Books to Check Out

Well, things are looking up in the book department. I've come across some great reads as of late and would like to pass them on.

Love Exercise

I used to hate exercise. Then I hated feeling sluggish and tired even more. Now five minutes into any workout I'm always thankful I started. I love jogging, hiking in the woods, and going on walks in the neighborhood, but not so much in the winter time. For one, I find 6am to be a prime time to get an uninterrupted workout accomplished and around here it's pretty dark then and I live on a busy road. Another good option is to exercise during Zane's nap time, which means sticking close to home. I don't have a treadmill or any fancy workout equipment so I turn to the tried and true alternative: workout videos. Here's a list of some of my favorites (none of which I purchased, check out what your local library has).

• New York City Ballet Workout I love this one because I tend to be more on the natuarally athletic side rather than the naturally graceful side and who doesn't feel graceful when practicing ballet?
• Pick Your Spot Pilates This one has four 10 minute workouts- one for your belly, butt, thighs, and total body. I like it because you have a 40 minute workout or if you just want to sneak in a 10 minute quickie you can.
• Basic Training Bootcamp I'm always sore the next day so I know it's working.
• Walk Away the Pounds Express- Super Challenge I've done several of her workout dvds and most of them are nice for days when you want a really light workout. This one is one step up from that. I sweat, but it's still nice and light.
• Pilates Weight Loss Workout for Dummies I like all the Dummies workouts I've done, but I particularly like this one because it has a 2o minute standing pilates routine in addition to the traditional Pilates floor work. I'm a big Pilates fan and I guess I'm an even bigger standing Pilates fan!

I hope you'll check out some of these dvds and learn to love exercise if you don't already. I'm always looking for new workout ideas to keep it fresh. Leave a comment to let me know what you do for exercise and/or what your favorite workout videos are.

Zane's Top Ten List

My son has had better luck with books in this past first year of his life than his mama. He definitely has his favorites and if he could talk or write I'm pretty sure he would agree with the list I'm about to present to you, or list it himself.

10. You Are Brave by Todd Snow
9. You Are Important by Todd Snow
8. You Are Friendly by Todd Snow
7. Care Bears Nighty Night by Quinlan B. Lee
6. Buzz Buzz Busy Bees by Dawn Bentley
5. I'll Find You, Kitty by Richard Powell
4. Garden Colors by Anne Geddes
3. Where Is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz
2. Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss
1. I Smell Honey by Andrea and Brian Pinkney

10 Reasons I Love My Job

Featured Crafters

Today I want to highlight some of my favorite crafts on sale at Etsy. Can you see the theme?

pendant by missficklemedia

wristlet by EmiShimosato

headband by Frosting Couture

coasters by 12fifteen

pony tail holders by MaryMarsh

hat by Two Seaside Babes

3

1. I don't know where I've been, but I just discovered Amazon.com's wish lists. My birthday is in November and Christmas has come and gone, but I'm still dog gone excited about it! I've been browsing the internet adding things to my list left and right like someone's actually going to buy me all these things.

2. Yes, Christmas has come and gone and now I can finally share the handmade gift that I made for all my relatives.






Simply glue the flap part of an envelope to the back of another envelope. Repeat 5 times (or 3 or 4 or 7...). Accordian fold. Decorate, personalize, embellish, and voila. You could use this for many different purposes; keeping wish lists and gift receipts for each member of the family, saving/tithing/spending, the possibilities are endless. Honestly, though I'm not sure that they were a big hit. We'll try again next year.

3. Well, I'm sad to update on my fantasy football league. I turned out to be "that guy" that I made fun of the last two years who midway through the season played players who had byes and just stopped paying attention. Thanksgiving came and fantasy football went down the tubes. At that point none of my players had byes, but I'm pretty sure I didn't play Brian Westbrook the last couple weeks when he was on fire. I made it into the playoffs, so I hear, and played my brother-in-law for 3rd place and I'm such a fantasy football loser that I don't even know if I won that final game. Sigh.

Year End Book Review

I've kept track of how many books I've read each year for the last 4 years now. I went from 43 in 2005 to 57 in 2006 to 67 in 2007 to this past year's whopping 29. I don't know if adding a person to our family had something to do with it or maybe that it took me about 5 months to read one of the books. I thought I'd compile a list of the top ten of the year, so I went down my list and marked ones that stood out to me with the intention of going back and narrowing down my big top ten. I shouldn't be surprised to find that I had only marked 9 because throughout the year I kept having a sense that I just couldn't find a good book. So here are my top 9 reads of 2008.

• The Breastfeeding Cafe by Barbara L. Behrmann~ The old saying goes that sex, religion, and politics are subjects that are off limits. Breastfeeding should be added to that list. With my very first newborn whenever asked if I was nursing or bottlefeeding I felt like asking, "Who wants to know?" It seemed there were few who didn't fall into one of two groups: the lactivists and the bottle feeders who have all been scorned by the lactivists. In all the hub bub surrounding how I fed my baby, this book was an encouragement filled with stories of many moms in their nursing ups and downs. Of course there is a strong lactivist bent (I believe there was a reference to formula as "crap in a can"), but it served as additional humor to me along with the anecdotal struggles in the moms' stories.
• What is a Family? by Edith Schaeffer~ Edith Schaeffer is a personal favorite of mine so I eat up anything she writes. The title is pretty self explanatory. This is a good companion book to another one of hers, The Hidden Art of Homemaking.
• A Light Affliction by Maureen Hay Read~I don't miss a day of writing in my journal, so the format of this book resonates well with me (it's mostly her journal entries). I also found it very interesting because the author was my high school English teacher. She journals through a time of sickness when I was her student. I remember her taking a long leave of absence and knew she was very sick, but had no idea the horrors she was going through. The rest of the book, covering a span of about 10 years, is encouraging and challenging as she faces the trials and struggles of everyday life.
• Mistaken Identity by Newell Cerak, Whitney Cerak, Susie Van Ryn, Colleen Cerak, and Don Van Ryn~ It's one of those books where you feel like you're invading someone's privacy, a People magazine cover story, but they wrote the book and it's an amazing story. God sure does work in mysterious ways.
• The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems by Tracy Hogg~ No, not everything did come naturally as a new mother. I had my intincts about some things and stuck to them and I had situations where I wasn't exactly sure what to do. This book helped give some direction and steady ground on those issues I was a little unsure of.
• To Own a Dragon by Donald Miller~ It's about growing up without a dad. I grew up with a dad, but just wanted to read it because Donald Miller wrote it. As expected he didn't disappoint. You'll just enjoy chewing on his thoughts.
• Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp~ This is one I want to own and keep as a reference for all time. Probably one to read once a year. I mean, sheperding your child's heart; what a responsibility and privilege! Wow, I have a high calling.
• To Train Up a Child by Michael Pearl~ A good companion book to Tripp's above. This one is more about training your children in the first year(s); training vs. discipline which is covered more in Shepherding a Child's Heart.
• Hundred Dollar Holiday by Bill McKibben~Highly recommended to anyone who is sick and tired of the rat race of the holiday season and is seeking something simpler. Our family is celebrating the 12 days of Christmas this year as a result of this quick little read because it's not all about the big day of presents. Don't worry, it's point is not to abolish gifts altogether, but to get you to think about the kind of traditions you want in your family for this time of year.

So there you have it; the 9 books I read this year that I truly enjoyed. What was your favorite read of 2008?

Dear Santa

As some of you may know, every year around Christmas time Oprah Winfrey hosts a special episode of her show where she gives away her favorite things to every member of the studio audience; Oprah's favorite things. If I were to do such a thing for my readers this is what I would give to you all. Two differences between Oprah's favorite things and Bethany's favorite things: 1. Oprah actually gives things away, I would just really like to give them away. 2. Oprah gives away things that she personally owns and loves, whereas the one qualifier for this list of things I'd love to give you all is that they're all things I want! So enjoy perusing this list of prizes you would get if I were rich and if you're looking for gift ideas for a certain thirtysomething, crafty girl....

• Where is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz
  
• The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems by Tracy Hogg
• Shepherding Your Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
• To Train Up a Child by Michael Pearl
• Thomas the Tank Engine board books
• Lamaze board books
• fabric
• scrapbook paper
• paper punches
• yarn
• a sweater
• pants
• tweed trousers
• gloves
• one panel pewter shower curtain
• this rug
• these throw pillows
• this 5x8 rug
• art
• lamp shade
• verse plaque
• 5 picture frames
• outdoor chaise
• silicone whisk
• hair care products
• ginger and sesame salad dressing
• anything from jcasa handmade
• anything from serenitymeadow
• an owl from old school acres
• crest whitestrips
• freezer
• Addi circular knitting needles
  

Autumn

Fall is my favorite season! I could go on and on about why I think it's the best, but today I have a list from a friend of some of her favorite things about fall. Thanks, Emily!

• making caramel apples
• pecan pies from the neighbors
  
• the Iron Kettle pumpkin farm with the kids
  
• corn mazes
  
• leaf piles with little boys
  
• my gingerbread scented candle
  
• and of course apple picking!

Toys

Today, I'll just leave you with a link to a list of some great staple toys for the kiddos.

Yogi Berra

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from a baseball and anecdotal legend.

"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."

"Slump? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hitting."

"A nickel isn't worth a dime today."

"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."

"I made a wrong mistake."

"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."

"If the fans don't come out to the ball park, you can't stop them."

"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."

"The other teams could make trouble for us if they win."

Words to the wise...

Simple Pleasures

Talk about simple, I love toiletries. I'm always curious at the combination of toiletries that people have and like. Here are some of my favorites right now.

• My shampoo (only 99 cents on Tuesdays at my local grocery store)
• My body wash (I love lavender)
• My face wash (it makes my face feel very soft)
• My deodorant (I like the apricot scent plus no antiperspirant means no underarm stains)
• My foot cream (great for summer)
• My pore strips (these work great)

Also check out my sister-in-law's sister-in-law's products at the link for Simply Pure under my favorite websites. Yes, I said that right, my husband's brother's wife's brother's wife would be another way to say it. So what are some of your favorite toiletries?