Linda's Lunacy

Faith, Home, & Family

Too Blessed to Be Stressed

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To celebrate the release of her latest laugh-out-loud book, Too Blessed to Be Stressed, Debora Coty is hosting the Too Blessed to Be Stressed KINDLE Giveaway!

Too Blessed to be Stressed is a fun-filled read overflowing with insights and practical tips. Perfectly delicious for living happily ever after!
-Rhonda Rhea, best-selling author of Whatsoever Things Are Lovely

Read what the reviewers are saying here.

Debora has created a “Too Blessed” prize package worth over $150! One grand prize winner will receive:

* A brand new Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi and Pearl Screen

* Too Blessed to Be Stressed by Debora Coty (for KINDLE)

To enter just click one of the icons below. Hurry! The giveaway ends August 25th. Winner will be announced on the evening of the 18th during Debora’s De-Stress Facebook Party! Debora will be hosting a “life-preserver” chat (it’s okay if you haven’t read the book – who knows, you might WIN a copy!), testing trivia skills, swapping funny stories, handing out some decom-stress tips, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Chocolate, books, and more!) Hope to see you there. Bring your friends and join the fun on August 25th at 5:00 PM PST (6 PM MDT, 7 PM CDT, & 8 PM EDT).

Enter via E-mail Enter via FacebookEnter via Twitter

Also – be sure to check out Debora’s series of Stress-Buster videos at her website: www.DeboraCoty.com . She’s also hosting a photo caption contest on her blog for a chance to win a copy of Too Blessed to Be Stressed.

 



About the book:


Do your to do lists have footnotes? Has your fam suggested a rabies shot because your bite has surpassed Rover’s?

Maybe it’s time for a healthy dose of truth gift-wrapped in humor. With her own offbeat brand of wit and near-wisdom, inspirational humorist Debora Coty addresses the heart-needs of desperate women drowning in the churning everyday stress-pool of busyness.

In Too Blessed to Be Stressed, you’ll find simple, practical steps for attaining the peace that you crave as you struggle with the stresses of finances, health, career, relationships, self-image and family. You’ll discover healing, refreshment, and revitalization for your own spirit, body and mind through heart-changing real life stories, biblically based insights, and short chapters for on-the-run convenience.

About Debora:


Debora M. Coty is a humorist, columnist, speaker, writing workshop instructor and award-winning author of over 100 internationally published articles and ten inspirational books. She has also contributed short stories and devotionals to numerous anthologies. Debora’s passion is sharing her offbeat blend of humor and hope, wit and near-wisdom with women of all ages. As a piano teacher for twenty years, she acquired the skill of auditory long-suffering and has helped countless people as an occupational therapist specializing in orthopedics for over three decades. Mother of two grown children, Debora currently lives and loves in central Florida with her husband and desperately wicked pooch, Fenway.

Too Blessed to be Stressed is available at Amazon.com.

 

MY REVIEW:

We women are living very stress filled lives now. Working moms are constantly under stress. Being a stay at home mom is not a walk in the park while eating cake, either. We also homeschool, which can pile on the stress. What can we do? How can we change?

I found Too Blessed to be Stressed very helpful. The book is divided into 4 sections: Time Management, Develop a Sense of Humor, Cultivate Relationships and Focus on Faith. Each section has 10 chapters. Each chapter is a short 2-3 page reading with 3 questions at the end to help you clarify what you need and what you can do to implement changes in your life.

“Your are not superwoman with nerves of steel. Or guts either. Stress is kryptonite, and it’s out to rip off your cape and reduce you to a pile of quivering, ineffective mush.”

Sound familiar? I know it does to me! I have been that pile of quivering mush. Too Blessed to be Stressed will help you determine how to reduce stress in your life so you are an effective woman of God, doing the work that God has for you to do.

from page 18 “The theory of spontaneous degeneration declares that when left in an unnaturally clean state, matter will spontaneously atrophy into indiscriminant disarray.”

So that explains it. I have always wondered……….lol

This quote from the book will help you put everything into perspective: “Only one thing is truly of eternal importance: Papa God. And He created dirt.”

Too Blessed to be Stressed will help you in numerous ways to recognize all the blessings in your life while helping you to let go of those things that only cause you stress.

 

 

Our Homeschool Week in Review

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Well, we started school on Monday. I wish it was a more successful week, but it wasn’t.

That will be the LAST time we take 6 weeks off in a row! Oh my! Most of them just didn’t want to work. sigh

So needless to say, some are now without computer, tv, and video game privileges.

I’m sure next week will be better. The first week after vacation can be hard. I’ve been through this numerous times before, and I know it gets better, so I’m not discouraged. If you have a hard first week back to school, don’t discouraged either. It will get better.  🙂

We started piano lessons again this week. Hannah 15, took lessons for several years and I now have her teaching her two younger siblings. Zachary 11, just started this week, and is loving it.  Abby 12, took lessons for a couple of years and is not all that happy to have her sister for a teacher. But she’ll adjust.

All of the kids have at least one subject or educational aid to do on the computer. So we need to come up with a better computer schedule than first come first served. lol We really need a school laptop.  Someday. lol

I took this picture of Hannah studying her Kentucky State History on the computer. While knitting. lol

 

The 2 highschoolers are using Switched on Schoolhouse for state history. My older 2 kids liked it and these two do also.

That’s the only picture I took this week. They kept me on my toes this week. lol Well, I did take another picture but it’s for an upcoming review for The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. You’ll just have to wait for that one.  🙂

 

 

 

Please visit:

Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Homeschool Highlights

This Week’s Favorites

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Once again, I have a lot of new favorites. Mostly food this week. lol

Celiac in Kids but great info for everyone
Free Printable Recipe Cards
Pine Needle Tea – sounds good, but I think I’ll have a battle with the family lol

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup– I’ve made my own Cream of Whatever Soup Mix before, but never with broth like this.

5 Ways to Preserve Small Tomatoes
Baking & Cooking Substitutions for Gluten Free
Creamy Penne Pasta Bake with Zucchini
Beef and Black Bean Taco Bake

RecipeLion

Canning Tips and Links

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I love canning. I started canning in 1989 or 1990. I started with grape jelly made from grapes growing on the property we were living at. My mother in law told me how she did it. And then it was just me and the grapes. And sugar. I made it with no added pectin. It takes longer to cook, but makes a very nice jelly. Without the added expense of pectin. You can only do this with fruit that are naturally high in pectin.

I then expanded to other jellies and jams. I even made pickles and salsa with ingredients from our garden. It was so good! I basically made whatever I could with a water bath canner.

Two years ago, I bought a pressure canner. And I love it! I was concerned about safety at first, but I trust it now not to blow up in my face. The first time I used it, I told the kids if it started making funny noises to run out the front door. Well, it did start making noises, normal pressure canner noises. But that didn’t stop two of my kids from running out the front door, yelling “Hit the dirt!”, and throwing themselves on the ground. roflol It still makes me crack up just thinking about it. lol

The newer pressure canners, from what I can tell, come with weights that go on top of the canner, not dial gauges like they used to. If  you using an older canner with the gauge, please have it tested every year before using. Our Extension Office does the testing. I’m pretty sure they do it for free, too. Check with your Extension Office if you have a pressure canner with a gauge.

I have now successfully pressure canned green beans, corn, and yellow squash. I would love to can my own soups now. I’ve included two recipes I want to try below. I would also love to can meat.

Even though I know I have handled everything properly during canning, I am still careful when serving my homecanned foods.

Look at your jars carefully before and after opening. If anything looks off, don’t use it. Did you hear the seal break when you opened the jar? Also smell the contents after opening the jar. If it has an off odor, don’t use it. I also boil my veggies for at least 5 minutes before serving, just to make sure. You can not see or smell botulism, so proper care and handling of home canned foods is very important. When in doubt, throw it out is a very helpful saying when it comes to home canning.

Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving is an excellent place to start. With great recipes and step by step canning directions, it really is a must for the home canner. It’s even available in a Kindle edition!Ball Blue Book Of Canning And Preserving Recipes

You can also visit Ball’s Website Fresh Preserving.com for tips and info on getting started canning, as well as recipes.

Re-useable Canning Lids – I would love to try these. They are more expensive up front, but would save money in the long run, and cut down on trash. Not to mention that they are now reporting that the regular canning lids have BPA in them. So these re-useable lids may be better for you.

What is a Non Reactive Pan – very important in canning.
How to Make a Canning Recipe Yours
Canning 101 Round Up
Defining Canning Terms

How To Fix Canning Problems – very useful information

Here are a few recipes I have found lately that I would love to try.

How to Can Your Own Soup
Cooked in the Jar Potato Soup
Home Canning Re-fried Beans
Canning Green Beans
Peach Jelly the Easy Way
Apricots in Honey Syrup
3 Bean Salad

 

Happy Canning!
Linda's Lunacy

 

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Thursday’s Giveaways

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ThursdayGiveaways

 

I love entering giveaways, and have even won a few things. I really love hosting giveaways on Linda’s Lunacy. It’s so much fun to give stuff away! Now, with Thursday’s Giveaways, you can find lots of great giveaways to enter!

While your here, don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway!

The Grace Card DVD!

 

Linda's Lunacy

The posting of my button is not required, but help in spreading the word that Linda’s Lunacy has a giveaway linky is greatly appreciated! So thank you!

Adding your giveaway to Linda’s Lunacy Thursday’s Giveaways is very easy! Just use this format, please.

Blog name – name of item being given away – ending date

See? Easy!

Please, only link family friendly giveaways. My kids read here, and anything not family friendly, will be promptly deleted. Sorry, but it’s for my kids. 🙂

Have fun, and I hope you win something!

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The Grace Card Review & Giveaway

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Everything can change in an instant … and take a lifetime to unravel.

When Mac McDonald loses his son in an accident, the ensuing 17 years of bitterness and pain erodes his love for his family and leaves him angry with God … and just about everyone else.

Mac’s rage stonewalls his career in the police department and makes for a combustible situation when he’s partnered with Sam Wright, a rising star on the force who happens to be a part-time pastor and a loving family man.

Mac’s home life is as frightening as anything he encounters on the streets of Memphis. Money is tight and emotions run high as he constantly argues with his wife and his surviving son Blake, who is hanging with the wrong crowd and in danger of flunking out of school.

Sam Wright also never expected to be a police officer. He has a calling—to be a minister like his Grandpa George. But leading a small, start-up church doesn’t always put enough food on the table for a young family, so Sam doubles as a police officer. With his new promotion to Sergeant, Sam starts questioning if his real calling might actually be police work rather than the pastorate.

Can Mac and Sam somehow join forces to help one another when it’s impossible for either of them to look past their differences—especially the most obvious one?

Every day, we have the opportunity to rebuild relationships and heal deep wounds by extending and receiving God’s grace. Offer THE GRACE CARD … and never underestimate the power of God’s love.

 

For more information, visit The Grace Card.com.

 

MY REVIEW:

 

The Grace Card is a very good, very intense movie. It’s rated PG-13, so I watched it by myself, since we don’t like the kids to watch PG-13 movies unless we preview it first. Our 11 and 12 year olds aren’t quite ready for the intense scenes yet. I will definitely be watching this with my husband and the two teenagers, 15 & 16.

Mac and Sam are very believable characters. It’s not hard to put yourself in Mac’s place. The pain of losing a child to a preventable accident must be horrendous. It’s easy to imagine that any of us would be bitter and take it out on those around us. Then the unbelievable happens. Mac’s other son is involved in an accident. Sam is there to help Mac get past his bitterness and turn to God. Mac learns about grace and how to extend it to others.

I admit it.    I cried.      The Grace Card is very moving.

The Grace Card will help you learn to extend grace to others as well.  There’s a segment on the DVD entitled Starting a Grace Awakening. You’ll learn what The Grace Card is and how to share it with others.

I highly recommend The Grace Card for older teens and adults. This world would be a better place if we all learned to show grace to others. Please watch first before sharing with younger teens and kids to make sure they won’t be scared and overwhelmed with the intense scenes in the movie.

 



 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I
only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255:
“Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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