January Hot Happenings

Despite the fact that January is half gone, I still wanted to get this quick update up to record the events in our house during January. Lets reflect on the beginning of 2013!

Random note: last year I had a fun time taking a picture of our home each month and watching the progression in the seasons and activities around the house. This year I decided to take a picture at the end of each month of the waterfall near our house. (the same one you saw in this post) Hopefully I'll be able to snap one each month and share with you how beautiful it is!

Ahh, I say it every month, but I'll say it again..Judah is growing and is so.stinkin.cute! He is developing quite the little personality, and learning how to communicate to us what he wants. And believe me, he knows what he wants most of the time!

Look at those beautiful blues!

Cutest little bathrobe ever, or what??!!

I mentioned on my Facebook page a couple of weeks ago how we lost power for most of a day. A telephone pole snapped in a town nearby, so we had the romantic experience of dining by candle light. Actually, we had to do everything by candlelight for a few hours!

There were candles everywhere. These candelabras came from the church, and actually shed quite a bit of light! Can you imagine living in the day when they carried these around all the time as the #1 light source? How did they not burn themselves with dripping hot wax??? #sogladIliveinthe21century

I was able to read 3 books during January, in keeping with my goal to read 3 books per month this year. I read C for Victory by Joan Croston, another fictional WWII story about a small community and their efforts to help during the war. {This book is one of 4 in the volume shown here.} I enjoy reading about this time period in history, and have read this book a couple of times before! This is not a super intriguing read, but just a light story...which I enjoy reading from time to time!

My second book was Eric Liddell, and oh my, what a challenging story! I don't believe I had ever read a biography on this man before, but I was truly challenged by this man's life and testimony. Eric Liddell was the son of a missionary who became a Olympian runner, setting records for speed in certain races. He hit a roadblock in his career, however, when he refused to run on a Sunday. God blessed him for this decision, and he went on to win other Olympic races that he was not expected to win. Eventually, Eric gave up his running career and went back to China as a missionary. That is the story in a nutshell, but you really must read this book to be fully impacted by this man's life!

The last book I read was Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets. This book was a bit of a disappointment. I was looking forward to a great book on prayer, but this author had a lot of views that I do not agree with. I was very disappointed at some of the irreverent ways he spoke about God, and had other practices such as speaking in tongues that I do not believe the Lord uses in our day and age.

Despite the fact that I could not agree with some parts of the book, I was still challenged in my own personal life through the verses on prayer and intercession, and have seen myself being more intentional about praying and interceding for others. So I am thankful for the things I did learn through this book, although I don't plan on ever picking it up again.

During our family mealtimes we have finished up the Little House series {which took us most of last year} and have started on the Grandma's attic series. We read the first one, In Grandma's Attic, during January. I enjoyed this series so much when I was the girl's ages, and I'm excited to be able to introduce them to these great books! Unfortunately I don't own them all, but I own several so we'll be reading them for a few months anyway.

We used to read only at the noon meal, but because the chapters in these books are shorter {each chapter is a short story} we've been reading two or three at dinner and then another one or two at supper. The girls keep asking for "just one more," and since I love to read to them I'm happy to oblige! I'm thankful we've made the time for reading aloud each day.

Here is a little of what went on through the blog during this month:

I shared quite a bit on goal setting at the beginning of the year, since it is an area that is important to me! Here are some reasons why I set goals and some ways to accomplish them.

These Candy Cane Brownies are a bit hit, especially if you still need to use up some leftover candy canes!

I updated the embroidery hoop art in my bedroom..and still love the result!

I shared some of the presents I was blessed with this Christmas, and showed you the handmade gifts I gave.

Are you on the Swagbucks bandwagon yet? Here are some easy tips to help you get started and earn a couple of gift cards each month.

I made these quilted placemats for a friend, and shared a little bit of the how-it-all-went-down.

Ahh...my new Booktotes came out in my shop, as well as a little shop makeover! Have you checked them out yet?

Ahhh again...I am thrilled to be a contributor at Imperfect Homemaker this year! Here was my first post over there about organizing {are we surprised?}

I did some more organizing too..and gained control of some paper clutter and files.

Wowzers, what a busy month! I guess it is true that you really hit the ground running at the beginning of a new year. It is fun to take this time to reflect on it all!

So how about you, any big events in January? Were you able to accomplish a lot, or did you not feel as motivated as some in the first part of the year?

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