January's Book

OK, Nikki, here is your pick for next book club: The Color Code by Taylor Hartman, PhD. My mother-in-law and I refer to this book/philosophy at least once every other week in conversation, although I have never read it in full. I'm looking forward to it :)
I think we decided on Thursday, Jan. 21st at Emily's house (someone please correct this if it is wrong) and we should each wear "our color" that night as well.
And Jen, I think you should still read this and post about it. What have you got going in the next month - just Christmas, packing your entire house, moving across the country, moving in to a new place, being a mom and wife, and being pregnant. But think of us - we need to hear your thoughts! J/K - good luck - we'll miss you!

New Member

Kelly kindly suggested that as a new member of the book club it would be fitting to say a little something about myself. So without further adieu-dieu (a high-brow French word meaning, literally, "goodbye doodies") ... let's begin!

I have a dog. Coda is half German shepherd, half pit-bull, all scaredy cat, and yes, her breed dictates that she will disfigure your young ones should they cross her path. Actually, the reputation of her breed falsely precedes her. She is a sweet, medium-size, wonderful companion and we trust that she will be as gentle with children as we trust she will wake us up at 4:00 a.m. and again at 6:00 a.m. every morning to adieu-dieu.

Dan is the sweet, tall, dark, and handsome man in my life. He is a wonderful provider and husband. Yes, he talks a lot in his sleep, including whispering “66666666666” repeatedly in a snakelike hiss, but he really is quite pleasant other than that. He works incredibly hard as a sales manager, and when he is not working or being a great husband, you can find him tickling keys as he writes songs, or burying his face in a book about finances, business, or personal development.

I, too, have taken up nocturnal activities. When I am not sleeping or drooling I can be found hallucinating in my sleep. It’s become rather common for a person to climb across my ceiling in the middle of the night, for a hand-sized cockroach to crawl into our dresser drawers, or for Dan to be both in bed with me and standing next to the bed beside me. Not to worry, I am now at the point that I am usually aware I am hallucinating as I do it, and after screaming at Dan to “kill the cockroach!” I often follow up with, “it’s not really there, I know I’m just dreaming.” This can get complicated when I am not sure which Dan to talk to.

By day I write for leisure as well as tend to all things domestic; I am my dog’s mom, my husband’s girlfriend, and by night I am apparently the next best thing to Linda Blair. I am passionate about learning, my favorite topics being human development, religion, psychology, writing, leadership, philosophy, spirituality, and organizational behavior. I grew up doing dance and vocal performances, as well as horseback riding. I have no idea what I will be doing in 5 years, and I am torn between thinking that statement is very stupid of me, and thinking it may just be one of the smartest things I have going.

Dan & I have lots of goals to improve our lives and the world around us! We place a great deal of value on health (all kinds), knowledge, responsibility and accountability, balance, security, truth, respect, and preparedness. We want to have a lot of resources so we can give a lot to others. We enjoy developing our talents. We love learning and growing. Our mission statement thus far is the lovely quote by Bertrand Russel: The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

That’s us! Adieu-dieu!

Phrenology

Last Friday night, Caroline and I (with our respective husbands) delved into a bit of head-bump reading. For those of you who still haven't stated/finished The Guernsey Lit book, one of the characters becomes quite an avid phrenologist. Her skills even save the day at one point. Anyway, I just thought you might like to know what my head bumps say about me:

As near as I can tell (it's rather difficult to read your own head bumps) I have:

• concentrativeness
• tune
• time
• combativeness
• and possibly language, though I can't tell if I really have a head bump there or I just wish I do

I'm asking for a book to learn head bump reading for my birthday next week.

Sale on Etsy!

Hey guys! A few months ago, I mentioned a craft fair that my sister and I did. Now we are trying to get things going on the internet. We are having a big one day sale on Monday, November 23rd. Everything will be on sale and a free pair of earrings is included in every sale over $10. We have a bunch of cool bags for sale. Take a look and tell your friends! Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
www.stroodel.etsy.com

News

I'm on a roll! Here's a reminder about:

1. Our cooking blog is having a cookie contest. Become our fan on facebook, send us an email with a Christmas cookie recipe, and then, if you win, pick your preferred kitchen utensil. Tell everyone you know (no, seriously. We'd love for you to tell your friends and family about it)! We want more readers and more cookies to try! You have until November 30 to enter.
   
2. My Christmas Chorus Concert: Dec 5 at 1:30 or Dec 6 at 7 in the chapel next to the mental hospital in Provo (just off of center street). We'll be singing an array of Christmas Carols and Benjamin Britton's Ceremony of Carols, which is quite amazing if you've never heard it. And we even have an excellent harpist.
   

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm breathlessly waiting to hear what Nikki thought about the book. My proposal is that if you miss a book club, you post your thoughts some time within the few days (which I do believe was our original intention, but somehow we haven't been so good at it). Let's hear it!

Leadership and Self-Deception

Finally I am posting the book for this month. The name of the book is Leadership and Self-Deception and it is by the Arbinger Institute.

Hope you are all doing great and enjoying the lovely, cold, fall weather. I am sure enjoying wearing jackets and eating soup. See you all soon!

more coupons

Rule #1: I will not spend more than 2 hours a month couponing. 

Rule #2: I will not buy things that I don't normally buy because it's a good deal.  Unless it's free.

Rule #3: I will not go to more than one store. (Walmart cause they price match. Okay occasionally I still hit Costco cause I love it!)

Rule #4: I will not shower more than once a day. Wait, that doesn't apply here...but I won't. 

Okay, so I switched to savvyshopper.com on Emily's suggestion.  It is much better.  At least for the way I shop. I was using grocery smarts.com but I do all my shopping at Walmart and just price match. So it was kind of a pain to go through and see all the specials from the individual grocery stores. Now I just look for the best (Wow) deals on savvy shopper and I'm done with my list. I do get a Sunday newspaper and my mom saves me her coupons from her paper but I find I only save about $5 a week on coupons. I pay $8 a month for the paper so it's worth it...maybe. I just don't buy a lot of coupon-ed items. However, I buy tons and tons and tons of produce so I really like seeing what the other stores have for good buys in that department and then price match at Walmart. Really, the AF Walmart has pretty good produce, I think. I probably save about $10 a week in price matching so I'm saving $60 a month (-$8 for the paper) on doing the coupon thing. I spend about $400 a month on groceries (this includes diapers and formula etc. so I am not saving 50% but I shop at Walmart for all my non-couponed items too so their prices are already way lower than Smiths or Albertsons. I'm not as good as Emily at it but this works for me.  Emily, you are an inspiration!

Nik

I was just looking through our list of books on the right and I KNOW we're missing some (like the one we (or at least you all) read in August). If you see one is missing, please post it for us all! :)

Oh, and Jenn, would you mind posting the name and author of our book for this month?

Coupons, coupons...

Ok girls, here are the sites I use to set up my store deals with coupons.

savvyshopper.com Here I signed up to get a weekly email and these are local stores. You can also just go to the shopping wizard and search by store. This site will often give web addresses to other coupon sites such as coupons.com, cellfire.com and shortcuts.com. The last two are sites for Smiths where you enter your fresh value card # and select your coupons and they go right on your card, so when you check out, the discount is applied. There are also product sites (like scrubbing bubbles or whatever) which give coupons for just their product. On these sites where you have to enter your email address, I use an alternate one because I think they probably send lots of junk mail.

I also use savingwithshellie.com. On this blog stores are listed on the right side of the page. This is where I get my Walgreens deals and I normally search Target and Walmart as well. This girl is in Texas, so sometimes the prices are a little different than what she has posted.

Once you start getting the Sunday paper, it takes a few weeks of clipping coupons before you can get all the deals from these sites. I organize my coupons in categories like Drinks, Meat, Condiments, Dairy, Cleaning & Laundry, Baby Items, Personal Items (shampoo, make up, deodarant, etc.) Then I put the ones that are going to expire first in front. Once I plan my shopping list, I pull out all the coupons I am planning on using so I don't forget any and the checkout is smoother. If I'm at the store and I see a product marked down, I go through my coupons and try to match them up (I can especially do this at Smiths with the Managers Markdown, I've gotten many free yogurts!)

I hope this is helpful to you guys. It does take some time, and some practice, but I have definitely seen it's payoffs, and I love feeling like I got a great deal. Nikki, If you could post (or comment) the coupons sites you go to, that would be great!


Emily

So, my worst fear of having the responsibility of choosing the book club book has come true - that I pick a book of fiction based on the little bit I know of it, and it turns out to be totally inappropriate. Arg. I didn't realize how many of the stories are about sex and death. Anyway, I hope you have all procrastinated reading it until this week. I'm still not done, but here is my updated list of stories to avoid:
Happy Endings
The Boy
Iguana Hunting
Disappearing
A Lover's Ear
The Verb To Kill
Bigfoot Stole My Wife
I am only up to "Family Album" now, but I'll post any others that I come to.
Next time I think I'll stick with non-fiction :)

OK, I apologize, but I feel the need to warn you on a couple of stories in this book, since I was the one who chose it. I only read a few of them in school, and now I've found a couple that you probably will want to skip. So, I hope actually that none of you has started reading yet!
One to absolutely avoid is "The Boy" by Joyce Carol Oates, and another red flag would be a pretty bad word on the second page of Margaret Atwood's "Happy Endings." I'll keep you posted on any others I come across that need censoring. But the nice thing about short stories is that you can skip a bad one all together and not miss out on any part critical to the rest of the book.

Thanks everyone who came last night - it was so fun to have an excuse to hang out outside and woman-talk :) So... here is our next book - an anthology of short-short stories called Sudden Fiction International. All the stories have fewer than 2000 words. I was thinking that when we meet next at Caroline's (I think we decided on August 28th) that we could all have our favorite 2 stories picked out to discuss. Here is a link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0393306135/ref=sr_1_olp_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248458107&sr=1-1

"The List"

I decided to post "The List" on our blog so that we all know what order we are in. We can use this post as a reference when I forget to bring to my planner.

Lindsey

Nikki

Emily

Kelly

Becky

Caroline

Jenn

I think Caroline and Becky switched at sometime because their names were erased and then switched. I can't remember why???

News

So....

We're coming back to Utah!

But we need a place to live. And in my opinion, apartment hunting = worst form of torture in the world. I think I'm too picky. But is it really picky when you're deciding the place you're going to live for the next while? Ok, maybe it is picky, but is that a bad thing? I'll let you decide. Here's a general idea of what we're looking for:

• A place with character (which, in my book, usually translates to being an old house)
• A place with no character (which usually translates as being new) but will let me paint the walls
• Somewhere between Provo and the point of the mountain
  
• Preferably a house (not a basement!)
  
• If not a house, then an apartment that is not close to being a basement that will let me paint the walls
• 2 bedrooms
• A kitchen that has space for 2 people to be mixing things at the same time
  
• Rent that isn't higher than around $800
  

Any ideas? Do you have any friends that might have any ideas of places for rent?

The Good Earth

Has anyone (who still lives in Utah) finished the book yet? I'm on a wait list for it at the library, but I'm scared I won't get it in time. If anyone will let me borrow it will you let me know. Thanks!

Emily

A contest!

I don't know if you guys look at Caroline and my cooking blog, but you should. And we're having a contest right now where you can win one of the very best dessert cookbooks in the world. Check it out!

Real Report from John Hopkins

I found two article that go along with the email I received.  One is from John Hopkins public health center discussing the email that was apparently not from John Hopkins and the other is from the USDA.  Click on the attached links.

Cancer Update From John Hopkins

My mom has been telling me for about a year that reheating things in the microwave on plastic is bad for you.  She heard that it was a possible cause of birth defects.  Well today I got an email that gave me another reason not to use plastic in the microwave.  I at least want to look into this matter a little more.   

> 
> Subject: Fw: CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS
> 
> 
>Bottled water in your car is very dangerous!
> On the Ellen show, Sheryl Crow said this is what caused her
> breast cancer. It has been identified as the most common
> cause of the high levels of dioxin in breast cancer tissue.
>>
 Sheryl Crow's oncologist told her:
>women should not drink bottled water that has been left in
>a car.
>>
>>
>>
>> The heat reacts with the chemicals in the plastic of the
> > bottle which releases dioxin into the water. Dioxin is a
0A> > toxin increasingly found in breast cancer tissue. So please be careful and do
> > not drink bottled water that has been left in a car. Pass
> > this on to all the women in your life.
> >
> >
> >
> > This information is the kind we need to know that just
> > might save us! Use a stainless steel canteen or a glass
> > bottle instead of plastic!
> >
> >
> >
> > LET EVERYONE WHO HAS A WIFE / GIRLFRIEND / DAUGHTER
> > KNOW PLEASE!
> >
> >
> >This information is also being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center ...
> >
>   No plastic containers in microwave.
> >
>   No water bottles in freezer
> >
     No plastic wrap in microwave.
> >
     A dioxin chemical causes cancer, especially breast cancer.
> >
>   Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.
> >
>  Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases 
    dioxins from the plastic.
> >
>   Recently, Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at
> > Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health
> > hazard.
> >
> >He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.
> >
> > ;He said that we should not be heating our food in the
> > microwave using plastic containers...
> >
>   This especially applies to foods that contain fat.
> >
> > He said that the combination of fat, high heat,and
> > plastic releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into
> > the cells of the body...
> >
> >Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware,
> > Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food.. You get the
> > same results, only without the dioxin .
> >
>    So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups,
> > etc., should be removed from the container and heated in
> > something else.
> >
> > Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the
> > paper.
> >
> > It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning
> > Ware, etc.
> >
> > He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food
> > restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. 
      The dioxin problem is one of the reasons...
> >
>   Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran wrap,
> > is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. 
     As the food is nuked, the high heat causes p oisonous toxins to
> > actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.
> >
> >Cover food with a paper towel instead.
> >
> >This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life!

Kelly Dyed My Hair

Kelly and I don't have much to do around here so we decided to dye my hair for entertainment purposes.   I have never dyed my hair before and Kelly has never dyed anyones hair.  We wore garbage bags to protect are clothes.  I think I was pretty brave considering how scared Kelly looks in this picture.  Kelly did a really good job and we had a lot of fun.  

 Finished Product!!  What do you guys think??

A Few Thoughts on Blogging

So, I sit here trying to come up with something to say for my first blogging experience ever.  In the past I have given many reasons why  I don't blog.  

Reason not to blog #1:  My kid hates it when I sit at the computer for longer than 30 seconds at a time.  

Reason not to blog #2:  I don't feel I have anything fun, clever, or interesting to say. 

Reason not to blog #3:  I don't know how to "upload" pictures and I don't know what "upload" means.

Reason not to blog #4:  I'm not a very good speller and I can't find spell check on this blasted text box.

To overcome my fear of blogging and discover what it is that makes it so popular, I decided to tackle these obstacles one by one. 

#1:  Jace is asleep and I told Kale if he interrupts me in the next 10 minutes he will have to take a bath.  Since he hates bathing as much as his mom, this has been effective so far. 

#2: I did some research on blogging before I started so as to have a "fun fact" to contribute to this site:  One of the first examples of blogging comes from Orsen Scott Card's book Ender's Game when the two characters Valentine and Peter create what are essentially political blogs on the "nets".  I thought this was interesting because we read that book.

#3:  Okay, no time now to overcome this obstacle.

#4:  I learned how to spell the word "obstacle".

#5: My real reason for blogging is because I just love my book club friends and I really want to stay in close contact with each of them.  

See!  I'm really giving this my best shot!  Okay, I'll begin working on my next post.  Who knows, maybe there will be pics.  For now, Kale woke Jace up so I have to give a bath and feed a baby.

Later, 

Nik 

July's Book

This month's book is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.  I think it may be one of the best books I've read in years.  I hope you like it!!  (Click on the title to link you to the amazon page).  I'll be posting my thoughts about things in a few weeks.  

Things to blog about on our blog

Last week we were talking about what we should post about on this here lil ole blog.  This is what Lindsey and I have come up with:

1. Life in general- what you've been doing, something book club would be especially interested in hearing about, etc.
   
2. Books that we're reading that we like/don't like that are not book club books
3. Questions/comments about random topics (politics, family issues, spiritual insights, "ah-ha!" moments, breast feeding advice, etc.)
4. Thoughts/comments on the book club book

Number four deserves special attention.  We think that if you're going to post something about the book club book and you will be attending our monthly meeting, you should probably not post anything until AFTER book club.  If you're not around for book club, feel free to put up what you would have told us had you been there, perhaps 2 or 3 days beforehand so we have time to read your comments.  

If you have any other ideas, feel free to share!  

My Thoughts on Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.

     I feel like some of the chapters in this book were written just for me to hear.  I was reading the chapter "Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking" and realized that was me.  This is after I had called Kelly fifty million times and had gone slightly crazy because of my overactive brain.  

     "Don't Interrupt Others or Finish Their Sentences" is something I need to remind myself on a daily basis.  I don't know if it because I grew up with all girls and we talked over each other all the time or something else but this is a really bad habit I have.  By the way,  What did you guys think of the book?  (see I am trying.)  

     The chapter "Do Something Nice for Someone Else--and Don't Tell Anyone About It" made me think of my Dad.  My Dad's motto in life is doing quiet random acts of kindness every day.  Our family home evening lessons are always about doing acts of kindness and not telling anyone about it.  I do think that this strategy can bring great peace and joy into your life.    

    I also have decided I need to "Become a Better Listener."  If I could go to book club this month I would try really hard not to comment on anything and just listen.  But if everyone decided to go as just the listener it would be a very boring book club.  Just tell me to be quiet when my overactive brain is snowballing and I overtake the conversation.

    I also need to "Become an Anthropologist."  I thought this was a great chapter on how to view people without judging them.  We are all different and it is our differences that make us special.  We should embrace the differences we have with others.

    I really liked the strategy "Remember That Everything Has God's Fingerprint on It."  Just Remember.  That's all I have to say about that.

   "Think About What You Have Instead of What You Want."  There are lots of things I want but I am trying not to think about them so I am not going to write anything else on this subject.

    "Be Happy Where You Are"  I totally believe that happiness is the way.  Things in life don't make you happy you make you happy.

    The chapter in this book that just won't work for me is "Become an Early Riser."  If he is getting up between 3 and 4 in the morning what time is he going to bed.  I choose sleep!!!  Sleep helps me feel less fatigued and more relaxed.  

     "Nurture a Plant" is another strategy that won't work for me because I kill plants.  They just die.  This strategy won't bring me more love.       

     I really liked the book but about half way through I felt like he just started repeating himself.  All he did was change the title of the strategy and share new stories about the same topics, which I did enjoy.  If I could sum the book up in just a few words I would say relax, love, serve others, don't judge, give others the glory, control your thoughts, and happiness is a way. 

     Emily, thank you for choosing this book.  I gained a lot of good insight.  I will miss all of you at book club.  I feel like I haven't seen you in forever and can't wait to come back.  Have fun tonight and I love you all.

P.S.  I obviously have a lot of time on my hands.  I am sorry this post is so long.    

A First

OK, I'm really just so excited about our blog, I wanted to write something - anything. This is, in fact, the first time I have ever written anything on any blog! So for now I will just say how glad I am that Emily picked this book - it is exactly all of the things I plan to work on every day and which I start over working on each new day. I like that it gives strategies for practicing... very helpful.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

This month's book is Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson.  The Book was picked by Emily.  Happy Reading.