Lots of Shirley's!

Today is my birthday! Happy to me!

Here I am through the ages, starting with first grade in the upper left hand corner. (Awwww!)

Then view the model quality images left to right until you reach my 5th grade picture on the far left of the middle row. I distinctly remember being proud of my beautiful hair that day because I styled it myself. When I tied that bow around my head, I just knew I was worthy of inclusion in a Disney princess lineup.

On to the 8th grade picture on the far right, middle row.

After that, MY 9th GRADE PICTURE WITH THE BLUE EYESHADOW IS MISSING! (Did I sluff that year? Probably.)

The next item to note is that the short hair picture in the red shirt (Junior year), and the long hair picture in the white vest and blue collar (

Sophomore year), are reversed. 

I really don't know how to pull hair out of my head to make it grow that fast in one year. 

You might also note that with short hair cut so closely to my round face, I resemble a bowling ball with a neck.

Then we have the GRAND FINALE Senior picture in blue feathers. BLUE FEATHERS, PEOPLE!

I had arrived at adulthood and they put me in blue feathers.

Yeah, employers are going to take THAT seriously on a resume.

"I know how to smile in a blue feather shawl without sneezing."

"YOU'RE HIRED!"

Do you remember your Senior pictures?

Was it a good day?

Birthday Surprise!

I don't know if I posted this last year...but it's worth a re-post even if I did!

When I came home from work on my birthday last year (2016) I found HAPPY NOTES and FLOWERS by my bedroom door! It lifted my spirits and made me smile! Thanks for the love, people!
How do you like to show love?
How do you like to receive it?

Carve Me A Melody by Rachelle Christensen!

My friend, RACHELLE CHRISTENSEN, is taking over writing my blog today!

Here is her exciting message:

Today is my book birthday and this is a very special day indeed! I am thrilled to introduce you to my 19th book baby, Carve Me a Melody.

I absolutely adore this cover capturing the essence of this novel. This book continues Leland's story from The Soldier's Bride. I had so many readers say that they wanted to know more about Leland and I'm so pleased to deliver this story!
Carve Me a Melody is available on all digital platforms, here's a universal link: https://books2read.com/u/bWKa07

It's also available in a special edition hardcover here.
I have a special launch giveaway too! You can enter to win one of three ebook copies of the first book in the series, The Soldier's Bride. Check out the rafflecopter giveaway below, but first, here's more about Carve Me a Melody.

From the award-winning author of the bestselling novel The Soldier’s Bride read the story of a carpenter who gave a music box to a young polio victim, but held the magic of the melody inside his heart.

He hesitated only half a second before lowering his head. There was something there, behind his eyes, in his soul. Something that seemed familiar to Sophie. She didn’t know Leland, but she recognized that haunted look in his eyes. He had lost someone. He had weathered the storm and still manned his ship, sailing forward through life.

Book blurb:

World War II has ended but the scars of the war have carved deep grooves in Sophie Wright’s heart. Now a widow with two young children, she returns home to Aspen Falls and meets Leland Halverson, a handsome carpenter who appears interested in her, but afraid of a relationship. 

Leland wishes he was worthy of the beautiful Sophie, and he adores her two children, but his past still haunts him. Sophie knows that Leland fell apart after his little girl died and his wife left him, but she doesn’t know the real reason why.

Meanwhile, David Alexander, a decorated bomber pilot has returned to Aspen Falls, and Sophie catches his eye. Confused by the two vastly different choices of men, Sophie searches for answers from a heart that has betrayed her before.

When Sophie discovers a message inside a music box that Leland once owned, the pieces start to fit together. The enchanting melody urges her to share the secrets of her heart so that she can understand his. Leland knows the tune from the music box well and if he can find the courage, he’ll carve a melody for Sophie from the solid wood surrounding his heart.

About the Author

Rachelle is a mother of five who writes mystery/suspense, nonfiction, and women’s fiction. She solves the case of the missing shoe on a daily basis. She enjoys raising chickens and laughing with her husband. She graduated cum laude from Utah State University with a degree in psychology and a minor in music.

Rachelle is the award-winning author of over a dozen books, including The Soldier’s Bride (a Kindle Scout Selection & Whitney Award Finalist), Diamond Rings Are Deadly Things, Veils and Vengeance, Proposals and Poison, Hawaiian Masquerade, What Every 6^th Grader Needs to Know, and Christmas Kisses: An Echo Ridge Anthology. Her novella, “Silver Cascade Secrets,” was included in the Rone Award–winning Timeless Romance Anthology, Fall Collection.

Join Rachelle’s VIP mailing list to learn more about upcoming books & get your free book at www.rachellechristensen.com

Social Media Links

My Facebook Author Page http://www.facebook.com/rachellechristensenauthor
http://twitter.com/rachellewrites

Blog http://rachellewrites.blogspot.com/
Author Website http://rachellechristensen.com/

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3327139.Rachelle_J_Christensen
Bookbub Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rachelle-j-christensen

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rachellewrites/

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/101819706450209399973

Direct links to all of your favorite ebook stores that carry Carve Me a Melody

iBooks

Nook

Kobo

More here: https://books2read.com/u/bWKa07

Enter to win one of three copies of the ebook, The Soldier's Bride, book #1 in the Music Box Romance series, Kindle Scout Winner & Whitney Award Finalist.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WHAT IS THAT?

I found this mysterious photo on my phone.

I don't remember taking it.

Is that a giant finger?

Or a glazed loaf of bread?

Some kind of fat worm?

Or a wrinkly bald head?

Whatever it is, it was probably taken by mistake (or by mysterious forces) and to this author's mind, looks worthy of writing something spooky or wonder-inspiring.

What does it bring up in YOUR imagination?

Southern Utah Pyramid

There was no field of white spread out below this pyramid when I took the picture. It looks like a span of quartz, or a hillside of snow or ice or solar panels. Or snake scales. Or sheets of shiny paper laid out side by side. (What does it look like to you?)

 In my un predictable phone camera, I also found a picture without the mysterious white sheeting. As I gazed out the window at the mountain range south of Enterprise, Utah, I was sure I saw a pyramid on the skyline. (Perhaps I've watched too many episodes of "Mummy," but it sure looks like a pyramid to me!)

What else could it be?

Silly Anderson Children with Blue Eyes!

Oh my gosh! Did someone say, "Make a silly pose?"

 I'm sure they didn't say it again... did they? The six Dell B Anderson children who got together in April just didn't want to stop having fun... 

 (Look out! We have more fun with all of us, if you can believe it, with Shirley on the left -that's me!- then Gregory, Melinda, DellRay, Rebecca, and Carolyn. Beverly and Loraine weren't there. We missed them!)

AND, since Melinda's never been in a blue-eyed Anderson kid line-up, we HAD to take another one of those! (Not only do we share a strong family resemblance, but all eight of us Anderson children have blue eyes of varying shades. Maybe we're secretly mer-kids, with water-colored eyes.)

What color are your beautiful eyes?

Cousin Bryce from Fargo!

I was at a family gathering last weekend... (or was it the weekend before...?) Well, it wasn't too long ago, not as long ago as when I last saw my cousin, Bryce, who currently lives on the windy, cold plains of Fargo, North Dakota!

Bryce himself told me that he wondered how humans even thought of settling in Fargo in the first place. "How is it even a place?" he asked me.

I didn't know.

 (See his beard? It's a survival thing. I suppose that his wife has to wear a ski mask made of polar bear fur in order to make it through the winter without losing her nose to frostbite.)

I am a child of the oldest sibling, who is 20 years older than Bryce's dad in the family lineup, so our ages are pretty far apart, but our reunion was quite welcome, with good conversation, warm hugs, and comforting food.

Here is Bryce's dad (my uncle's) artistic plate.

(When I tried to get a picture of my uncle, perhaps with strings of spaghetti trailing down his chin, all I got was a talk-to-the-hand gesture!)

Do you have any seldom-seen family members? (Perhaps ones that you really don't want to go muck-lucking through snow up to your eyebrows to visit, so you wait for them to come to you?)

Who are they?

 Where do they live?

(On a tropical island, perchance, drinking coconut milk and ready with an extra large beach towel for your visit?)