Over the weekend Jim and I did another round of “Once-a-Month Cooking” from the book I discovered last year. We always do the 2-week cycle and make 14 meals which, (for our family size) lasts a good 3 weeks. 
We haven’t done the meals since before Christmas, and I was definitely missing the ease and convenience of having dinners planned and pre-made. The other perk we discovered is our grocery bill is so much lower during those 3 weeks. The bill to gather the items in preparation is super-sized (so you have to plan for that) but it definitely makes it worth it in the interim! Tonight on the menu is the “meatball sub casserole”. Yum!
The other thing we’ve implemented lately that has been helpful, is a set routine that we started in early January. I decided to try and stick to a more structured schedule and break down our day by priorities and plan the rest around that. I can’t believe it’s been a full month and it’s still working. Wohoo! We have managed to squeeze it all in, from homework time and daily piano practice, to our prayer and Bible study time. We have even thrown in a “Saint of the Day” story thanks to a great book recommended by my friend Jen.
This is by far the best Saint book for kids that I have come across. Very well-written and easy for the boys to follow.
Speaking of reading, today I received the book “The Gift of an Ordinary Day” from Katrina Kenison. Wow, that is just asking for punishment. Ha ha. I mean that in a good way but I was barely two pages in when the tears started. It is brutal on the emotions!! Not surprisingly, it is pretty amazing, she is a beautiful writer. She’ll be joining us on the morning show Wednesday, I need to ask if she’s aware how many women she has made cry and hold our kids a little tighter?! Lol.
Okay, one more quickie before I wrap up. I ran across a great reminder service that is super easy and free. I like it because you can get a direct text msg sent to your phone, or e-mail, etc. to give you a reminder. I love my daily planner but I realized it only works when I actually LOOK at it. Ha ha. Some days I forget and miss something. This way, the text comes right to me at the time I
need it. Click here for the website.
Hi Brooke! Long time no comment. I wanted to give you an update on my friend Dan. He has been home from the hospital for a while now, but he is still paralyzed and without any feeling from the waist down. He is confined to a wheel chair. As you can imagine, this is still a very difficult adjustment for him to make, and for his family as well. His wife shared with me that she was trying to get him in the shower and one of his legs swung a little too wide and banged against the side of the shower. She said it was a good thing he can't feel that! But I know she didn't really thing it was funny. You just have to laugh sometimes instead of cry. Please continue to keep them in your prayers everyone. He is going to therapy and still hopes to be able to walk again. Thanks so much! I also wanted to share a potential "Website of the Day" with you. The website is called "Row for Water.com". Katie is a local girl who is rowing the Atlantic Ocean by herself. This is a quote from her website "This January, I am embarking on a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean! After 2,500 miles and 70-100 days alone at sea, I will become the youngest person ever to row an ocean solo and the first American to row from Africa to South America." She is rowing from Dakar in Senegal to Cayenne in Suriname. She started out on January 4th and is almost half way to Cayenne. You can read about where she is on her journey and what it is like to be a 22 year old woman alone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. She is hoping to raise money to provide clean drinking water for people in desperate need. Its all the more important now after the earthquake in Haiti. Check it out and perhaps you can post a link for her and tell our listeners about her. Thanks! May God Bless you richly.
Karen Stinson
Brooke, you are truly amazing! You are my inspiration and my motivation! Thank you!