:)

I am on top of the world right now. :)

Ready to be Surprised.

There were many other blogs before TMIWU came into existence--and honestly, I've never posted a single entry on religion. In fact, I don't think there are even any entries with the slightest hint of a religious tone to it. I consider myself a rather devout Catholic. I just never wanted to blog about it--until today.

This week, I was asked to make a decision. It wasn't career-oriented or life threatening or anything like that. To me, however, it was an important decision. I searched high and low for signs from above. I was hoping for an obvious "yes" or "no" to fall from the sky. Unfortunately, no signs fell from the sky. I still had to make my decision, with or without signs. Eventually, it was one that I said yes to.

Then something amazing happened. Right after I said yes, a verse from Philippians 4:13 IMMEDIATELY came to mind. You must know that Bible verses do NOT come naturally to me. Ever. At that time, I wasn't even 100% sure it was a Bible verse. Either way, it fit.

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Why You Say It by Webb Garrison.

I love words. When I came across an opportunity to get myself a copy of Why You Say It, I immediately took advantage of it. It helped that I was extremely attracted to the cover art.

The basic premise of this book is that behind every word or phrase, there is a story. This book shares origins of various words and phrases, dividing them into sections such as “Names and Games” and “Money, Business and Commerce.”

Now, the question is—did I like this book? To a certain extent, I did. There were facts I found so interesting that I found myself sharing some with family members over dinner.

My gripe about this book is that many words and phrases are not used in everyday conversations like the title denotes. In fact, there were quite a number of entries that I have never and probably will never encounter in my life.

Why You Say It is not a book that you should read from cover to cover. It is interesting and informative, but is more ideal as reference material or for quick reads.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of BookSneeze, a book review bloggers program. Find out more at BookSneeze.com! :)

Abridged.

I missed blogging for the month of June by a day--by two days if we're going to be technical. Trust me, this makes me unbelievably frustrated. Moving on.

For the past 40 days, I have traveled to three different countries with my parents. It was 40 days of family and food. It was 37 nights of sleeping on either a sofa or an air bed (we stayed at a hotel for three nights). It was a vacation that strengthened ties that needed strengthening, and made room for new ones. It was a vacation full of laughs, reminiscing, and walking until our most comfortable shoes were no longer comfortable.

There are many stories to be told, and maybe one day, I'll tell you about them. Maybe I won't.

I am forever going to be grateful to my parents for funding this trip. I have been given a rare opportunity to visit my loved ones abroad, and I know that I won't be able to afford it myself for quite some time. Although I appreciate the new sights that I saw along the way--I am most thankful for the simple fact that I was able to travel with my parents. I can honestly say that I've gotten to know them (and myself, actually) a lot more over the past few weeks. I love them even more now, if that's even possible.

Of course, I am extremely happy to be home, safe and sound. At the end of the day, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. :)