3 Films

Thank you for stopping by either as a follower or from the link up. Be sure that while you're here you check out Ornaments for Adoption and see what you can do to help the Brock family with their adoption.

Happy Tuesday! It's time to link up with The Austin Family Diary and Life. Love. Lauren. for the 10 Day You Challenge.

 

Last week, everyone was one of my favorite weeks because I love to read. This week is  3 films. I'm kind of sad this link up is winding down. It's been a great way to get to know other bloggers better.

1. My favorite movie is Titanic. It's not simply because of the great love story or my childhood crush on Leonardo DiCaprio, but I think the movie has a great message about living each day as the gift that it is. To quote Jack Dawson: "I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count."One of the first blog posts I ever wrote was about why I love this movie. You can read it here.

source: www.amazon.com

2. My favorite animated movie is Up. This is a beautiful story. I mean how many movies can have you crying within the first 10 mintues? This movie also has a great theme of fully living your life.

source: www.amazon.com

3. Gone with the Wind is a classic favorite. I mean who doesn't love the sweeping scenery and outfits of the Old South? Although, I know it's not completely realistic. I also occasionally enjoy a movie that doesn't end in "happily ever after." Scarlett is also my inspiration for dealing with my stress. My mantra is often "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

source:www.amazon.com

What's one of your favorite movies?

Harry Potter Link Up

Today is a very special day for me in blogging because I'm taking a risk and trying to do something that is very near and dear to my heart. 

I've always enjoyed helping people, but I've never tried to do something like this on my own before.

So, if you're visiting this post from the link up or you saw my title and share my love of Harry Potter, I'd love it if you'd also check out my post from earlier today about Ornaments for Adoption.

Also, in the spirt of helping others, I signed up to be a Blog Angel this month with Craftbotic. I'm definitely not a blog expert nor do I have a huge following, but I enjoy commenting. I know how much it makes my day, so I don't mind doing that for someone else.

***

So, this morning as I was browsing the blogs I follow, one caught my attention because the title was Harry Potter!

Um...I love Harry Potter so even though I didn't have a lot of time, I just had to look at it. Well, of course, it's a link up. Don't you just hate how many good link ups there are?!? I often want to participate in them all, but don't want to post 50 posts a day. {sigh} ...the difficulties of blogging

Simply, Ashley is hosting this link up where you answer questions about Harry Potter. So here it goes... 

1)Your favorite of the 7 books?

I've never been able to choose just one. It seems like each time a new book came out, I'd think 'this one is my favorite.' I still can't choose JUST ONE, so I'd have to say books 5, 6, and 7 are my favorite. The characters are older so the plot gets more intense. You begin to get answers to how and why things happen. I also love the parts where Harry enters someone else's memories. 

  

2)Your favorite of the films?

Even though it wasn't very true to the book, I really enjoyed The Half Blood Prince as a movie. It was funny to me even though the plot begins to darken.

3)Which, if any, of the films made you angry for not staying true to the book?

The Half Blood Prince-even though I enjoyed it. Overall, none of the movies really made me mad. I had to just come to the conclusion that they can't make the movie exactly like the book, the movie will never be as good as the book, and just enjoy it for what it is.

4)Your least favorite female character and why?
My least favorite female character would be Petunia Dursley. First of all, anyone who spoils their child that much gets put on my bad list. Then, she was jealous of her sister and let that jealousy cause her to treat her nephew terribly. She also just stood by while her husband and son mistreated Harry. What a different childhood Harry could have had if Petunia had stuck up for her flesh and blood and treated him like a son.

5)Your favorite male character and why?
There's no way I can just pick one. I like different ones for different reasons. I like Ron because he's funny and is a great friend. He's probably the one I would have had a crush on if I'd gone to Hogwarts (move over Hermione!). I also like Draco Malfoy for some reason. Perhaps I feel sorry for him. I also really like Sirius and it broke my heart when Harry lost his chance at having a "family." And after reading the last book, who can not like Snape? I cry every time Harry gets to go into his memory.

6)What house would you LIKE to be in? now be realistic…which would The Sorting Hat put you in?

Who doesn't want to be in Gryffindor? It's the "cool" house. I don't think that's the house I would have been put in, though. I am definitely not brave. I probably would have been put into Ravenclaw. I was the "smart kid" in high school.

7)Which subject would be your favorite at Hogwarts? 
I probably would have like Potions because I enjoyed Chemistry in high school. I probably would also have enjoyed Charms because those are the practical, everyday things that every wizard needs to know.

*I'm currently having to use my husband's work computer (boo PC) because he's in class with our computer (yay Mac!) and it is not wanting to cooperate with letting me add images of some fun Harry Potter pins. Instead I'm going to ask that you follow this link to watch a video with some fun Harry Potter pick up lines.*

All this HP talk makes me want to reread the books or maybe watch the movies. :)

Ornaments for Adoption: Meet the Brocks

Last week, I posted a big announcement. This was a big deal for me because I'm not one who likes to take risks. I especially don't like feeling like I've failed at something I put a lot of time and energy into. However, I had to forget all that because I could distinctly feel God tugging at my heart to do this. I had to remind myself that the people out there in the world making a difference are not any different from me. They're not special or unique. They just said "yes" when the opportunity arose. They took risks and stepped out of their comfort zones. God does not hold us accountable for the results of our labor. He only asks us to be obedient to Him and then let Him handle the rest. I've mentioned many times on here that Kisses from Katie is a book that has greatly inspired me. It is about missionary and adoptive mother, Katie Davis. Katie is only a few months younger than me, but has done amazing things for the Lord. Here's something she said in her book: "We can let fear of something that really is small compared to the greatness of God cripple us. Or we can take a risk, do something to help someone else, make a persons smile, change someone's world." I want to be obedient in this even when I'm worried about failing or not doing a good job or getting in over my head.

So, today the ornaments officially go on sale! You can check my Ornaments for Adoption page for ordering information.

Also, as part of Ornaments for Adoption, every Monday will be Adoption Monday here at Just a Small Town Girl. Today, I want to help you get to know the Brock family a little bit better. In case you missed it last week, this is the family that the money raised from the ornaments will go to help.

This is Bradley and Libby Brock.

They are expanding their family through domestic adoption.

I'm going to let Libby tell you more about their journey in her own words:

We have been together for eleven years and married for six of those years.  However, we have known each other since childhood.  Some of our favorite jokes start with me teasing Brad about how shy he was in high school.  Needless to say, we’ve had many years to hope, dream, and plan for our future.  Much like everyone else, those plans don’t always turn out like we perfectly imagined.  Though we aren’t complaining about where this wonderful journey of life has led us, we had hoped to start a family long before now.  I dreamed about being a mother when I was a little girl playing with my baby dolls, and Brad’s desire of being a father began to grow the first time he held is baby niece.  

We were only married a year before we decided that we could not wait any longer to start our family; a whole year earlier than what we initially planned!  After many months of disappointments, we sought medical advice which only led to several more years of heartache.  Back when we were young and innocently unaware of the sorrow that comes with infertility and miscarriages, before we were even engaged, we dreamed of growing our family through adoption.  We typically thought that the normal way was to have a few children of our own, and then when we are more established financially, we would adopt more children.  

We humbly but gladly admit that our point of view has changed.  We have had the privilege of witnessing family and friends being blessed with the gift of adoption.  By observing their journeys and the different processes that they have gone through, we have come to the realization that we do not want to wait any longer to begin our unique chapter of adoption.  As the old saying goes “If you wait until you are financially ready to have a baby, then you will never have one.”  We have taken a trusting leap of faith by starting this process, and each step that we’ve taken so far has been confirmed and blessed.  We are currently just waiting for the phone call to say that a birth family has chosen us.  All prayers are welcome as we learn to wait patiently and give God the Glory of this story!

Haven't we all experienced those moments where life doesn't go according to plan? I'm learning to trust more and more that God's plan is way better than anything I could have come up with on my own and I need to do a better job of trusting Him. If you want to get to know the Brocks more, you can visit and follow along at their blog.

Be sure you check out the Ornaments for Adoption page and consider ordering an ornament or helping me spread the word.

Also, check back each Monday for more Adoption posts.