Jul 23, 2010

Summer Reading List

One of the things I loved about being in school was that I was always learning something new. I always felt that I was progressing and I was going somewhere because my mind was being stimulated by my classes. Now that I'm out of school, and won't be going back for awhile, I'm struggling with how to keep that progression going. I love reading my romance novels, but they're essentially all the same and are mostly a way for me to brain out for a few hours. "Braining out" does not equal stimulation or an increase of knowledge. I'll never be an incredibly smart person, I'll never have facts readily available at my fingertips that I can spout off at any moment, but I do want to improve my mind and hopefully in turn.. improve myself.

The first thing I decided to do was change up my reading list a little bit. There are so many great and wonderful books out there, but I've never been interested in them. Maybe I've been too much of a book snob or something. The first book on my list for this summer is:


Jared swears by this book. He can't get enough of it, and he even asked me to read it around the New Year when we were setting our goals. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't do it when he asked me too. But I've started it and am reading it now! I would like to learn a little bit more about how to manage my time better and to be a more successful person. Hopefully reading this book will give me some good insights and I'll begin to develop better habits.

As we transition into a one-income household with the arrival of our yet-to-be-named daughter, I also want to take a crack at a financial book:


I truly believe that if we are making the sacrifice for me to stay home with our children, then Heavenly Father will bless us and we'll be okay. We're not going to be millionaires by any means, but I can definitely learn to shop smarter and save better. I've already begun to learn how to coupon shop and shop the sales at the store. I've been haunting the children's clothing section at some of my favorite stores, waiting for their summer clothes to go on clearance so I can stock up for next year. Jared has also read this book and I think it will help give me some useful tips on how to accomplish my goal to be the best stay at home mom I can be.

I do want to throw a little spiritual in there, as I want to be a balanced individual, so next I want to read:



Have you seen this book? It's huge! Like... 500 pages or something. Not that I am a stranger to huge books (the Harry Potter series), but for some reason this book has always intimidated me. I've always wanted to read it, but it seems like a daunting task. Well, the time for shying away from books that intimidate me is now past. If my sister can read it on her mission, then I can too! I might take me a few months, but it will get read.

Do you have any suggestions for some great books that you've read that have really helped you become a better person? I'm always open to ideas!

Some of my other goals this summer are:

1. I want to bake my first cake from scratch.

2. After I can make a good one, I want to take a cake decorating class from my local craft store. Even though I will never be like Duff on Ace of Cakes, I want to be a passable cake decorator so my kids and husband aren't embarrassed when I bring cakes out on their birthdays. Plus, it just looks like fun to me.

3. I want to learn how to make homemade bread. Not french bread, but sandwich bread. Bread that I can make to maybe someday replace store bought bread.

4. I want to visit the cannery and learn all about canning food. We are really focusing on building up our food storage, and I've heard that's the place to start.

5. I want to learn how to sew. I have a sewing machine, and I even have a pattern and fabric but I've never made it. I would love to make my little girl some cute dresses and hair bows and things. Again, I've always been intimidated by the sewing machine. That's perhaps why it's still sitting in the box. I'm planning to take it out next week and begin my first project, an apron!

I think I'll stop there for now. I don't want to get too overwhelmed with goals and then never accomplish anything. Which, sad to say, is the norm for me. I want to live the kind of life I want to teach my kids, and what better time to start then now?

5 comments:

katie+brandon said...

I want to take the cake decorating class with you.

David said...

Jesus The Christ is the best book. But yeah it was over 700 pages. I spread it out over 2 years. I am a slow reader.

Jalei & Lane said...

I think you'll stay pretty busy before the baby comes with all of these plans! Maybe you should start with Jesus the Christ since it's such a HUGE book, just to make sure you finish it :)

Kinzie Sue said...

Those sound like fun goals. You've inspired me to set some goals... don't know what they'll be, but setting and completing goals always feels so great!

marion family said...

Caitlin- go check out Target they have a lot of cute baby summer clothes on sale! I sat there starring at all the racks thinking of all I could buy :)

Good luck reading!