By Nicole

When I saw this title come across in my Litfuse emails, I didn't even hesitate in applying to review. Chocolate is my weakness.  But that wasn't all.  I've personally dealt with issues of fear and finding ways to renew and strengthen my faith in order to overcome it.  Fistfuls of chocolate are a different story... What a great book!  If I had the time, I would have read it all in one sitting.  Of course, I don't recommend blazing through this book without taking the time to really stop and ponder the questions at the end of each chapter because they are well written and thought provoking.  Although this is a great read-alone kind of book, I think it would also be a perfect book for a women's group or Bible study to work through together.   Debora begins by identifying the main categories of fear.  She then sets the book up to spend a whole chapter on a specific type of fear and the ways we can grow our faith and seek God for help to o...

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy A few weeks ago a coworker forwarded this video and article to me.  I read the article and tonight I watched the video.  The video isn't exactly as "deep" as I thought it would be when discussing friendships and their influence, but it is a really interesting article. The last few days "friendship" has been on my mind.  My pattern of friendship is to have one or two super close friends at certain points in my life.  Once we are friends, we are always friends.  No matter how long we've known each other, whether we talk once a day or once a year, it's like we haven't been apart at all.  Some of my dearest friends aren't that type.  They are wildly social, making friends with everyone.  Charismatic and comfortable, they can bond with anyone and maintain a multitude of casual friends.  It doesn't make them nervous to introduce themselves or strike up conversatio...

Celebrate the release of Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate with Debora Coty by entering her Kindle Fire Giveaway and RSVPing to the March 7th Author Chat Party on Facebook! One "sweet" winner will receive: A Kindle Fire A Debora Coty Library ( Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate, More Beauty, Less Beast, Too Blessed To Be Stressed, and Everyday Hope ) Chocolate (Every good thing begins with chocolate!) Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/6/13. Winner will be announced at Debora's "Fear, Faith and a Fistful of Chocolate" Facebook Party on 3/7 . Debora will be hosting an evening of chat, fun trivia, laughter, and encouragement - bring your friends! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club and a live chat with Debora via Skype.) So grab your copy of Fear, Faith and a Fistful of C...

Okay, I know it's technically "running season" all year round, but for me and my husband, it starts the end of January or middle of February when we begin officially signing up for the races we are going to run each month.  Through the holidays, I kind of slack and don't really have a big run coming up.  But March through October, we've got a schedule. Here's what we have planned so far: March 3 - Hot Chocolate 5k in Seattle !  This is my first Hot Chocolate run, and I am excited!  Mostly because we get chocolate at the end, but also because the sweatshirt is awesome. March 16 - St Paddy's Day 5k in Tacoma .  We ran this last year.  I had trained (half-heartedly) for a 5k and accidentally signed up for the 10k... so I ran it anyway.  Not smart.  I died.  And I wore an actual sweat shirt, which was also a bad idea.  It just soaked up the freezing rain and made me heavier and more miserable.  Hated that run.  Loved the shir...

I have this pair of Gap sweats that I have had for years... over ten years to be exact.  They are slowly, yet surely, falling apart.  The waistband is tearing, so the elastic and drawstring are falling out.  The hems are non-existent.  Yet, I keep them.  I keep pulling them out and wearing them.  I lounge in them, clean in them, blog in them.  I'm wearing them right now. When I wear them, I remember the day I found them on super clearance at the Gap in Texas.  I remember wearing them through all my pregnancies and post-partum months (okay, fine, years!).  They are a pair of pants that never let me down. They always fit.  I don't want to donate them or get rid of them because they hold all these memories.  Forget that they have a tendency to fall down and it's a little ridiculous how threadbare they are.  I just can't let go. Do you have things that you can't let go of?  Things that are silly to keep, but that you don't...

For the first half of this story, check out this post .  I am following my version of a multigrain bread recipe from Mother Earth News . Whew.  This was way harder than throwing stuff in the bread machine.  So we ended last time with the soakers soaking and the sponges hanging out in the fridge. I took step by step pictures so that I could write less  provide a better visual guideline.  Well, almost step by step.  I couldn't some of the time because my hands were all gooey or had oven mitts or flour on them.  You understand... So, first I took out the sponges and let them get to room temperature.  I matched up my gooier (is that a word?) first sponge with the thicker looking buttermilk soaker.  It took longer than an hour, and I got sidetracked doing other things.  By the time I got around to making bread... they were good and ready. Then, I got everything else I needed out.  Mainly yeast, butter, flour, honey, ...

So, for the last four or five months, I've been thinking I was all fancy and awesome because I've been making homemade bread for everything.  The kids beg for store bought bread, but I ignore them and smugly think that they'll thank me someday for being made to suffer through healthy foods as children.  I remember feeling the same way as a kid, but I'm also thankful as an adult that I would never dream of buying or eating Wonder bread.  My plan is to also torture my children into being health-conscious adults through homemade bread, granola, whatever. Separate, but related story.  My husband is a Mother Earth News lover.  He has gotten a subscription for the last two years as a Christmas present because it makes him that happy.  He's always reading those things and getting apocalyptic homesteading ideas .  That's how he tortures me.  But, it must be wearing off.  Because the other day, I opened up to the bread article in this month'...