Menu Plan Monday

Harvest Wild Rice Salad with Pumpkin Vinagrette, Grilled Chicken

Burgers, French Fries

Black Bean Chili over Yellow Rice

Slow Cooked Pepper Steak over rice

Pretzel Crusted Chicken, green beans, couscous

Meatball Stew, French Bread

Chicken Milano over linguine, broccoli

Roasted Pepper Chicken, Brown Sugar Carrots, Baked Potatoes

Desserts: Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

For more menu plans check out www.orgjunkie.com

The Simple Woman's Daybook, A Day Early

Outside my window... cold. I finally broke down and bought a coat. I got rid of all my ones that were too big on me after I lost weight and didn't want to spend the money to replace my coat. When we headed to Charleston this weekend and knew we would be walking the streets in cold weather, Curt convinced me to buy a coat. We stopped at Target and I love the black coat I found! And I know it must be decently cool because my daughter said she'd like to have one like it!

I am thankful for... being FINISHED with my edits!!! I just hit send and it was a great feeling! I am sure there will be some other tweaking involved but the major push is O-V-E-R. And just in time for Christmas!

I am wearing... jeans and a pink sweater with a faux-fur collar that I just love.

I am remembering... the people who have helped me with my novel all along the way. You know who you are. Thanks for the advice, the prayers, and the encouragement.

I am going... to try to make these this week. They look mucho delicious and especially perfect for this time of year! A package of these with a box of gingerbread tea would make a sweet gift for someone. I can just see them wrapped in some gingerbread printed ribbon.

I am reading... the new issue of Writer's Digest. It just came in the mail this weekend. Hooray! And it's on writing a novel. Perfect!

I am hoping... to get lots of Christmas preparations going this week now that my edits are behind me.

On my mind... a new novel that just might be a Christmas story. :)

From the learning rooms... Christmas books aplenty. Baking and crafting too.

From the kitchen... a menu plan is in the works. I will post it tomorrow for Menu Plan Monday.

Around the house... decorating for Christmas. My mom and I have a date tomorrow for her to come over and help me. She has a good decorating eye and we enjoy sprucing up my house for Christmas together!

Plans for the week... actually, nothing. A row of white blocks on my calendar is a beautiful thing to see!

One of my favorite things... time alone with my husband. We had a great time in Charleston together. He went with me for my speaking engagement since it was his birthday and we were able to turn it into a short getaway. Dinner at Fleet Landing restaurant was wonderful and the time to finish lots of conversations was priceless.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog if you are visiting from today's P31 devotion: For His Name's Sake. I am glad you visited!

As you read this I am most likely en route to a Christmas conference in Eutawville SC. The ladies at this church based the conference on my ebook, A Recipe For Christmas Joy. We are going to spend the day talking about how to experience Joy this Christmas and I can't wait to see what God does during our day together! I spoke at their retreat last fall and I am so excited to see them all again!

If Christmas is on your mind today, be sure to check out my post from yesterday about ways I am trying to have a simple Christmas this year. And be sure to leave a comment letting me know some ways that you are simplifying your Christmas. I could always use help in this area and I learn so much from you guys.

I hope that your weekend is filled with joy and that you are enjoying your Christmas season however you are choosing to spend it. I will see you back here next week!

A Simple Christmas

Lately I have been feeling the urge to simplify and downsize our Christmas-- take on less, commit to less, and spend less. I have been actively looking for ways I can do this. There have been several ways I have found that I wanted to share here:

• Think through the activities we participate in: I love to do special things for my kids at Christmas. As I sat and debated the different excellent options in our area, I started calculating the cost to participate in these activities. As I did so, the costs started adding up and the activities were no longer as enticing as they were. This was a good exercise for me-- to literally count the cost. And so, this season I am actively looking for free or very inexpensive things we can do. Because my desire to do the fun things didn't go away. Each weekend my aim is to have a fun activity planned and so far I have been able to do that. This weekend I will be gone speaking but my mother in law is taking my two older girls to a tea they attend every year at her church. The following weekend we've been invited to a cookie exchange that we will attend as a family and the girls and I are headed back to wonderful Zoe's house to bake our traditional baklava! The following weekend I am hoping to do a little Christmas tea here. During their break I have found some fun craft and storytime activities the library is offering. None of these things cost much, if anything, but they provide us with the chance for memories and fun, and a diversion from the ordinary-ness of life. That's all I really want for my children where Christmas is concerned. Who says I have to spend tons of money to do that? It took some looking and some creativity, but I did find affordable options. We can all invite another family over to bake cookies and sip hot chocolate for just a few dollars but a lot of fun memories.
• Purge: I decided to get rid of some decorations I have stored year after year and never used and also some decorations that had seen better days. It was hard to part with these things that had been part of our Christmases for years, but it was time. Sadly, I loaded them into the car and took them to Goodwill. I know that just because we are tired of looking at these things doesn't mean someone else will be. After I dropped them off, I felt much better. Lighter. I highly recommend purging your stash of Christmas stuff this year when you drag it all out. Instead of packing stuff to go back in the attic, really ask yourself: If I am not using it this year, am I really ever going to use it? If the answer is no-- even if it's Aunt Gladys' prized heirloom-- get rid of it. Be ruthless. Purging is good for you.
• Hold onto my expectations lightly: I saved a lot of money this year with our Christmas cards. A few weeks ago, my friend Molly tweeted about a good deal on Hallmark Christmas cards. I zipped over there, designed a card I loved, and was about to press that little "proceed to checkout" button when Curt told me I needed to wait on that purchase. Grudgingly, I waited. When I went back several days later, I was dismayed to find that the coupon code had expired. And I had designed a card I now couldn't afford! I had to let go of my desire to have cards. I realized that the world will go on without the Whalen family Christmas card.
  
  Imagine my surprise when, just a few days later, my friend Sherri tweeted about another deal. Seehere.com was offering cards for half off. I hastily gathered my kids together and snapped a photo of them. It wasn't the best setting (our family couch), the kids weren't matchy matchy (which just thrills this mother's heart to bits but they are revolting more loudly each year), the card wasn't as cute as the one I originally designed at Hallmark, and it wasn't the best picture they've ever taken. I didn't care. I was on a deadline to get the deal this time before the coupon code expired. And semi-decent cards were better than no cards at all. I ended up with 100 cards for $26-- nearly half the price I was going to pay for my half-price cards at Hallmark. I was tickled. (The special is over but I think they are offering other deals if you want to check them out. Their prices are very reasonable.) The point was, I held onto my desire to have cards lightly. When it didn't work out, I let it go pretty quickly. When it got added back, it was a nice surprise. But I didn't get so tunnel-visioned that I broke the bank to have what I wanted in my little vision of that dangerous thing known as "the perfect Christmas." This is a lesson I learn a bit more each year.
• Make gifts instead of buy them: I am making gifts for the kids' teachers. I realized that, with six kids now in school, contributing $10-$20 per child, per teacher, was going to be expensive. (In the past I have contributed to the class gift of a Visa giftcard, which is a great thing to do if you can swing it.) I have decided to bake some goodies for them instead. Last night I baked 6 loaves of chocolate chip banana bread. Four are now tucked into the freezer to pull out as gifts. I have been searching online for some other gift ideas and hope we can make several items to make a nice gift basket. This wasn't that much work and I would much rather put effort rather than a lot of money into the gifts we are giving. If you want to make gifts, check out this Works For Me Wednesday blog carnival. There are lots of suggestions for gifts you can make. (Go down to the bottom of the post for the links.)
• Reduce my workload any way I can: I am planning way simple meals these days. This week we've had tacos, spaghetti, make your own subs, etc. The point is to think of meals that free you up to do other things. All of these things could be made in the morning, put in the crockpot and the day is free to take care of shopping, baking, errands, or editing a novel, as it is in our house. I had to do some thinking and planning but by doing that, I saved time and money. I wasn't sending my husband out for expensive takeout and we still ate decent. Not gourmet, but decent. This is something you might want to think through if you have an especially busy or demanding schedule in the weeks to come. I have a list of simple and easy meal solutions in my ebook if you'd like to check that out.
• Keep my first priority: No matter what we have going on, I am committing to keep my time with God each morning a priority. During Advent, I am going through a devotion by Ann Voskamp called The Glorious Coming: A Jesse Tree Celebration of Advent. It's not too late to buy this wonderful ebook and get started, as I am only the 4th day. This daily devotion features a scripture reading and an application that shows how all of God's plans pointed to Christ's coming, starting with creation. This devotion is meant to do with your whole family but I am just doing it for myself.
• Ask God: This devotion from Holly Good has inspired me that gift giving does not have to cost us anything financially. When we listen to God, He can inspire some pretty special gifts that surprise us and bless others. Be sure and read Melissa's blog post on her inspiration behind the gift.

Maybe with your financial situation, it's best for you to look around for what you can let go of. Maybe there are some things stressing you out that you need to say no to. Whatever your situation is, it's time to get serious about cutting what needs to be cut. My friend Molly has a great vlog this week on learning to say "no." Check it out at http://www.gomominc.com/. And check out Micca Campbell's "Tips For Reducing Holiday Stress."

You can have a joy-filled Christmas this year. Don't let the current economic climate or your family's busyness steal that from you. Let go of some things and see that life-- and Christmas-- does go on when you do.

Hearts at Home blog post

I have a post up today over at the Hearts at Home blog. If you would like a game plan for organizing your Christmas, stop over there for a week by week look at what you can be doing.

Leave me a comment and let me know what one thing you are doing this week to prepare.

I will go first: I started decorating yesterday. And I ordered my cards on Monday and expect them in a week. And I got a good bit of shopping done on Black Friday.

So far, so good.

Stop by tomorrow for a post about having a simple Christmas.

The Simple Woman's Daybook Monday November 30

Outside my window... crisp November weather

I am thinking... it will be a long time before all of our kids are sleeping in in the mornings

I am thankful for... a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with fun memories

I am wearing... pajamas I got on sale on Black Friday years and years ago, but I still love 'em!

I am remembering... my grandparents. The holidays always stir up strong memories of them. That was multiplied by my aunt bringing over my grandmother's nativity set to me. She didn't want it anymore and asked if I did. Of course!

I am going... to buy ingredients to make a bunch of banana bread today. I will freeze it and can use it for gifts in a few weeks. I found over-ripe bananas for sale at the grocery yesterday and snatched up a large bag for $1! My kids are begging me to put chocolate chips in some of the loaves. Good thing chocolate chips are on sale right now!

I am reading... Whistlin Dixie in a Nor'Easter. Cute book! Also reading Christmas cookbooks aplenty.

I am hoping... that I can get this next round of edits done before my editor has her baby! (She's due December 12th.)

On my mind... the Christmas conference I am leading next weekend in Eutawville SC. It promises to be a fun day and I am excited about the 3 messages I will be sharing. I led this church's women's retreat last November and am headed back to spend more time with these wonderful ladies. I can't wait to see them again.

From the learning rooms... Christmas books are on hold at the library for nightly bedtime stories.

From the kitchen... banana bread and a menu plan I have yet to make. Tonight is spaghetti so that's easy. I already have Friday night's dinner for Curt and the kids frozen so that's one less thing I have to think about. That just leaves Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Thursday night.

Around the house... need to take the Thanksgiving decorations down and put up the Christmas ones... eventually.

Plans for the week... plunging back into edits after a week break that was perfectly timed for Thanksgiving and to give me time to prepare for next weekend's conference (thank You Lord!), my 4yo's Christmas play at her preschool is this week, small group meeting after two weeks off, and who knows what else.

One of my favorite things... time at home with my family with no big plans.

A Scripture For Sunday

I Peter 3:15, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

I thought that as we enter this Christmas season this was a fitting verse for two reasons. The first reason: it reminds us of where our focus should be each day. Not on shopping or baking or spending, but on our hearts being set apart for Christ. This isn't something we can just hope for. It's something we have to be intentional about. Today begins advent. Advent means "to prepare." We can use the coming days to prepare our hearts for His coming all over again, anticipating Him like a child anticipates the gifts on Christmas morning. We can seek Him anew, recommitting our time and our intentions to learn more about Him and draw close to Him. What better time than now?

The second reason: As we are committing our hearts, we need to be on the lookout for hearts that need the encouragement-- the hope-- that we have found. Now more than ever there are people looking for hope, wanting to know, "How can you have hope when the news is so bad?" Each morning we can ask God to show us who needs some encouragement from us; who needs a hug; who needs us to pause, look into their eyes and really listen; who needs us to pray for them, with them; who needs us to develop a relationship with them that will ultimately lead them to Him.

I am learning that leading others to the Lord-- for me at least-- isn't a once and done thing. It's a process, an investment that grows over time and is built on trust. I don't just give one answer for the hope that I have, I give many. And with that, people see my Jesus as real, and trustworthy. And, Lord willing, they begin to want the same in their life. I have to be prepared to share what's going on in my life-- what He's teaching me-- and let Him do the rest. The challenge for me is to persevere and not give up.

Who is looking for an answer from you this Christmas? Who is watching to see how you respond when times are hard? You may never know the impact you will make as you go about your daily life. Not preaching, just sharing Him honestly and openly. Always prepared to give an answer...