Wednesday 16 June 2010

Liesel's Reading Habits

Liesel's Reading Habits

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

Depends what time of day it is! As soon as I wake up, and when I go to bed I will read for a while and obviously won't be eating anything then. But when I read during the day I do snack - right now it are raspberries Also Goij berries are quite addictive!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
It horrifies me! My books are sacred!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
My family and friends always give me bookmarks which I love, but I always lose them and up sticking any piece of paper I can find in the book to keep my place.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Mainly fiction, although I have been reading a lot of non-fiction books about cancer lately

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Text. I do have one audiobook which I love to listen to while travelling long distances.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
I try NOT to read till the end of the chapter because the last paragraph of then end of the chapter always makes me want to read further! (does that make sense?) So I usually stop at the end of a paragraph. That is, if it's a fiction book. Non-fiction I will read till the end of the chapter.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
Most of time, if I can't garther out of the sentence what they mean. If I don't look it up straight away it will bug me to no end!

What are you currently reading?
This is really bad but I'm reading three books right now!

Baby Love by Catherine Anderson, The Victoria Secret's Catalog Never Stops Coming by Jennie Nash and The Bad Beekeepers Club by Bill Turnball

What is the last book you bought?
The Seven Dials Mystery and Murder Is Easy, both by Agatha Christie

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
I can read more then one book at a time. One for every mood

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
When I wake up in the morning, before I go to sleep at night and outside in the garden when the weather is hot.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
Both. Most books I read are stand alone but sometimes I like it when a character turns up again in later books

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
Being a detective fan I would recommened Agatha Christie! She is a master in creating murder mysteries where you can never guess 'who done it' and has some great and surprising twists!


How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
By colour and then by author! I love how a whole row of yellow/blue/pink book covers look nicely organised on my book shelves.

I know, I'm a geek

Love, Liesel

Monday 31 May 2010

Marianne Faitful

Lately I've been rather addicted to Looklet where you can create and style fashion looks. It's right up my alley! A few days ago they asked me make a look inspired by Marianne Faithful because they loved my looks And now it's featured on the front page! Now I have to say it's not the best look I created (afterwards it looks rather boring, but I do think it captures the essence that is Marianne Faithfull - knee high boots, boa, mini dress). Anyway I guess I just wanted to show off

I really enjoyed this assignment and feel I now practically everything about Marianne now. Her biography is now on my To-Be-Read list and I love her song "As Tears Go By" ♥ (listen here)

The inspiration collage I made

(click on the picture to enlarge)

To me Marianne Faithfull is:
  • Big floppy hats
  • Knee height boots
  • Fur coats and shawls
  • Mini skirts & dresses
  • Featherd boa's
  • Huge sunglasses
  • Dashing, Bohemian, Sensual, Florid, Stylish
My First Look: (the one they choose)

Maybe the most that you can expect from a relationship that goes bad
is to come out of it with a few good songs. - Marianne Faithfull


Look 2: (which I prefer!)


The article page: http://looklet.com/article/369

And for those interested in my other looks, here is my portfolio page:
http://looklet.com/user/259258


Does anyone else here have a Looklet account? I'd love to add you as a friend! And if you don't have one yet - join!

Love, Liesel

Monday 10 May 2010

Monday's New Look: Sweetheart

Spring Song by Robert Browning
The Year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his heaven --
All's right with the world!




Inspired by Cath Kidston's style. Styled by me =)

Love, Liesel

Monday 3 May 2010

Monday's New Look: Miss Jazzie Grey



Styled by me

Love, Liesel

Sunday 2 May 2010

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

What do I answer to that? I want to go everywhere! Where do I NOT want to go would probably be a better question

That said at the moment though I especially would LOVE to go to Sweden.

Explore Stockholm


..see the Iron Ore mines in Kiruna


..go to an icehockey game in Globen Arena


..hike through hike the beautiful nature


..visit a Sami village


..sleep in the ice hotel


..see the mysterious Northern Lights


..and go dog sledding in lapland!


Oh if only..

Where would you go?

Love, Liesel

Monday 26 April 2010

Monday's New Look: Sapphire Summer

A friend of mine, Stacey, asked me what my plans are for summer but I've nothing solid yet. Like most summers I probably will work all through it and hopefully go away on holiday to greece in the September! That doesn't mean I won't have time to go down to beach and the swimming pool which reminds me..

I really need to go shopping for a new bikini but it's so difficult to find the prefect one. The one below I just love so I'm very tempted.. I love this beach look ♥






Look created by me

What are your summer plans?

Love, Liesel

Monday 5 April 2010

April 5: Monday's New Look

Probably not something I'd wear everyday, but really why not? Well apart from the mask that is :p I really love this look!





Created by moi :o)

Love, Liesel

Friday 2 April 2010

A Mum's Story: Adopting Older Children


Adoption is something very close to my heart and God willing I will be able to give an child an loving home to grow up in. I was blessed with my upbringing and I want to something back to those less fortunate as me. I read this story a few years ago but I think this is so important I'm reposting it. It is quite long, but if you can make time to read this. It's rather special!

Liesel

~*~


By Kate McKee Robertson, reprinted from Adoptive Families magazine
At first, we envisioned welcoming a baby into our home. But we soon discovered that adopting older children was right for us.

Adopting Older Children
We thought we wanted a baby. A tiny fist wrapped around our fingers. The smell of talcum powder. A coo, a cry, a cuddle.

But after trying, unsuccessfully, to conceive -- including an attempt at in vitro fertilization -- my husband, Kevin, and I decided to explore adoption.

Overwhelmed by the prospects of international adoption and the costs and risks of independent domestic adoption, Kevin and I decided to sign up to be foster parents. We could help a child, we reasoned, while trying to decide the best way to get one of our own. We imagined a toddler, delivered to our door, longing to be loved and nurtured.

That's not what happened.


Special Needs
In Louisiana (where we lived), couples who want to become certified foster or adoptive parents first take a nine-week course, to learn about parenting and about the children who need homes.

The faces of waiting children look much the same in every state. They are six and 10 and 12. They are children with difficult histories. They are not infants or toddlers. They are not blank slates. Some have emotional problems and learning disabilities and even serious health concerns. But like all children, they need permanent families. A place to call home, a place of safety and guidance today, a place to bring the grandkids for Christmas tomorrow.

Kevin and I looked through photos of Louisiana's waiting children. The faces haunted us. They were smiling for the camera, like puppies in a pet store window wagging for a home. We were overwhelmed with sorrow and regret. Regret that we couldn't adopt them all. The question of whether to adopt one of the children in these photos became, "How do we adopt one?"

A social worker helped narrow our search. Would we consider a sibling group? We had two extra bedrooms, Kevin pointed out. With bunk beds, we could easily take three.

Special needs? Here we hesitated. Older children in the foster care system would likely have emotional problems, we reasoned. Could we handle learning disabilities, as well? Medical conditions?

We decided that we could handle "moderate" disabilities, but that, as first-time parents, we did not have the skills or confidence to handle severe problems.

And so we continued with our classes and waited for a call. It didn't take long for our children to find us. A friend was the temporary foster mother of a sister and brother, 8 and 10, who were on their sixth foster placement. They were not yet available for adoption, but were expected to be shortly. We saw their pictures, talked to their foster mother, and arranged for a visit. Three weeks later, our family grew by two.


Special Firsts
Those first few days were a bit uncomfortable for us all. Kevin and I tried to help the children settle in. They were polite houseguests, busy with a new school and picking out new clothes and toys. The process of becoming a true family unfolded in the months to come. Couples who consider adopting older children often worry that they will mourn having missed the firsts: first step, first word...first grade.

But parents of older adopted children have their own set of firsts. The first time my son, Derek, stopped calling me "Miss Kate" and called me Mom. And how he liked the sound of it, and for the next few days liberally sprinkled every sentence with it.

"Mom, what's for dinner, Mom? Mom, can I go outside to play, Mom?"

Or the first time my daughter, Arielle, blurted out "I love you" as she ran off to catch the school bus.

Or the first time my son felt safe enough to whisper in my ear a painful secret -- a hurt he'd never told anyone -- trusting that I would help him heal.

Or the first time someone passed my desk at work, noticed the photographs of the children, and asked, "Are those your kids?" And I said, "Yes, yes they are."


Special Challenges
Our children, like many older adopted children, face challenges resulting from the losses they experienced moving from the home of their birth parents to homes of various relatives, to foster homes, and finally to our home. Their home.

We have had some behavior problems, anger outbursts, and nightmares. But we have also had plenty of laughter, love, and a growing trust.

One challenge faced by families who adopt older children is the birth family. In our case, a teenaged brother and maternal grandparents the children adore -- and an aunt and uncle who are temporarily holding up our adoption as they wage a legal battle over custody, an honor they abused and lost long ago.

Each day we journey further into uncharted waters, as we find ways to bring some members of the birth family into the fold of our family while acting as sentry against those who can only do damage.


Special Support
The children's health needs are completely covered by the state, as is counseling. And we receive a monthly check to help cover the costs of room and board -- a far cry from covering all the costs of GameBoys and karate lessons, but a help nonetheless. Once our adoption is final, state financial support will decrease, but not disappear. In Louisiana, full medical coverage continues, as does room and board payment, though at a reduced rate.

Derek and Arielle now have a home. As I hold my children's small hands in mine and breathe in their smell of strawberry shampoo and Sweet Tarts, I know I have the babies I was meant to have. And so, as the adoption moves forward, we wait for a judge to say what we already know: We are a family.

Kate Robertson is a freelance writer. Since writing this article, she and Kevin have adopted Derek and Arielle, as well as a baby girl, Courtney. They recently moved to Texas, to a new home with more bedrooms to fill.

Wednesday 31 March 2010

Picture Survey

Thanks to my friend Brandi ^_^

Use pictures (from Google Image Search) to answer the questions of this survey.

1.
Where do you live (city, state, country, whatever)


2.
Do you have any pets?




3.
What is your favorite color?


4.
What is your favorite movie?


5.
What was the last TV show you watched?


6.
Last song listened to?


7.
What color are your eyes?


8.
What's your favorite animal?


9.
Favorite store?


10.
Favorite food?


11.
Favorite board game?


12.
If you could have any car, what would it be?


13.
What month were you born?


14.
What kind of shoes do you wear most?


15.
What was the last thing you had to drink?


16.
What was the last restaurant you ate at? (not fast food)


17.
Do you collect anything?


18.
What is your favorite sports team(s)?


19.
What is your favorite magazine?


20.
How is the weather right now?


21.
Where is your favorite place to vacation?


22.
What would be your dream destination?


23.
What are this weekends plans?


24.
Any upcoming events?


25.
Anything else you're excited for?