Links, Books, and Other Things I Love – October 2016 Edition

Once a month we share articles, books, and things we love at Leigh Kramer’s What I’m Into.

Here are some of my favorites from September and what I’m looking forward to in October.

1 Second Everyday 

[If you can’t see the 1 Second Everyday video, click here]

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Around the Web

The Best Question to Ask

This is a great question to ask not only your hurting friends, but any of your friends.

best-question-to-ask-hurting-friend

• Top 10 Secret Features in iOS 10

If you’ve downloaded the latest iPhone updates, you know there were lots of changes this time. Here are 10 interesting features. I like the magnifying glass option.

magnifiying-glass-iphone

The Seven Fears Controlling Controllers

We all like to feel in control, right? David Murray shares seven fears we need to consider about what drives that need.

How English Sounds to Non-English Speakers

When I hear people speak in other languages, it sounds like gibberish to me. How might English sound to them? This is a great video using fake English to show us.

how-english-sounds-to-non-english-speakers

I love to eat, but not cook

Do you plan your meals in advance? This often happens when I try.

meal-planning-reality-check

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On Reading

• 7 Books on the White-Black Racial Divide You Should Read

To learn more about our race issues, here are essential book recommendations from people who would know. The list includes Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson, one of my personal favorites (my review here).

Just-Mercy-Bryan-Stevenson

Reading for the Rest of Us

Here are 6 tips when you think you don’t have enough time (or energy) to read more or better books. I’m partial to the last tip. It’s not intuitive, but it works.

Majority of Americans Still Reading Print Books

Do you prefer print or ebooks? I want both. “A growing share of Americans are reading e-books on tablets and smartphones rather than dedicated e-readers, but print books remain much more popular than books in digital formats.”

print-vs-ebooks

• Read the Day’s Most Fascinating News

If you like a great list of articles to read without scouring the internet yourself, Dave Pell’s newsletter is a great source. He’s witty and has broad tastes. I never read all the articles he shares, but I always read some. Visit online, get it as an email, or read through an app.

next-draft-dave-pell

Six Books I Recommend

6-books-recommend-september-2016-lisanotes

Currently Reading

  1. Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
    by Chris Cleave
  2. The Underground Railroad
    by Colson Whitehead
  3. The Road Back to You
    An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
    by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

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Things I Love

Handcrafted Gifts

The father of my future son-in-law Trey made (!) this beautifully exquisite bowl for us out of some lumber that my dad had left behind. What a gift I’ll treasure for years and years.

wooden-bowl

The Enneagram

I’ve been reading more about this personality typing system and it is so thorough. But in October, I’m stepping it up. I plan to attend a conference by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile and their new book, The Road Back to You. So looking forward to it.

Free Enneagram test here.

Family Shower

Almost all the girl relatives were able to come to the bridal shower at Lindsey’s house for my baby girl Jenna. Such fun seeing aunts, sisters, cousins, grandmothers, and moms come together to celebrate Jenna and Trey’s marriage.

cousins-family-shower

Almost all the girl cousins got to come!

thornton-thereafter

She’s so ready!

The Wedding

It’s almost here – the main event! Sunday is the day! A couple weeks ago we did the trial run of hair/makeup and bridal portraits.

pre-bridal-portraits-jenna-morgan

morgan-jenna-camera

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On the Blog

• Why You Should Keep Your Hopes Up 

We can’t adequately prepare for the future. But we can hope in God’s future gifts to meet us there.

• It’s Not About Looking Good 

I’m trying not to be all wedding, all the time. But because it’s near, it’s consuming a lot of my head space. And sparking anxious thoughts.

• When Desire Is Greater Than Fear

Behind many of our fears is the lack of control. But the way to overcome fear isn’t to have more control; it’s to replace it with something stronger. Includes quotes from Edward T. Welch’s wonderful book, Running Scared.

• 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God, A-Z

Series starts tomorrow! Not as connected to God as you’d like to be? Experience 26 surprising ways to encounter God in just a few minutes per day.

26-surprising-ways-encounter-god_index

 

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What was one of your highlights from September? What are you looking forward to in October? Please share in the comments.

My previous link posts

36 thoughts on “Links, Books, and Other Things I Love – October 2016 Edition

  1. Jennifer Wilson

    That bowl is beautiful! How nice it was made with some lumber of your dad’s. I’ve always wanted to do those one second videos, but my life is not that exciting right now since I work at home with no kids. 🙂

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Yes, the bowl is such an exquisite gift as it combines my daughter’s new family with the heritage of our family. I’ll treasure it.
      My videos aren’t very exciting either. ha Let me know if you end up doing the videos too! They’re fun to do.

  2. Kristi Woods

    Fun list! But goodness, I got off track and started listening to Germans on YouTube attempting to pronounce “Squirrel”. Go figure! But hey, my iphone is updated and I’m a “learned” girl on that puppy! Most of all, however, is congratulations on your daughter’s upcoming wedding. May God’s grace be evident from day 1, through and through. Enjoy the day, Lisa. I can’t wait to hear all about it. #thoughtprovokingThursday

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      It’s too easy to get distracted online, yes? I totally relate, Kristi. 🙂 Thanks for your blessings on my daughter’s marriage! They do want it to be a God-honoring one from the first day, so that’s what we’re praying for too!

  3. Trudy

    So much great info here, Lisa. I still like reading printed books better, but I have read some Kindle ones. I LOVE the handmade bowl! What a kind gesture for him to make it for you out of your Dad’s wood! I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed time at your daughter’s wedding! God bless them in their marriage! Blessings and hugs to you!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      I still love print books, too, Trudy. They’re so different to me than ebooks (which I also love!) so it’s hard for me to compare. I’ll just keep both. 🙂 Thanks for the blessings for my daughter’s marriage. 2 more days now! We’re all excited.

  4. Ceil

    Hi Lisa! I’m so excited for you and your daughter for the coming wedding. SO FUN! And your son-in-law to be is so talented, those bowls are amazing. What an artist!
    Everyone Brave is Forgiven is such a wonderful title, isn’t it? Makes me want to read it for sure.
    Your minute a day videos are always so fun to watch, although sometimes I wish there was more than just one minute some days.
    God bless on the wedding, and may joy be yours in abundance!
    Ceil

  5. David

    Dear Lisa

    Lovely roundup!

    We do really well with menus. We tie in the week’s shopping, and who cooks on which night. A lot of the stuff we cook is better on the second night (curries, casseroles, etc.) … on the other hand, we tend to have a roll of a few weeks then fall out of it, and it takes us ages to get back into it. The initial planning session can be quite intensive (piles of recipe books, diagrams, …)

    I find screen reading (on phone or iPad) awful for lots of reasons. I’ll read blogs (only the first three screens) or technical papers, but I heartily look forward to the day we’ll have decent digital paper.

    David

  6. Barbara H.

    What a treasure that bowl is! I was wondering as I was reading when the wedding was I knew it was close. So it’s coming up this Sunday! How exciting! I hope and pray all goes well and your daughter has a lovely day.

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Thanks, Barbara! We’re all so excited about the wedding. It’s been a huge blessing to have Morgan home too this week because she’s been a HUGE help in all things wedding.Thanks for your prayers!

  7. Laura Thomas

    September looked pretty awesome there and I love the bowl, but Oh my word—the wedding! So very excited for you—enjoy every single second being mother-of-the-bride! ❤️ Stopping by from #FaithFilledFriday 🙂

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Thanks, Laura. I am excited to be mother-of-the-bride once again! It’s going to feel VERY strange to have two married daughters now. Wow. When your kids are small, it’s hard to imagine these days will ever come. But then you blink your eyes, and they’re here.

  8. Emma Hughes

    Visiting from the link up and I love the Enneagram too! I’m in Australia so I’m very jealous that you get to go to Suzanne and Ian’s conference 🙁 I love listening to their podcast – such great insights.

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      A fellow Enneagram lover–nice to meet you, Emma! I’m still somewhat new to learning about it. I was thrilled to discover their podcast and even more so to find their conference relatively close to where I live. Maybe they’ll make it to Australia one day. 🙂

  9. Beverley

    When my daughter got married, one minute i was telling the bridesmaids (there were 5 of them, all grown up) to get their dresses on or they were going out the door in their knickers – the bride was 40 minutes late to the chapel – and then it was the end of the day and i was showing the wonderful woman who held it all together in the background where all the light boxes were – i can’t remember how many they were, but there were lots of boxes and they all needed to go away. The day will go so fast it will be gone in the blink of an eye so try and slow it down when you can and enjoy it.

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Beautiful advice, Beverley. I want to be able to take it, and keep the day in slow motion instead of letting it go by too quickly! I can’t believe that it’s almost here.

  10. Michele Morin

    Looking forward to reading Dave Furman’s book soon.
    And, Lisa, I do look for your recap post, because it’s so interesting! I’ll be back to take the enneagram test. I’m really not up on that yet.
    Thanks for all the effort that goes into this informative post!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      You’re welcome, Michele! These posts are fun to put together. Let me know if you take the enneagram test and what “number” you are. I’ve had fun guessing my own families’ numbers. 🙂

  11. Lori

    I love the meal planning reality check. I plan every meal, I love doing it. I know it is not everyone’s cup of tea but I enjoy it because it helps save money. Adding more books to the pile is something I used to never do, but with my time like it is , I’ve been working on reading several books. Print books, please! I love the feel and smell of real books. I LOVE the bowl! I’m going to have to go over and catch up on the 26 Surprising Ways. This is a full and wonderful list of things, Lisa. Thanks for sharing with Thankful Thursdays

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Meal planning may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think we’d all be better off if we could do it! That’s great that you’re disciplined enough to do it, Lori. When I actually succeed with it, it makes my life so much easier. 🙂 I still love print books, too. I do love my Kindle, but never as a complete substitute for real books!

  12. floyd

    Great month!!! I thought I missed the one second video! This is a month you’ll never forget… which makes it a great one. Thanks for sharing it with us!

    1. LisaNotes Post author

      Yeah, I snuck in the one-second video on a different day this month. What a good eye you have, Floyd! 🙂 I knew I wouldn’t have time to do it over the weekend with Jenna’s wedding festivities, so my September video only went through Sept 29, and my October video next month will begin with Sept 30. Ugh. The perfectionist in me is troubled by that, but I’m trying to overcome it. ha.

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