Tuesday, 17 July 2018

THE RELUCTANT GODFATHER...Blog Tour!!!


*happy sigh* Just LOOK at that cover. Isn't it just amazing? I have a thing for filigrees...and gold...and ahhhhh xD 

Aaaaanyway we gotta get onto the book and a ton of other fun stuff too. Ahem. Welcome to the second day of The Reluctant Godfather blog tour relaunch! If you've never been to my blog before, then welcome and greetings and hope you enjoy your visit! And to those who've been here before...welcome to you too and SO glad you came back!! 😁 Now! Onto the tour!! 


ABOUT THE BOOK

A humorous and magical re-telling of Cinderella from a unique perspective. 

Burndee is a young and cantankerous fairy godfather who would rather bake cakes than help humans. A disgrace to the fairy order, Burndee has only two wards entrusted to his care...a cinder girl and a charming prince. 

A royal ball presents Burndee with the brilliant solution of how to make his wards happy with the least amount of effort. He'll arrange a meeting and hope the two fall in love. 

The debut novella from Allison Tebo, The Reluctant Godfather is a new addition to the charming fairy tale tradition of Cameron Dokey and K. M. Shea 

You can find (and buy!!) The Reluctant Godfather on Amazon HERE or on Allison's website HERE

MY REVIEW

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This charming little novel is a retelling of the classic Cinderella story…but with a twist! I’ve read a lot of Cinderella retellings, but this one has got to be one of my favourites. It comes from a very unique point of view, not your typical retelling, that’s for sure! And the twist at the end! Ahhh! I mean, I’m *very* glad it happened, but still…totally wasn’t expecting that at all xD I'm not gonna reveal the twist cause DUH but hey, if you’re curious, you should go read it. *hint hint* Really though, I very much recommend this book to basically anyone and everyone! 

Oh yes and Burndee’s baking! *happy sigh* As a baker myself, I love love LOVE reading about any kind of baking in books :D And the wonderful author, Allison Tebo, not only did an awesome job with the characters and the plots and story telling, she did a marvellous job describing all that baking. Made me feel hungry yet strangely satisfied all at once ;)

My favourite character I think is a lot of people's favourite...but I mean, he's just AWESOME ok? And I think it might also have to do with the fact that you just don't normally see a fairy godfather in the Cinderella story. And let me tell you...he sure ain't the bubbly, bouncy, bippity boppity boo fairy godmother in Cinderella. If anything he's more like...the exact opposite. And yet somehow he's just as awesome...maybe even more awesome. Despite his cantankerousness (Is that a word??) he just had me laughing so much...he probably would've frowned on that but oh well. Burndee's just amazing, y'all. 

But I won't tell you ALL about him, otherwise it'd spoil the fun for you when you read it. So...obviously you know what I'm gonna say. 

Go read it!!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Allison Tebo is a Christian author in her mid-twenties who loves to write fiction in every genre. It is her goal to write fiction that appeals to many different kinds of people by writing clean, classic fun. Her desire is to provide quality stories for every age to enjoy. When she is not writing, Allison works as a sales associate for a major transportation company or might be found singing, painting, baking, or defending her championship title as Gif Master. 

Find her on social media! 

So today, I have the privilege and honour of interviewing the author herself....Allison Tebo! Shall we? πŸ˜‰

Welcome to the blog, Allison! So...how long have you been writing for and when did you discover your passion for writing? 
I've been writing for sixteen years. I originally started writing to imitate my big sister, who is also a writer--but almost immediately discovered that writing was something I loved to do. 

That's amazing! It's always so much fun when we discover passions of ours. Now let's talk about this novella of yours! What is your favourite part about The Reluctant Godfather and who's your favourite character? 
My favourite part about The Reluctant Godfather is that it makes people laugh. Even though I've read it so many times myself, it still makes me laugh. Laughter is such a gift, and to be able to give it to other people in the pages of a story is a blessing. My favourite character, at this point, would probably have to be Burndee--he is such a bundle of curmudgeonly insecurities and raw talent. A gruff, sarcastic mentor with a heart of gold. 

Yessss...Burndee is awesome. He just always had me laughing! Ok so slightly random question, but I tried to tie it into writing. What's your favourite food to snack on while you're writing?
I try not to eat TOO much while I write -- but I love to reward myself with some chocolate. I occasionally munch on popcorn or slurp on ice cream. 

Chocolate 😍That's all I'm gonna say on that certain topic xD Where do you find is the best place for you to write?
Either my desk in my bedroom or on the living room computer. I am very picky about where I write and once I get accustomed to working in a certain place, it's difficult for me to write anywhere else. 

Now for that one question where you just reveal some awesome amazing advice πŸ˜‰ What would you say to anyone aspiring to be a writer?
Don't rush into publication! A writer isn't necessarily the same thing as an author. Just because some publish doesn't mean you have to. If publishing is in your future--then I would advise you wait. Maturity will only enrich your writing to where it needs to be for publication and prepare you better for being a published author. Nothing in the world can replace experience--not only in honing your craft, but in living your life. Nothing can replicate the maturing that comes only through time. Just like a connoisseur waits for wine to age, the same truth applies to writers. 

There. See? Told ya. Awesome amazing advice. And totally relevant to life in general as well! Thank you so much for the interview!! ^_^ 

GIVEAWAY

Surely you didn't think we weren't going to have a giveaway too did you? This tour has it ALL, I'm telling ya! And ahhh would you just look at these amazing prizes??


All you gotta do is enter in the Rafflecopter below πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡ and you're good to go! The giveaway is only open for another 10 days so hurry and sign up! 


And just another pic of the prizes because they're just that awesome 😁

That about wraps up my post for today! But...the party doesn't end here! You can check out Alli's blog here: Allison's Well for more posts and fun stuff from her. And here's a schedule so you can follow the blog tour the next few days! 

Sunday, July 15th:
Introduction // Kellyn Roth @ Reveries
Review // Olivia R. @ Meanwhile, in Rivendell ...
Monday, July 16th:
Book Spotlight // Gabriellyn @ PageTurners
Tuesday, July 17th:
Review & Author Interview // Chloe @ Purely by Faith
Wednesday, July 18th:
Author Interview // Kimia Wood Blog
Thursday, July 19th:
Book Spotlight // Serethiel @ The Book Sprite
Friday, July 20th:
Book Spotlight // Angela R. Watts @ The Peculiar Messenger
Saturday, July 21st:
Author Interview & Book Spotlight // Victoria Lynn @ Ruffles and Grace
Sunday, July 22nd:
Review // Kimia Wood Blog
Monday, July 23rd:
Book Spotlight // Hannah @ H.S.J. Williams
Tuesday, July 24th:
Review // Rayleigh @ Literature Approved
Wednesday, July 25th:
Author Interview // Medomfo @ Writings From a God Girl
Thursday, July 26th:
Character Interview // Angela R. Watts @ The Peculiar Messenger
Friday, July 27th:
Review // Jessica Greyson
Review // Gracelyn Buckner @ Literatura
Saturday, July 28th:
Book Spotlight // Erika Mathews @ Resting Life
Wrapup // Kellyn Roth @ Reveries

Tuesday, 10 July 2018

A Grizzly Bear Brunette Really

Ok ok here's the picture you've been asking for. Apologies for not posting it in my previous post...but I did have a reason! The look was supposed to be a surprise for my friend and if she saw it on my blog...well obviously that wouldn't work very well xD 

But voila here's the three-quarters "grizzly bear" me!




Wednesday, 27 June 2018

My Very Hairy Adventure

Ok that title sounds kinda off. But oh well. I made the mistake of having a cappuccino at like 7pm last night and I only had around 6 hours of sleep. My mind is a liiiiitle wonky. (ask my friend...I think she mighta thought I was going mental or something ;)) So just a warning...this post is going to sound VERY scatter-brained. You all get to have a taste of what I'm like with too much coffee and too little sleep ;)

Anyway! Onto this very interesting "adventure".  First off, I should probably say, I rarely ever go to a salon to get my hair cut. The last time I went I think was around 6 years ago? But Mom or my sister normally just cut it and there done. However, this time around, since we were in Singapore, Mom thought it would be a good idea to get it cut here. So I did.

Oh yeah, so have I ever told you all of the first (and so far only) time I donated my hair? I was 6 at the time and Mom did my worst nightmare. She made a mistake and my hair ended up at my chin. MY CHIN. That was a very scarring experience...I'm scared every time scissors come near my head now.

So what happened when I went into that salon? Well...I understood less than half of what the hairdressers were saying. They were speaking English, but Singaporeans have well - a very Singaporean accent and I can't understand it. They also don't understand me. Don't believe it? Here's what happened at a bakery we were at a couple days ago.

Me: May I have the pork floss please?
Them: Peanut butter?
Me: Nooo...floss
Them: KAYA??
Me: help

So there. Aaaanyway, when I realized I couldn't understand barely any of what they were saying, I was starting to freak out. I mean, what if they cut off too much? I only wanted to trim it since I'm trying to grow it out. I started to back out...but Mom really wanted me to get my hair cut there. So I sent up a quick prayer and went in.

The minute I sat down in the chair and let my hair out, the hairdresser's eyes just about popped out and this time I understood what he said. "Wow. That's...long" (And in my head I was just going "yep! it's long! I want to keep it that way!!!!)

Then he started playing with my hair (which feels perfectly horrid just staying. I mean, a strange man feeling my hair and looking at it and YEAH). Anyway, he commented again on how long it was and then said something about layers and he made an indication about where he was gonna cut it and I nearly died. I don't remember much of the conversation following,  but I know that I stressed over and over AND OVER again that I wanted to keep it long. "just trim it" "keep it long" "LONG layers" "long" "long" "LONG"

And then the dreaded moment came. The scissors went snip and I closed my eyes and reminded myself "Don't worry. Hair grows back. It'll grow back. It. Will. Grow. Back."

I finally found the courage to open my eyes...and there was the smallest little bit of hair on the ground. *happy sigh* Seriously...by the time he was done, my hair looked like it hadn't even been touched xD I mean, the dead ends were gone...but the length was there! YIPPEEEEEEE (yeah yeah yeah, you all probably think I'm crazy :P)

Oh yeahh and also some funny things I also observed at the salon. So when your hair is long:
// people keep saying how long it is

// your hair fills the entire sink (and they comment again on how long it is xD)

// the guy washing your hair takes several pumps of shampoo and starts to rub it in...then realizes he's gonna need waaaay more

// it takes TWO guys to blow dry your hair (i just about died laughing when this happened)



Oh yeah. And guess what? I'M A BRUNETTE.

Kinda. Because yeah. I was being super adventurous and ended up going into TWO salons in one day. So basically, a few weeks ago, Mom thought it would be fun if I got highlights. I was a little skeptical of it at first, but finally decided to give it a try. So after I got my hair cut, we found a salon and in I went.

You all. I came out looking like a brunette.

It was supposed to be black with brown highlights. Instead...it looked waaay more like brown with black highlights.

Hehe soooo remember that little fiasco where I stressed long layers? Oops...not the best for highlights. Anyway, not the highlights I was looking for. Instead of highlighting the nonexistent layers...he streaked the top....and then pretty much dyed my entire bottom half brown. I will say, it's a very nice brown and a natural brown at that...but STILL. I'm still in disbelief about my "highlights". I think I do like it...but I doubt I'd ever do this again. Really...every time I see my hair I just keep going "IT'S BROWN"

So yeah! That happened this week. How has your week gone? πŸ˜„

Thursday, 31 May 2018

Filters, Heights, and Sushi Trains

Hello again! A lot has happened in the past ten days so that blog title isn't quite right as it doesn't nearly sum up all the stuff that is actually in this post. But oh well...Here goes! 

// Does anyone have the Facebook app on their phone? Maybe you know of this, maybe you don't, but Facebook now has these very fun filters which is SO much fun to use, especially on little people. Although...I did show my grand uncle and grandfather the filters and then we had a bunch of fun trying it out on all of us xD I've been using it a lot on Sweet Pea as she loves seeing herself as little animals. Prepare yourself for a flood of adorableness ;) 











 // Swimming! An essential really for us in Singapore. If we didn't have access to a pool I think we'd be long gone by now :P But thank goodness, our granduncle has not one, but TWO (not including the kiddie pool) pools that we have access to at the apartment! Been spending quite a bit of time there 😊

 // Gems. Like actually, these cookies are called gems. And they're soooo good. It's pretty much a tiny little biscuit with some kind of icing on it. Sweet but delicious!

 // Stationary stores. The past little while we've been in Singapore, I've been doing a lot of drawings (might be able to post them later!) and my aunt thought it would be a great idea to go to some stationary stores. They're AWESOME. We've been to ArtFriend, Typo, Smiggles, Muji...the list goes on. And they've got some pretty fun stuff there. I'm probably gonna grab some stuff on the way home because once I get back home...T-two months until college 😢😭😊

Look. At. All. Those. Pens 😢

// First trip out alone! So...as most of you probably know...we're kiiinda country folk so yep us in Singapore is pretty much the story of the country mouse and the city mouse. Travelling on a bus might seem totally normal to some...but not to us xD T'was quite the adventure and we were VERY happy to find ourselves at the right place and not lost! Celebrated with Starbucks :D

// Brought everyone out swimming and then picked up some ice cream later. Toblerone loved it so much he was quick to tell me his plans for our next outing. "Next time we go swimming...let's get ice cream again ok?"


 // Malaysia. We took a weekend trip to Melaca and visited some quite interesting places! And the pool at the hotel 😍


 At the shopping mall πŸ’œ


 The two older boys had an allergic reaction one of the nights in Malaysia, so I slept with Sweet Pea and Toblerone. Oh boyyyyy...the child woke up about every hour and a half and the other kept rolling into my bed. And goodness gracious if you could've seen Sweet Pea's face when she realized I wasn't  Mom xD (yes, she still nurses! :P) 

We also took a river cruise but whilst waiting for the boat we thought we saw an alligator in the river. Our tour guide assured us that there were no alligators. So we went. 

And saw this. Not an alligator true...but still...a relative xD 

Also...driving in Singapore is a nightmare. In Malaysia...AHHHH xD It's about as big as a two lane road in Canada, but here there are cars parked on both sides with cars driving down the middle AND motorcycles and bicyclists weaving in and out. One motorcyclist actually got so close she fell against the bus we were in and had to push herself off to regain her balance. 

// Sushi!! Soooo good and made even more fun because it was delivered to us by these super cool trains! I think I had just as much fun as the younger ones watching the trains speed by with food :D 

Crabstick Salad Sushi...A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
(my mouth is literally watering just seeing this picture)

 // Back on laundry duty! I normally do the laundry at home and just started doing it again here. Except it's different. For one, they don't have dryers because it just makes more econmical sense to hang the clothes outside to dry. It's so warm anyway.

 But in apartments...*shudders* It makes my skin crawl every time I look down.

 // Deja vu!
2014

2018
 // Dare Devil's 7th birthday! We celebrated with this p.r.e.t.t.y awesome Transformers cake that my grand uncle and grant aunt bought for him.


That about sums it up for now! 2.5 weeks gone...4.5 weeks to go! :D

Monday, 21 May 2018

Greetings from Halfway Across the World...

Hello again! Been awhile since I posted again..aghhh I'm trying to keep up but yeahhh. This time, I'm writing in a very warm, very humid country that is almost half way across the world from home. Imagine this. 12 C degree weather in Canada...(oh beautiful cold) to - near 40 C degrees. It's a wonder I haven't already melted into a huge puddle xD 


Not sure how much I'll be able to blog, but I suddenly have a ton of time on my hands. Like...wowzers. From juggling a full-time job, school, and everything in between that to...basically nothing is quite an experience. We'll probably get a lot busier later on once we visit people and stuff, but for now, we're just trying to recover from the flight.

Strangely enough, all three times we've gone to Singapore in the past 6 years, we've always had a kid that was around 1. So yep. 8 kids and two adults (mom and my grandfather - dad's gonna join us later on) on a plane for roughtly 15 hours. And then transferring to fly for another 4-5 hours. 😴
Our first flight
So actually...Sweet Pea wasn't as bad as we thought she was gonna be. Quite proud of her actually. She had a few hyper moments (too many M&M's given to her by yours truly xD) and a couple tantrums, but then again, she IS only 18 months. So all in all, I'd say she did a pretty good job considering she had to stay in the same place for over 15 hours. 
Trying to maintain sanity...almost there...
These two got together fairly well, although sleeping next to Toblerone...ughhh. He kept kicking me in the ribs :P

We finally reached Singapore (after a stop at Taiwan where we sat for a couple hours in a vividly pink Hello Kitty sitting station thing. It was SO pink xD) then tried not to die stepping outside the airport. The humidity was oh my goodness. It was like you could feel the water in the air. Once we reached the apartment, we piled in, ate some snacks and then - the jetlag hit. The past few nights for me are basically summed up in these quotes:




Thank goodness for the pools though! They really help to cool down.

Being our typical crazy selves, we decided to make a train on the kiddie slide. So yep! All eight of us piled onto that slide. Took a little longer than it probably should've, but we did it! Proof below xD

Aaaaannnd yeah...the girls' hair has not gone too well with the humidity and heat. Sweet Pea's hair is finally growing out and getting longer but yeahh. Her bed head is hilarious xD

And my hair...let's just say I think it's been trying to go for a Mother Gothel look lately.

That's it for now, but hopefully I'll be able to post more updates on our trip later on! How are your summers going? Finally summer weather or is the spring-winter-summer-all-at-the-same-time thing still going on? xD 

Tuesday, 24 April 2018

WCTH....

There are rumours floating around on When Calls the Heart...someone tell me they're not true 😢

Saturday, 14 April 2018

Catching Up

As I write this, I am seriously wondering whether I will even be able to post this after I finish. My timing is pretty awful honestly. I've been thinking about writing a blog post the past few weeks and the day I finally sit down to write...is in the middle of an ice storm. So yeah. Let's see how long my wifi lasts and if it'll even let me post by the time I finish :P

At this point of time, I think I'm about to blow up at anyone who says to me that homeschoolers literally just stay at home all day and don't have a social life or friends or that they play all day and have extremely flexible schedules and blah blah blah. Literally. I do not. I've started working full time at Tim Hortons, but since I want to try and have the rest of the day to do other things, I work in the morning. At either 5 or 6 in the morning. Which means I'll be waking up 4 or 5 in the morning. So a normal day will be waking up at 4 (or 5) then working until 1pm, then coming home. The only problem with me waking up so early is that I NEED a nap, otherwise I'm an absolute bear the rest of the day. Ask my family. But life still goes on, work or not. Once a week visits with a lady at church, babysitting in the afternoon, youth at night, etc. So YES. In case you're asking. I'm tired. I'm also struggling with finding time with my devotions since my whole morning is gone. So if y'all have any advice I'll glady take it. Also...may I just say...smiling at work has gotten harder. There's so much swearing. I mean, come on people! You DO know that you'd say what you wanted to say faster if it wasn't swearing every other word right? And my biggest fear with hearing all of this for 7-8 hours a day is that the words just swirl around and around in my head and I'm afraid of saying something accidentally. Let's just say I've been trying to guard my words as much as possible lately. And all the gossip...they've had something bad to say about pretty much every single worker at Tim Hortons. Sometimes I wonder if they make things up just so they have something to talk about.

*takes a deep breath* Ok I'll stop ranting now. Sorry xD The blessing...ok so even though it's hard, yes it's a huge blessing that I get to work at Tim Hortons and under the boss I have too. All the workers complain about her or have snide remarks about her but I like her. I think she's pretty amazing and sooo flexible and very fair and friendly and nice and as my first boss, I think I'm pretty blessed.

More blessings from the past few weeks...definitely my family! They've been pretty patient with grumpy old me which I sometimes take for granted but realize it's not just anyone who would still love me even though I'm in tears over the silliest things or mad at something stupid or...I think you get the point.

Oh! I also got accepted into the college I applied to and I'll, Lord willing, be attending there this coming September. I'm also moving onto campus so...yeah. I'm foreseeing a LOT of tears in the near future xD

We also celebrated my dad's birthday and managed to find the exact number of candles for his cake. The cake kiiiiinda looked like it was on fire xD But it was a delicious cake. Then...Dad got a birthday surprise none of us was expecting. So you know how baseball players slide to a plate? Well! That's what Toblerone decided to try doing. Except he slid into a chair. And banged his head. And put a massive gash right above his eyebrow. Lots and lots of blood. We ended up having to bring him to the ER and he got three stitches. Boys...


Ooohhhh...and I managed to throw together a dish for my Italian cooking class in less than 40 minutes AND without making a massive mess or using too many dishes. Might not sound like much but it's kind of a bit accomplishment for me cause me and cooking is...yeahhhhh xD 


Oh yeah and this ice storm I mentioned earlier? Apparently, it could very possibly rival the ice storm we had in 2013...and that was BAD. So yeahhh hopefully our house doesn't turn into a positive igloo by tomorrow. 

Anywayyy...my siblings are wanting to watch a movie with me so I shall see you all later! How's the weather where you all are? Do you have an actual spring or is it still winter for you? (can you imagine teaching younger children seasons? Imagine if they wondered why it was called spring even though it looked like winter outside...) (also I've been so tired lately I thought "prove" was spelled "proove" and the Statue of Liberty was British :P)