The Seven Minue Difference and The Seven Minute Daily Planner by Allyson Lewis

After her life changing seven minute experience, Allyson Lewis wrote The Seven Minute Difference. She has laid out a practical plan for success full of easy-to-accomplish small steps. Allyson Lewis has a great writing style which makes this book one of the few nonfiction books that I can really say that I’ve enjoyed reading. She points out and explains everything that you need to know to succeed including the importance of knowing your purpose, having written goals and using small steps. The Seven Minute Life Daily Planner is the perfect companion to the book. It is easy to use and practical. All of the pages are laid out well and it provides plenty of instructions so that you can be confident that you know what you are doing. It provides a place where you can define your purpose, prioritize, and set goals (big or small) and achieve them one small step at a time. I’ve already recommended this book and planner combination to friends and family and will continue to do so because I believe that everyone can benefit from reading this book and using the planner.

(I received this product for free from the BuzzBlogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255)

My Trip to Mississippi

I recently returned from a fun, family trip to Mississippi. My family (my mom, dad and I plus my sister, her husband and their 6 children [Zhenya, Katya, Anya, Kristina, Faith, and Caleb]) went to see my brother, Clay, sister-in-law, Paige, nephew, Cade, niece, Clair, and my newest niece, Baby Caris (insert "awwww" here). We made the journey so that we could celebrate Cade's birthday and see everybody. It was awesome! They had the party at Mitchell Farms which is a fun farm and working farm owned and operated by Paige's grandparents, The Mitchells. We had a great time doing everything there was to do at the farm including the corn maze, the pool of corn (yes, you can play in a giant pool full of corn), playing on the playground, taking the tour of the farm in the tractor-pulled wagon, seeing all of the animals in the animal barn (they have ducks, quail, a rabbit, a fox, sheep, a miniature donkey, chickens, and even a pair of peacocks!), and seeing all of the historic buildings. We also got some behind the scenes stuff like getting to ride in the vintage Jeep (it's over 50 years old and still runs) all over the 4-wheeler trails with my brother (that was one of my favorite parts). I had an awesome time! I got to travel to a state that I've never been to before, hold Baby Caris (feel free to "awwww" again), hang out with my brother and his family, have a great time at Mitchell Farms, stay at a hotel (which was really nice, had cable and an incredible free breakfast spread! Did I mention we got to stay for free thanks to Marriott points?), and letterbox in another state (found a 'box and planted one too!) So, to sum it up: Mississippi was awesome! :)

10/10/10

The Cake!

Today was my birthday! It has been an absolutely awesome day! I had five of my friends come over yesterday and we went to see the movie Secretariat (Which was great!) then almost everybody spent the night at my house. Today we went to church and then came back to my house for cake and ice-cream. My sister made the coolest cake ever! It looked exactly like what our barn is going to look like! I couldn't believe how good it looked! For my birthday I got gift certificates, money, a book, personalized horseshoes, and a wall hanger for the barn for holding jackets, halters and the like. I am also in the process of getting barn! :) One of my favorite things was when my brother called and gave me some great advice. He said, "Don't waste your life. Work hard or do what you love, but don't just sit around." Clay, I plan on doing both of those things in the years to come (The working hard and doing what I love part not the sitting around part)! Thanks to everyone who made today so special!

Love,
Beth, who thinks that this was the best birthday yet!

Letterboxing

I love letterboxing! If you're wondering what letterboxing is maybe this will help:

"Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining artistic ability with "treasure-hunts" in parks, forests, and cities around the world. Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by cracking codes and following clues. The prize: an image from a miniature piece of art known as a rubber stamp—usually a unique, hand-carved creation. Letterboxers stamp their discoveries in a personal journal, then use their own rubber stamp, called a signature stamp, by stamping it into the logbook found with the letterbox, perhaps writing a note about the weather or their adventures in finding the letterbox." Source: http://www.atlasquest.com/

So far I have 21 finds and 5 traditional plants under my belt. I love figuring out clues and finding the boxes. Plus, the clues usually take you to beautiful and unique places that you may never have found otherwise. My mom calls me a "prolific carver." It is so much fun to draw a design and then carve it out! I don't even know how many stamps I've made. Besides the traditional letterboxes there are also postals, LTC's, and hitchhikers all of which I hope to expand on later. For more information about letterboxing you can go here or here.

A Barn Raising. Part Five.

I'm not even going to say anything about missing a several days of posting. Let's all just accept that things like that are going to happen and move on. Uncle Steve and Carter left several days ago to go back home. But don't panic! They are coming back sometime after October 15th. The barn has all of its posts, lower rafters, etc. but before we can move on (put the upper rafters and the roof on) we need scaffolding. If you happen to have some scaffolding that isn't being used or know someone who does please let me know. So, besides that there isn't much else to be said about the barn for now, but be prepared for a barrage of barn related posts in the near future. Did I happen to mention that I am SO EXCITED ABOUT HAVING A BARN THAT I JUST MIGHT EXPLODE!?! No? Well, I am and now you know.