March, 2011:

84,000 Novenas for the Pope’s 84th Birthday!

by jen.

Image via Wikipedia

Will you join me in giving the Pope a huge gift for his birthday? Pope Benedict XVI is celebrating his birthday on April 16th and I’m joining up with praymorenovenas.com to get 84,000 people to pray a novena for the Pope’s 84th birthday.

On April 8th, we will begin praying for nine days leading up to and ending on the Papa Benedict’s birthday. The Pope prays for us everyday so it’s time to return the gift to him on the anniversary of his birth.

84,000 Novenas is a lot! So, I’m going to need your help. I want everyone who reads this blog to do the following to help with this birthday gift!

+ Sign up here: http://bit.ly/h0052O
+ Join the facebook event and invite your friends here: http://on.fb.me/eE2Xs7
+ If you have a website, post about it there!
+ Email your friends and family and get them praying too!

I’m sure the Pope will love that we are all praying for him! Please help us reach our goal of 84,000 novenas for the Pope!

Remember to sign up to pray here: http://bit.ly/h0052O

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#Mamavation Monday #11

Mar 28th, 2011

by jen.

No comments yet

This Week (3/21/2011): 159.5

Last Week (3/14/2011): 160.5

Change: -1 lb (6 lbs total)

Well. And here I thought I had no change from last week. I probably ate a few more sweets than i wanted & a bit more pop, too. I did get to exercise twice (woot!) and I really want to jump it up but I’m afraid of burnout. Because, you know, I haven’t done that a million times…

Next month, my goals are for cardio 3 times a week, until I get the okay for weight training again.

Have a great week all!

This post is linked to Mamavation Monday @ Mamavation.

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{Closed} Mind Organization for Moms Review & Giveaway!

Mar 26th, 2011

by jen.

38 comments

Back in the day before I was “just a mom,” I was a career woman like most others. In addition to doing my normal duties at work, I was obsessed with personal productivity and doing the best I could do at everything. I fell in love with David Allen’s Getting Things Done and used it to be able to deal with the massive volume of tasks that my bosses kept adding to my workload. I loved it!

When I made the career switch to mom, I was devastated. I couldn’t get it together. I couldn’t figure out how to do stuff and care for an infant who was ALWAYS on my breast. So I didn’t do much of anything. Once she got older and I learned more about her and babies in general, it got better, but I missed my days of Getting Things Done! I tried Flylady and SHE and other systems but none of them really worked for me.

That is, until I found Mind Organization for Moms. I read about it on a blog and was ecstatic to find someone who had taken the beauty that is Getting Things Done ™ and created a how-to guide for mom’s! It had been so long since I used GTD that I just didn’t have the energy or brain power to figure out how to do it myself. The ladies at The Power of Moms have laid out every step of the GTD system to work for busy moms, from having a single inbox, to managing your paper & even how to work on projects, which has changed. My. Life. Seriously. In fact, I was so blown away by what seems like a simple idea, that my husband laughed at me. It never occurred to me to handle projects the way she suggested. That one tip alone was well worth the $40 program cost. Especially since I can’t have my projects out all over the place while trying to sell the house!

She says that setting aside a few days to make it a priority works best, but with a 4 month old & a 3 year old, that wasn’t going to happen. I took a little over a week, slowly working through each section to make it work for me. I made one $90 investment on drawers because it fixed the most broken part of my existing system and I wanted something functional AND pretty for a change. Technically speaking, I really already had EVERYTHING I needed, I just wasn’t using it to the best of its ability.

The full Mind Organization for Moms program includes:

1. The Short N Sweet overview – a short, 20+ page ebook that shows you the whole plan–start to finish, complete with diagrams, checklists, a shopping list, and the basic instructions.

2. The Complete Everything-You-Wanted-To-Know ebook – over 80 detailed pages that walk you through putting the system together.

3. An expandable online version of the full program – in case you want quicker access to the pieces that most matter to you.

4. Access to the Mind Organization for Moms Sharing Center – where moms share how THEY have put together the system & resources for using it.

5. Complete Access to the Q&A system

6. Email Support

7. A monthly e-newsletter.

8. Discounts on future M.O.M. products.

This is a fabulous program that has given me more control AND peace over my many projects and we are giving one away! To enter, just leave a comment letting me know why you need to be organized. This entry is REQUIRED before doing any extra entries!

Extra Entries:

Follow @PowerOfMoms on twitter (leave a comment with your twitter handle)
Follow me (@HappyLHomemaker) on Twitter (leave another comment with your twitter handle)
Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email (leave a comment telling me you are a subscriber)
Like Power of Moms on Facebook (leave a comment telling me you’ve done so)
Join the Power of Moms site (3 entries – leave 3 comments please)
Blog about this contest (leave a comment with link)
Tweet about this contest (limit one tweet per day – leave comment with link to the tweet)

“Enter to win access to Mind Organization for Moms from @HappyLHomemaker and @PowerOfMoms! http://bit.ly/fRmNvs #giveaway”

This giveaway will end at midnight on Saturday, April 9, 2011. Please be sure you include an email address either in your entry or profile so I have a way to contact you if you win.

Good luck!

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Book Review: Love Amid the Ashes

Mar 25th, 2011

by jen.

1 comment

As I mentioned last week, I’m really enjoying reading biblical fiction, so I was tickled to receive this copy of Love Amid the Ashes from Revell. This is the story of Job. While I was vaguely familiar with the story of the man who had great wealth and had it all taken away and STILL praised God, I now know the story very well.

From the publisher:

An epic story of love and forgiveness, suffering and restoration

When her beloved grandfather Isaac dies, Dinah must follow his final command: travel to Job’s household to marry his son. After Job’s world comes crashing down, Dinah finds herself drawn to this great man brought low. What will she risk to fight for his survival?

Mesu Andrews weaves an emotional and stirring account of Job and Dinah. Love Amid the Ashes breathes life, romance, and passion into the classic biblical story of suffering and steadfast faith.

As with any biblical story, she had to take some guesses as to motivations and circumstances, but she did a masterful job (no pun intended) of connecting the people in not only this story, but connecting them with people that I had no idea they were connected with. I won’t mention which people in case you are as ignorant of the details of scripture as I am .

It was a well written story with wonderfully complex characters and I couldn’t put it down. Love Amid the Ashes is an excellent book for anyone who would like to learn more about stories of the bible or anyone who likes biblical historical fiction.

Available March 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

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What’s On Your Nightstand – March 2011

Mar 22nd, 2011

by jen.

10 comments

8. Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner.

I forgot to include this book last month. Oops. I really liked the duel storyline. It was well thought out so it wasn’t confusing and I liked both storylines so much, that I couldn’t pick a favorite. They complimented each other very well. Read my full review for more information.

9. Bathsheba by Jill Eileen Smith

As always, I loved this book, too. This series has caused me to recognize more of the story of David when I hear it, or see it and I LOVE being able to make connections between obscure references. I’m kind of a dork like that. I also liked how she made me feel sorry for Bathsheba. I had always thought she was a seductress, but this book made me feel like what she did could happen to anyone who didn’t guard their hear. You can read my full review if you are interested.

10. Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line by Abby Johnson

This was a great pro-life book that painted the people who worked at PP as people who truly wanted to help others. I never thought that people who worked there were as bad as what they do, but now I feel the need to pray that they SEE the whole picture. Wonderful book.

11. Dakota Child by Linda Ford

This was a free book I got as part of the Harlequin Ambassador program. It was an okay story…typical Harlequin Historical romance.

12. Love Amid the Ashes by Mesu Andrews

Another great biblical fiction book, this time about Lot. I wasn’t familiar with much of that story before reading it, but I will be now! Another fabulous book — look for my full review on Thursday.

13. Fasting by Scot McKnight

An interesting discussion of the how & why of fasting as a spiritual discipline. Look for my review in a week or two.

What have you been reading lately?

This post will be linked to What’s on Your Nightstand @ 5 Minutes for Mom & Booking It 2011 @ Life As Mom.

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