Posts Tagged ‘Top Ten Tuesday’
My Top {Ten} Favorite Books
Posted on: September 21, 2010
- In: Life
- 9 Comments
I would caution from calling myself a bibliophil these days, since reading anything beyond Curious George Goes to the Circus is pretty scarce. But this weekend gave me with lots of opportunity to read while I was traveling. The time provided me with a renewed sense of love for reading and made me recall the books that have made the biggest impression on me over the years. Here, in no real order, are my top favorite books.
1. Scarlet Pimpernel – Perhaps this is justly placed at Number 1. Scarlet Pimpernel is favorite book and has been for years. If I’m going to read, and can’t find something to hold my interest, I turn to Scarlet Pimpernel. I’ve read it at least a dozen times. {Perhaps that’s why I don’t read a lot of books – I usually re-read all my favorites.}
2. Harry Potter series – Go ahead and laugh. Or agree with me. People seems so divided on the Potter series. I started the Potter series at this crazy, painful time in my life. It was a great escape from reality and I loved it. I’ve read the last 3 books several times and while I don’t plan to re-read them before the release of the last movie, they will come out again at some point.
3. Chronicles of Narnia – I grew up reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but it wasn’t until Jonathan bought me the series that I had read the others. Amazing. Like most people know, there is such amazing allegories through out this series that just capture me. And my overwhelming love of lions doesn’t hurt.
4. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden – A harrowing semi-autobiographical story about a teenaged girl battling schizophrenia. Haunting in many ways, this book made me walk away realizing the true struggle and battle of mental illness.
5. The Alchemist – I read this book while struggling with my faith in my last semester of college. I read it back to back in less than a month. Then I made Jonathan read it. Then our friend, then my mom. And then I re-read it. God really used the Alchemist to push me over from complacency to desire to seek Him.
6. The Bible – Jonah – As a Christian I will say that the Bible is by far the best “book” to read. It constantly speaks to me in new ways, revealing God’s heart to me. However, over the course of the years, no book in the Bible has spoken to me more than Jonah. A constant reflection of who I am in comparison to my great and mighty God, Jonah and I are two very similar people.
7. Pride and Prejudice – I’m not one for love stories {or romances}. And if I’m going to read one, I need strong characters, nothing fruity and shallow. If you’ve ever read Pride and Prejudice {or seen the movies} you know there is nothing weak or shallow about Darcy and Elizabeth. And while my little teenaged heart use to go pitter-patter for Darcy, my woman’s heart go pitter-patter for having my own Darcy.
8. To Kill a Mockingbird – I am fairly certain it is a right of passage for all Southerners to read Harper Lee. A beautiful book about racism, seeing past skin color and the heart of the Deep South.
9. The Hiding Place – While I was introduced to Corrie ten Boom as a child, it wasn’t until I read the Hiding Place as an adult that I fully comprehended the overwhelming truths in her book.
10. A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery series – I have slowly made my way through the first three books in this series since May. I think my willingness to already throw them into a favorite category comes from 1) my love of Austen, 2) my gratitude at the books stay so close to the true personalities of Darcy and Elizabeth. See my review here.
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And the Results are in!
Posted on: September 15, 2010
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
After yesterday’s post on my ten choices for New York, I’m seriously considered having you all pick my clothes for me each week. Thanks for all the great input! I thought either 1) people wouldn’t really give much opinion or 2) people would think this was the craziest post I’ve ever had. {But then I remembered I just wrote about composting toilets and reusable toilet paper, so I’m in the clear for covering crazy posts!}
I’ve decided to take all the clothes with me {plus a few more “plain” tops – as I do tend to overpack}. However, for sure I’ve decided to wear #4, #7 and #9. I added a few cardigans per layer suggestions and made sure my comfy flats were packed next to my amazing {but not so great for long walks} heels. I will also be adding this number {sans bike and possibly a different scarf}:
Thanks again ladies for all the input {and super sweet words!}. I will be sure to take lots of pictures to post next week!
My Own Personal Fashion Week
Posted on: September 14, 2010
- In: Life
- 19 Comments
{Ladies, I wanted to thank you for cheering me on for this weekend. It’s an exciting adventure for me and I know once I’m there I’ll chillax.}
As Jonathan was helping me pull together my clothes for New York this weekend, I realized – Sometimes you just need a girl’s opinion. Then I had a brilliant idea. Why not take pictures of my top ten outfits and get your opinions? Hello Fashion Show!
{Let me just preface this now – not all the photos are top quality, that’s what I get for not having someone behind the camera.}
Outfit #1 – Morning Casual
Here we have Morning Casual – your basic jeans and tank. Perfect for grabbing coffee and a walk through Central Park.
Outfit #2 – Flirty Dress
Here we have the Flirty Dress. A cute number that is breezy and light.
Outfit #3 – Casual Dress
Here we have the Casual Dress. The Casual Dress gives you a cute, but relaxed, look. It’s jazzed up easily with a lightweight scarf.
Outfit #4 – Hip Leggings
Here we have Hip Leggings. Pair a set of leggings {either ankle or calf length} with a shorter dress and add a belt for a fashionable look.
Outfit #5 – Black and White Leggings
Here we have Black and White Leggings. Pair a set of calf length leggings with a dressier black and white top. Finish off with black flats {not shown}.
Outfit #6 – Rockstar Chic
Here we have Rockstar Chic. A cute and playful plaid tunic set with skinny jeans.
Outfit #7 – Shimmery Nights
Here we have Shimmery Nights. A great shimmer cowl neck top matched with dark skinny jeans. Perfect for a night out in the Big Apple. Match with awesomely great high heels {shown here}.
Outfit #8 – Old Faithful
Here we have Old Faithful. Nothing is a better standby than a white top and bootcut jeans. Shown here with brown belt.
Outfit # 9 – Old Faithful with a twist
Here we have Old Faithful without the brown belt. In it’s place we have a lightweight crinkle blue scarf.
Outfit #10 – YOU CHOOSE!
Ok ladies, here’s where I need your help. Which outfit was a must and which was a bust? What would you mix and match? What would you add or remove?
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- In: Life
- 6 Comments
We had an amazing Labor Day weekend. While it was all happening, I couldn’t tell you what made it so great {maybe that the girls slept in, or that we had an extra family day}. But looking back now, I can tell you the top ten highlights from the last three days:
1. The Weather – Nothing puts me in a better mood than cool{er} weather. I am not a fan of summer weather. So each year when fall begins to cool things down, I am like a walking musical. It’s nothing but sunshine and roses {or is that cool breezes and fall leaves?}.
2. Hosting a BBQ – Jonathan and I decided to host a BBQ on Friday night. I emailed some friends and before I knew it, there were 15 adults and 12 kids partying in our backyard. Total bliss.
3. Apple Orchard Visit – There is a local orchard that I just love. Since the weather was so perfect, we decided to spend Saturday morning at the orchard. Hannah was more than thrilled with the all-you-can-eat apple policy.
4. Caramel Apples – You can’t visit an apple orchard without buying a caramel apple. Yumminess on a stick.
5. Pedicure – I went for pedicures with Leah and Rachel. It was my first time going and a great girls time out.
6. Family Bike Ride – Saturday evening we decided to ride into Iowa City for dinner. We biked about 4 miles to The Mill and had their Big Nachos. On the way home we stopped by my former boss’s house {who we’ve stayed in contact with since Julia was born} and enjoyed a lovely chat.
7. Watching The Family Stone – Have you seen The Family Stone with Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson? If not, it is such a cute movie {especially around the holidays}.
8. Coffee on the Porch – We hosted house church on Sunday and sat on the porch talking about God’s awesomeness and drinking coffee. Beautiful.
9. Playtime at the Mall – Monday morning we spent family time at the play gym in the mall. Jonathan bought me my first pumpkin spice latte of the season. The girls enjoyed running around crazy, while Jon got a little work done.
10. Attending a BBQ – We started the weekend off with good food and good friends, so what better than to end the weekend with good food and good friends. There were a few more adults and kids this time around and much fun was had by all.
I don’t recall Labor Day being this much fun, but I’m hoping it’s a tread for the future.
What about you? How was your Labor Day weekend?
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- In: Life
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I’m hosting a natural soap giveaway, ending tonight {Tuesday, August 31}. I thought I’d share with you the top ten reasons to use all natural shampoo.
1. Methylisothiazoline, or MIT – Never heard of it? Well, it’s a chemical used in many shampoos that have been linked to neurological damage. Neurological damage. From a shampoo. Crazy.
2. Sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS – The second ingredient in PANTENE Pro-V shampoo is SLS. SLS just so happens to be a proven skin irritant. That we put in shampoo. Then put on our heads.
3. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose – A semisynthetic used as a lubricant in shampoo. Oh, and as a thickening agent. In food. Yum.
4. Mineral Oil – Mineral oil clogs your hair follicles, making the natural release of oils from your head stick to your roots, thus giving you that “oily hair” look {when in fact, your hair isn’t dirty}.
5. Fragrances – I do like me some good smelly stuff, but there is no real FDA regulation of what chemicals make up the fragrances in our shampoo. I don’t like smelly stuff more than my health, that I can tell you.
6. Artificial (Synthetic) Colors – Have allergies to food dyes? Did you know your shampoo has dye in it too? And most of these dyes are made up of coal tar, a known carcinogen.
7. It’s hard to go ‘poo free – Summer of 2008 I stopped using shampoo. {I just heard a collective “WHAT?!“} While it took my hair a while to get use to the change, I loved it. I stopped when I got pregnant with Hannah, because my hair went totally crazy and started falling out. I haven’t gone back to ‘poo free, just switched to all natural shampoos.
8. It’s nice to know what’s on your skin – Just like people want to trace their food from the farm, I like to know who and how my skin care products are made. Eco Natural Soap does a great job of showing you.
9. It’s affordable – A bar of shampoo from Eco Natural Soap is only $3, and when you follow their recommended storing method a bar will outlast a large bottle of chemical shampoo. For $3!
10. You have a chance to win 2 bars of soap and a body balm – Want to try out all natural shampoo and soap? Well, here’s your chance to win 2 bars of soap and a body balm from Eco Natural Soap.
You only have until 11:59 CST TONIGHT {Tuesday, August 31} to sign up for your chance to win!
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Mothering with a timer
Posted on: August 24, 2010
- In: Life
- 12 Comments
One of my biggest mama-ing tactics is to create order for the girls. It doesn’t have to be clean order {like I’d want} it just has to bring calm to chaos. The best way I’ve been able to do this over the last 2 years is by using my kitchen timer. Sounds strange, but it is a miracle worker! When I set the timer, the Windhamettes know that the timer trumps all {even fits – sometimes…}. Here are my top ten ways of implementing the timer:
1. Sharing – When both girls want the same toy, I set the timer and make them take turns. Once the timer dings, they give the toy up until it’s their turn again.
2. Quiet time – We aim for daily quiet time, where for a specific time they girls sit quietly reading/playing until the timer goes off. This might bring me the most calm in the midst of chaos. I love quiet time.
3. Playing – Before bedtime, we set the timer so the girls know how much longer they have to play. There’s no arguing about when it’s time to be done, since the timer declares that the activity is over.
4. Finishing eating – Julia might be the world’s slowest eater. Ever. At almost every meal I set the timer to let her know she needs to finish her food before I clear the table.
5. Cleaning – This is more for me than the girls, but I set the timer and clean until the timer dings. Once that time is done, there is no more cleaning {except dishes} while they are awake. It helps me keep a balance of not cleaning all day.
6. Time out – Come by my house during the 5 o’clock meltdown and you’ll most likely find Julia in time out.
7. Resting – Some days the girls {read Julia} just needs a break and some rest. Perhaps she didn’t nap well {or at all}, so I make her lay down on the couch for 5-10 minutes and rest.
8. Waiting – We’re working on having the girls wait. Patience is a virtue, right? Seeing me set the timer helps them know their waiting isn’t going to last forever {even thought at times Julia is convinced it will}.
9. Learning numbers – I will point out the time and numbers to the girls and then start counting, explaining the numbers to them. Not sure it’s totally set in, but Julia did count to 10 this morning, so maybe it’s helping!
10. Transitioning – Moving from one activity to the next, I want to give the girls a heads up. I set the timer and when it goes off we move on. The switch tends to go much smoother than abruptly changing activities.
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- In: Life
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In the last week Jonathan’s grandma moved in with us, our whole family got sick, and I freaked Jonathan out by suggesting we use re-usable toilet paper. And during all that time, I learned some real life lessons.
1. Flowers from my husband “just because” makes my heart flutter.
2. Mamas don’t get sick days. Ever.
3. I have a wonderful community of friends. I already knew that, but felt it even more this week.
4. I still can’t sew a straight line. But I’m learning.
5. Hannah is not pleasant teethers.
6. Cola icee + no naps + Sam’s club = absolute craziness.
7. Cocoa roasted almonds are delicious.
8. Dyson makes the best vacuum in the world.
9. Mattresses on the floor will provide hours of entertainment for toddlers.
10. There are 130 days till Christmas. Oh yeah, I so just went there.
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30 before 30 – revisited
Posted on: August 10, 2010
- In: Life
- 9 Comments
This last weekend, Jonathan and I started talking about my 30 before 30 list. In 8 months I’ve managed to only mark off 4 items {with the 5th coming up}. That leaves 26 goals to complete in 20 months. Seems easy, huh? Well, since one of them is to visit Paris {and we all know how that’s going}, I’m realizing some things are going to need to be tweaked.
I’m leaving the list the same for now, but changing what I plan to accomplish before this year ends. Here’s my top ten {and the 6 that are left}:
1. Run a half marathon – Finished this one back in April. And actually am crazy enough to consider doing another one in October.
2. Get a tattoo – Took the plunge in April. Might have been the best decision I’ve made all year.
3. Speak before a large audience – Finished this one back in March.
4. Learn to make crepes – Finished this in February. Funny enough, this one seemed the most intimidating {I kid you not}.
Now the ones I still need to complete:
5. Girls weekend getaway – If everything goes as planned, I’ll be spending a weekend in NYC come September. Niiice.
6. Learn to sew a dress – Jon brought my 1960’s Singer sew machine out of the garage this morning. I’ve got it open and am currently learning to thread it. No easy task for this home ec drop out.
7. Submit a recipe to Southern Living – I’m keeping the recipe a secret for now, but plan on experimenting with it later this week. Hopefully it goes well {and makes for a good post ;)}.
8. Read through the Bible – After years of following reading plans, the one year I don’t is the one year I’ve actually read more in my Bible than ever before. Go figure.
9. Finish my wedding album – Really, does my wedding album sit on my dresser half completed, taunting me? Yes, yes it does. And really, is it that hard to put photos in an album? Probably not. But since it’s taken over 5 years to do it, you’d think it was. Haha.
10. Learn to play 3 Christmas carols on the piano – For a while I was teaching myself the piano. Yeah, we’re gonna scratch that. Keep it simple – just learn the carols. And after I found the Smule piano app for my iPad, I’m thinking that might just count.
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- In: Life
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Jonathan and I are heading to Minneapolis this weekend. {Please excuse me if you’ve read about our trip a thousand times on here or Twitter – I’m just a tad bit excited.} We don’t know everything that we will be doing while in MPSL, so I thought instead I’d give you the top ten things I won’t be doing on vacation.
1. Cleaning – I don’t plan to so much as pick my clothe up off the hotel room floor. I spend too much of my time cleaning during the day/week that I don’t want to do anything this weekend.
2. Changing diapers – For the first time in over 2.5 years, I will not change a single diaper. Bask in the glory.
3. Looking at the kids menu – No chicken nuggets, no grilled cheese sandwiches, no milk in cardboard containers. Only adult food.
4. Waking up early – Maybe this should be number 1? But I can promise I have no plans of getting out of bed before 9am.
5. Going to bed early – I’m not sure my body actually knows how to sleep until 9am. But I figure if I stay up until 1am it might learn.
5. Checking the time – I don’t want to worry about what time we eat, what time we go to bed or being anywhere for anything. {Except for our couples massage on Saturday. Yes you did read that right. Couples. Massage. Awesomeness.}
6. Cooking – While I love cooking, it’s nice to have a break and enjoy being served. Especially when it’s at a yummy restaurant like 112 Eatery.
7. Facebooking/Twittering/Taking calls – While our phones are coming, along with our iPads, I have no plans to use them. Well, aside from watching instant Netflix.
9. Driving a mini van – We are leaving our Swagger wagon at home and renting a car. We found a great deal through Enterprise with a coupon off eBay and have our fingers crossed for something sporty and fast.
10. Forgetting my girls – I think it’s going to be absolutely wonderful to get away alone with Jon for an entire 48 hours, but I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to be missing the Windhamettes something fierce by the end.
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Top Ten Anniversary gifts
Posted on: July 27, 2010
- In: Life
- 7 Comments
This Friday is my five year anniversary {woot woot} and I thought as a very obvious subtle hint to my husband, I’d suggest what I think make great gifts:
1. A getaway weekend – Perhaps this is already a given since we are going away next weekend, but in my little crazy-busy-mom-of-two-toddlers-under-two world, planning a weekend alone with my husband has made me as excited as planning for my wedding.
2. Sunflowers – Thanks to Southern Living and Midwest Living, I have been day dreaming about big, beautiful sunflowers all month long. I’ve never gotten any and think they’d be the perfect rose substitute.
3. Pearl necklace – I really don’t have a reason for this other than, what girl does want a new necklace?
4. Ukulele – I’ve always had a hidden desire to be a musician and since Jonathan is a guitar playing guy, I thought it would be nice to have a ukulele along side.
5. Massage – Really, do I need a reason?
6. Pedicure – See above note.
7. Dinner at a French restaurant – I figure, if we can’t go to Paris, Paris can come to us. Or at least the food can.
8. Build me a mother’s room – I once read about having a mother’s corner. The thought of having my own personal area sounds wonderful. However, the only room in the house that is large enough for that is the laundry room {which I find rather ironic}.
9. Piano lessons – Because whether you want to admit it or not, Christmas is coming and I still need to learn 3 carols.
10. A leg lamp – This might be the hardest one to ever convince Jon of. But with living room windows overlooking the neighborhood – that just begs for a major award.
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