Fans of Amish Fiction discussion

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How was everyone's day today? Mine was good. I went out with my mom and got some reading done and relaxed for a couple hrs. It was a nice day!

I had a 50 page deadline for my thesis today. I had to massively reorganize it, so the easiest thing for me to do was print it out, cut it into pieces with scissors and shuffle the sections around until it worked better. Then I went through and edited the document on my computer. :)

I spent the day waiting at the eye doctor. (Got some reading done) There was one doctor and they had an emergency (a coal miner got a nail in his eye, he was not wearing safety goggles) when I finally got in I found out I have a staph infection in both eyes and on my lids. It is really painful, I just hope the meds work. I have had problems with my eyes for a month now and all my problems stem from dry eyes. I am on Restasis but it takes 3 months to work.

Oh my goodness Lorie! That is *not* a good day! I really hope that your eyes get better soon! I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

Thanks Camille

Wow, Lorie, that sounds horrible! I hope your meds start to kick in soon. Will be praying for you :)

My day has been pretty much like Camille's - to be honest, my whole week! I have two essays due on Monday. One 1800 words on performance in Richard II, King Lear and Dr Faustus which I've written 2/3 of but seriously need to edit when I'm finished. The other is a 1500 word review of an article for History - so I basically have to summarise and critique a history article. I've never done this before and I think my first draft is okay, but I feel kind of like I shouldn't really be critiquing an intelligent historians since I'm a mere student? LOL :P

But it's going to be kind of hectic editing and rewriting my essays this weekend as it was Simon's birthday yesterday so we're going home to Edinburgh to see his family until Sunday. His parents are divorced and both remarried so we have TWO dinners, and I hope they don't mind if I rush off to write essays!

Oh, and to top it all of Simon went to the doctor yesterday because he had some odd rashes and he has shingles! Of all things! So life is a bit stressful right now. Once all the visiting and essays are done on Monday hopefully things will calm down.

Camille, I always find it easier to edit essays when I print them out! Haven't ever chopped them up yet, sounds like a good idea though :)

Kristy, glad you had a calm day :)

I'm so sorry to hear about Simon -- shingles are no fun. I hope your antibiotics do kick in Lorie.

I almost feel guilty saying that we are having an awesome week. It's spring break for our daughters (both at the same college) and we are at the beach in North Carolina for the week. It's a little chilly, but oh so nice to be away. I brought 3 books and my kindle along thinking I'd sit and read, read, read. I did finish the one I was on and have started this month's read, but we're enjoying being together and playing games.

People thought I was nuts yesterday when they walked into the Journal office where I was working. But my thesis compares and contrasts two major cases, one from the US Federal Court system and one from the EU European Court of Human Rights. So I found it easier to write about each case separately. Now, I need to interweave the parts where they are similar so I can compare/contrast the arguments made. It just seemed easier to physically cut it up by section/argument with scissors and move stuff around, rather than scroll through a 50 page document and try to highlight, copy and paste what I needed. :)

Well my week has been okay. On Monday our TV died and we went shopping for a new one. Well $1,800 later, my hubby, Jason, has been playing, adjusting everything and learning all there is to know about it. It is a Sharp Aquano Quattro 60" LED HD TV. He needed to have bigger and better than the TV that died. Men??!! It has apps built in so we can watch Netflix directly through the TV. On Tuesday, our dog Simba had a diarreha problem so I stayed home with him on Wednesday to make sure he was better. And he is! Last night, Jason needed to go buy a sound bar (a long rectangular speaker) because the TV sounded like it was in an empty room. It sounded very hollow. So he had to hook it up and fiddle with that all night.

Today I am at work and I am the only one in the finance department. I had to box up some old records and started cleaning and organizing everything. I finished and ate lunch and read my kindle. Tonight my MIL is coming over for dinner and to visit. Tomorrow Jason is going snowmobiling with the guys so I have the day alone with Simba. I need to vacuum the house, read, knit and make some cards. Sounds like a wonderful and simple day. On Sunday, we are spending the day together by going out to the movies and an early dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse.

I'm glad you're having a nice week, Barbara. Our weather really brightened up earlier this week, but was pretty chilly today. Still coat weather!

Camille, I hate editing on my computer, so much scrolling! Totally understand. Sadly my ink still hasn't arrived so I'm attempting to do this right now.

Of course the new TV needs to be bigger and better! Men :P My parents had the same problem and had to get a new one last week. The good thing is that their record player can somehow hook up to the speakers via the TV so they can now use it after it being out of use since I was a toddler.

I had a nice weekend with Simon's family back in Edinburgh. On Friday night we ate at a Punjabi restaurant with his dad and stepmum - massive portions, at least for me. It was a bit nosy for my liking but still fun. Then on Saturday I got up early and worked on my essays, then we went for an early dinner with his mum and stepdad at a Chinese restaurant. We had an all-you-can-eat buffet and it was lovely - so many new things to try! Then we played games in the evening.

A bit stressful today - started with some lovely blueberry and banana pancakes, but when we went to get the bus back to St. Andrews it was full and didn't even stop for us! So Simon's dad drove us to the bus station so we could get on the next bus early. The buses are only hourly, so what should have been a 90 minute journey took three hours after all the waiting :/ so now we're sitting in my kitchen finishing our projects for tomorrow.

I'm praying that this week will be less chaotic!

This group has been really quiet this month - is everyone having a bit of a hectic month?

I'm here! I miss everyone too! :)

Yay! I'm officially on spring break as of 3pm tomorrow, so whether you guys like it or not I'm going to talk lots! LOL :P

Cool! Wow, I can't believe it's already time for your spring break. It feels like you just went back after the holidays. Where does time go???

I am here. It's hard for me to find something to chat about.

We've had classes straight for 7 weeks so I'm definitely in need of a break! Plus, the weather here is gorgeous right now, almost like summer. So hard to concentrate when it's like this. What's the weather State-side like?

I just got back to school from spring break this past weekend. Unfortunately I got a horrid flu which knocked me off my feet with a fever of 102 for several days. :( I was too sick to even read! :( But, I am over my fever, but not 100% so I go to school and then relax at home and get reading done. :) I am currently reading a Christian mystery book: Love Me If You Must by Nicole Young, and it has me so intrigued! I know it doesn't have phenomenal ratings, but I am seriously really enjoying it. Unless the book falls apart at the ending, I think this will be one of the more fantastic reads I have had in a while!

Rachel wrote: "We've had classes straight for 7 weeks so I'm definitely in need of a break! Plus, the weather here is gorgeous right now, almost like summer. So hard to concentrate when it's like this. What's the..."

Summer, what's that like??? It's been sooooo long. I live in Massachusetts and it has been unseasonably cold here for March. It has been between 35 to 45 degrees. It was warmer a couple of weeks ago and melted all of out 4 feet of snow. What a muddy mess! I cannot wait for some more spring-like temperatures.

Camille wrote: "I just got back to school from spring break this past weekend. Unfortunately I got a horrid flu which knocked me off my feet with a fever of 102 for several days. :( I was too sick to even read!..."

Sorry to hear you were sick! At least you did not miss a week's worth of classes. It still sucked. We have a wicked flu going around the bank here and two weeks ago we had half the people out sick. I got it very mildly but I passed it off to hubby who got sick on a Friday and did not go back to work until Thursday. He was super sick!

It is an unfortunate time for illness it sounds like. :( I hope you keep away from the bugs Diane!

It does seem like a lot of people have been ill lately, hope no one else gets sick! Camille, I hope you didn't miss too much work - I always find it takes me a while to catch up in lectures after I've been sick. Hopefully Diane's husband won't pass the bug on to her, sometimes it skips one person in the family but attacks everyone else!

I got back home on Friday night and have been spending some time with my family and making wedding plans! We've provisionally booked the church and hotel for Thursday the 5th of July 2012, very exciting! My mum wants to go look at some wedding dresses next week to get some ideas. She's going to design and make my dress but it's always good to try things on :)

Weather's still quite good over here, generally between 10 - 15 degrees celsius during the day, so 50 - 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Good for March :)

Hope everyone has a nice, illness-free week!

Wedding planning, how exciting! I bet you and your mom are truly enjoying some mother/daughter bonding time! :)

Yes, my hubby is all better now!

How wonderful that is that your Mom is making your wedding dress!!! That is something that you will treasure forever!

I have a friend who used the train from her wedding dress and had it made into a christening gown for her daughter. I thought that was creative but making a whole wedding dress, now that's ambitious! Kudos to Mom!

Does anyone out there remember a TV movie called (I think) "A Stoning in Fulham County"? The movie was shown about 12 years ago on "Lifetime." It is the story of an Amish family living in North Carolina whose buggy is stoned when the family is driving home from a neighbor's house. Their baby is struck in the head and killed. I would like to know if it might be available on DVD or, better yet, if the book upon which the story was based is available. I have checked all of the usual sources, including the "Lifetime" channel, but had no success. It's possible that I do not have the title correct. I would appreciate any information anyone might have.

Is this it?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096179/

I remember that movie -- Ron Perlman was in it.

That's it! Thanks.

We have all been so quiet lately, so I just wanted to say hello to everyone, and happy Friday! :) It should be a good evening for me as I am going to see this truly wonderful guy that I met a few weeks back! (Wish me luck!) :)

Ooh, is it a date? How exciting! Hope you had fun :)

Also, Happy Easter to everyone!

Happy Friday the 13th everybody! LOL!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be leaving tomorrow for a week's vacation in Lancaster, PA! I am so excited! I totally love that area (I feel in love with it before I starting reading Amish fiction).

I will not have computer access since we are camping. Rachel will be picking June's Amish and Christian fiction group reads on Sunday. Danke Rachel!

I'll be thinking of all of you when I am enjoying eating dinner at an Amish restaurant with Shoo Fly pie as my dessert!

I will be checking in here today until around 4-ish since I am at work today. But after that, I will talk you in a week!

i just saw online that May 8th through 14th is 'National Reading is Fun Week' yes i am alittle slow :} have good vacation Diane!

Happy Friday the 13th! :) Have fun Diane!

Hope you have a great trip, Diane! I'm going to be fairly busy over the next few days as my exams are on the 14th, 16th and 19th, but I trust you guys to behave nicely without constant supervision :) LOL.

Lisa, I did not know it was "National Reading is Fun Week"! Cool :)

When the cat is away the mice will play Rachel. ;)

I just got back from a vacataion in the Smoky Mtns. I went to an Amish Market and bought a couple of Amish cookbooks and some Amish pear butter and strawberry jelly.

Well I am back early from vacation; we actually came home on Tuesday evening. We left MA on Saturday morning and traveled in rain for almost the whole trip down to PA. It let up long enough for us to set up at the campground. It rained on and off for the rest of the day. On Sunday, we went to Hershey to go to Chocolate World and to Hollywood Casino. Again it rained on and off. After we came home from dinner, it poured non-stop until Monday morning. There was literally a river running through out camp site. On Monday, we headed out to Intercourse, PA and went shopping in Kitchen Kettle Village and all along route 340. The day was threatened by rain but held off until about 3:30. After seeing the news on Tuesday morning, which was predicting rain heavy at times with up to 2" of rain each day with local flooding until maybe Saturday, we decided to head home.

I was a little bummed but it was nasty with no hopes of being able to do any outdoor activities until the day we were planning on leaving. Besides, it was kind of tough on Simba (our 1 year old black lab) being stuck in the camper all day while we were out and not being able to go for a long walk when we got home. Plus it was getting a tough for me, hubby and Simba stuck inside a 21' camper all night long.

So yesterday we did some errands and made our way to Northampton, MA where I went shopping at Web's, a wonderful and popular yarn store that is HUGE! I got some sock yarn for me and some thick wool to make some warm socks for hubby. Plus I got a ball winder and an umbrella swift to help me wind my yarn. I love new toys! Then we found an all you can eat sushi buffet and went to the movies and saw Fast Five. It was pretty good and had lots of "eye candy!" Today we are hangng around the wet house (yes, it is raining here too until possibly Sunday). Hubby has to work on getting the pool filter ready for opening the pool and he is trying to fix the camper for some water problems around the bottom edge due to a poor moulding design. I was going to finish my socks, start another knitting project (not sure what though) and try and finish Seaside Cinderella (Love Inspired Historical). At least I don't have to go to work until Monday!

Patsy wrote: "I just got back from a vacataion in the Smoky Mtns. I went to an Amish Market and bought a couple of Amish cookbooks and some Amish pear butter and strawberry jelly."

Yum, I love apple butter! We went to Kitchen Kettle where the Amish make their own jams, jellies and relishes while we were in Intercourse, PA. We got apple butter, (2) sweet potato butters, blueberry pear butter, tomato and basil jam, rhubarb jam, blueberry jam, pickled beets and some local honey. Hubby and I love being those things!

Aww, Diane, that's a pity your holiday was struck by so much rain. If you're staying in a house when it's raining it's not so bad, but I imagine you get cabin fever in a campervan! Glad you got so nice yarn and food though, both sound lovely!

I had my last exam today so I'm officially finished for the summer! Currently hunting for a summer job. I've sent my CV to administrative temping agency to see if I can get some office work, and I have an interview in a few weeks for a call centre at the water board, so pray that all goes well!

Anyone have any Mennonite reads to recommend. We have quite a few in our area would like to read more about them.

I have read Simple Secrets by Nancy Mehl. There are also two more books in the series called Simple Deceit and Simple Choices. Plus I have seen The Narrow Path by Gail Sattler.

The books by Nancy Mehl that Diane mentioned are a great read. Some more Mennonite books are Hiding in Plain Sight by Amy Wallace, The Scent of Cherry Blossoms: A Romance from the Heart of Amish Country by Cindy Woodsmall, A Stranger's Gift by Anna Schmidt and Blessings byKim Vogel Sawyer. I know that I have read other Mennonite stories but those are just a few that I can think of at that moment.

Some more Mennonite books are The Mennonite Girl by Danielle Marie Linton, A Mennonite Woman in Two Worlds by Janet Runion Patton, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen, When Hope Blossoms byKim Vogel Sawyer