Merry Christmas!!

     Merry Christmas everyone! :) 

     So, I'm hoping everyone has had a great Christmas and had fun with their family and friends. :) I know I have, and I'm looking forward to the New Year with a bittersweet attitude. I can feel a lot of things coming on for me, personally, in this next year that God's saving for me so he can mold me into the shape of the woman I'll be for the rest of my life. 
     This year has been an amazing Christmas for me... 
     It is rather bittersweet, considerably, because I'm 15-years-old and though I wish I still was; I'm not a little kid anymore. (I still act like it though on occasion ;) I still smiled and had a blast like every other year though, and I can't thank God enough for blessing me with family that loves me very much. The annual Christmas eve cookie party was a blast, and so was earlier this morning. I was worried it would be more dull Christmas morning than in the past, but I was wrong, it was a lot of fun and I'm so very thankful for the gifts I received. 
   And I can't even begin to describe how great it was hanging out with everyone, though I wished more people would've come to our cookie party I was happy that the people who came-came. It was fun reuniting with some old friends. :) 
     But, the thing I'm most thankful for as a gift, is Jesus' birth and his death on the cross for the world's sins. Or for me personally; my sins. I've realized that even though I know I am saved, and I believe in my heart that Jesus did die on the cross for my sins, I feel like it really hasn't sunk in very well. And I don't focus on Jesus' birth every year on Christmas time like I should, like everyone really should, especially the Christians. We all get so wrapped up in the holidays definitely, and we forget the reason for the season. 
     Makes you wonder why it's so easy to forget the reason for living. 
     Anyway, if I don't stop writing now I'm going to go into New Years resolutions, and I wanted to do a post about that on New Years Eve lol. So I'm going to stop right here, and just say how thankful I am for the greatest gift of all: Jesus, my savior. 
     I'll blog again on New Years Eve, or day, if I can so see ya later! Off to the Wii to enjoy some of my blessed gifts! lol ;D


~Jazmine

Heartland

Hey all, :) 

     So I'm like obsessed with this new TV show I found, it's Canadian, so I can't access it through the television channel website unless I live in Canada, but it's an AMAZING horse themed TV show!!! And it's gotta be one of the best TV show's I've seen in my life, the characters are so well built throughout the shows, there's great emotional impact, and I just feel like I know the characters so well that I get sad and happy when they are, you know what I mean? 
     Heartland is a fantastic show! 
     It's all about a 15-year-old girl named Amy Fleming who lives on a ranch called Heartland and has a special gift of listening to broken and abused horses and healing their scars; what any horse-crazy girl only dreams of being. ;) And best of all, it's CLEAN. Except for two cuss words that aren't extremely foul... one of them is another name for your butt. And then the other one rhymes with "ham". 
     But I just can't get enough of Heartland, it's an addictive show, but I have every reason to love it! Especially because there's a tall dark-haired handsome cowboy in it... hehe. So I just thought I'd blab about my absolute adoration for this show, I'll have to save up some money and buy all the seasons on DVD. And the books. 

Here's some videos for the trailers of season 1 and 2... 

Season 1 Trailer -

 

Season 2 Trailer - 

 

Talk to ya'll later! :) 

~Jazmine 

:: Review :: "The Gathering" by Kelley Armstrong

     " 'The Gathering' is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Maya Denaley who lives in an extremely teeny medical-research town. How small? You can't find it on the map. 
     Strange things begin happening out of the blue to this small town, first; the captain of the swim team drowns in the middle of a calm lake, then cougars start flocking around Maya's house, and won't go away. Things only make it worse when the new bad boy, Rafe, becomes very interested in her. And Maya likes him back, because he makes her feel different."




     While perusing my local library's young adult selections, I found this book, and thought it interesting at a glance. So I picked it up and took it home with me, now before I go into all the critiquing I will say that I did enjoy this book to an extent because of the originality of it. I haven't read or seen to many movies that play out like this, so it's more original than other books that I've read. 
     But I would not recommend this for anyone that steers away from books that have cussing, references to sex, drugs/alcohol, and heated make-out scenes. And for those reasons I kind of regret reading it, but thankfully its not as saturated with icky sexual content as The Twilight Saga. However, again, I say that there are a few suggestive things in there so be forewarned. 
     Now that I've got all that out of the way, onto the critiquing of the literature part of the book! 
     I will be as gentle as possible, but to put it bluntly; I was not impressed with the book. 
     In fact, I was a little ticked off that they even dared to give her the title of "Bestseller". Just goes to prove that you don't have to be very good at writing to get that title; should take the worries off my shoulders for becoming published, right? (har har) 
     Anyway, it was really hard to turn off my internal editor, and it kept screaming at me to edit the paragraphs and paragraphs of distracting-going-off-track-with-the-story paragraphs. That really tended to bug me the entire time through reading that book, don't get me wrong, it was entertaining... but I think Kelley Armstrong could use a bit of work with her writing. There were many times during reading this book that I'd come across a few paragraphs that were completely off-the-wall and had absolutely nothing to do with the story, and they would go on for too long. It bugged me beyond belief, and then there were grammar problems galore throughout it. Not as bad as Stephenie Meyer, but there were grammar things that my internal editor was squealing about. 


Other than that though, I enjoyed the originality of the story for the most part, and the chemistry between Rafe and Maya, and then between Maya and her best friend Daniel. I'm considering reading the second one, but only if I find it at the library. 


All in all I rate this book three out of five stars. 


Note: I wrote this review for my own pleasure, and I am not obligated to write a positive or negative review, only an honest one.

My Secret Life: Wynonna Judd

Hey everybody :) 

So... the deets of last night. I can't express enough of how much I enjoyed the concert I just went to last night! I never did mention it I don't think, but I actually got to see WYNONNA JUDD LIVE! :D How cool is that?!
And I must say that she was extremely... just... WOW. She was so amazing to see live.
Now I'm going to jump back a bit so I can explain an amazing point about her. :) So, a while back mom showed me this video of her singing at one of her concerts and she actually said: "You know... I'm just gonna say it because, its my show, and I'll do what I want." And everybody cheered for her, and then the next thing that came out of her mouth. "So, recently I've been going through some hard things. And I've just come to know my savior, Jesus Christ." That was so cool hearing that come out of her mouth, (note: not at the concert I went to), and I was happy to hear that she seemed to be saved. Especially after she sang "I Can Only Imagine" and tears were streaming down her face as she smiled and sang the lyrics.
And if you're with me here, you all know that 99% of musical artists, actors, everybody in Hollywood, that if they say they're Christian they're usually fibbing. I may be judging, but honestly if you're truly a Christian you need to show it through your actions. (Ex: Don't do drugs, have sex before marriage, etc. Which many young people in Hollywood musical stuff do)
 I don't really follow Wynonna in her career, but as far as I know she's doing her best to mend things with her mom Naomi Judd, and making a better life for herself period.
And sooo... I come to my point. :) At the concert I went to, she actually sang "I Can Only Imagine" at the concert. I was all "OMIGOSH! She's not lying!!! SHE'S ACTUALLY SAVED!!" She got that same look on her face she had in the video I saw, she wasn't crying, but close to it.
And before she sang it she told her audience; "So as you listen to this, just let this wash over you," And then her beautiful amazing fantabulous voice sang out to the crowd.
But um... unfortunately my county I live in is kind of anti-religion-go-with-the-flow. :-/ Not everybody, but a lot of the population is like that. Everyone was absolutely dead silent when she sang that song, compared to the songs before that people were clapping in the middle of her singing, so everyone during that song was dead silent. I felt kind bad for Wynonna, but I'm hoping she heard mom say "Hallelujah!" before everyone started clapping. I was tempted to raise my hands semi-high without bothering people by blocking the view, but I didn't, that's why I hate my shyness sometimes and I don't push it out of the way and just do what I want to do.
She is so amazingly talented though, and she honestly inspired me more than any other artist has. I'm inspired by how she's just pushing herself through the difficulties in her life and coming out a stronger and amazing woman.
So a couple cute and favorable moments and highlights of the show...
One guy during almost all the way through till about half, kept shouting things like "YEAH!" and "WOOHOO!!"
I don't exactly remember what he said that made Wynonna say "Your a guy..." and something about him not knowing squat about being a woman and the things we have to deal with. He ended up saying "REDHEADS ARE HOT!" At one point and she laughed and called him up on stage to get a picture with her lol. It was so funny.
And trust me when I say that he wasn't exactly level-headed or coherant as he could be. ;) I think he may have been high, just a little bit. He had classic long hair, and a bandana, and khaki pants. And a big bulge in his pocket on his leg. Wynonna fingered it and asked what it was, and everyone said "don't ask!" She figured it out pretty quickly. And then she asked his girlfriend if she made the guy come to her concert, and if he even knew who she was lol. She's great!
Another thing is she was saying something sad, and a guy in the audience (not the same guy) said "You need a hug!" And she actually bent over the stage and let him give her a hug, it was so cute and she was grinning ear to ear after that! She even said "That really just made my day." lol.

It was so sweet. :)
Another funny moment is when she mentioned her 15-year-old daughter Grace, and a woman in the audience said "I'm so sorry." Wynonna nodded and said; "Paybacks are hell," everyone laughed and she just smiled. In case you didn't know, Wynonna was kind of a pain-in-the-butt when she was a teenager lol.
Well really all her life, but she's always been getting under people's skin because of the way she is lol. I love her though, she's completely free-spirited and I can tell the difference between her and other musical artists. She's got a distinctive personality and shine to her songs, and she's not afraid to say things that she wants to say.
I just gotta say :) She was really amazing to see, and I'm really happy I got to go see her live. I'll have to see her again, and maybe if I'm lucky I'll meet her in person someday! *crosses fingers*

~Jazmine

My Secret Life: Happy Halloween! :)

     Hey all! :) 

     I guess I just forgot about my blog for a while, that's why I haven't posted much of anything lately. And of course I'm busy with life and everything; mostly because I'm a procrastinator. This year for Halloween I'm not exactly doing much of anything, in fact I kinda don't have any idea what I'm doing tonight besides going to my church's harvest party and dressing up. 
     I think we're going trick-or-treating around where we live, but we don't have a lot of choices besides our street because we're living in the middle of the city so there are a lot of businesses. But it should be fun. :) I'm totally looking forward to breaking in my costume and decorating myself to look like a Wood Elf. That's what I'm being, by the way, a wood elf. 
     The dress is mostly green and other earthy colors, and it has some sparkly fabric hanging from the dress and sleeves. I also got an orange flower clip, and I'm hoping to curl my hair before we leave and put on a bit of facepaint/makeup. Other than that nothing to extravagant. 

Anywho, I should go, gotta go get ready for the night. :) 

TTYL

~Jazz 

"There You'll Find Me" Jenny B. Jones :: Review ::

(Thanks to Booksneeze.com and Thomas Nelson publishing co. for providing me with this advanced copy of the book for reviewing purposes) 

     
Grief brought Finley to Ireland. LOVE WILL LEAD HER HOME.

"Finley Sinclair is not your typical eighteen-year-old. She’s witty, tough, and driven. With an upcoming interview at the Manhattan music conservatory, Finley needs to compose her audition piece. But her creativity disappeared with the death of her older brother, Will.
She decides to study abroad in Ireland so she can follow Will’s travel journal. It’s the place he felt closest to God, and she’s hopeful being there will help her make peace over losing him. So she agrees to an exchange program and boards the plane.
Beckett Rush, teen heartthrob and Hollywood bad boy, is flying to Ireland to finish filming his latest vampire movie. On the flight, he meets Finley. 
She’s the one girl who seems immune to his charm. Undeterred, Beckett convinces her to be his assistant in exchange for his help as a tour guide.
Once in Ireland, Finley starts to break down. The loss of her brother and the pressure of school, her audition, and whatever it is that is happening between her and Beckett, leads her to a new and dangerous vice. When is God going to show up for her in this emerald paradise?
Then she experiences something that radically changes her perspective on life. Could it be God convincing her that everything she’s been looking for has been with her all along?"


     Speechlessly inspiring.
     I can say this, without a doubt in my mind, that this is the best Christian Fiction Young Adult novel you will ever pick up. From the very moment I opened the book to the introduction, I was hooked. Mrs. Jenny B. Jones had me on the edge of my seat crying and laughing right along with Finley Sinclair and the other characters. She held me tight within its pages as she told me the story of this struggling young Christian woman; trying to find God again and feel closer to Him through the land her deceased elder brother felt so in love with, Abbeyglen, Ireland.
     And then before she's even in the glorious land of Ireland, she meets Beckett Rush. (As described in above summary) And I must say that from the very moment she saw him on that plane, I knew their relationship was going to be worth reading about. I even wanted to slap him with some of the horribly arrogant words that came out of that boy's mouth lol, but I grew to like him very much over time because of how Jenny formed his character.
     I salute you Jenny B. Jones for making him so admirable, even within the pages of a book a man can attract me. I found myself wanting to really meet Beckett Rush, just for the sake of saying I did. For once I actually an author with an extraordinary talent of writing a wonderful story and making me fall in love with the characters. The relationship between Beckett and Finley is hilarious and heart warming throughout the book. :)
     And I felt much more connected to Finley when I started to read about her struggle with feeling as though God was being silent, and ignoring her. Right now I'm going through something very similar, so that touched me very much and I teared up a little. That is why I say it was inspiring. And I know that every woman or girl goes through life thinking they are ugly as all get out, and fat, and "flabby" (As Finley describes her arms and thighs more than once in the book) and feel the need to be skinnier in order to be beautiful, Finley goes through stresses of her audition and being in a relationship thing with Beckett and dealing with teenage drama at the Catholic girls school and develops anorexia along with exercising excessively. It inspired me in more ways than one to see her overcome it for the most part.

      I hardly have anything to say negatively about this book, but I suppose I'll pick some things out. The only things that I can pick out is that the accents were confusing a bit, because sometimes there would be things in Beckett's words that would show he has a hint of an Irish accent, but then it wouldn't. Same with the other locals in the story for the most part, it wasn't to bad because I got the idea though and that's what counts.
     And then Beckett's words when he was talking to Finley or his father, was... distant sometimes. Like Mrs. Jones may have gotten distracted and his words lost emotion. It's hard to explain, but there were these scattered very few parts in the book that had these parts in them. It wasn't that bothersome, so I don't really care. Just some little things.
     An excellent read! And this woman captured my heart for Finley's love of Ireland, I would be more than happy if someone gave me a gift of money to go there and enjoy myself!

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars... (of course!) Well done Jenny B. Jones, I'll definitely be picking up the rest of your books very soon! And whenever you come out with your next novel, I'll be buying it.

Thanks for reading.

~Jazmine

(Note: I am not obligated to write an honest review, only an honest one)

"The Realms Thereunder" by Ross Lawhead

"Uncover a land that has been hidden for over a thousand years.
Beneath the land of Britain, a great army is sleeping. On a visit to an old church, Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds awaken two ancient knights from a centuries-old slumber. They are kidnapped and taken to an underground city that stands in peril, besieged in all directions by a vicious warhost. Nidergeard is the only thing protecting the upper world's blissful ignorance of mythical forces that have been held at bay since the creation of the world. In order to return home, Daniel and Freya must strike at the heart of the opposer's power.
Fast forward eight years. Daniel, now homeless, still wages what he believes to be a righteous war against those he judges to be evil. Freya has tried to put the past behind her and concentrate on getting an education, a job, and a life. When they reconnect in Oxford, unseen forces begin to ally against them. Daniel is pulled through a portal and into another world. Freya is abducted by someone—some thing—posing as her professor and drugged to keep her in a delusional state. After they finally break free, neither can deny the truth . . . they must return to Nidergeard and resume the battle.
With a thrilling narrative that draws heavily upon British mythology, The Realms Thereunder will quickly establish Ross Lawhead as a major new voice in fantasy."


This book was a little difficult to get into first of all, but it was an entertaining read with neat characters. I think I liked Daniel more than Freya though, Freya seemed a little psychotic but Daniel seemed like the cool one with awesome sword fighting skills.
I read another review that stated "It felt like he was trying to hard to make this book a bestseller." I regret agreeing with that statement. Like I said earlier, it was just a bit to hard to get myself absorbed in the story world.
I enjoyed the world of Nidergeard, it was a different kind of world. That's one thing I always enjoy about reading fantasy books; seeing what kind of world each author creates! :)

Anyway, the positive things I do have to say about the book is that I liked the way it was flashing back and forth, it gave a different perspective on things. I got to see little Daniel and Freya, and older Daniel and Freya.
The description was nice though his writing could use some work to be honest, I wish I could say I enjoyed this book thoroughly. But when I pick up a book and I don't get absorbed right away, that means I don't like it. If I really like something I'll finish it in 4 days flat.
Oh, one more thing I did like was the range of differences in Daniel and Freya's personality.
I'm sorry that I had to write a negative review, but I'll definitely see what is in store for Nidergeard in the next book if Ross Lawhead ever writes another one.

Thanks for reading. :)

~Jazmine

(Note: I am not obligated to write a positive review, only an honest one) 

Thanks to booksneeze.com for providing me with the an e-book copy for purely reviewing purposes. 

My Secret Life: House frustrations beyond compare

     So I'm not sure if this will be a positive post at all. But you'll understand my frustration once I explain it. 

     For some reason the house moving has completely halted, we were all ready to have the keys last week, but that didn't happen. And then we were ready to have them by Tuesday, but that didn't happen either. And now we were hoping we'd get them today, but NOPE! The idiot airheads on the east coast that run the banks that are supposed to give our loan to us haven't figured out what they're supposed to do yet! Its just SO much fun having everything postponed. 
     I've got a gut feeling that our move is NOT going to happen for another two weeks at the latest. It sucks butt and it makes me angry beyond belief that we're having to wait this long, and go through all this bull crap to get a house! I thought we were almost done, but apparently not. 
      I was expecting to be able to be living in a new house by this weekend, but that's not going to happen no matter how much we pray. Because we did want to paint, AND we needed to do some more fixes to the house before we moved in. So basically I hate the banks on the east coast and they are complete jerks, they clearly have mental problems otherwise it wouldn't be taking this long.
     I'm almost wondering if this is some sort of punishment from God for me not praying that everything goes well...

Anyway, on a positive note I get to go to horseback. Which I'm happy about. So yay!.... :-/ Who knows when this nightmare is going to end.

Bye for now.

~Jazz

My Secret Life: Moving.

     I don't think I've actually ever mentioned the fact that me and my family are moving to a new house. :) Its exciting. We're going to paint in the coming week, which means no horseback for me, but if I want to paint my room I have to miss it. We're getting the keys on Tuesday, and its a bought house so we can do all sorts of stuff to the house. 
    Its kinda neat because I get to paint my room, which I've been looking forward to for a very long time. And there's this little nook behind some bushes where I'm hoping I can get a bench or something to set there and I can get "inspired" for my books. 
     Anyway, I gotta go but just thought I'd blog about that. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of my room in the process of getting painted. Fun fun fun. :) 

Bye! 

~Jazz

My Secret Life: Bareback cantering!

     Hey guys, 

     This is just a little bit later than I would've liked to post this. I kind of forgot though, just wrapped up in school and everything. Just thought I'd blog about the amazing horseback lesson I had on Wednesday!
     I cantered... for the first time... bareback!  It was incredible! Unfortunately I have a feeling I won't get to do it again for a few weeks, because next week we're doing cavilleties. [Which I'm equally excited about; they're basically ground jumps. And we're going to take them at a canter! AWESOME!]
      Anyway, on with my story. So I was riding Sunny... [awesome horse, love him]

     Gorgeous appaloosa horse as you can see above, and a sweetheart. [When he wants to be hehe] 
     So I'm riding him in the arena trying to get him to trot bareback, which I'm still very wobbly at, so I kicked him a little to hard and he tried to canter but I laughed it off and I was surprised that I managed to stay on. And then Corrie told us that whoever feels comfortable can try cantering bareback, and then everyone else took off, and I decided to take advantage of me not thinking it over and I tried it. I've fallen off before so the worst that was going to happen was lots of sore bones, I highly doubt I'll ever break a bone. Unless I'm jumping. As soon as I felt Sunny make the smooth transition my stomach lurched, but I remembered what Angela and Corrie told me. Don't cinch your legs upwards, and put your heels down like you still have a saddle. It worked. =]
     It was SO much fun though! I hardly remember it unfortunately =[ I wanted to do it longer, but then it was time to let the other class in. I'm crossing my fingers that perhaps Corrie might do more than just the end of the lesson for bareback time. All though she uses that time for cool down so, its kind of like that. =] Sometime I'm gonna have to go up there just to ride and hang out with the horsey boys, and help out around the ranch. 
     It would be a lot of fun to get to go riding around her property, and the roads near her house and stuff, even though I don't know how I'd handle it heh. Anyway, I'm just really excited about trying out cantering bareback again soon! And the cool thing is I probably won't have to do it on Tipper, who has a huge canter, and I would definitely fall off if I did it on him before I have a steady seat in bareback. Anywho, I gotta go, bedtime... so I'll blog again soon! :) 


Bye! 


~Jazz

My Secret Life: Last Saturday of the summer

     Hello all,


     You know its really hard to believe that the year only has four months left. It seems like only a month or so ago I was sitting in my grandma's house in Idaho watching the ball drop on January 1st 12:00 A.M. Ahh memories... lol. 
     And today is the last Saturday of summer, school starts on Monday for me. Though I suppose not everyone starts on Monday so. :P Anyway, the real reason I'm blogging right now is just to update on everything that's been going on in my life lately. I've had a pretty fabulous summer, even though we didn't go camping, so that was disappointing. BUT, my cousins came to visit! And I got to meet my cousin Emily for the first time, she's so great! I love her. 
    Someday I'll be able to make a trip down to southern California and visit all of my family down there, I haven't been to see them in many-many years. We're always going north to visit my Mom's family.

Me and Emily at the beach! So much fun with that girl! :)

      On to the rest of my story!
     Horseback has been pretty great lately, though I really need to speed up my tacking time. Because I'm always the last one up there, this last Wednesday it was pretty bad lol. I almost didn't have time to tack up completely. I was just bridling Benny when everyone was going up, but I had no worries about bridling him because he's pretty good about accepting the bit and letting me put his ears in the bridle. 
     By the way, I LOVE Benny! He's such an awesome horse! :) I also got to ride Tipper a little while ago, and boy did I miss riding him... he was a lot of fun to get on again. I really wish Corrie would let me ride him more often, but I guess she thinks I'm a better fit for Benny and Sunny. 
     I thought I was doing pretty good on Tippy earlier on, he's a great horse even though he's a pain in my kiester sometimes. 
     So before I get to how my writing is going, I'm going to tell you about a friendship I rekindled. :) I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my friend Paul on here, but I haven't talked to him in months. So I got up the guts to call him up a few weeks ago and ask him to come on over, so now we're trying to hang out every couple of weeks. And its super fun, I so miss the days of being little kids with him. But I have many fond memories locked away in my head. 
     And now I'm going to blab all about my writing life. 
     I'm beginning the long and tedious process of editing my 112K book "The World Within", oh yes, that big sucker. Pretty positive I've mentioned it before, just don't remember when. It is a long book, around 400 pages, and needs some major remodeling. I'm almost tempted to post a sign on my bedroom door when I'm editing it and say "CAUTION: Book remodeling in progress" lol. That's how bad it is, though some people would probably say I'm being to hard on myself, I don't think I am. Because I'm willing to spend the time giving it love and making it the best it can be, it is my baby after all. And a mother should never abandon her baby; she should keep raising the child until its the best it can be. 
     (This is how much I love this book, and how much faith I have in it. I'm using the application of being a mommy... I am a little cooky sometimes but, whatever. :) 
     Someday it will be polished to perfection - as close as I can get it - and I will begin the anticipated day of emailing agents with my query letters and book samples. Now if I'm lucky, I can do such a thing my late junior year, or senior year in High school. Though, I have no idea where God is going to take me on this journey, I'm praying that I'll get such a chance to get published. Every author wants to be a New York Times Bestseller, I don't think that'll happen to me, but it will be a blessing just to get my book published and in people's bookshelves for reading. 
     I would sincerely love it if my book became loved like C.S. Lewis' masterpieces, or Lord of the Rings. (That's a huge dream, but a girl can dream, can't she? ;D ) 
     And to make it even better, I've been re-reading Inkheart (amazing book) and I've been inspired to edit and write in my Amerada books again. I forgot how amazing the Inkworld trilogy is! I might just have to pull out my other two books in the series when I finish Inkheart. And I'm really looking forward to getting farther in TWW and re-discovering the characters I created a couple years ago. Max, Kelly, Arianna, Owen, Ryan, my hotshot Skyeler, and of course my heroine Leslie. :D 
     Though I'm considering changing the way her name is written to Lesley. It looks prettier, I suppose. 
     Anyway, on to other writing things. I got to partake in a writer's conference online, which was absolutely amazing and I am so happy I signed up for it. I thought it would just be a waste of time, and far to boring, but I was so wrong. I got so much advice, and websites for people considering publishing and helping them do it. I'm ecstatic to finish the second draft of TWW, which if I get on it I'll finish it in a few months I think. And now the same people that put on the writer's conference, are doing a Query Letter thing on the same website. Query letters are something you must send into an agent when you want to get published, and I posted mine on there and I already got some good feedback. :) Though I'm a little worried now because there are no people besides me and two other people that posted their query letters. I guess we'll just see what happens. 
     Its exciting knowing that I might be able to get published in the future, I would love to be able to share the stories I've written with the world. If only patience was an easy thing. ha-ha. 
     Anyway, I hope you liked reading my blabby words about my life. :) 

Have a great Saturday everyone! 


~Jazz

"Treasuring Emma" - Review

Emma has put everyone else first in her life. Now at nearly 25, has she missed her chance at marriage?
Emma was Adam's first love but circumstances made them both choose different paths in life. Emma's heart breaks all over again when Adam returns to the Amish community of Middlefield, Ohio, years later.
For the past ten years, Emma has been a care-giver. First for her mother who unsuccessfully battled breast cancer, and now for her grandmother who gets more frail with each passing year. Emma has always put the needs of others above her own. With more time on her hands, she determines to focus on herself and her dream of opening a rescue shelter for stray animals in the community.
With Adam's return come feelings Emma's long buried. They're older and life hasn't turned out the way they thought it would. Adam's feelings for Emma are stronger than ever, but will he be able to convince her to put the past aside and give their love a chance?



     Treasuring Emma is a tale about a woman's struggle through grievances and long buried feelings for a man named Adam. I was a bit skeptic when I saw it, but I decided to read it anyway, it was a good book with a strong plot and Emma was interesting to read about. I liked the romance story between Adam and Emma, but it wasn't one of the greatest love stories I've read. I enjoyed reading it, and it was most definitely a satisfying ending; but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone.
     I did not very much enjoy the strict rules of the Amish people, I respect their way of life, but an Amish tale didn't exactly connect with me. I learned some interesting things about them, but I don't agree with what I've learned about their church ways. Without giving anything away, it just bugged me a little about some of the rules of rejoining the church and having to confess your sins in front of the whole church. I completely respect their lifestyle, but I would definitely not choose that lifestyle.
     Though I would like to point a few things out that I did quite admire about this particular book...
     I love the idea of courting and everything, though my dating values are a little different than the traditional courting I would say, I did enjoy reading about that when it did mention it. And I really liked the whole story revolving very well around God, and when I finally finished the book I had a sense of happiness to know that I could lean on God for everything. Which is what the whole book talked about a lot: leaning on God for everything and praying for guidance through everything you do.
     It showed me that if you don't consult God for important things, God will continue to diverge your plans until you realize that God doesn't have that plan for you. He will say it softly at first, and then as long as you continue to not listen and ignore his cues he will make the signs stronger.
     I think it really taught me to look to God for everything, even if its just small things. (I don't mean what I should eat but you get the point)
     And to also lean on him throughout it all. So, overall I think I did enjoy this book and it taught me some good lessons about faith in Jesus.


I rate this book three out of five stars...

*I am not obligated to write a positive review, only an honest one* 

Thank you booksneeze.com and Thomas Nelson publishers for providing me with a free copy of the book for purely reviewing purposes.**

[Publisher] Thomas Nelson, Inc.

[Pages] 300 pgs. 


[Author] Kathleen Fuller




Thanks for reading! 


Love, 


~Jazz

My Secret Life: Stuff, stuff, stuff.

Hello everyone, 

     I do have a lot of things I wish to mention, so I'll just start off with the first thing that comes to mind. 
     I'm still going through my little dry patch, but that's going away, slowly but surely. Not exactly why God's putting me through this, but what everyone is always saying; He has a plan. But there are some good things going on of course, my little brother is turning 12 on Wednesday. And I'm hoping to have a good time and catch up with a friend who I really hope is coming. 
     And horseback has been going really well, I'm finally in a class where I can zoom on ahead in my riding skills. Last week was especially good, Sunny was a great horsie!! ^_^ Though I do hope I ride Benny this next week, even though I've been spoiled and gotten him quite a lot the past few weeks. 
    But other than that, our family is looking to buy a house soon. And it looks like God is moving through with his plan for it, everything is going through smoothly in the buying process. And we have our eye on a house that I've got a good feeling about, even though I'm kind of really disappointed that I'm going to be getting a room with absolutely no sunshine and not any bigger than my room now. And my brothers get like a ten foot expansion with a sunny room. So that's got me down, but I'm trying to have a positive attitude about it and just suck it up. I'll have my own apartment in a few years anyway and then I'll have a whole place all to myself so :P 
     Its a beautiful house though, and a wonderful neighborhood. I think its a good fit for us, and it seems like so far God wants us to have that house. And even though I would like a bigger room... its really not that big of a deal... I guess... 
     Anyway, I don't really have anything else to say, but I will be posting another review sometime soon. A book called "Treasuring Emma" by Kathleen Fuller, another booksneeze review. :) I think I'll post a review about a book I bought called "Lonestar Sanctuary" by Colleen Coble too while its still fresh on my mind, lemme just say, its a stunning book and I am in love with Colleen Coble's writing. 
     
     Blog you later!!

~Jazz 

My Secret Life: "Spring For Susannah" by Catherine Richmond

"When Susannah goes to Dakota territory as a mail-order bride she finds something she never dreamed she would—true love.
With no prospects for marriage and her parents recently deceased, Susannah Underhill agrees to go west to the Dakota territory to marry her minister's homesteading brother, Jesse. But Susannah is painfully shy, doesn't see herself as worthy of love from either a husband or from God, and lives in constant fear that Jesse is going to ship her back to Detroit.
In spite of her petite size and the fact that Susannah doesn't look like she could survive on the prairie, Jesse quickly discovers that his new wife is a greater blessing than he even hoped for. The years she spent as her father's veterinary assistant allow her to save Jesse's ox and twin calves and to help neighboring farmers with their animals.
But Susannah's feelings of unworthiness are deeply rooted, and she can't believe that Jesse's praise—or the tenderness and love he shows—could possibly last. The thawing of her heart seems almost as distant as Spring in the midst of the winter blanketing the Dakota prairie."


     This book is all about a woman's journey to the Dakota territory, Susannah Underhill is a quiet reserved woman and appears to be very afraid of Jesse Mason when she arrives in her new home. 
     Jesse on the other hand, is quite the opposite of her. He's outgoing, but very loving and tender to Susannah. My opinion on the overall relationship of the newly married couple; I think it's cute. 

     The overall positive stuff I liked about this book was that Jesse is the most tender and loving husband that any woman would want to have. Right from the start Jesse adores Susannah, and thinks she's the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Which in my opinion is what any man should think when he gets married, and what he should think always throughout his marriage to that one woman. 
     I like how Susannah transforms from being quiet and reserved, to a little more outgoing and comfortable with her surroundings, which eventually leads to some big decisions around the ending chapters. And I really do like how the Mason couple's relationship grows and flourishes into a real married couple relationship slowly but surely throughout the book. It's a big difference when Susannah feels so comfortable with Jesse as to be playful with him, as husband and wife usually are. 

     However, there are some negative things that I have to say about this particular book. 
     I think that somewhere around the middle of the book it was really dry, and so I didn't read it for a little while. And the key with books for me is it really has to grab my attention, and if I really like a book I can read it within a few days. This book took me about a month or so. 
     I also have some warnings, it does have some little bits of married couple type stuff that they only do in the bedroom. But its hardly even descriptive, it was borderline icky stuff I guess you could say. And they don't describe what happens when they are doing it, all it is- is them getting in bed and then waking up the next morning. 
     It's a little inappropriate in the sense that Jesse does try to undo the front of her bodice several times throughout the book, but as I said before it's not descriptive beyond that. And then there is a reference to an old time condom, when issues arise with Susannah's health; concerning her bodies' skills to get pregnant. 
     Along with that stuff, I found it a little disturbing that Susannah had a terrible experience before the beginning of the book. I haven't exactly figured it out for sure yet, but I believe it has a reference to a terrible experience she had with a banker who broke into her house... and from what I could tell she was definitely beat up pretty bad, and then possible rape but I haven't figured that out for sure. I'd say she was just assaulted pretty bad, and thus her fear of Jesse. 
     Other than that I really don't have any complaints, but I didn't like how much... bedroom... stuff... was referenced, I mean yes they are married, and yes married people do it. But you don't need to tell us every time they do it. 


     And, yeah... other than that it was a good read. :) I don't think I'll ever read it again, but it was entertaining. 

~Jazz




*Thank you to Booksneeze.com for providing me with a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes* 

*I am not obligated to write a positive review, only an honest one*

My Secret Life: Heads up.

Just thought I'd say that I will be reviewing "Spring for Susannah" soon hopefully, and give you a full review when I finish it... I've got like 5 or 6 chapters left soooo hopefully I'll post it soon. :)
<----- This is what the cover looks like.

So yeah, I would love to say something about the book right now, but I haven't finished it... partly because I lost interest in it so I didn't read much of it for a while haha.
I'll have a review up soon. =)

My Secret Life: Fifteen and feeling boring...

Heyo everybody, 

     So... I'm not exactly sure what to write in this blog post, I suppose this will probably a relatively short one. Umm... I guess I've been getting back into the writing groove a lot, me and my friend Kayla are writing this book called "Back to the Heart". Really excited about that actually! =D 

Summary; 

 

Joshua Phoenix, mega-star on the Hollywood scene, and every day his ego becomes bigger and added to his already big-head. On the outside he's the boy next door, the boy every father would be comfortable letting their daughters date him, but behind the scenes of his glamorous Hollywood life. He's mean to everyone, and treats them all like dirt. 

After firing his sixth director for his music video that has yet to be filmed, and embarrassing himself and his family publicly, his single mother decides she's fed up with his attitude and makes the decision to send him to Copper Hills, Wyoming for the whole summer.

There he is set to live with the Carter's; a family living on a horse and cattle ranch. And that's when he meets his match; Riley Carter. A headstrong cowgirl with a "take-no-crud" personality. But this cowgirl despises Hollywood stars, always making normal people feel low and pathetic. But with the two teens stuck together for 3 whole months, can Josh teach Riley to have a little summer fun, and not fear the future but to chase her dreams? And can Riley teach Josh what a real life is?

     It's a lot of fun writing it with Kayla, =) I'm really looking forward to finishing it. And maybe even someday if we decide to we might even be able to get it published together, it'd be neat. And so far we've got lots of stuff planned out, even though I just came to the conclusion that there are a few kinks that we really need to work out haha. 

     Other than that, umm... nothing else has really been going on. Summer's here! =D Though it doesn't feel like it, everybody's to busy to do anything. =/ Horseback is fun though, I still get to go every week which I'm really happy about. And I get to ride Benny and Tipper way more than I deserve lol. 

     I've also been watching a lot of Medium lately... probably more than a person should. Maybe I should get out and do something more often. But yeah, I've been pretty good other than that. Kind of struggling with a few things in my head currently, but life's pretty good for this fifteen year old. =) 

     Besides the fact that I feel like my life is kinda boring, and needs more pizazz. I'm sure that will change soon, I'm smart and if I put my mind to it I can find something to add more "pizazz" to it haha. Anyway, I'll try to post more often. Hope everyone is doing well! 

Love, 

-Jazmine

Book Review: Nick of Time - By Tim Downs

**This is not my photo**

I just finished reading "Nick of Time" by Tim Downs; a book in the series of "Bug Man Novels".
Personally, I was a bit skeptic when I first read the description of this book but I was introduced to a whole new kind of writing and I actually really like it! Don't be fooled by the description if you are one to decide on reading books by the back cover, I personally thought it sounded stupid and more like a book a 9-year-old would read. But I was completely wrong.
I am happy to post this description of the book...

Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak lives in a world of maggots and blow flies and decomposing bodies. No wonder he's still single. 
But Nick has finally found a woman as strange as he is - a dog trainer Alena Savard, a woman who is odd, reclusive, and can seemingly talk to animals. It was a match made in heaven. 
Nick and Alena are scheduled to be married on Saturday - but there's one small problem. Nick has disappeared.
Caught up in a murder case involving an old friend, Nick finds himself on a manhunt that's drawing him farther and farther from the church where Alena is waiting. But will he make it back in time? Could Nick's single-minded focus cause him to forget his own wedding? Is he really pursuing a killer, or is he running away from something else? 


I have to say, I was very uneasy about reading this book, I was quite afraid I would have very little positive things to say about it ha-ha. But I rest my case, I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. This book had to be one of the most strangest reads I've ever picked up, but the character development is interesting, and the quirky ways of Nick and his VERY amusing antics and dialogues made it a fun and mysterious/suspenseful book! Never thought by looking at the back of the book that this book would be anywhere near making me laugh pretty hard.
Nick is a complete jerk sometimes, but the way he does things is REALLY funny. He's very sarcastic, and loves snapping at everyone (especially policeman ha-ha).
The story I would have to say is very intriguing, I don't really have anything much to say about the plot of the book, other than its very unique. Overall I really did like this book, it was a nice story with humor, mystery, and suspense. That's another thing; it constantly kept me on my toes when I got to probably around the middle of the book...

Negative stuff I suppose, there is a few references to beer but no one get's drunk, and there is no inappropriate content such as even a little kissing. And there is one scene with Alena, she took shelter in a bar to wait out of the rain for a call from Nick, and there is a man who flirts with her and follows her out of the bar when she rejects him. And it suggests that he was cheating on his wife at home, and there is a little bit of confrontation that suggest something bad might of happened if she hadn't done something about it, but nothing bad does happen so don't worry.
Those things don't bother me personally, but I thought I should throw that out there in case there is anybody who happens to come across this and doesn't like reading that kind of stuff. Along with that stuff there is some violence things, but that's what comes along with being a forensic scientist/entomologist.
But the things that do bug me; (haha, not meant to be a pun with the "Bug man" ;) is that I couldn't tell who was talking half of the time sometimes, I think that's a pretty amateur mistake on a writer's part, I mean I'm only fifteen and I try to throw a few "He said" "she said" things in there every now and then.
But there wasn't very much besides a couple of descriptions in between phrases, and those were the only times I knew who was talking.
That bugs me a lot, I have to go back and make sure I know that was Nick who said this... and not the other person.
I was also a bit disappointed with the ending, but I suppose not all books can end the way you wanted it to. I think the thing I like about the ending is that it leaves it open for sequels, or not, so the readers can imagine the future of Alena and Nick by themselves.
That's all I have to say negative about it though.

One more thing though...
There is a pretty radical twist in the book! You will be just as surprised as I will be! I am not going to say anything about it but... WOW. I was totally not expecting that twist in the book, Tim Downs caught me completely off guard lol!
That's it for my review. =) Hope you pick up this book and read it, if you like things like I just described.

Overall I rate this book four out of five stars. 

~Jazmine

Thanks to booksneeze.com for supplying me with this free copy of the book for purely reviewing purposes. 

NOTE: I am not obligated to write a positive review, only an honest one.

My Secret Life: Disappointments and Fears

     Hey all, 


     I figured I should update the blog since I haven't in quite a bit. Nothing really exciting and/or happy has been going on lately I suppose, I will get to my main reason for posting in a moment, but other than my brothers and I getting the stomach flu (all gone for now PRAISE GOD!) nothing really has happened actually ha-ha. Which brings me to my point for posting; disappointments. I have two of them I'd like to talk about, and just the general subject of disappointing things. Because of me getting the stomach flu I had to miss horseback, which I'm not to happy about right now, but I look on the upside; my birthday party is this weekend and I won't miss it. =) Yay! And my second one... just the general subject of writing I suppose. There's a contest thing going on the Go Teen Writers blog by Stephanie Morrill, and I'm just disappointed quite a bit because there has been 7 contests that I've entered, and I haven't even placed 20th in a single one. It just frustrates me I guess, because you have to write the next 100 words from a writing prompt the blog author posts and send it in by a certain time; and then you place in a spot.
     Well I haven't placed in squat... 
     It makes me extremely jealous and angry that I can't seem to get my stupid writer brain to work and figure out what they want in 100 words, I was positive I was going to place 20th this time around... but I was wrong... again. Its like luck of the draw or something!
     I can't leave out too little information, and I can't cram to much information in those 100 words. I thought I did perfectly this time around, but like I said I was wrong again. This will blow off by tomorrow most likely, but it just frustrates me and makes me very disappointed in myself that I can't seem to figure out how in the world to get a perfect 100 word thing that will AT LEAST give me 20th place. That's all I want right now, 20th place. I don't think that's to much expentancy, now is it? 
     ...Which leads me to my next subject; fears. 
     That contest is making me quite fearful that I'll never be good enough unless I place somewhere on that contest, because if I can't write a decent 100 word thing... HOW in the world will I get a publisher to even take a glance at my work? It stink! Because I know I'm wrong. =( And then I question myself, and say "Should I even bother writing? Whats the point? I'm not even good enough anyway." Which in reality I'm probably not, because I'm a teen, and teens don't get published. 
     I'm feeling like this right now, and I'm trying to remind myself that I can be whoever I wanna be and nobody can stop me. And I HAVE to get 100+ rejections before I quit sending in manuscripts to publishing companies, or at least 62 rejections like J.K Rowling did. Or enough rejection letters like the author of the famous comic; Garfield had... he had enough to cover an entire room with the letters. So I'll end this ranting message with happiness...


     I am trying my hardest to look to God right now, but it is sooooo hard not to just drop it all and quit. I'm not even going to go any further with how I feel on the matter of keeping on moving on something that seems absolutely pointless if no success is going to come out of it. *sighs*
     I'm just hoping and praying that my dreams will come true one day, because I know for sure not everybody can become a successful author... not everybody can be a Stephenie Meyer who sucks at writing yet didn't even have to barely try to get into the publishing business. 
     Just gotta keep my chin up high... 


~Jazz

"The Lightkeeper's Ball" by Colleen Coble - Review

"The Lightkeeper's Ball" by Colleen Coble is a romance/suspense tale set in the time of carriages, fine dressing, and a world where women didn't really have a choice when you are born into a rich family and you have to marry "well".


      It is the dawn of a new century and Olivia Stewart is heiress to an empire. Her family numbers among the Four Hundred - those considered the wealthiest and most distinguished in America.

     Unfortunately their wealth has nearly disappeared, and now their security rests upon the Stewart daughters' marrying well.

      Olivia's sister, Eleanor, was engaged to Harrison Bennett, one of the nation's wealthiest men, but has since died. Now the pressure is on Olivia to take her place,  despite her suspicions about Eleanor's fiance. Using her family's long-forgotten English title, Olivia travels to Mercy Falls, California, as Lady Devonworth, hoping to learn more before committing to marriage. There she finds that Eleanor's death was no accident. And Harrison is not the man she thought he would be.

      When Mercy Falls holds a charity ball masquerade to raise funds for the new light-house, secrets-and truths long hidden-will be revealed. But can Harrison really love Olivia when he finds her true identity? Can she live with the repercussions of failing her family, or will she finally realize that nothing - not money, family or romance - will ever compare to God's unconditional love? 

      I can describe this book in one word... FANTASTIC!

      Kudo's to Mrs. Colleen Coble! All throughout this great novel I had fun, I laughed, I cried (not literally), and I was suspicious... ;) 

      And I send a word of confidence out to all of you, I think that any girl (or guy) who likes romance and/or suspense will most likely like this book. More romance lovers than not. But I do tell you to take heart and not be deceived if you think the description I just gave (I got it off the back of the book) makes it sound like a bad book, it's NOT! 

      Colleen Coble did a wonderful job with this book and I wouldn't have it any other way.

      Olivia is a strong character, and honestly unlike most heroines in novels they are weak and even spineless at times - but Olivia has a strong opinion about things and is good at expressing them even if it is only in her mind.

      Because mind you, back then ladies were pretty much to be seen- and not heard. 

      The inner conflict with both Harrison Bennett and Olivia Stewart is amazing, I'm not going to give anything away but the way Colleen Coble keeps on stringing you along waiting for that magical moment, it's worth the reading.

      You learn so much about them in only a 288 page book. 

      And the twists and turns she weaves into the story is great to, I was constantly wondering and suspecting two very main characters (one of course Harrison and the other I won't mention in order not to give the plot away) that might have killed Eleanor and caused other ruckus in the book. 
      And the big climax was pretty great. =) 
      And the big thing I really like is how it encourages the readers of the book to grow in their relationship with God subtly, it's not all about God, but it has lots of things here and there about Him. And it's not pushy or in your face about it, and the book isn't revolved around faith either. I like that - because I don't know many Christian authors that have good books that aren't in your face about God.
      This book grabs you from the start, at least for me. I was immediately interested in what was going to happen next to Olivia, and even more interested when Harrison's point-of-view came into the story.
      




       The dislikes I have for this book, however, aren't as many as my likes for this book. A few times the words were a bit mixed up I think, and I couldn't quite understand what Mrs. Coble was trying to tell me through Olivia.
        I did sigh with contentment at the end of the book, but I do I feel like certain things that I can't say in order not to give it away, were very unexpected but not so satisfying....
        I think what I'm trying to say is that I couldn't quite grasp the idea that she put near the end. (AKA, the big climax) I felt like it was the wrong person, and I hadn't gotten inside the head of that person enough to suspect that person, and that I couldn't see the real motive for their evil actions. 
       


       But all in all I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars! 
      Seeing how the dislikes I have for this book aren't that really significant, and to me don't really matter, I love this book indeed like I've written it myself. 
       To the readers of this blog, and if Mrs. Coble ever reads this, I look forward to reading more of Colleen Coble!


~Jazmine



**NOTE: I am not obligated to write a good review; only an honest one**


**Thank you to Booksneeze.com for providing me with this free copy for reviewing on my blog =) **


**I do not own the cover image of the book I have just reviewed** 

My Secret Life: I love my Tipper boy =)

The bond between horse and man...=) **I do not own this picture**

You know... I am in love with horses. =) Horses are such amazing animals, they are so expressive and they show you such great amounts of love no matter what kind of day your having and no matter how you look.

Now I know what your thinking... God is that way to, but hey - I see it as one of God's fabulous gifts to me; my passion for horses. 

Now one of my most favorite horses in particular; is Tipper!! My beautiful boy!!

I have GOT to get pictures of me and Tipper up here sometime... I've been thinking about getting mom to come to my lessons again and get pictures of me and him riding together. I think we make a fabulous team, he's finally starting to listen to me because he knows I don't take any nonsense from him. =)

Well he has listened to me before but not as well because he's just being a butt haha. 

I really hope he doesn't get sold anytime soon, I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't ride him anymore. =( He's like 15 I think and that's right around the time that Corrie sells her horses, and she got Tipper quite a while ago actually.

Probably only a few months after she sold an old horse of hers named Major.

Anyway, I just thought I'd update my blog and say how amazingly blessed I am to be able to ride every week and on that beautiful best buddy horse of mine... ^_^

God is so good to me, I just have some trouble seeing it sometimes through all my teenage mumbojumbo haha.

Alrighty, I'll be posting a book review on here probably sometime within the next week or few days or so, I'll be reviewing "The Lightkeeper's Ball" by Colleen Coble. So far I really like the book, it takes place in older times and it looks like a quite interesting romance/suspense novel.

I look forward to writing that review. =D

I'll write soon! 

~Jazz

------

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

   --Ecclesiastes 8:15, NLT