Books I Plan to Read in 2012

Happy New Year Everyone!

Each month I am picking a few books that I would like to read, some are fun, some are for professional development and some will be for my Book Club. Enjoy! This was SO fun to come up with this list. I basically went "shopping" on Amazon.com and picked books that interested me. I am always open for suggestions for good books to read, so please comment. If you want to read more info. on any of these, I linked each one to the amazon for you :-) Happy Reading, so many books, so little time!

January 2012:

The Hunger Games (Book Club Book)

Wicked Appetite (Had a head start on this in Dec.)

What Got You Here, Won't Get You There (Had a head start on this in Dec.)

How To Make Money Using Etsy

February:

Keys To Success The 17 Principles of Personal Achievement

The Help

They Don't Teach Corporate In College

March:

Steve Job's Biography

Twenty Life Transforming Choices Adoptees Need To Make


April:

Parenting With Love And Logic

Time Management In An Instant

May:

Simplicity Parenting

Getting Things Done

June:

Playful Parenting

The Art of Racing In The Rain

Since I am in a book club, I do not know what the book of the month will be until that month. So I will update you as I go along. At the Jan. meeting I will know the Feb. book and in Feb. I will know the March book and so on. Half way through the year I will update July - December. One more to mention, I am also reading, along with my MOMS group at my church The Power of A Praying Parent. We are reading it from Jan. through June.

The other nice thing about having a plan for reading is that it gives me time to get ahold of the books, since I do not own all of these. In Jan. I can put the books on hold that I need for Feb. and so on. I am already looking forward to planning my June - December reading!

Grief and Loss

A few days ago I attended a memorial service for a Webster HS classmate, who also attended SUNY Potsdam at the same time I did. Laura was a beautiful girl and woman, inside and out. Unfortunately, I was never able to call her more than an acquaintance. There is a charitable fund called The Ana Duo Charitable Fund set up for Laura.

In addition to the loss of Laura, I also have been thinking a lot about my Dad, because the holidays are always a hard time without loved ones. Here is how I can help contribute to others whom are dealing with the loss of a loved one. I did a TON of reading after my Dad died, on the topic of loss, grief and mourning, so I know a bit about the topic. I also attended a conference with Dr. Alan Wolfelt an expert in loss, grief and mourning (can you imagine THAT job!?) Seriously though he was really good! I highly recommend him if you ever have the chance to see him, or read his books. I also attended a meeting on loss at my church, this was helpful as it was done before the holidays and it was about how to survive the holidays without your loved one. Let me give you one disclaimer though, not all people will turn to reading when they grieve, so it may or may not be your thing. If it is I do believe these will help you, if not, don't worry about it, you have enough on your plate and you will find other ways to grieve.

Some of the books that helped me:

1. Life After Loss, A Practical guide to renewing your life after experiencing major loss, by Bob Deits, M. Th. (fifth edition) I can't say enough good stuff about this book.
2. A series of 4 books that were handed to me through Stephen Ministries at my church, you read them in order AND at the appropriate time you think you are ready for the next book. All are by Kenneth C. Haugk

Book One: A Time to Grieve

Book Two: Experiencing Grief

Book Three: Finding Hope and Healing

Book Four: Rebuilding and Remembering



3. Healing After Loss, This book is a great book if you have little time! It provides small meditations for each day.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned on my grief journey, is that you have to do what works for you! Everyone grieves differently, shows their grief differently, so do what you need to do. Everything you experience is NORMAL and it is really important to remember to eat and drink and try to take care of yourself. Hope this helps.

Laura



Goal Setting for the New Year, instead of Resolutions!!!!!!!

I love Money Saving Mom's Weekly Goal Planning Sheet for so many reasons. One of those reasons is my biggest pet peeve about starting a new year is, New Year's Resolutions. I just feel they set WAY too many people up for disappointment. I personally like the idea of smaller achievable goal setting (which is what this is). I love the whole idea and I feel so much better on the weeks that I use one of these sheets and it really is SO simply. Another thing I love about the sheet is YOU create your own categories!!! So if you want to create a goal in your family life, personal life, whatever it is you can add it. Try this for ONE week, I do not think that you will be disappointed. In an upcoming blog post I will also share my goals with you and then revisit them in one week.

Here are some examples of my weekly goals:

Category: Family

Spend more time with my mom

Go on a date night with my husband (plan and organize)

Be in the moment and play with my daughter, or go on a date with my daughter

Category: Health

Take three walks this week.

Take a multi. vit. and Emergency C to help my immune system.

Now I know these sound so simply but if I make them goals and I achieve them by the end of the week, I truly feel better about my accomplishments. On a personal note since my Dad died, the only thing I look back on with him is that I wished I could have spent more time with him.





My Dad...

Dad,

Miss you today, third one without you but feels like only the second one. You were the glue to this family, miss you tons today and wished I could have been more preparred to live without you. Your grandson is thinking about taking Underwater Basket Weaving 101. Love you Dad and hope you and both Grandmas are celebrating!

I know you have been smiling down on us. Thank you for all of the wonderful Christmas' you provided for Bill and I when we were growing up. Many special memories! Thanks Dad!

On my wishlist....

You guessed it, TOE SOCKS! They are so comfortable and as you can see, my one and only pair is defeating the purpose, so we will see if Santa is nice to me...

Christmas Fun Links

To have some Christmas fun, go to this link called Portable North Pole TV. Anyone can fill out the info. and send one to anyone else. For instance I sent one to my 6 year old daughter, it allows you to enter their info and one thing that they want for Christmas, you can select if they were naughty or nice, enter your email and then you will be sent an email message with a link to the video of Santa talking to you from the North Pole, this is SUPER cute!!!! You can also send one to another adult in your life. As a joke you could select naughty list for them. http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home

The second fun link for you is http://www.noradsanta.org/en/ you can track where Santa is. You can watch short video clips of where he is. This is super cute and educational as far as geography and landmarks are concerned. It is also fun to watch the world fill up with presents. It was fun for my 6 year old and I to watch him get closer and closer before she went to bed. Don't worry he doesn't come until around midnight!

Hot Cocoa In A Bag - Last Minute Gifty- Tutorial

If you need a super EASY gift for teachers, friends, neighbors etc. The Hot Cocoa in a bag is for you. It does require one hardship though, going to the supermarket at a very busy time of year. So here is the tutorial for you...
Materials Needed:

1. Frosting Piping Bags 12in (12 to a package) Wilton found at JoAnn Fabrics
2. Holiday Twist Ties (Found in Candy Making Section)
3. Mini Marshmallows One Bag (makes 12 bags)
4. Mini Chocolate Chips (Bulk Section of your supermarket) 6 large scoops
5. Spice Drops 12 in Green and Red or whatever color you wish (one scoop in bulk section)
6. Large Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Container in the Hot Cocoa isle of your supermarket
7. To & From Label stickers (optional)

First take the piping bag and fold it over about 3-4 inches. This helps prevent hot cocoa dust to get on your marshmallows.

Put a 1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix in the bag. Plus a bit extra if you wish. I actually did two 1/4 c. plus a little. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Add approximately 1/4 c. of chips. Or more, just for fun.

Add a generous amount of mini marshmallows 1/2 cup.

 Add a green, red, or whatever color gum drop on the top (just for fun and color). Give it a good twist, your marshmallows will smoosh a bit but that is ok. Some of the Internet instructions call for a clear rubber band, I just used twist ties on mine and they were fine. Add your twist tie and you are DONE!!! You can add stickers or To:/From: labels if you like.

Reindeer Girl :-). She will take these to school to give out to the principal, VP, secretaries, special area teachers and so on. I like this whole idea because it helps to teach my 6 year old how to give. I hope to raise a child whom is both a good giver and receiver!

Our final stash looked like this. And yes she did have to take them ALL to school and pass all of them out!