Cup of Thoughts

I found this cute little cosmetic bag at an outlet store. I really needed a Bible case to hold and organize all of my Bible study tools and journals. I bought it intentionally for that specific purpose, but if my Bible didn't fit I would just use it for makeup or beauty accessories. I am thrilled to show you that my Bible indeed fit, along with all of my other tools and journals! And look, there's room for more! Vera Bradley/ / Tropical Paradise  design is only available in factory outlet stores. Here are some makeup/skin care products I purchased at a couple of the outlets. A girl's gotta shop during vacation, right? Sometimes I find the best products on trips! Clinique Pep-Start HydroRush Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20 / / $29.50 Gives skin a healthy-looking glow and UV protection against the sun’s aging rays. Wear it alone, or under foundation as a prep for makeup. Fortunately, I purchased this the day after we arrived at o...

I love trying new things and looking through articles and catalogs with new beauty items, but I always go back to what I'm used to. Do you do that too? Here are some products that are my all-time favorites. Beauty items and tools that I use on a daily basis.  Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation is my favorite! I have the shade, 2W1 Dawn . It's my transition shade from spring to summer.  No7 Tinted Moisturizer is perfect for the days I don't really want to wear a ton of products. I can apply this to a little bit of concealer and go out the door! My shade is in fair .  Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer is the best bronzer I have ever used. It smells just like a tropical dream vacation too! There are only 4 different shades and I have the original Bronzer .  NYX Tinted Brow Pomade in the shade Brunette is what I use for really defined brows.  If I just want a light eyebrow filler, I'll use Urban Deca...

Here are the following products I used to create this look! What is it with chunky plaid scarves and denim shirts? You can wear the duo with whatever bottom rocks your boat. I paired mine with some jeans , but I've also worn this look with some leggings . It's totally up to you.  ♡ Anna

Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery “Because when you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worth while.” Summary:  Anne of Green Gables, not of Green Gables at first, however, circumstances provided a way for the orphan girl to land in the hands of the Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. The Cuthbert siblings decide to adopt an able worker for their Gables and farmland, but in the mixup of the adoption they end up with a tiny, impassioned, red-headed Anne Shirley. With a mind beyond her few years, Anne turns the town of Avonlea into a blunder of amazement. The citizens of the little town, in Prince Edward Island, have and will always be impressed by the little Anne of Green Gables. The adventures and imaginings that involve Anne and the friends (and arch enemies) are full of bewildering excitement. There is never a dull moment or place where Anne is prone to be near. Genre: Classic, Fiction, Young Adult, Children Literature Appropriate Age: All ag...

This Present Darkness, Frank E. Peretti "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." ( Ephesians 6:12 ) Summary:  Following the lives of several citizens of a small town near New York, Ashton has been invaded by a dark force that is headed for an imperceptible doom. Marshall Hogan, a former editor of the New York Times has traded his big-city career for a small town newspaper in hopes of rebuilding his broken family. Trying to make things right in his own home, Marshall ends up getting bound in the hidden betrayals of Ashton. After an annual festival, his reporter, Bernice accidentally stumbles upon a classified and illegal meeting with some of the most powerful people in the town. One, being the highly praised preacher of the majority in the city, Reverend Young. Another, a professor in Ashton's college...

A Moonbow Night, Laura Frantz "One of life's most painful mysteries was that time moved on, with or without you. Those left behind loved and laughed and resumed living as if you'd never been at all." Summary:  Tragedy and deep mourning chase both, Tempe Tucker, and Sion Morgan. In a search for peace, Tempe helps run an inn with her family, helping the pioneers who pass over the regions of the Cumberland Gap. As Sion and a crew from Virginia get an allowance to survey the terrain of Kentucke, threats from the Indians, who use the land for hunting, endanger their mission. Circumstances drive Sion and his companions to the Moonbow Inn. After suffering from a dreadful event in 1773, Tempe's world changed indefinitely. Her hopes and dreams of a blissful future with James Boone was not to be. The attack at Powell region killed more than the three that were massacred. The first attempt of traveling into the wild acres of Kentucke was a disappointing start. The...

"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." //My most talented friend helped create this  image . The prominent Mr. Darcy proclaimed these words to Miss Bennet, admitting his love for her. Taken from Jane Austen's book, Pride & Prejudice .

"Though sympathy tugged at her, Sophie's imagination made fearsome leaps. The grieving widower. The destitute governess. A motherless child. It had all the makings of a scintillating novel.” Summary: After leaving his home and family for the American Revolution, General Seamus Ogilvy returns home to Tall Acre only to find it desolate and empty. His daughter is in the possession of his wife's sister, and the trails to his wife are concluded with a gravestone. Three Chimneys is the neighboring house to Tall Acre, and the only left inhabitant is Sophie Menzies- the daughter of a devout Tory. In the aftermath of the American Revolution, the property she has grown up and loved to cherish is being taken away from her. After her mother's death, she is left to keep up the household in her father and brother's absence. Achieving victory from the war only to come home with a maimed hand and a scared, adolescent daughter, Mr. Ogilvy is in need of many things to br...

Sherlock Holmes and The Needle's Eye, Len Bailey "The Bible is the only book that, as I read it, it reads to me." Summary:  After Sherlock Holmes' great disappearance, his loyal companion, Dr. Watson, is left to wander through life bewildered, but when Sherlock beckons him on a secret journey, the most epic enigma awaits them yet. Sherlock and Watson find an invention that allows them to transport themselves back in time. A special client requests the wit and brains of the two detectives to solve some of the most questionable mysteries from the Bible. As the book progresses the two travel through the well-known, and not so well-known events from the Bible and unravel the hidden clues that will help you better understand the Word. The following titles are the 10 mysteries that get solved by the world's most legendary detectives. The Hanging Man : Why did Ahithophel hang himself? You'll uncover the secrets of David's son, Ahithophel, and what ...

"But I suppose there might be good in things, even if we don't see it." //Credits for image go to my brilliant, innovative friend. 

The Frontiersman's Daughter, Laura Frantz "I asked once before, do you always court trouble, Miss Click, or does it just seem tae follow you where’er you go?" Summary:  A story of a girl, born into the wilderness of the Appalachians, who discovers her real destiny. Lael Click is the daughter of a courageous, and well-known man who isn't afraid of the Shawnee Indian warriors that surround the local fort. As protector and chief of his own home, Mr. Click is known to have very few different trademarks apart from being an Indian. He got captured when Lael was only a little girl. Years later, the awaiting Click family welcomed his return with animosity towards his adopted Indian ways. Beckoned to a life of refinement, Lael is sent to a lady school in Virginia. There she becomes an educated woman, yet all she longs for is her familiar Kentucky home. After some dreadful news, she escapes her school and returns to find her childhood home desolate. Her neighbo rs h...

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” //Credits to my ingenious friend for the image above.

Where Treasure Hides, Johnnie Alexander "The Louvre is on fire and only the Mona Lisa or the child standing beside it can be saved. Which would you choose?" Summary:  This breathtaking story begins with the perspective of a young Dutch artist during WW2. The tragedies and horrific events pull Alison into making her answer to some of the most difficult decisions in her life. One of those being the "Mona Lisa" question: "The Louvre is on fire and only the Mona Lisa or the child standing beside it can be saved. Which would you choose?"  Her family is famous for their generational gift of art. Alison has always cherished art even before she herself started drawing. Circumstances bring up disastrous choices and the Schuylers end up trying to discern between black and white in the midst of a very gray time. The choice between saving some of the world's most grand masterpieces or innocent lives. Thoughts :  If you enjoy reading Historical fictio...

Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen "You must know... surely, you must know it was all for you" Summary:  Elizabeth Bennet is the second eldest in the line of 5 sisters. Her audacious mother insists that true happiness isn't complete until all of her daughters are married well enough to make a place in the world, especially her favorite daughter, Jane. Mr. Bennet is none too concerned for his daughters finding able suitors, for he has confidence that they are able to make their own way in life. With Elizabeth's wit and brains, along with Jane's beauty, Lydia and Kitty's entertaining sense of demeanor, and Mary's calm perplex spirit, Mrs. Bennet is sure to snatch a son-in-law worthy of her highest intentions. Which is someone amiable, young, and wealthy. One day Longbourn, Bennet's estate, gets a very welcomed neighbor. This particular neighbor is young, wealthy, said to be, get ready... single. All of Mrs. Bennet's dreams start to make...

"Sometimes I have the strangest feeling about you. Especially when you are near me as you are now. It feels as though I had a string tied here under my left rib where my heart is, tightly knotted to you in a similar fashion. And when you go, with all that distance between us, I am afraid that this card will be snapped, and I shall bleed inwardly." Have you fallen in love with Mr. Rochester yet? If so, (and perhaps you haven't yet, it's okay, you will) , please check out this full review on Jane Eyre . // Image was created by my super cool friend.

“Respect the past; you never know how it may affect you.” Like what you read? Check out the full review of the book! //This image was created with the help of my amazing friend.

“It's the choosing that's important, isn't it?" Intriguing? You should read more about this book ! //Credits for this image to my stunning, inventive friend.

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” //Thanks to my creative friend for this image .

The Giver, Lois Lowry “The worst part of holding memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” Summary:  The Giver  stars an almost-12-year old Jonas. He lives in a world much different from ours. Where the Community chooses everything for you; who you're going to marry, how many children you will conceive, and the Leaders give out appointed jobs to the citizens. The world shifts completely once he is given the job as the Reciever.  He will be one of the only ones who knows right from wrong, to feel, to see color, to hear music, to love and to cherish memories. But why only him? Why can't everyone feel this way? Everything he once knew about his life changes drastically as he learns about the challenging cruelties of the real world. The part of the world that the Leaders deny exists. Once Jonas knows all there is to learn from the Giver, who is the only other soul that knows about the lies the Community has been creating,...