Organizing and My 2011 Reading List

I recently stumbled upon the Passionate Homemaking blog through This Camera Tells My Story last week and after much thinking, have come to the conclusion that I am going to create my own Home Planning Notebook. My heart literally skipped a beat when I saw Lindsay's Home Planning Notebook because I love organizing...period. I've always been the organized, list-making, and planning ahead type of girl, but after reading about the Home Planning Notebook I realized I have a lot to learn and more room for growth in this area. In Lindsay's binder she keeps record of family goals, weekly plans, calendars, menu plans, finances, and family journal to name a few. Under Lindsay's goal section, she also keeps a book list for that year. My sis-in-law, over at This Camera Tells My Story just created her own book list for 2011 and I thought I would jump on the bandwagon as well. Keeping a book list for the entire year is such a good idea. I have so many books on my Goodreads account, but I never seem to have enough time to read all of them. My 2011 Reading List will definitely help me make the time to read. I don't know when I will have my home planning notebook completed, but I will post pictures as soon as it's finished. With that being said...

Here's My Reading List for 2011 and the first page ready to go in my Home Planning Notebook!

January

*Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You by John MacArthur
*Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer by J. Oswald Sanders

February

*The Book on Leadership by John MacArthur

*The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

*Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

March

*Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer

*The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

April

*Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs

*True Believer by Nicholas Sparks

May

*Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham

*At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks

June

*Desiring God by John Piper

*Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck

July

*Answering the Call: Saving Innocent Lives, One Woman at a Time by John M. Ensor

*Original Intent by David Barton

August

*Crazy Love by Francis Chan

*Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks

September

*Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader's Eye-opening Journey Across the Life Line by Abby Johnson

*The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

October

*God's High Calling for Women by John MacArthur

*The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

November

*The Truth War by John MacArthur

*Monster by Frank E. Peretti

December

*Living Under God by Toby Mac and Michael Tait

*Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

{I'm also reading A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George with my small group at Hope Baptist Church. We read one chapter a week, so it will take awhile to finish. I will also be reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, a daily devotional for the year. Because of the length of time spent on each book, I didn't add them to the list.}

Have you found any new ways to stay organized? What books will you be reading this year?

2010: A Year in Photos

Here's a look back at 2010!

{Dinner at the Luxor with the Morgan Family}

{RelevanceX - Phil Wickham concert}

{All the ladies from Hope Baptist Church-Refuge during Exposure week}

{Sarah's birthday at the Mandalay Bay-The Lion King}

{Graduated from NSC with a BA in Elementary Education! Yay!}

{Summer Student Teaching: Teaching a writing lesson!}

{Summer Student Teaching: Teaching a science lesson on balance & motion!}

{Grandpa's 80th birthday in Santa Barbara, California}

{Mike & Emily's Wedding in Cali}

{Hiking & camping through the Zion Narrows with the hubby and his Zappos team}

{Camping at Dana Point, California for Thanksgiving}

{Hope Baptist Church Refuge Leaders: Ugly Christmas Sweater Party}

30 Day Challenge Wrap-Up!

Day 26 - What I did this week!

*I started reading a daily devotional by Oswald Chambers.

*Read chapter 9 in this book by Elizabeth George about how to have a heart that values being a mom.

*Found these easy recipes for a complete chicken marsala dinner and it was delicious!

*Visited LVAC three times this week! Time has come to get back in shape.

*Found cute ideas to do for the hubby on Valentine's Day here and here.

*Started following this meal-planning blog and am contemplating purchasing my own Pocket Full of Posies.

*Found this blog about creating a craft binder to store all the crafts you may find and like throughout the year. I worked on this a little bit this week.

*Worked on getting my class ready for spring 2011 at NSC.

*Found this Home Planning Notebook and want to make one for my home!

Day 30 - My Plans for 2011!

*I want to better serve my husband. Elizabeth George states in her book, A Woman After God's Own Heart, that as wives, we need to realize that we are on an assignment from God to serve our husband(s). She suggests, that our career should be our husband. This hit home from me. I always knew that I'm supposed to serve my husband, but I never saw it as my career. This year I want to see to it that I help my husband and not hinder him in any way.

*Work on becoming better at meal-planning and saving money. I found these two websites, Emealz and Pocket Full of Posies that have great ideas for meal-planning each week that is designed to save time and money.

*Go to the gym more. I have a membership, so technically I should be going multiple times throughout the week, but it's so easy to fall out of that routine. This year I'm hoping to go to the gym 3-4 times a week, combining pilates, abdominal workout, Zumba, and spin classes.

*Craft more and become better at sewing!

and most importantly...

*I want to trust God more - with all of me, in all areas of my life, knowing that He will take care of everything. With this comes practicing the art of patience and knowing that God's timing is better than what I think the right time is. I need to grow in this area. I also want to be more aware of His voice - I want to hear Him better and more clearly and then act without fear.

What are your plans for 2011?

30 Day Challenge Potpourri

Hello everyone, sorry I've been MIA for awhile. Lately I've been so busy preparing for the upcoming semester, going to the gym, and doing other housewife duties around the house. In my last post I said that I would finish the 30 Day Challenge and I am sticking to my word. That's why I will be combining Days 24, 25, 27, 28, and 30 in this post. Tomorrow I will combine posts 26 and 29, just because I think they suffice wrapping up the 30 Day Challenge a lot better. So, here we go!

Day 24 - Where I live in detail, what makes it special?

Many of you already know that I live in the beautiful, sunny, and extremely warm Las Vegas, Nevada. I've lived in Las Vegas for about 16 years and have been currently residing in the Henderson area for about 3 years. Henderson, Nevada is approximately 5 minutes away from Las Vegas. Henderson, Nevada, like I mentioned in a previous post, is the second largest city in Nevada with Las Vegas being number one! Henderson is special because not only does it offer lots of shopping, resorts, fine dining, and parks/recreation, but no matter where you go in Henderson, you feel a sense of family and community.

Day 25 - Guilty Pleasure

My number one guilty pleasure is a tie between:

Starbucks Mocha Frappucino and...

Source

Dark Chocolate

Source

Day 27 - My Worst Habit

My worst habit would definitely be procrastination. Another bad habit of mine is cracking my knuckles.

Day 28 - What's in My Purse?

I have to be honest, I had been waiting for this post for SO long! Here's what's in my purse:

*3 Ballpoint Pens

*1 Yellow Highlighter

*Travel Size Mary Kay Satin Hands, Hand Cream

*Sunglasses

*Car Keys & House Key

*Coupon Holder

*Wallet

*Coupons

*Lots of Receipts

*Chap stick & Lipgloss organized in a Mary Kay Compact

*Hair tie

*65 cents

*TicTacs

Day 30 - Car You Drive (and past cars too!)

For my high school graduation gift, I received a white 2007 Hyundai Accent from my parents. This car was my favorite - excellent for a college student, good gas mileage, and super cute.

Source

In the spring of 2009, on my way to school I got in a car accident, that luckily I wasn't at fault for, but which completely totaled my car. After dealing with all the insurance stuff that comes from getting in a car accident, my husband and I looked for a new car. After much searching, we ended up getting a used 2008 Hyundai Elantra, which I am still currently driving. I love this car and in many ways is much better than the Accent I drove. For one thing it's has more room, which is ideal for when we start having babies!

Source

New Year's Eve Manicure!

When I was younger, I was obsessed with painting and decorating my nails! I would do them all by myself and they turned out beautiful. I was, what you would consider, thrifty when it came to decorating my nails. I thought it was crazy to spend a fortune on fake nails, paint, & glitz when I could easily do it myself. Lately, I've been getting a little lax on upkeep. I very rarely paint or decorate my nails EVER! Well, today I finally felt in the mood to do my nails, especially since New Year's Eve is right around the corner! A girl's got to look good for New Year's Eve parties!

Here are a few easy steps for an awesome New Year's Eve Mani!

First things first, gather all the supplies you'll need.

*Nail polish

*Nail scissors

*Nail file

*Nail clippers

*Cuticle file

*Cuticle cream

*Nail art, rhinestones, etc.

Time for the New Year's Eve Mani!

1. Trim nails to appropriate length.

2. File nails so that rough edges become smooth. Filing nails can also help with the shape you want your nail to be (i.e. square, rounded, etc.) I also like to file the top of the nail so that it is extra smooth and shiny.

3. Use a cuticle file to file back your cuticles.

4. Massage a cuticle cream, I prefer Sally Hansen's Cuticle Massage Cream, into nail bed.

5. Paint nails! I chose a sparkly gold color - it's New Year's remember!

6. Choose nail art for extra glitz! I chose hologram star decals and adhered them to the corners of my ring finger nail and thumb. You can apply the decals using nail glue found at any local drug store.

7. Finish with a clear top coat to keep your nails looking nice.

The finished product...

It's hard to tell, but using a nail pen in a silver color I drew 4 lines stemming out from the star decal to make it look like a shooting star.

I hope this has inspired you to have some fun with your nails this New Year's! Have fun with it, be creative, and have a happy New Year's!

A Few of My Favorite Things

This Christmas I didn't ask for much, but there were a few things that I received that I just absolutely loved.

This Bad Boy

Pretty much this was the only thing on my Christmas list and my husband got it for me. I'd say, "He done good!"

This lovely cast iron dutch oven...in red of course!

Candle holders from my sis-in-law Jessi

She always finds the perfect things to match the decor of my house!

Yankee Candle from my mommy!

My mom got me a small tumbler of Yankee's Harvest scent back in the fall and I fell in love with it. I loved it so much in fact that I burned all of it up in about three weeks. Harvest is definitely my favorite scented candle of all time! I was so stoked when I opened up a Christmas baggy with the large Harvest candle inside. Now, I will have this candle for a long time.

What were some of your favorite gifts you received for Christmas this year?

What's For Dinner?

Day 21: A Recipe

Brittney's 30 Day Blog Challenge

On Wednesday, I made Matzo-Crusted Chicken and Vegetable Tian for dinner! I made both these recipes awhile ago so it was nice to have both again. It was delicious! Here are the recipes for you!

Matzo Chicken Cutlet Recipe

Vegetable Tian

For dinner tonight, we will be having Lite Pasta Alfredo with Chicken, Kielbasa, and a Cajun Kick. You can find the recipe here.

I'm also going to try baking bread from scratch this afternoon as well! And, I'll be using my new Kitchen Aid Mixer of course! I'm so excited!

Have a wonderful day everyone! What are you having for dinner?