Author Archives: Maggie @ macarons & paperbacks

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 6

Posted in Faith, Holidays by

thankfulnessToday I am thankful for forgiveness.

Yesterday I did something (or didn’t do something) that I felt really bad about, and this morning started off awfully because of it. I had already apologized, but the problem was that I couldn’t forgive myself. Fortunately, God is always able to forgive.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” [Ephesians 1:7]

I can’t think of anything that feels better than forgiveness. Whether we’re forgiving others or being forgiven ourselves, the act of forgiveness feels like a huge weight being lifted off of our shoulders. Which is exactly how I felt after finally forgiving myself today :)

Thank God for forgiveness!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 5

Posted in Faith, France, Holidays by

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“Always [give] thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Ephesians 5:20]

Today I am thankful for community.

The student ministry (Remix) that we’re involved with here really emphasizes community, and we try to spend lots of time with each other to deepen our relationships and strengthen our community. That is why tonight our men’s and women’s small groups went to play laser tag!!! Oh my goodness, we had a blast! Not only was it at the best laser tag center I’ve been to, but we were all able to bond and connect through playing with each other :)

I thank God that He has brought us here; that we are blessed with our friendships here in France and that we have found a wonderful community. And also I’m thankful for laser tag ;)

Is there something you’re feeling thankful for today?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Character Names

Posted in Novels by

toptentuesdayThe actual topic for today is “10 Sequels You Can’t Wait to Get Your Hands On” but I honestly don’t think I know enough ongoing series to make a complete list…and I also wanted to do this one that was a topic in October:

Top Ten Character Names That I Love

I love character names. Sometimes having an awesome name makes me enjoy a character and the book he/she is in even more. And also, whenever I’m writing something (which is not too often…) I put a ton of meaning into the character names; to me it’s a subtle way of reinforcing a theme I want the story to have.

So here is my list of favorite character names (not in any particular order):

  1. James Matthew “Jem” Blythe (Anne of Green Gables series): this one is in a particular order. It’s my favorite. I have always adored Jem’s name, ever since I was a little girl reading this series for the first time.
  2. Peeta Mellark (Hunger Games series): besides the fact that I love Peeta, I like his name because of its originality…and ok, it sounds like “pita,” which fits our beloved baker perfectly ;)
  3. Captain Frederick Wentworth (Persuasion): Wentworth is such a lovely name…I think one of the characters said it best when she said, “‘Lady Wentworth’ sounds very well. That would be a noble thing, indeed…”
  4. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice): continuing with Jane Austen heroes, who doesn’t love ‘Darcy’ as a name? To me, it’s one of those names that speaks for itself, as if I could easily tell someone with that name, “Oh yes, you look like a Darcy.” (side note: I also believe that I look like a Maggie)
  5. Phineas (A Separate Peace): this is one of those names that I love so much, I would want to give it to my future son. Alas, my husband does not agree, so maybe I will just have to be content naming Sims Phineas or Finn ;)
  6. Robin Hood: not only do I love Robin Hood, I also love his name. Robin by itself is ok…but Robin Hood just makes it sound so much more legendary.
  7. Sirius Black (Harry Potter series): now I’m starting to wonder if this list is about character names that I love or just characters that I love who also have amazing names. Anyway, Sirius is a perfect name for this character (who happens to be my favorite HP character, along with Ginny Weasley).
  8. Madeline (from the Madeline books): I honestly don’t know why I love this name so much, but I was so upset for the longest time when I found out my husband does not like it (therefore our future daughter could never be named that)! I also love lots of variations of this name (like Madelynn, which is what I named my Stegosaurus Build-a-Bear).
  9. Bagheera (The Jungle Book): I just love saying this name…or, I should say that I love shouting this name, because you can’t just whisper it, you have to shout it like Baloo does in the Disney movie: “Baaaagheeeeeeeeerrrraaaaaaaa!” That’s me, every time.
  10. John Keats (the poet): this is not a character name, but I have always adored the name “Keats”. I wish I knew someone with that name in real life :)

If I could have made this list longer, there would definitely have been some Shakespearean and Dickensian character names in there. What are some of your favorite character names?

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 4

Posted in Faith, France, Holidays by

thankfulnessAs I sit here in my apartment on this rainy autumn afternoon, I can’t help but be thankful for all of God’s provision for my family since we moved to France nearly two years ago (which blows my mind to think that we’ve been married and France-dwelling for almost two years now!). God is the ultimate provider, and as I reflect upon all the things He has provided me with, I realize just how blessed I am.

Our apartment, our jobs, food, clothing, and good health–these are just a few of the many, many things my husband and I are blessed with. And I am very thankful that God loves His people and that He provides for our every need.

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Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 3

Posted in Faith, Holidays by

thankfulnessThis afternoon I am thankful for rest. Last night I stayed up very, very late to watch my Alma Mater’s football team (FSU!) play Miami. Needless to say, after only getting a few hours of sleep afterwards, I was rather sleepy by the time noon came around, and I decided to follow up lunch with a nap. Now normally I avoid naps at all cost, not because I don’t like them, but because I’m one of those people who just feels absolutely awful after taking one, whether it’s a 20 minute cat nap or a 3 hour siesta.

But today was not the case. Today I embraced that precious nap and now I am awake enough to be writing this blog post!

But this reminded me of how essential God’s rest is in our lives, and I also feel convicted for not seeking His rest and comfort over the temporary and fleeting comforts of the world.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” [Matthew 11:28]

Being a very independent person (something that most Americans are in general) I often find myself denying my need for God’s rest. But not only is he able to give me rest, He wants to. He wants to take up my burdens and rejuvenate my weary soul. He wants to comfort me after a trying day. He wants to reassure me and give me that extra boost of energy when I feel like “I just can’t go on.” God wants to because He loves me.

So that is why today I am thankful for rest :)

What do you feel thankful for today?

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 2

Posted in Faith, France, Holidays by

thankfulness“Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” [Ephesians 5:18-21]

Today I am thankful for new friends. This morning, Matt and I spent some time with an American couple who just moved here from California. They’re here for the next two years to help out with the student ministry we’re involved with, Remix, and we wanted to show them around Grenoble a little bit. We didn’t do anything special; we walked around the farmers’ market, went to FNAC, showed them one of our favorite (free) museums, and ate lunch together. But it was really nice for us to connect with them, and it turns out we have quite a few interests in common! Mainly some geeky things, like Back to the Future, Battlestar Galactica…Meet the Robinsons (most underrated Disney movie in my opinion)! So, yeah, I’m thankful for making new friends :)

What are you thankful for today?

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 1

Posted in Faith, France, Holidays, Work by

thankfulnessI saw this post from one of the bloggers I follow and was instantly inspired to write my own “30 Days of Thankfulness” posts :)

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year, and one of the reasons why is because we’re encouraged to celebrate all of the things we are thankful for (and I love being thankful for things). In fact, this is something we should do daily:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]

Therefore, during the month of November I will take each day to thank God for a specific thing that I am thankful for, and I encourage you to do the same!

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Today I am thankful for my job. These past couple of months have not been easy as I have been adjusting to my new job (one I never thought I’d ever have), but God has been really helping me become a better teacher. He’s giving me confidence in myself, patience with my students, and an earnest desire to see them learn. I have been asking Him to help me with that last one especially, because I don’t want to see this as “just a job.”

These last two weeks France has been on vacation, and I have had two different week-long vacation classes. This week I had a class of 4 very bright, very joyful little girls (THAT was a blessing in itself. Girls are so much easier and calmer than boys). I enjoyed teaching them so much that at the end of the week it made me sad to think I wouldn’t have them in my class anymore :( but I am thankful for my job and for moments like this, when my students bring me “presents”:

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What are you thankful for today?

Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween Reading

Posted in Holidays, Novels by

toptentuesdayI’ve seen this meme from The Broke and the Bookish quite frequently on several of the bookish blogs I follow, and I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon. I only wish I had done so sooner because the past two memes I would have loved to answer! I think I’ll still do them though, maybe for the next two meme questions which don’t strike my fancy as much :)

So without further ado, here is my post for the Top Ten Best Books To Read During Halloween (in no particular order):

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  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – I love the gothic elements in this novel, and it is guaranteed to freak you out if you’re like me and find yourself reading until the wee hours of the morning.
  • The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe – I first read this short story in 8th grade and it is still freaks me out just thinking about what the main character does at the end (no spoilers from me)! If you love books and themes that involve disguises, then check this one out.
  • The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe – Poe is the master of short stories, especially gothic ones. I would recommend any of his works for Halloween reading, but this one is full of creepy imagery.

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  • Macbeth by Shakespeare – This is what I am currently reading, and it definitely fits the Halloween atmosphere with its witches, murder, and ghosts. And it also revolves around the theme of “nothing is as it appears.”
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling – To me, this is the most Halloween-ish of the Harry Potter books. There is lots of mystery and suspense, as well as other dark gothic elements. I love the film version of this movie as well, especially how everything seems to have this foggy grey filter.
  • A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner – (I picked a French cover for this one because the English one was wayyy to creepy) this is (so far) the only thing I’ve read by William Faulkner that I actually like, and that may be because of how it is written. There are no 10-page long sentences! And I do love the suspense he creates.

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  • The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell – Another short story I was introduced to in the 8th grade (I had an amazing English teacher!). The premise: being hunted (literally) by a psychopath.
  • Dracula by Bram Stoker – A classic. I don’t know if I need to say more about why this is on my list.
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – Another classic, but this one surprised me when I first read it in 12th grade. I enjoyed it a lot more than most of my peers did at the time. Fun fact: Shelley originally wrote this for a horror story competition she was having with some friends, including her husband Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.
  • The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne – Ok, so half of these entries are short stories, but I love short stories! This one has a great moral and a climactic ending.

What are some of your favorite spooky reads?

Autumn Landscapes

Posted in France by

IMG_4314 I just love the mountains that surround our home. There’s a saying about Grenoble: Everytime you turn a corner you can see the mountains at the end of the street. Ok, that was a really bad paraphrase, but it’s true. We’re surrounded by three different mountain ranges: the Belledonne (pictured here), the Chartreuse, and the Vercors. Some people don’t like Grenoble because the mountains can make them feel closed in, but I completely disagree. Being from Florida, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing these gorgeous juts of rock every time I go outside. And now as the trees continue changing color, the mountains become prettier and prettier! They are definitely at their prettiest in the wintertime, but autumn is a nice view too :) The skies were clear and the magic hour lighting was perfect this afternoon so I just had to run outside to snap a few pictures to brag about show everyone. So far it has been a warm autumn, but the trees are making up for it by looking like this: IMG_4317 Hope your little corner of the world is looking beautiful, whether you’re enjoying the autumn or the springtime!

Disney Dates: Beauty and the Beast

Posted in Disney, Married Life by

16e076e56aacf18bb2b727de1bca00b3My husband and I are huge Disney fans, and Disney has always been a major theme in our relationship: the first time we said “I love you” was at Disney World (where we also had our honeymoon), last year we celebrated our first anniversary at Disneyland Paris, and for one of our first dates Matt took me to see Beauty and the Beast the musical.

Beauty and the Beast is special for us, and we both fell in love with the film years before even meeting each other. When I was in 9th or 10th grade I finally came to embrace Disney love stories (before that I wasn’t a fan of sappy romances, and my favorite movie had been The Jungle Book because it was “all about friendship”), and I remember watching Beauty and the Beast at least once a night for weeks (I am not exaggerating) and I really came to identify with Belle.  Matt had always loved Belle, and when he was younger he even vowed that he would marry her one day… *awwww*

So last week, when we finally arrived at Beauty and the Beast in our Disney marathon (since we got married we have been watching all of the full-length animated Disney movies. Currently there are 52, with #53 Frozen coming out next month), we decided to make it into a date night. Ever since the Be Our Guest Restaurant opened at Disney World, we have been really wanting to visit, and since we haven’t been able to do that yet, we decided to bring the magic to our home by having a themed dinner and movie night à la Belle et la Bête.

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I made a three course meal, with the appetizer, main course, and dessert all coming from the Be Our Guest Restaurant menu:

  • French Onion Soup: This recipe is easily the best recipe for French Onion Soup I have ever tasted. I cut out some of the spices simply because I didn’t have any in my kitchen, but I really loved the flavor that the balsamic vinegar added (I love balsamic vinegar).

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  • Chicken Provençal: This recipe was incredibly simple to make, and I only cut out the mushrooms because I can’t stand them. Originally I was planning on serving this with green beans, but after I got back from the grocery store I realized we didn’t have any so I served it with pasta instead. The extra sauce went well with that. And the marinade for the chicken was so delicious and simple that I will probably be using that for my chicken from now on!

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  • “The Grey Stuff”: This is basically cookies and cream pudding. I used this recipe from The Disney Diner, with some alterations…mainly I had to substitute the Cool Whip (which we don’t have in France) for homemade Chantilly (whip cream). I also used canned Mont Blanc crème dessert à la vanille because they also do not have boxed pudding mix here. Therefore the dish came out more of a brownish-grey as opposed to a true grey color, but it was still delicious. So delicious, in fact, that I forgot to take a picture before digging in.

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Of course my husband, who loves presentation, did some quick decorating and rearranging of the furniture to replicate the ballroom look from the movie:

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Mickey & Minnie and Rapunzel & Flynn also joined us;)

And he even brought me home a single rose to complete the theme :)

Having themed dinner and movie nights is something I want to do with our children one day, so this also served as a test run for that (a very, very, very early test run). I got inspired after finding this post from a super-cool mom who hosted Disney movie nights for her kids.

The next movie on our Disney marathon list is Aladdin! Maybe we’ll turn that into another themed dinner night ;) Mmm… For now, let me leave you with my favorite B&B meme ever:

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Hahahaha, I seriously never get tired of this one.