Addicted to Instagram now

Ok, so I'm becoming slightly addicted to Instagram now...

Lately, I've been posting a lot of foodie pics because I teach at Le Cordon Bleu School for the Culinary Arts and do a lot of Mystery Shopping at awesome restaurants.  Feel free to follow me at:

2014 Ready Resource book is now in stores!

Copy of 2014 Ready Resource

Click on the link above to watch a "book trailer" for the new edition of "Ready Resource for Relief Society"!

What someone who loves books said about my newest book!

Do you love to read books? Shauna Wheelwright loves books so much that she created a blog about it!   In fact, it's called "I love to read and review books". 

She recently read my newest book "Ready Resource for Relief Society" and had this to say about it:

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I am really impressed with this resource book!
I mean REALLY IMPRESSED!

This gives a teacher of Relief Society a plentiful supply of materials to supplement the lessons from the Church Manual.

In this resource guide you get for EACH LESSON:

*Hymn selections that correlate with the lesson.
*A brief summary of the lesson.
*Quotes from Apostles and Prophets
*Picture ideas to use from the Gospel Art Kit
*Church video suggestions

and my favorite part...

*it gives you OBJECT LESSONS to use to bring more understanding to the lesson!

But that's not all...

You also get:
*Ensign articles to use

*Scripture Mastery verses to expound the lesson
*Correlating pages from Preach My Gospel
*AND a CHALLENGE to help the class members put the lesson to practice in their own lives.

And if that is not enough...
*There are handouts all ready made for you!

This makes teaching SO EASY!

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The book hits stores THIS WEEK!  Woohoo!
To grab a paperback copy or an ebook version of it, buy it online at Amazon.

Thanks Shauna!

Win a free book CONTEST!

So, are you ready for the holidays? Would you like to be? An inspiring author and good friend of mine, Connie Sokol, is launching her newest book "Simplify & Savor the Season", a three-part holiday planner to help you savor the celebrations!

You can WIN A FREE COPY by sharing in the comment box below what you do to celebrate and enjoy this holiday season, which includes Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. I'll pick a winning entry and send you a copy of her ebook and eplanner!

 Connie's fun book details the to-dos, including menu and gift planning, with quick tips on how to lose the unnecessary and focus on the essential. After organizing, sit back and enjoy the season with “5 Holiday Juicers”—tips that teach how to keep life joyful, not stressful. Then curl up and relax with “Savory Suggestions, Snippets, and Stories,” a collection of laugh-out-loud anecdotes including “How the Real Halloween Fright Happened the Next Day,” “Thankful for Warbling,” and “Let Go of the Cookie-Cutter Christmas.” Make your holiday celebrations meaningful and memorable as you Simplify & Savor the Season!

To learn more about this book and others, visit www.conniesokol.com where you can also sign up to receive her fun newsletter. Some testimonials of her newest book are:

“Reading Simplify & Savor the Season is like getting an early holiday gift: permission to let go of meaningless frills and pageantry and instead, focus on family and love. And it helps the most diehard procrastinators get organized in time to enjoy the holidays.” —Elyssa Andrus, author of Happy Homemaking: An LDS Girl’s Guide 

“Love it! I don’t have to hold my breath anymore. Connie is the master at bringing clarity to the chaotic. This book brings to light the little things that make all the difference. I want to tell all women that serenity during the holidays really can happen. What a gift! –Kalli Wilson, International Wellness Coach 

Connie Sokol is a mother of seven, a national and local presenter, and a favorite speaker at Education Week. She is the Motherhood Matters contributor on KSL TV's “Studio 5 with Brooke Walker”, and regular blogger on www.ksl.com. She is a former TV and radio host, newspaper columnist. Mrs. Sokol is the author of several books including The Life is Too Short Collection, Faithful, Fit & Fabulous, Create a Powerful Life Plan, 40 Days with the Savior, and Caribbean Crossroads. She marinates in time spent with her family and eating decadent treats. For her blog, TV segments, podcasts and more, visit www.conniesokol.com

Sneak Peek at Ready Resource for Relief Society 2014

I'm so excited to announce that my newest book "Ready Resource for Relief Society - Teachings of the President Joseph Fielding Smith" will launch on November 19, 2013!  Woohoo!  It will be available for purchase in stores and online on that date.  Yay!

Here is a sneak peek at the lesson topics for next year's Relief Society and Priesthood lesson manual for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  My book will offer creative and fun ideas to help teachers with object lessons, visual aids, video suggestions, artwork, handouts, inspiring quotes, article links, as well as 3 new features: Seminary Scripture Mastery tie-ins, Preach My Gospel pages, and personal challenges for every chapter!

Topics for 2014 include:

Lesson 1      Our Father in Heaven

Lesson 2      Our Savior, Jesus Christ

Lesson 3      The Plan of Salvation

Lesson 4      Strengthening and Preserving the Family

Lesson 5      Faith and Repentance                     

Lesson 6      The Significance of the Sacrament

Lesson 7     Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Witnesses for Jesus Christ   

Lesson 8     The Church and Kingdom of God   

Lesson 9      Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

Lesson 10     Our Search for Truth

Lesson 11     Honoring the Priesthood Keys Restored through Joseph Smith

Lesson 12     The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood

Lesson 13     Baptism 

Lesson 14     The Gift of the Holy Ghost

Lesson 15      Eternal Marriage 

Lesson 16      Bringing Up Children in Light and Truth 

Lesson 17      Sealing Power and Temple Blessings 

Lesson 18      living by Every Word That Proceeds from the Mouth of God

Lesson 19      In the World but Not of the World 

Lesson 20       Love and Concern for All Our Father’s Children

Lesson 21       Proclaiming the Gospel to the World 

Lesson 22       Prayer – a Commandment and a Blessing 

Lesson 23       Individual Responsibility  

Lesson 24       The Work of Latter-day Saint Women: “Unselfish Devotion

                       to This Glorious Cause”    

Lesson 25       The Birth of Jesus Christ:  “Good Tidings of Great Joy”

Lesson 26       Preparing for the Coming of our Lord

Ready Resource for Relief Society 2014 is now available for pre-order

Great news! The 2014 "Ready Resource for #ReliefSociety" is out!

Well, it's not on store shelves just yet, but you can pre-order your copies on Amazon today!

The picture shows a cover similar to last year's edition, but it will actually be blue in 2014.  This handy resource book makes lesson preparation so much easier so that you can spend more time focusing on the Spirit and meeting the needs of your specific class.

There are 3 new features in this new edition:

* Scripture Mastery verses that help parents memorize the same scriptures as their teenagers in Seminary.  Each lesson focuses on the Scripture Mastery references that relate to the same topic.

* Preach My Gospel page references to help the class become more familiar with this terrific missionary tool. President Monson said in the Fall 2013 General Conference "Now is the time for members and missionaries to work together..." The page references will help readers learn how to incorporate missionary work and focused studies on the topic.

* A weekly challenge to deepen learning and increase application of the topic.

The 2014 edition still includes the favorite features you love to help you prepare your Sunday lessons during Relief Society and Priesthood:

* Object lesson ideas

* Hymns and music that go along with the theme

* Suggested artwork and visual aids

* References to articles in Church magazines and General Conference talks

* Ideas for showing videos to correlate with each week's topic

* A handout that can be copied and given to everyone in the class I think you're going to LOVE this new book!

If you're interested in any of the previous year's issues, they can also be purchased online at Amazon for a new low price! They're TERRIFIC for Family Home
Evening lessons and youth topical lessons for Sunday School!  


 

Ready Resource for #ReliefSociety

Planes script writing doesn't soar to expectations

If Planes was about a bomber, then it would be mission accomplished. The voice talents of Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, John Cleese, Brad Garrett, and Priyanka Chopra are the best things about the movie Planes, a Disney release, but NOT a Pixar production.  It is Prana Animation Studios that put this one together.  Not exactly a household name, but they’re the ones who released Tinker Bell and Secret of the Wings (another Tinker Bell movie) straight to DVD release.   Unfortunately, the quality of this film reveals its history.

Planes was originally created to be a direct-to-DVD release, but when little ones clamor to see a summer flick with a giant tub of buttery movie-theater popcorn, why not squeeze more money out of it and slip it into the theaters first?  Ohhhhh, now this movie makes more sense.

The movie begins with the title “From above the world of Cars” hoping the Disney connection will help this movie to soar to megabucks.  It flops. Cars was somewhat unique and successful, and although Planes has a similar look, it doesn’t quite make it off the runway. Without Pixar’s humorous magic, the audience didn’t laugh for almost 15 minutes.  I don’t know if any parents ever did.  The humor is definitely geared towards younger children, almost at the parents’ expense.  The simplistic underdog story lacks the sophistication to entertain bored parents, yet provides endless stereotypes to offend them.

Dane Cook voices Dusy, a crop-duster who dreams of becoming a racing plane, has a secret fear of heights.  Kinda lame, right?

While most movie critics consider this film to be a soulless cash grab, there are some visually colorful aerial views of landscapes, although older folks may get dizzy in the 3D version.  (I’m showing my age.)  Little ones who love airplanes will be in heaven and the merchandising profits are sure to please Disney. The “believe in yourself” ending is predictable and unoriginal.  I mean, we just finished watching Turbo a couple of weeks ago.

It’s a disappointing movie theater trip, but at least you got your buttery popcorn fix.  Little ones will enjoy it.  Parents will endure it.  Are we going to see “Boats the Movie” next?

Grade = C