Here the world's heaped with gold is a pile of sand.
Let them weary and work in their narrow walls.
I ride with the voices of waterfalls!
I swing as one in a dream-I swing
Down in the airy hollows, I shout, I sing!
The world is gone like an empty word!
My body's a bough in the wind, my heart a bird!

I love this poem!!!

Hope everyone has a blessed spring day!

Love,

His Tomb is Empty!

Hello Readers!!! HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!!! Hallelujah! The tomb is empty!

He has conquered death and has victory over it. He has taken our sins; what a wonderful gift!

Hope that everyone has a wonderful Ressurection Day!

In Christ Redeeming Love,

Christ Arose

by Robert Lowry

Low in the grave he lay-Jesus my Savior! Waiting the coming day-

Jesus, my Lord! Up from the grave he arose,

With a mighty triumph o'er His foes; He arose a Victor from the

dark domain, And He lives forever with His saints to reign:

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!!!!

My Bunny

Hello Dearest Readers!!! Today in my garden you can find my bunny named Oakley.

Thought you might enjoy some pictures of him:

Hope that everyone is enjoying the spring sunshine!
Love,