FYI: Another Excellent Free Album

Posted on 11.20.08 in Music and there are 0 comments.

I posted about another excellent and free album. Visit the Bloggable Music Network to get the details.

(While you’re there, go ahead and subscribe to the feed so you don’t miss out on all the fun.)

Retreat Your Way to Success: How To Take A Daily Retreat

Posted on 11.18.08 in Productivity and there are 10 comments.

photo by notsogood
2008 is coming to a close and as I look over the past year, I realize that it has been an amazing year for me. I accomplished a lot and I changed a lot.

I think the main reason it was such a successful year for me was because I learned the value of retreating. To rest. To pray. To plan.

This year, I was very intentional about getting away on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. Over the next few days, I’ll share my various routines and how they’ve helped me.

Today I’m going to focus on my “Daily Retreat.”

Daily - My Morning Retreat

I’ve been waking up at 5:30am for the past few months and it’s been incredible to have that quiet time to myself in the morning. I spend time praying, reading the Bible, exercising and planning my day. By the time I need to get the kids dressed for school, I’m refreshed and envisioned for the day. And I feel great because I’ve already accomplished so much.

Now, I realize getting up early is easier said than done. Here are a few tips that have helped me.

Tip #1 Start simple.
When you start waking up early, keep your goals simple - just get out of bed. Tell yourself that’s all you have to do. Once you can get up and out of bed regularly, the rest is easy.

The first few days, as soon as I woke up, I spent a couple minutes just praying for grace to be consistent and faithful to get out of bed on time. I had no delusions of grandeur or Beth Moore-like Bible Study times. I just wanted the will power to exit my warm, cozy bed.

I now actually look forward to getting up early.

Tip #2 No Excuses
I don’t allow myself any excuses. I don’t sleep in on the weekends. I don’t sleep in if I went to bed at 1:00am. I get up at 5:30am. Period.

Knowing that I don’t have an option has really helped me to be consistent.

Tip #3 Prepare
I set everything out that I need the night before. I set out my journal, Bible, ipod and laptop. I hang up my running clothes.

If I have everything ready it maximizes my time and it reduces the obstacles to prayer and exercise.

Tip #4 Get Uncomfortable
An ideal morning devotion time would involve a cup of tea, a warm fire, soothing music and a soft cozy chair.

And I would be asleep in 6 seconds.

I’ve learned that getting comfy early in the morning isn’t a good idea. So I spend my morning quiet time in the grandeur of my garage. It’s not comfy. There are bugs. It’s cold. But it helps me stay focused and intentional about my time.

Tip #5 Plan
Decide how much time you’re going to spend reading, praying, working out and planning your day. Plan what you’re going to do during each section.

What book of the Bible will you study? Who will you pray for each day? What exercises will you do?

Plan it out, because the less you have to think at 5:30am - the better.

In Conclusion
Remember, the simple goal is just to get up and out at 5:30am (or whatever time you choose). Don’t make it more complicated than that. Sometimes my Bible study times are less than stellar. Sometimes I skip workouts. But by simply getting out of bed, I’m being made more faithful every day.

In the next part of this series, I’ll share how I do my weekly retreats.

Your Turn
How do you recharge each day?

(This post is part of Works For Me Wednesday.)

Jimmy Has Chosen Wisely

Posted on 11.17.08 in Family and there are 7 comments.

On any given day, by the time Jimmy leaves his office at 5:30pm, at least one of the following will be untrue:

1. Dinner will be ready
2. The house will be clean
3. The children will be happy
4. The wife will be happy

Jimmy has determined that #4 is the most important.

Such a wise man he is.

What is your house like just before dinnertime?

Music Monday: 5 Great Places To Find Great Music

Posted on 11.16.08 in Music Monday and there are 2 comments.

Now that I’ve moved Music Monday over to the Bloggable Music Network site, I get to write about music twice. Here and there.

Fun times.

This Monday, I thought I’d list some of my favorite places to find new music.

eMusic

eMusic is a subscription based online music store. I like eMusic because, since get a certain number of downloads each month, I feel the need to use them. So I download a lot of songs and albums from new artists or artists from genres I don’t normally listen to. This week I downloaded Vivaldi’s Four Season and Rebel by LaCrae - not normally a combo I’d buy on iTunes, but I’m loving both albums.

Pandora

Pandora is an online “radio station” that tailors each playlist to your musical taste. So if you tell Pandora that you like Rich Mullins, it will create a playlist of similar musicians. It usually does a pretty good job of mixing familiar music with new artists.

iTunes

I enjoy checking out the iTunes store and the different pages for each genre. There are often free downloads and occasionally featured artists I either haven’t heard of or haven’t taken the time to listen to yet.

YouTube

I get lost for HOURS on YouTube. I adore live music and I really enjoy watching all the concert footage of my favorite artists. If I hear of a new artist, You Tube is usually the first place I go to listen to more of their music.

The other night, I found this jem from Joss Stone (disclaimer: I don’t endorse all of her music...or videos for that matter.) But she has an AMAZING voice and I love her spunk.

BloggableMusicNetwork.com

Honestly? I’m incredibly excited about the direction that the new site is taking.

The basic gist is that we’ll offer “hand picked” free music to bloggers.

Read today’s post at the Bloggable Music Network site to get the details and find out when our first free album will be available and who’s album it is.

I Have Summited Mt. Washmore

Posted on 11.13.08 in Family and there are 4 comments.

After not having our washing machine for well over a week, here’s what I did yesterday.

The photo doesn’t include Jimmy’s clothes or the towels and sheets.

It may not look like a lot, but each of those baskets (except mine) is filled with lots and lots of little kids clothes. Tiny socks, bibs, pjs.

Whew.

I’ve informed my family that they’re not allowed to put anything in my gloriously empty hamper for 3 days.

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Random Tidbit #1
By the way, based on the responses to this post Tide is the detergent of choice for this corner of the blogosphere. I was also very impressed at how many of the guys who read this blog actually know what kind of laundry detergent their wife uses. Several even do their own laundry! Major props.

Random Tidbit #2
Jimmy did his own laundry at one point. He didn’t tell me he was doing it, and apparently we have so much laundry I didn’t even notice! He decided to do something truly helpful instead, so now he does ALL the dishes. I love my husband...)

I Double Dog Dare You: 100 Clicks

Posted on 11.13.08 in Thoughts and there are 3 comments.

Over at Inspired to Action, we’ve been writing about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I know what you’re thinking, “I couldn’t pick DRC out on a map. I feel no connection to it, why would I want to go to all the effort to click a link just to read an article about people I can’t help? No thanks. I’m going to just go read another, easier blog post now. See ya.”

Honestly, I often feel the same way. I don’t feel like I can really make a tangible difference, so I just click away.

But if you’re like me, you want to help. You want to make a difference. It’s just all so overwhelming.

Today I’m going to simplify things. All I want you to do is click…

100 Clicks

So I double dog dare 100 of you to click the link below to read about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

That’s it. All you need to do is click the link. You don’t need to commit to writing a letter. You don’t need to commit to giving money to an aid organization.

Just click. You can do that right?

Change begins with one step....or click.

Go ahead…

Learn about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I’ll post an update later today when we reach 100 clicks.

(If you’re reading via RSS, please click through to my blog and then click on the link. That way I can count your click.)

I Would Blog, But…

Posted on 11.11.08 in General and there are 19 comments.

The plumbers have left.

The leak is fixed.

My washing machine is back.

....and my laptop is on the other side of the mountain of laundry that has accumulated over the past week.

If you don’t hear from me in 48 hours, call search and rescue.

Oh, and you might want to buy stock in Gain. I’ll be using A LOT of it over the next day or two.

What is your laundry detergent of choice? (Extra props to any guys who know what detergent is used in your house.)

Music Monday: Two Free Songs and an Announcement

Posted on 11.10.08 in Music Monday Music and there are 2 comments.

I just wanted to let you all know that Music Monday has moved to the Bloggable Music Network.

I’ve also posted two new free songs over there.

And...next week we’ll announce an exclusive FREE ALBUM download just for bloggers. So, be sure to visit the Bloggable Music Network often, or better yet, subscribe to our the newsfeed.

See you there!

There’s A Hole In My House. Dear Liza A Hole.

Posted on 11.09.08 in Family and there are 12 comments.

We had a leak.

We called the plumbers.

We gave them lots of money. They dug holes in our house.

With jackhammers. During naptime.

We took cold showers. We drove to the YMCA to take nice hot showers.

We haven’t done laundry in a week. Mount Washmore is as tall as I am.

It’s been an exciting week.

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It sounds silly, but it really was weird to see that there’s actually dirt under our house. I mean, to watch them dig shovelfuls of dirt right there in my dining room.

They dug the holes on Thursday, couldn’t find the leak, came back Friday, fixed it but the inspector couldn’t come until Monday (today). So we’ve had to be really careful about getting things from our pantry.

You know, so we don’t FALL INTO THE BIG HOLE.

Hopefully, the inspector will come today and they can cover the hole.

I hope, I wish, I pray I’ll have my washing machine back today.

I can’t wait to do laundry!

I have never uttered that previous sentence before in my life and I don’t think I will again.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve had to fix in your house?

Try Not To Cry. I Dare You.

Posted on 11.06.08 in Faith Blogging and there are 6 comments.

Read this post from The Marlboro Man and then watch this video.

If you don’t tear up, send a search party out for your heart.

Because it must be missing.

Do you sponsor a child? Brag on them in the comments.

I’m Not Sure If That’s Really What Happened After Jesus Rose From The Grave

Posted on 11.05.08 in Parenthood and there are 15 comments.

I LOVE putting my son to bed. He is so incredibly cuddly and sweet at bedtime. Actually, he’s pretty much always sweet and cuddly…

But he especially showers me with hugs and kisses at night.

Partially, because he loves me and partially because he knows that will buy him a few more minutes before he has to go to sleep.

He’s a smart one.

Anyway, the other night we were reading his little Bible story book and he stopped on this page (the one pictured above).

He said, “De-sus!”

Then he yelled, “Hi! Fi!”

I didn’t understand what he was saying until he grabbed my hand, raised it, slapped it with his and said, “De-sus! Hi! Fi!”

I laughed so hard, it’s now his favorite part of bedtime. We must have hi fived 50 times tonight.

The boy just steals my heart…

Big Mama and the Chicken Dance

Posted on 11.05.08 in Blogging and there are 0 comments.

Read this post. It’s funny and stirring and thought provoking.

It makes me feel rich and makes me want to change.

Go ahead, click.

You Must Download This Album

Posted on 11.05.08 in Music Monday Music and there are 0 comments.

Check out my post on the Bloggable Music Network to find out what it is. Oh, yea, it’s “free” too, but only for this week.

(Yes, I’m shamelessly plugging the new blog. I confess. I hope to see many of you over there often!)

In These Hard Economic Times, I Just Bought A $2.63 Apple

Posted on 11.04.08 in Thoughts and there are 16 comments.

Photo by fortinbras
Marketing. Word of mouth. Viral promotion.

Call it what you want. I fell for it.

I’d recently seen one of my trusted blog friends (although I can’t remember who, at the moment) gush about the glories of the Honeycrisp Apple. They went on and on.

Being a person who loves fruit (I prefer a good piece of fruit to pastries, although I am perfectly willing to consume pastries if needed), I couldn’t resist tossing a Honeycrisp Apple in my cart today.

However, I was shocked at the checkout line when it rang up for $2.63.

IT’S AN APPLE!!!!

Granted, it’s probably the largest apple I’ve ever purchased. But still.

So now, I’m about to go taste my little golden apple. It better be good. I’ll post a full report.

Have you ever had a Honeycrisp Apple? What did you think of it?

(Yes, I realize it’s election day. I figure there are enough people blogging about the serious stuff. I prefer to blog about produce. It’s the maverick in me.)

For Those of You Who Did Not Get the Newsletter

Posted on 11.03.08 in Music Monday Music and there are 0 comments.

Apparently, several subscribers to the Bloggable Music Network did not receive their newsletters today.

So, I’ve set up a simple blog and I posted the newsletter there. Check it out.

My Twitter Posts