Many of you commented on how much you’d like to win the giveaway for Think Confident, Be Confident. It seems that no matter where we are in life, we can always use a bit of a boost to help us along when things get us down. I wish I could have given away a copy to each and every one of you! Alas, we can only have one winner. I used random.org to select our winner, and that person is our 22nd commenter: Aisling! The comment this person left was: I’d love to read this and share with several family members. Who doesn’t need some mentoring in self-confidence? My thoughts exactly! For those of you who didn’t win, we’ve still got some awesome contests going on here, so feel free to check them out. [Read more]

Christmas, despite being one of the most important Christian holidays, often gets a bad rap for making people stressed out. We bring it on ourselves, don’t we? We just seem to want to do everything: buy the perfect gifts, make homemade cookies, and send cards to everyone on our mailing list. The problem, of course, is that we run out of time. Perhaps the following tips will help you save time for one of those busy Christmas items, and that’s is the sending of cards. How to cut back? Read on. Send Only to Those You Don’t See Do you really need to send a Christmas card to that friend you see every Wednesday or the next door neighbor? Rather than send to your entire list, focus on the people you rarely see. Those are... [Read more]

With the holidays coming up, chances are you might be staying at someone’s house. While it’s great to have a free place to stay, it could also be filled with tension. Here are a few tips to ensure that your stay is pleasant and that you keep from irritating your hostess. (Not that you would do that.) Bring Your Own Pillow You may be staying on the couch or a pull-out bed, and bringing your own pillow will help you get a good night’s sleep. Bring a Hostess Gift Even if your lovely hostess refuses, you should bring a simple gift to let her know that you appreciate the fact that she’s opening her home up to you. Ideas for this gift could be candles, gift cards, stationery set, food items, wine, or something personal... [Read more]

Many singles wonder if it is possible to stay friends with an ex. The short answer is a qualified “yes.” It’s not always possible (or advisable.) If you’d like to stay pals with your ex, here are some tips to guide you. Don’t Offer Friendship as a Way to Soften the Blow Let’s face it, sometimes break ups don’t go very well. The person may get extremely upset, and being the good-natured people we are, we may want to soften the blow. An easy way to do this is to tell the person that you’d like to remain friends. But don’t say this if you really don’t mean it. A better option to say is, “Perhaps in time, we can go back to being friends.” This slight change in wording... [Read more]

Last night I made the most wonderful pasta dish I have ever tasted. Sound too good to be true? It isn’t. I got the ingredients cheap enough, and it created a huge amount. We’ll have leftovers for lunches and even another dinner. It’s a take on lasagna, but has a much richer flavor. It’s a wonderful recipe to make and immediately freeze half for later. This is also a nice recipe to make in anticipation of an event where you won’t have time for much cooking. Perhaps you work late one night a week and just need a quick recipe to pop in the oven. Or maybe you’ve got company coming for the holidays and want a meal to fill them up that doesn’t also involve you slaving over the stove all day. This... [Read more]