I LOVE the Christmas holiday season. Absolutely love it. I love driving around looking at Christmas lights, I love Starbucks eggnog chai (even though it sadly disagrees with me!), I love chocolate no-bake cookies and sitting by the Christmas tree at night. I love the stories, the songs, and the anticipation of it all. But the stress? I could do without that.
Like it or not, the holidays do come with some stress and the struggle is rising above it and enjoying the simple moments without losing perspective. Along came Marcia, author of Simplify Your Life, with a new holiday organizer entitled Simplify Your Holidays/a>. This, my friends, is an amazing three ring binder note book filled with ideas of how to keep things orderly. She gives calendars to help you keep track of what needs to be done and when. She helps you focus on what is most important and helps you to make sure you schedule those things in – whether it be coffee with a friend, a particular party you really want to attend, to your favorite Christmas cookie! (Don’t want to forget about making your favorite holiday cookie now, do you?)
I’m a planner, but not as much as Marcia Ramsland is. She’s the uber planner. A professional planner. She makes list and I tend to forget about them. But I have to say that this book is so cool and is so extremely easy to use that I’m going to follow her advice this Christmas season. Now, my husband and I are a relatively new family, having only been married for three years. We’re still wading through two sets of family traditions and trying to make decisions about what is right for us. Throw a two year old in the mix that grandparents want to visit with and, well, it’s good to stay organized. The thing I like about this planner, in particular, is that she helps you lay out a plan that is right for you. She offers ideas for a 2 week plan, a 4 week plan and an 8 week plan to help you stay on track with buying gifts, mailing them out in time, taking the family Christmas photo and on and on and on. She addresses all of those things that “must” be done. But the best thing is, she encourages you to be YOU in the midst of it all.
The question you might be asking is this – is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? I mean, we haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving yet. Ramsland makes a good argument that the reason Christmas is so commercialized is precisely because people try to shove all their plans and buying and festivities into the month of December. It’s ultra hyped at that point. She argues that if you sit down and plan things out to keep you organized and busy beginning in November, you’ll have time to relax in December and just enjoy those moments that you anticipate living so much.
What about you? Do you have a need to simplify your holiday and slow things down a bit this year? Do you need help figuring out how to relax and enjoy this season instead of bustling through it? Thomas Nelson publishers have generously offered to help five of our readers figure this out. Leave a comment before November 12 in order to win a copy of Simplify Your Holidays/a>. Five winners will randomly be selected to win and will be mailed a copy in time to use this notebook throughout the 2008 holiday season. (Contest open to U.S. residents only.)
I, for one, intend to revel in this holiday season with a little help from my friend Marcia. I hope you do also!
Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.
I could really use this, thanks.
Please enter me in the giveaway, cool goodie!
I’d love to read this
*Thanks* for the giveaway!
My husband and I both are children of divorce and so the holidys are nonstop running so on top of our plans we have to work in visiting 4 set of parents and then our 3 grandmothers .plus throw in our kids who would rather stay home and play wth their toys so they are tired and crabby. it would be great to have some kind of organization.
This is my favorite time of year, but it is really hectic. I could use some help with how do I get everything done and have time to enjoy myself.
Happy Monday everyone. Great contest, please enter me.
I could totally use this!!
The holidays have always been a time of family and nostalgia. A couple of years ago someone very close to me passed away and I shut down during the holidays. This year, I am ready to do the holiday thing again, but I need to do it in a controlled way. I would love to win this book and simplify my holidays.
sounds like this could certainly help me!!
I love the Holidays and tend to make them more complicated each year. This book is sorely needed!
I love the holiday with all the smells and the movies count me in to win
THis sounds like the book for me, love to read, love to keep things simple, love to win it.
Oh, this sounds like a great book!
I agree, Christmas is really more than a day – it’s a few months long. The weather, the decorations, the cheer (or grumpiness) make Christmas a season more than a holiday!
The holidays are supposed to be a time to unwind, relax with friends and family, and enjoy the little things in life. Instead, the holidays become filled with stress trying to fit everything into a limited schedule. Maybe this book would help me become better organized, or at least learn to “let go” of the unimportant things.
Sounds like a great book. Christmas usually ends up being stressful in our house, so it would be nice to have a relaxing holiday.
I do, indeed, need to simplify during this holiday season. I usually get caught up in the hustle and bustle. This year, my family is expecting us to have a celebration at our house, so I definitely need some tips.
I am having knee surgery at the end of this month and I am going to have to simplify to survive!
I’ve made a list that I try to remember to update every year on Excel, but I always forget to put somehting on the list. This might help.
“More Structure”, my wife says, “You need More Structure” and claims that lists WILL help. Okaay, let’s give it a shot! Anything to cut down on the anxiety level and (in particular) make sure that last evening doesn’t wrap around into THE day — sleepy daddy doesn’t want to be GRUMPY daddy…
I -so- want a nice, clean, organized example of an arrangement of (somebody ELSE’s) lists for the holiday events — I’m always feeling like I’ve lost track of SOMEthing important, which makes me irritable just when I don’t want to be… Thanks for this!
This book would be great for me. I really need to downsize Chrismas this year. Thanks!
I would love to win this for a friend.
cool giveaway!
I could definitely use some help in organizing my Christmas holidays.
I sure could use this. I get distracted with so many things to do and never find the time to do them all. This book would help lessent the stress of the holidays~thanks!
I could sure use this book. My sons both are involved in sports and basketball season is thrown in with Christmas shopping. Makes for a busy time at our house. Any thing that would help get me better prepared for the holidays would be a blessing.
I need to simplify my life – especially at Christmas Time. Thanks for this contest and writing this book!
This would be great to win! Thanks for the contest
I have a large family and am interested in finding ways to keep the holiday stress level down.
This looks super helpful. Looks great! Thanks for the giveaway!
I like to keep the Holidays as simple as possible!
Between being a Manager of a restaurant and being a single mom, tha holidays are the busiest time of the year, this could only help, thank you.
Who couldn’t use this book?
this sounds like a great book!!
I would love to win this.
I need to be more organized and could really use this book ~ thanks!
I would love to win this book.
I am completely disorganized so this would be a helpful book for the holidays
This would be nice to have .
I ready for anything to make the holidays simple
Need all the help I can get around the holidays!
It is a lot of fun but always really busy so this would be great!
PLEASE COUNT ME IN ON THIS AWESOME GIVEAWAY
I would love to win a copy of this! Sounds like a book I need!
Nice prize! I would love to win! Thanks so much for the giveaway!
Good luck!
I get stressed just thinking about the holidays
I would love a copy of this….just keeping all of my kids school holiday must do’s in order would be great..
I could really use this book so I hope I am a winner! I love the holidays and get sooooo caught up in it that the title people have given me of “the most organized unorganized person” in the worse gets even more intense. I seem to work best in chaos but if I could simplify things then it would really be life at its best for me and all around me. Help me stress less…make me a winner please! Thanks for the giveaway!
Please enter me