Saturday, December 1, 2007

Tag, You're It!




Jeremy over at Till He Comes tagged me to reveal seven things about myself that not many people know. Let's see what I come up with, shall we?

1. I don't write because I enjoy it, (even though I usually do,) but because I don't really have a choice. If I couldn't write, I would go crazy with all the thoughts bouncing around in my head, and no recognizable organization. I think too much.

2. I am a fantasy junkie. While most of my close friends understand, as well as reciprocate my love of the Lord of the Rings, as well as The Chronicles of Narnia, most of them don't realize how far my fascination with LOTR goes. For the adventerous, check out The Plaza, and you'll realize how far my obsession goes. (My IM screename is even elvish, which I hope to become fluent in eventually.)

3. I have read more than 2,000 books in my life, and books that I like I will re-read; repeatedly.

4. While at the moment I am not looking for a relationship, as I have been convinced by God that my focus right now should not be the person I will eventually spend the rest of my life with, I believe that God wants me to meet that person through less than....conventional means. I used to think that my dad was crazy, when I found out he met my stepmom on eHarmony. Let's just say I don't think he's crazy anymore. ;)

5. This one is serious: I was in a severe depression last year, and if it wasn't for the grace of God....I don't even want to know what could have happened. Psalm 40:2 "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."

6. I don't like milk. Soymilk, unsweetenedis my drink of choice.

7. I LOVE hockey. I am usually the second loudest person at my brother's hockey games. (My mother is the loudest. Goodness can she whistle.)

So there you go.

I am tagging:

Brian at Only Look To Christ
Faith at The Night Writer
Ben at Hammerswing75

That's all I have time for tonight. I have been mulling over the subject of grief a lot lately, as a situation that I went through earlier in the year has been on my mind. I'll write more about that tomorrow. (And even though the subject will be grief, I hope the post itself will be encouraging, as it is only because of God's love and strength that my grief did not pull me down again into the pit.)

13 comments:

Faith said...

Hmmm... I see here that I have been tagged. If there's one way to get me to blog, it's to tag me with a meme. :)

Hadassah said...

Hi Amanda! Thanks for the link. I'm glad you found me, too! I am always encouraged to find like-minded women online.

I noticed you referred to Breaking Free (the book)in one of your posts. Beth Moore also has a Bible Study entitled Breaking Fee. I just finished leading two groups through it. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend it!

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Meme, eh? I can do memes, but it might be a struggle to come up with 7 things that people don't know. Blogging for two years is like opening Pandora's Box.

Jeremy Myers said...

Fantasy Junkie, huh? Cool. Have you read the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind or the "Wheel of Time" series? Two of my favorite series.

Amanda Carranza-Ballew said...

Hey MD and Ben! Have fun. :D

Hi Hadassah! I will definately have to look into Beth Moore's Breaking Free study. When I'm done with A Heart Like His I'm going to do her study on the tabernacle, A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place. My dad and my stepmom are doing it together right now, but once I'm done with that one I'll get Breaking Free. Thanks for checking out my blog! I pray you are encouraged.

Hey Jeremy,

I have been told several times by several people that I need to read both those series, but I unfortunatly haven't been able to get around to reading either of them yet. (Re-reading LOTR is usually too strong of a temptation. I've read it 5 times through already, and everytime I read it through, I read something I didn't remember from the last time reading it. The whole thing IS over 1000 pages long.)

I usually pick a series to read during the Christmas holidays though, so I'll do my best to get to one of the series you suggested during that time. :) Thanks for the tag! (Oh, and about all those books you buy but don't read....you could always lend them to me, I'll read them. :D)

Matthew Celestine said...

I love fantasy too.

I like the Forgotten Realms books (especially RA Salvatore)and I loved Tad Williams' 'Memory, Sorrow, Thorn.'

kingdavid said...

I've read LOTR every year since I first read it in high school. So I'm at about 32 so far. I also love fantasy fiction--some of my favorites being Feist and Eddings.

The main problem with ff writers is that none of them can write just one, or even just a trilogy. I wish now I had kept a list of all the books I've read. Numerous times I've picked up a book from the library and realized later that I've already read it.

We love the library, and the people who work in our local one. Our kids have spent numerous hours there enjoying the programs they put on. That's a great career choice.

Trent said...

sword of truth novels by Terry Goodkind are excellent, as are about everything that Salvatore has written!

:) I am also a Raymond Feist fan.

Trent

Rachel said...

Hi Amanda,

Sorry, but I'm not much of a fantasy fan. My husband is though! I do like good sci-fi, loved Star Trek and its spinoffs, also enjoy Stargate and its spinoff. And I do love to read! I tend to like fiction novels, like medical mysteries, and especially Christian fiction.

Also, I just wanted to say that you posted at my group blog not too long ago, and I responded to you. So just wanted you to know that your post wasn't ignored, and if you want to reply, feel free. :-)

Amanda Carranza-Ballew said...

Hey Matthew :)

Thanks for the book recommendations, I will have to check them out as well. I've heard more than once that Salvatore is a good writer, so now I guess I have no excuse but to get over to the library, do I?

Hey KD,

The main problem with ff writers is that none of them can write just one, or even just a trilogy.

LOL!!! But so true. I'm the same way, the main reason I've read so many books is because most of the books I've read are part of a series, and there is NO WAY I could read just one and then be done with it. (And btw, my best friend Emily has read LOTR at least once every year since she was in 4th grade I believe, so she has read it around 12 times, but I've never met anyone who's read it more than that! Very cool.) :)

Hey Trent, thanks for checking out my blog. I will check out Terry Goodkind and Raymond Theist as well, (looks like I'm getting up a pretty good Christmas wish list.) ;)

Hey Rachel, thanks for visiting! I love novels and Christian fiction as well. Francine Rivers is by far my favorite Christian Fiction author. If I can ever write like her, I will be so happy. Have you ever read anything by her? Her story is pretty amazing. She was a romance novel writer for a really long time actually, but then she came to know Jesus Christ as her Savior in the mid 80's, and has been writing Christian Fiction ever since. All of her books are amazing, but my personal favorite is The Last Sin Eater. A very powerful story of redemption and the reach of God's love and forgiveness. I would recommend it to anyone. (But be warned, you'll probably cry....well, at least I do every time I read it.)

Many blessings to you all

~Amanda

P.S. Rachel ~ thank you for letting me know about your response to me on your group blog, I'll head over there right now. :)

Trent said...

You are welcome. :) and its feist not theist LOL.

Take care!~

Trent

Amanda Carranza-Ballew said...

Oh, woops!

Thanks Trent :)

Only Look said...

Oh I didnt know I got tagged. Ive been in and out of the blogs lately. Hit and miss. I can identify with that thinking to much thing and depression. Sometimes I wish my mind would stop thinking and I could vegetate for a bit:-)