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I have a holiday cactus.  I thought it was a Thanksgiving cactus, but I couldn’t remember if the one with the pointy leaves was a Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus.  One has the rounded tips and the other, pointy.  Mine has the pointy.  Anyway, they look pointy to me.  This first picture is a Thanksgiving cactus.  The second is a Christmas cactus.

The leaves on mine look like the first picture, but at Thanksgiving, the cactus was just sitting there in the pot, minding it’s own business and doing nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Then before I left for the mainland right after Christmas, that little sucker decided to put out some buds.  When I returned home last night, there it sat in all it’s blooming glory.  Beautiful fushia blooms all over the place.  Does that mean that my little holiday cactus decided to start a new beginning as a New Year’s cactus?  That just goes to show you that when you make up your mind to start a beautiful new beginning, it’s all waiting right there for you.  Make up your mind that this will be a year of new beginnings and go for it.  You can do!  Even if everyone just ignores you and you have to go it alone.  I put that pitiful little cactus outside several months ago, because I was busy killing it with all my fussing about with it.  I finally decided to give it to God and let Him take over that little plant’s life.  Now it’s strong, healthy and flourishing.  All without the help of me or anyone else. 

I think that I will take a lesson from this beautiful little plant and let God take on all the stuff I forget to give Him.  I spend too much of my time doing it on “my own.”  Even when I know I can’t.  I have one major goal (and a lot of minor ones) for this new year.  It’s to let go and let God have control.  I want to remember that “In 2009, it’s not mine.”  It’s God’s.

I had a very nice visit on the mainland last week, but it’s always good to be back on the island.  It was a busy week, as I’m sure it was for most of you.  My heart always remains on the island when I’m away, but now I’m back physically.  As always, when I return home after an extended time away, I have to walk around to reassure myself that I am indeed back where I belong.  I’m spending a little time enjoying the sun, surf and sand before jumping into my annual new year’s clean sweep.  Yes, islands need maintenance just like all other places.  But such a pleasant place to be when the decluttering and cleaning urges hit.  I can always unwind from the grungy duties by standing and gazing out my window at all the beauty with which I’ve been blessed.  And at the end of the day, I can sit outside and enjoy the gentle breezes while watching the dolphins play near the beach.  Or maybe take a dip and play in the water, too.

Stop by and visit my little island whenever you need a bit of distraction or tranquility.  I will even let you do a little beach maintenance if you’d like.

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book’s FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the book:

Be Strong and Curvaceous (All About Us Series, Book 3)

FaithWords (January 2, 2009)

Plus a Tiffany’s Bracelet Giveaway! Go to Camy Tang’s Blog

Shelley Adina is a world traveler and pop culture junkie with an incurable addiction to designer handbags. She knows the value of a relationship with a gracious God and loving Christian friends, and she’s inviting today’s teenage girls to join her in these refreshingly honest books about real life as a Christian teen–with a little extra glitz thrown in for fun! In between books, Adina loves traveling, listening to and making music, and watching all kinds of movies.

It’s All About Us is Book One in the All About Us Series. Book Two, The Fruit of my Lipstick came out in August 2008. Book Three, Be Strong & Curvaceous, came out January 2, 2009. And Book Four, Who Made You a Princess?, comes out May 13, 2009.

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:

List Price: $ 9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (January 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446177997
ISBN-13: 978-0446177993

I found this to be both an easy and engrossing read.  Although this book falls into the teen chick lit genre, and I’m far from my teen years, I found this book to be very skillfully written.  It sucked me right into the story and now that I’ve finished the book, I want more.  This story is centered around a group of young ladies at an exclusive boarding school and the bonds they form.  Throw in a little mystery and intrigue and I’m hooked.  I’ll be beating a path to the library to check out the first two books of this series. 

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

I used to think that was the dumbest saying ever. I mean, when you wish for something, by definition it’s wonderful, right? Like a new dress for a party. Or a roommate as cool as Gillian Chang or Lissa Mansfield. Or a guy noticing you after six months of being invisible. Before last term, of course I wanted those wishes to come true.

I should have been more careful.

Let me back up a little. My name is Carolina Isabella Aragon Velasquez . . . but that doesn’t fit on school admission forms, so when I started first grade, it got shortened up to Carolina Aragon—Carly to my friends. Up until I was a sophomore, I lived with my mother and father, my older sister Alana and little brother Antony in a huge house in Monte Sereno, just south of Silicon Valley. Papa’s company invented some kind of security software for stock exchanges, and he and everyone who worked for him got rich.

Then came Black Thursday and the stock market crash, and suddenly my mom was leaving him and going to live with her parents in Veracruz, Mexico, to be an artist and find herself. Alana finished college and moved to Austin, Texas, where we have lots of relatives. Antony, Papa, and I moved to a condo about the size of our old living room, and since Papa spends so much time on the road, where I’ve found myself since September is boarding school.

The spring term started in April, and as I got out of the limo Papa sends me back to Spencer Academy in every Sunday night—even though I’m perfectly capable of taking the train—I couldn’t help but feel a little bubble of optimism deep inside. Call me corny, but the news that Vanessa Talbot and Brett Loyola had broken up just before spring break had made the last ten days the happiest I’d had since my parents split up. Even flying to Veracruz, courtesy of Papa’s frequent flyer miles, and being introduced to my mother’s boyfriend hadn’t put a dent in it.

Ugh. Okay, I lied. So not going there.

Thinking about Brett now. Dark, romantic eyes. Curly dark hair, cut short because he’s the captain of the rowing team. Broad shoulders. Fabulous clothes he wears as if he doesn’t care where he got them.

Oh, yeah. Much better.

Lost in happy plans for how I’d finally get his attention (I was signing up to be a chem tutor first thing because, let’s face it, he needs me), I pushed open the door to my room and staggered in with my duffel bags.

My hands loosened and I dropped everything with a thud.

There were Vuitton suitcases all over the room. Enough for an entire family. In fact, the trunk was so big you could put a family in it—the kids, at least.

“Close the door, why don’t you?” said a bored British voice, with a barely noticeable roll on the r. A girl stepped out from behind the wardrobe door.

Red hair in an explosion of curls.

Fishnet stockings to here and glossy Louboutin ankle boots.

Blue eyes that grabbed you and made you wonder why she was so . . . not interested in whether you took another breath.

Ever.

How come no one had told me I was getting a roommate? And who could have prepared me for this, anyway?

“Who are you?”

“Mac,” she said, returning to the depths of the wardrobe. Most people would have said, “What’s your name?” back. She didn’t.

“I’m Carly.” Did I feel lame or what?

She looked around the door. “Pleasure. Looks like we’re to be roommates.” Then she went back to hanging things up.

There was no point in restating the obvious. I gathered my scattered brains and tried to remember what Mama had taught me that a good hostess was supposed to do. “Did someone show you where the dining room is? Supper is between five and six-thirty, and I usually—”

“Carrie. I expected my own room,” she said, as if I hadn’t been talking. “Whom do I speak to?”

“It’s Carly. And Ms. Tobin’s the dorm mistress for this floor.”

“Fine. What were you saying about tea?”

I took a breath and remembered that one of us was what my brother calls couth. As opposed to un. “You’re welcome to come with me and my friends if you want.”

Pop! went the latches on the trunk. She threw up the lid and looked at me over the top of it, her reddish eyebrows lifting in amusement.

“Thanks so much. But I’ll pass.”

Okay, even I have my limits. I picked up my duffel, dropped it on the end of my bed, and left her to it. Maybe by the time I got back from tea—er, supper—she’d have convinced Ms. Tobin to give her a room in another dorm.

The way things looked, this chica would probably demand the headmistress’s suite.

* * *

“What a mo guai nuer,” Gillian said over her tortellini and asparagus. “I can’t believe she snubbed you like that.”

“You of all people,” Lissa agreed, “who wouldn’t hurt someone’s feelings for anything.”

“I wanted to—if I could have come up with something scathing.” Lissa looked surprised, as if I’d shocked her. Well, I may not put my feelings out there for everyone to see, like Gillian does, but I’m still entitled to have them. “But you know how you freeze when you realize you’ve just been cut off at the knees?”

“What happened to your knees?” Jeremy Clay put his plate of linguine down and slid in next to Gillian. They traded a smile that made me feel sort of hollow inside—not the way I’d felt after Mac’s little setdown, but . . . like I was missing out on something. Like they had a secret and weren’t telling.

You know what? Feeling sorry for yourself is not the way to start off a term. I smiled at Jeremy. “Nothing. How was your break? Did you get up to New York the way you guys had planned?”

He glanced at Gillian. “Yeah, I did.”

Argh. Men. Never ask them a yes/no question. “And? Did you have fun? Shani said she had a blast after the initial shock.”

Gillian grinned at me. “That’s a nice way of saying that my grandmother scared the stilettos off her. At first. But then Nai-Nai realized Shani could eat anyone under the table, even my brothers, no matter what she put in front of her, so after that they were best friends.”

“My grandmother’s like that, too,” I said, nodding in sympathy. “She thinks I’m too thin, so she’s always making pots of mole and stuff. Little does she know.”

It’s a fact that I have way too much junk in my trunk. Part of the reason my focus is in history, with as many fashion design electives as I can get away with, is that when I make my own clothes, I can drape and cut to accentuate the positive and make people forget that big old negative following me around.

“You aren’t too thin or too fat.” Lissa is a perfect four. She’s also the most loyal friend in the world. “You’re just right. If I had your curves, I’d be a happy woman.”

Time to change the subject. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my body in front of a guy, even if he belonged to someone else. “So, did you guys get to see Pride and Prejudice—The Musical? Shani said you were bribing someone to get tickets.”

“Close,” Gillian said. “My mom is on the orchestra’s board, so we got seats in the first circle. You’d have loved it. Costume heaven.”

“I would have.” I sighed. “Why did I have to go to Veracruz for spring break? How come I couldn’t have gone to New York, too?”

I hoped I sounded rhetorical. The truth was, there wasn’t any money for trips to New York to see the hottest musical on Broadway with my friends. Or for the clothes to wear once I got there—unless I made them myself.

“That’s it, then.” Gillian waved a grape tomato on the end of her fork. “Next break, you and Lissa are coming to see me. Not in the summer—no one in their right mind stays in the city in July. But at Christmas.”

“Maybe we’ll go to Veracruz,” Lissa suggested. “Or you guys can come to Santa Barbara and I’ll teach you to surf.”

“That sounds perfect,” I said. Either of Lissa’s options wouldn’t cost very much. New York, on the other hand, would. “I like warm places for my winter holidays.”

“Good point,” Gillian conceded. “So do I.”

“Notice how getting through the last term of junior year isn’t even on your radar?” Jeremy asked no one in particular. “It’s all about vacations with you guys.”

“Vacations are our reward,” Gillian informed him. “You have to have something to get you through finals.”

“Right, like you have to worry,” he scoffed, bumping shoulders with her in a chummy way.

“She does,” Lissa said. “She has to get me through finals.”

While everyone laughed, I got up and walked over to the dessert bar. Crème brulée, berry parfaits, and German chocolate cake. You know you’re depressed when even Dining Services’ crème brulée—which puts a dreamy look in the eyes of just about everyone who goes here—doesn’t get you excited.

I had to snap out of it. Thinking about all the things I didn’t have and all the things I couldn’t do would get me precisely nowhere. I had to focus on the good things.

My friends.

How lucky I was to have won the scholarship that got me into Spencer.

And how much luckier I was that in two terms, no one had figured out I was a scholarship kid. Okay, so Gillian is a scholarship kid, too, but her dad is the president of a multinational bank. She thinks it’s funny that he made her practice the piano so hard all those years, and that’s what finally got her away from him. Who is my father? No one. Just a hardworking guy. He was so proud of me when that acceptance letter came that I didn’t have the heart to tell him there was more to succeeding here than filling a minority quota and getting good grades.

Stop it. Just because you can’t flit off to New York to catch a show or order up the latest designs from Fashion Week doesn’t mean your life is trash. Get ahold of your sense of proportion.

I took a berry parfait—blueberries have lots of antioxidants—and turned back to the table just as the dining room doors opened. They seemed to pause in their arc, giving my new roommate plenty of time to stroll through before they practically genuflected closed behind her. She’d changed out of the fishnets into heels and a black sweater tossed over a simple leaf-green dress that absolutely screamed Paris—Rue Cambon, to be exact. Number 31, to be even more exact. Chanel Couture.

My knees nearly buckled with envy.

“Is that Carly’s roommate?” I heard Lissa ask.

Mac seemed completely unaware that everyone in the dining room was watching her as she floated across the floor like a runway model, collected a plate of Portobello mushroom ravioli and salad, and sat at the empty table next to the big window that faced out onto the quad.

Lissa was still gazing at her, puzzled. “I know I’ve seen her before.”

I hardly heard her.

Because not only had the redhead cut into line ahead of Vanessa Talbot, Dani Lavigne, and Emily Overton, she’d also invaded their prime real estate. No one sat at that table unless they’d sacrificed a freshman at midnight, or whatever it was that people had to do to be friends with them.

When Vanessa turned with her plate, I swear I could hear the collective intake of breath as her gaze locked on the stunning interloper sitting with her back to the window, calmly cutting her ravioli with the edge of her fork.

“Uh oh,” Gillian murmured. “Let the games begin.”

© 2008 by Shelley Adina.

Used by permission of the author and Hachette Book Group USA.

Daniel said:

“Blessed be the name of God from age to age, for wisdom and power are his.

He changes times and seasons, deposes kings and sets up kings; he give wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him.

To you, O God of my ancestors, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and power, and have now revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have revealed to us what the king ordered.”

Daniel 2:20-23

It’s the time of year that I work on my goals for the upcoming year.  I do not make resolutions.  They are usually too general and broken too easily.  I try to focus on a few goals for the various facets of my life.  Goals are measurable. Today I am sharing my 2009 goals for the fabric/yarn part of my life. 

1. I will reduce my stash of fabric, notions and yarn by not buying anything new during 2009 unless it’s to complete a work in progress.
2. I will reduce my stash by completing one UFO (UnFinished Object) or one USO (UnStarted Object) for which I have already purchased the components each month.
3. I will reduce my stash by making at least one Christmas ornament each month.
4. I will declutter and reorganize my sewing room by Valentine’s Day in order to more efficiently complete the above goals.

What are your sewing, needlework and craft goals for 2009?  Are you going to start early to make Christmas 2009 gifts?  Most of the items in my UFO/USO stash will be used for birthdays and next year’s Christmas gifts.  I think it would be fun to see if we could stretch our stash of creative supplies to cover most of the gifts we plan.  Are you interested in reducing your stashes while creating a stash of gifts?

I used to shop the day after Christmas sales when my children were young and I was less frugal.  I would buy lots of Christmas wrap, ribbons and cards at the half off sales.  I never saved any money, but I was able to buy much nicer items.  Nicer items that were just going to be looked at, ripped up and tossed out.  Now, there is not anything I want badly enough to go out in a mob to purchase.  If there’s anything left next week when I stop by the pharmacy and grocery, I’ll look it over and possibly buy something.  Probably not.  I’ll look at it and think, “Do I really need that?” and then put it down.  I won’t have a need to buy Christmas wrap for years.  I couldn’t believe how many rolls of wrap I have squirreled away.  Six full rolls and then some.  Now that I’ve cut out my crazy spending habits and cut down on my gifts of material items, I need much less paper, ribbons, etc.  When I finally run out of all that stuff, I plan to make gift bags from my fabric stash.  I prefer to give something that can be re-purposed and used again and again. 

Another reason to avoid the mad rush to these sales is that we are in a recession and finally, people are beginning to look at how they are wasting money on foolishness.  People are losing jobs and houses.  Things are getting tight with no let up in the near future.  Money is now looked at in a different way than it was a year or two ago.  People are beginning to think before spending just to be spending.

Staying at home is not only good for the budget, but also good for the health.  Who really needs all that stress?  Some people will say, “I enjoy the shopping and sales.”  Maybe so, but being out with a crowd of people all hurrying and scurrying to buy everything on their lists at rock bottom prices still puts people under stress.  I don’t care if you enjoy the stress of the mess.  Your body doesn’t. 

What should you do to avoid all this stress.  Stay home.  Enjoy the company of family and friends.  Give thanks for your many blessings and all the material gifts you just received.  If something needs exchanged, do it next week or the week after that.  If you feel compelled to shop, shop the Internet.  But remember, it’s not a bargain if you don’t really need it.  Separate your needs from your wants.  Look at your budget.  If you can’t afford it right now, don’t charge it.  Save your money until you have enough.  Maybe it won’t even appeal to you by that time, and then you can use the dollars for something you really need.  For me, that’s getting out of debt and living a debt free life.  Talk about a stress reliever!

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits has written Thriving on Less: Simplifying in a Tough Ecomony, as a companion Ebook to his The Power of Less.  I think the timing of this book is very appropriate to the coming new year.  After a recession that has already lasted over a year and is showing no signs of changing any time soon, thoughts of many are turning to downsizing and simplifying our lifestyle.  Leo guides us on the journey to not only making do in tough times, but to thriving.  He has graciously shared this book with the world and I will be posting a chapter weekly.

I’m taking this advice of Leo’s to heart.  I want the serenity that comes with the changes through which Leo guides us.  Join me on this journey as we venture into 2009 with newness of thoughts and lifestyle. 

Chapter 1 –

A Simple Lifestyle

“Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.”

• – Edwin Way Teale

Not too many years ago  

my life was full of clutter. There was the clutter of too many possessions, piled up in every corner of my home and office, bought one at a time on impulsive decisions and stacked up until I realized that I had way too much and that it was way too stressful to have so much clutter. And there was no room to … live. There was the clutter of too many commitments, filling up my schedule until I had no room for the things I really wanted to do, no room to accomplish my goals, no room for my family. These commitments piled up one at a time until again, I realized I had way too much and that I was way too stressed out. There was no room for the life I wanted. There was the clutter of too much to do, too many tasks on my to-do list, too many emails to process each day, too much paperwork piling up in stacks on my desk, too many calls to take and make, too many meetings. It all piles up and you wonder how you’ll ever get it all done and how you ever got so much to do. Then I decided that too much was too much, and that I wanted to simplify. It was a long process (one that continues to this day, to a lesser extent), but over the course of weeks and months, I reduced the amount of clutter, the number of commitments, the amount of things I had to do each day. I simplified my life, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Today, things are much simpler: my desk and my home are uncluttered and serene, my life is less hectic with room for the things I love, and I am living the life I’ve always wanted. It’s not an incredible secret, or anything that’s terribly difficult to do. Sure, it means making some tough decisions to cut things out in favor of the truly important, but if you don’t cut those things out, you’re still making those decisions by not taking action – you’re deciding to let the unimportant fill your life so you don’t have room for what you love and value. Instead, you need to take a close look at your life and make those tough decisions. You’ll be happy you did.

And here’s something really great about a simple lifestyle: it doesn’t cost a lot of money!

If you reduce the clutter in your home, you can actually make a little money if you sell some of the stuff (donate the rest to charity). And learn not to fill your home up with clutter, and you’ll be spending less on buying possessions as well. If you simplify your schedule to make room for the things you love, you’ll be running around less, you’ll be less stressed, and you’ll have less need for the “de-stressing” activities that many of us undertake after a long day or week of work: shopping, drinking, partying, going out to expensive entertainment, and so on. You can relax and have fun in other ways that don’t cost a lot of money. After simplifying your life, you will realize that a life full of the things you love and value does not cost a lot of money at all. Sure, you’ll still have to spend on the essentials, but beyond that you’ll save tons of money.

Imagine that: a truly great life that costs almost nothing.

Let’s find out how to get there.

Lauren is the winner of Eric Dodge’s autographed CD, A Christmas Wish.  As soon as we receive Lauren’s address, the CD will be on it’s way.

Congratulations and Merry Christmas.

Today I’m enjoying the freshness of the morning, and feeling blessed. I’m celebrating the birth of my saviour and the abundance with which I’ve been given.  Last night I sat out on the beach and watched the stream of brightly decorated boats as they sailed along the coast of the mainland in their annual parade of glory.  The little fairy lights were lit along the dunes leading to the beach, and the once a year indulgence of twinkle lights in the palms gave a warm glow as the breezes sent them dancing.

Consumer Man was able to get over to the island for Christmas Eve and we celebrated with a West Indian banquet of oxtail, curried chicken, rice and peas, steamed veggies, fried dumpling and plantain.  I baked a traditional American dish of apple pie, but it went untouched as we enjoyed our island cuisine.  In our frugality, we had designated this year as a Christmas of blessings and not gifts.  Our gifts were the many blessings God has bestowed upon us.  The basics of food, shelter and clothing and so much more above and beyond.  We’ve been blessed with our health, jobs, cars to get to the jobs and more “stuff” than we need so that we can bless others out of our abundance.  We can laugh, love and cry together, because God has blessed our union.  We have imagination and talents that we can share with others.  And we’ve been blessed with family and many friends. We have enough and what more should anyone ask?

Consumer Man has already returned to his job on the mainland, but I’m not alone.  I’m surrounded with love.  I sat here with a steaming mug of coffee and a gooey piece of chocolate delight as I opened gifts sent over by friends.  I’m surrounded by books, craft and sewing supplies, candles, perfume, soaps, cocoa, tea, more chocolate, hazelnuts, lace and music, books,  writing supplies and utensils, bracelets and pins, lotions and potions and of course music.  CDs and old sheet music for a special project. There’s a Maxine calendar.  I love that crotchety old woman and her warped sense of humour.  And there are the beautiful, hand crafted ornaments sent by friends both far and near.  And a couple very special autographed ornaments received from Martha Pullen.  I even have a booklet of 16 crocheted ornaments.  I can start on my ornaments for next year’s exchange with these.  Some of these thoughtful gifts are rare treats on the island. 

I was blessed with being able to spend Christmas Eve with Consumer Man, and I’ll be spending Christmas dinner with friends over on the mainland.  Then once again I’ll return to my island retreat.  My cup overflows. 

Have you taken time to count your blessings instead of the material gifts that you either did or did not receive?

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. 

And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.  And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.

Micah 5:2-5

For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9