January 2013 challenge update

Book of the month

I finished this book and what a wonderful read! I would say that "The Relations" would be the part that resonated most for me.

Sacrifice of the Month

No foods that have been breaded/made with flour. ** I was fairly good with this, but found that I substituted potatoes for the lack of bread.

Corporal/Spiritual Work of Mercy

Continue pro life work and put time aside to help with church cleaning.** Pro life continued, but I never made it to the church to clean.

Home Project

Finish air conditioner landscape project.** Didn't finish, but I completed another chapter of this project.

Just love watching this family

Talk Tuesday: Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Have any of you heard of or read The Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Rev. Fr. Peter J. Arnoudt S.J.?

I found this summary on Amazon.com:
Imprimatur: 1904. By: Rev. Peter J. Arnoudt S.J. - [from the 1904 edition] "This book will lead souls to sanctity." Full of wisdom for every type of person, and written with such natural simplicity, some say this book is even more inspiring than The Imitation of Christ. Written in a format in which Our Lord speaks to the reader, through the holy author, Fr. Arnoudt S.J., it "points out the path to every virtue and perfection.


This is the book I referenced on Sunday and may become the 13th book of 2013... I best get reading!

Musically Manic Monday

Work: Training three new employees and going into overtime!

Garden: Nothing food wise but we continue to work on our air conditioner landscape project.

Church: Bookstore and now I am helping with flowers for the altar. 

Home: Still deciding on the bathroom renovations.

Budget: Finishing up the records for 2012 and now using a new spreadsheet for 2013. Hubby was caught purchasing more books....he is banned for February (naughty).

Cleaning: 15 minute challenge starts this week!

Pro Life: Going out this week and have asked my entire parish to consider going out to pray and represent the Catholic/Pro Life side.

Dinner Making: A big mess.

Health: I am going to try and walk during my lunch breaks this week.

Music: I attended my first choral practice and we have a lot of pieces to learn! Two are Morten Laurisden's compositions which I find quite beautiful.

What's going on in your world?

Sunday Afternoon Chit Chat

It is Sunday afternoon and I am sitting in the "pretty room" reading through a few e-mails while waiting for the chicken to cook for our dinner.

When we came home from Mass, I was able to put the chicken in the oven and then head out on a lovely walk. I did this last week as well and hope to keep up the habit.  It might be a baby step toward a healthier lifestyle, but it is a step!

My book of the month clicked yesterday for me and has continued today. Reading about St. Teresa of Avila's trials is difficult, but her spiritual words are inspiring! I think I may finish the 504 pages before the 31st which will be  nice since my next book is another one of her writings! I know I made a list, but Hubby purchased a new book for the bookstore and I am itching to add that to my list. Maybe I will make that a special prize if I can finish the twelve. I will admit that I started December's book already and may finish that by the end of February.

I took apart my scarf project for the tenth time and I am going to start it all over again. I just couldn't stomach the mistakes and need to do the best that I can on this project before I start working on the scarf for my husband.

This afternoon I will work on our accounts, pay bills, and try to organize our "bill table". We will see how far that takes us.

Also, I was thinking of making a list of all the rooms in the house and setting up a 15 minute task challenge. This would entail picking a room and cleaning up whatever one can within that allotted time.  It would be one room per day. I am hoping this will help keep the home a little neater (but who are we kidding).

Pretty Room

" This wasn't a choice, this was my son"

New Project III

We used up all of the weed cover on hand and then laid down the pine needles around the "rock box". I need to pick up more weed cover, pine needles, stepping stones, planting pots, and plants!

Stay tuned!

Baby Steps.....

Pictured above is my first knitting project. This took me a good month to figure out after private lessons and watching tons of You Tube videos.Today, though, I finally felt at ease and started to knit nice, clean rows. 

The next step would be learning the purl stitch- keep your fingers crossed!

Wheelin' Wednesday

Make sure you check out CVS for all those 75% off deals like these above!

RICE COOKER

This past week I utilized my rice cooker to make a Friday meal. I threw in rice, vegetable broth, frozen spinach, and shrimp and plugged this baby in. Yummy! Have you ever tried this?

Musically Manic Monday

Work: Training three new employees.

Garden: It is cold!

Church: Not too much going on here except that we continue to keep a well stocked book store. 

Home: Two new quotes today for bathroom renovations.

Budget: Finishing up the records for 2012 and now using a new spreadsheet for 2013. I created this spreadsheet with a few more built in formulas to automate things a bit more. So far it is working quite nicely. I may even make it a public spreadsheet depending how everything sizes up at the end of the year.

Cleaning: We are okay in this arena.

Pro Life: I am getting back into this the upcoming weekend.

Dinner Making: Normal

Health: Illness seems to be running rampant over here, and I am hoping I keep healthy!

Music: Choral practice starts up this month but nothing is going on musically this week.

What's going on in your world?

2013 Book List

As promised, here is a list of my book selections for 2013.

1. The Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila

2. The Interior Castle (St. Teresa of Avila)

3. The Double/The Gambler (Dostoevsky)

4. Liberalism is a Sin (Salvany)

5. The Soul of the Apostolate (Chautard)

6. The Adolescent (Dostoevsky)

7. The Catholic Controversy (de Sales)

8. The Rhine Flows into the Tiber (Wiltgen)

9. Mary Barton (Gaskell)

10. The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. I (Garrigou-Lagrange)

11. The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. II (Garrigou-Lagrange)

12. Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World (Harman)

Currently, I am reading 15 to 20 pages each day for January's book and it is moving along well. 

Do you have a list of books this year?

Twelve Days of Christmas....

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..

Twelve Drummers Drumming are the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament and the twelve points of the Apostle’s Creed.

Twelve Days of Christmas....

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..

Eleven Pipers Playing are the eleven surviving Apostles proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus.

Twelves Days of Christmas

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..

Ten Lords A-Leaping represent the Ten Commandments.

Twelve Days of Christmas.....

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..

Nine Ladies Dancing are the nine ranks of angel choirs.

Twelve Days of Christmas.....

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..

Eight Maids A-Milking are the eight Beatitudes.

January 2013 and the List of Challenges

Book of the month

Sacrifice of the Month

No foods that have been breaded/made with flour.

Corporal/Spiritual Work of Mercy

Continue pro life work and put time aside to help with church cleaning.

Home Project

Finish air conditioner landscape project.