Bouncing/Running/Jogging from Here to There and Everywhere

Hello everyone! I hope life's been good for you since the last time we visited. :)

I've been good. Life has been busy. We are bouncing/running/jogging from one family or church event to another. But who isn't?

The kick off to my busy week.

Her.

This seemingly lovely and innocent cat, decided to eat the tinsel off my Christmas tree. (Maybe that is the reason we don't decorate early!) How do I know this? I saw her doing it, but like any sensible person, I drove her away.

Then I didn't give it any more thought.

Until later.

When my cat tried to use the litter box.

Only she couldn't...properly...go...

I will spare you descriptive details. However, upon her realization, she freaked out and ran around the house like her tail was on fire.

Getting stuff everywhere. Including all over herself. My husband had to hold her down while I whiped her off with a wet rag, which I thought was going to send her into another round of hysterics. Oddly, it did not. She liked it! I think she thought we were grooming her, because she started purring and nuzzling into my husband.

This past Sunday at youth group was just hysterical! We have a great group of kids and teens, and they are so much fun to be around. The youth pastor, my Aunt Rie and the leader I defer to in the youth group, found this awesome new game. If you thought you had trouble remembering someone's name before, play this game!

Everyone sits in a circle, but there are four chairs in a line on one side. There is one random empty chair in the circle, and you are either on team 1 or team 2. Everyone sits every other - 1, 2, 1, 2. Everyone writes their name on a piece of paper, tosses it into a bowl, and then draws out a piece of paper (Not yourself!). The object of the game is to get four people from one of the two teams in the four seats at the front. You do this by calling out names. If the empty seat was to your right, you were the caller. Instead of answering to your own name, you move when the name on your paper is called. The person whose name is called takes the empty seat, and it continues like that until a team wins.

Confused yet? We sure were! It was a lot of fun, though! You had to plot, plan, and remember everyone's fake name!

My husband taught the lesson this week at youth group, and not to brag or anything (okay, maybe a little...) I thought he did such an amazing job! His lesson was based off of a blog he did recently on Snack Time Devotions. It was about constructive criticism, and how we can sometimes take that to mean we are a terrible human being. He used Cain and Able as an example of taking that criticism the worst possible way. If you'd like to read his blog, here's the link: http://www.snacktimedevotions.blogspot.com/2014/11/constructive-criticism.html

This Monday, I had a nice long lunch with my Aunt Rie, my cousin Teal, and our missionary friend to the UK, Kenny MacKay.

From left to right: Teal, Me, Kenny, Rie

We had fun. We talked and laughed for a long time. The waitress was probably furious that we were there so long. Kenny, Teal, and I were actually all in youth group at the same time, and Rie was our youth pastor. Now, we are all involved in youth ministry, and Rie is still a youth pastor. :)

Plus, I got to order my bubble green tea, which to my knowledge, is only available at the Ninety-Nine Restaurant. 

It's green tea with these little exploding mango balls. It's amazing and refreshing. Go try one. But be forewarned that my friend Kenny thought it tasted like shampoo. 

Why he would know what shampoo tastes like is what we are still trying to figure out.

As I mentioned, Kenny is a missionary to the UK. If you are interested in missions, you should follow them on Facebook, under KennyandJenniferMacKay. There you can learn all about their ministry and sign up for their newsletters.

At a recent Bible study, my pastor briefly touched on fasting, and how important it is for Christians.

Let me tell you right now. I fully support the concept of fasting. I believe it is very important, and like my pastor pointed out, if you look through the New Testament, it's all over the place.

It's the execution of fasting that I have a problem with.

All I could think was "Fasting: Time with God, or the makings of a homicide?"

I get cranky when I don't eat.

Like the Hulk.

But this topic got me thinking about fasting a little more in depth. The point of fasting (at least in my mind) was that set-apart time with God.

In today's culture, there are a ton of things that we could "fast." If someone watches 24 hours of television during a week, then what would happen if they took one of those days to spend set-apart time with God?

I'm going out on a limb here, but I think awesome stuff.

Anyways. That's just one of my many musing this week. If you want to read more about my thoughts on this, head over to http://www.snacktimedevotions.blogspot.com/2014/11/reset-to-god.html

Lately, I've been reading The Covered Deep by Brandy Vallance.

This is a great book! I had the opportunity to meet Brandy briefly at the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference this past September where she gave me a copy of her book.

I won't give any spoilers, but if you like whimsy, romance, and history, then this is the book for you! The story line was truly unique with a classic type of romance. The settings were vivid and magical. The kinds of settings where you could imagine a romantic dinner party, but knew it would never be done in that type of historical setting because it just wasn't proper.

And then Brandy delivers just that!

Terrific book. Watch this author. She's new and she's going to do great things!

Speaking of authors and stories...

I wanted to give you guys a glimpse into the story I am currently writing.

You guys remember that I am a major Gilmore Girls fan, right? Well, one of the characters I am getting to know is like the Christian version of Paris Geller.

Seems like a major oxymoron, right?

Sometimes when you're reading a book, you think, "For crying out loud, get your act together! What is wrong with you? No one would make that dumb mistake. I never would!"

Well, the thing is...we do make those dumb mistakes. We make them all the time. In order for us to learn from the characters we are meeting, they have to be just like us. Including all of our fabulous flaws.

The character I am working with right now, is a little self-righteous. She can be stuck-up, snotty, and rude. She's the one who always got good grades, was dependable, and the ultimate power house.

But like all of us, she's got a past.

Getting to know this character has been so much fun! She's going to do a lot of growing before her story is over, and there is plenty of room for her to grow!

I don't want to give too much away, too soon.  So stay tuned!

I hope all of you have an awesome Thanksgiving! God bless you!

See you on December 1st!

V. Joy Palmer

Hey, It's Me Again

Hello guys! How is everyone doing?

I've had a pretty busy week. My day job has been very busy, and then my evenings are filled up with blogs, writing, and family.

This weekend was also busy because I spent a day and a half putting together my Christmas extravaganza.

Some of you are probably checking your calenders and thinking, "It's the first week of November, and she's already decorated for Christmas?"

Yes.

I promised myself I would wait until November to start decorating. I didn't start until the 7th, so I considered it a personal triumph.

I am a Christmas junkie. I love the trees, the ornaments, the stars. The tiny ceramic towns with the little people. Don't misunderstand my psychotic decorating habits; I know the reason for the season, Jesus. But one of the ways I love to celebrate and be reminded of that is with my house cluttered with Christmas decorations.

So. I thought I'd share my Christmas Gallery with you guys! :)

Our 7 foot tree

Our little tree that is sitting on top of the bookshelves!

This is my little tree which we decided to put on top of some of the bookshelves this year. I totally love it. Gives a nice touch to our library area.

Growing up, my father liked themed trees, but I always loved my grandparents Christmas tree because it had all these random lights and ornaments. Now as an adult, I'm surprised to see myself trending towards themes for my trees. The little one is peacock inspired, and the big one is old school elegance. Despite that, I still stick some random ornaments on my tree including owls, peacocks, cupcakes, and books!

Some of my favorite ornaments!

This is my little Christmas town. My mother had a few of these pieces when I was little on the mantle above the fire place. I loved it! I thought it was so charming, and stories about the people in the town would just fill my head. It was always my favorite thing to set up every year. When I got married last year, my mom gave my most of her collection, which I added to the pieces I had collected over the years.

What are some Christmas traditions you and your family have? How early do you start decorating, or do you pull out those boxes as soon as possible? Do you have a favorite ornament, or do you have themes for you Christmas tree?

On to other topics...

What have you guys been learning lately?

Recently, on the other blog where I write, Snack Time Devotions, I talked about knowing what God and His Word says. It's important because when you are out in the world, people are going to say all kinds of things, and unless you are tight with God, you won't know if it's true. I compared it to the match-up game we played as children. You know, the game where all the cards are face down and you pick two, and look at the images. If they are the same, then you pull them as a pair for youself. If they are different pictures, you flip them back over and try to remember where they are for future reference and points. This was all inspired by Nehemiah 6. Nehemiah experienced a situation where he needed to know who God was and what He's said in order to discern advice from a man ultimately trying to do him harm. If he hadn't known God's Word, then he would have been in a world of hurt! I won't overload you guys. Here is the link if you would like to read more about this topic. http://snacktimedevotions.blogspot.com/2014/11/spiritual-match-up.html

Reading wise, I recently finished Dixie Belle by Debby Mayne. This was a good book. I think the author stayed true to the southern flare. The main character was a little immature at times, but I actually think that was good for the story. You always want your characters to grow by the end of the book, and this character did! The ultimate message of the story was a good one, about being a Christian all the time, and not just at home and on the weekends. Over all, very good book. I will buy the sequels, but not obsess about it like I do with some of my fav authors.

What about you guys? What are things you like to read in a book? What kind of themes do you prefer or dislike?

This week will be very crazy for me, but the following few weeks will be slower at work, so I will be spending exorbitant amounts of time in front of my computer working on my next book. Stay tuned for tidbits about the story. ;)

Have a good week everyone! I will see you on the 20th!

V. Joy Palmer

Allow Me to Introduce Myself...

I am the new kid on the block in the author world.

There are moments when I wonder how I got to "Author/Writer." When I was six years old, I wanted to be school teacher......or a bus driver. When I was twelve, I wanted to be a singer, and I started writing my own music. I know, I know. All throughout these years, I would start and stop dozens of stories without ever taking the hint. In high school, things started to change. Slowly I started to realize that I actually liked writing assignments! There would only be approximately six seconds of groaning before I started to get excited about whatever story I was about to invent or whatever topic I was about to tackle. Strange? Totally! However, it opened my eyes, and made me realize that writing was part of my calling.

So I started writing. I am a member of Faithwriters.com and American Christian Fiction Writers. I am co-author and co-founder of Snack Time Devotions (snacktimedevotions.blogspot.com) and the spin off blog, Snack Pack for Kidz (snackpackdevotinsforkidz.blogspot.com). I have written a fun, romantic novel (think Say Yes to the Dress meets Janice Thompson, Erynn Mangum, Jenny B. Jones.) If that sounds good to you, then stay tuned!

I got married to my warrior knight, Samuel Palmer, on August 24th, 2013. That's a good story. I'll have to tell ya'll about it sometime!

I have been a youth leader at my church for almost five years! Another huge part of my calling, and who I am as a person. God has given me such a love for each and every kid that comes through those doors. This is something I never imagined myself doing, but I can't imagine life without it. The first time I did any public speaking, my right eye twitched the entire time. It's amazing how God works!

Since ya'll will be getting to know me very well in the future, I won't talk your ear off. So here are some random facts for your entertainment.

1.  I am a Jesus Freak.
2.  My favorite color is purple.
3.  Potato casserole is my absolute favorite meal. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
4.  True to the writer stereotype, I love coffee. Which brings me to......
5.  My second favorite drink at Starbucks is the Caramel Apple Spice, which is not coffee. My favorite drink is the Salted Caramel Mocha.
6.  I am a native Gilmore Girls resident. The Facebook quiz said so.
7.  I used to hate reading as a kid. My parents had to bribe me to read.

My how times have changed. And that's not even half of them!

It's been great sharing with you guys! If you're not sick of me yet, you can e-mail me at v.joypalmer@gmail.com, and follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I would love to hear from you, whether it's about writing, God, a prayer request, or advice on those bright, multi-colored floral leggings.

Ahem. My advice would be no. I endorse solid colors for leggings.

That's all for now! Look for my author blog posts on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month!

Sorry this one is so grainy!

Well, it's a long way from bus driver, but I think I'm okay with that.

Love,

V. Joy Palmer