Super Excited For A New Class

For the past couple years my birthday present to myself is an online class. {Yep, my birthday is this week!--January 12} I can't imagine anything better for me. It really connects me to the kind of community that feeds my spirit. Each year it has been a real game changer for me.

Two years ago I did Mondo Beyondo with Jen and Andrea.

Last year I did Soul Restoration with Melody Ross.

These were both so powerful and fun! I'm still feeling the impact and reaping the rewards in my life!

This year, today, I'm starting Body Restoration with Melody Ross. I know this is going to be powerful and rich and difficult. I can't wait to dash home from school today and get started!

I know I'm so blessed to even be able to afford the time and the money to gift myself this way. Have you taken any of these classes?

Anyone out there taking Body Restoration?

Enchantment: Week 1

I'm going to blog about what is enchanting me each week this year. Some of it will be online and some of it will be real world. So here we go!

~I am completely enchanted by Sam's pretend play. Tonight he had a silly putty egg with a marble in it, and he said, "This is Henry. He is a talking egg. He's my favorite." He then put him (it?) on the bannister and said, "He's going on a roller coaster."

~I'm enchanted by Body Restoration, a Brave Girls Club online course that begins next week. It's going to be sooo good.

~I'm always enchanted by people who use small spaces, but this is amazing!

~Edible Columbus--I received a copy of this when I was on my little retreat last week. This is a stunning magazine and more devoted to local food.

~My house is feeling a little stale, and I'm enchanted by the thought of creating a more {restorative} environment in my home--an oasis for my little family and others.

What's enchanting you today?

How I Spent My Winter Vacation

I'm joining a Linky Party about how I spent my winter vacation. I'm just making a list of highlights--some of these have links to spots where you can see pictures or read more.

I've had a great winter vacation. I've been busy, but not too busy.

December 22 - 23 Making gingerbread snowman cookies for Santa with a 2 year old was the highlight along with cooking, wrapping gifts, cleaning and holiday preparations

December 24 We hosted a Birthday Party for Jesus with 8 preschoolers in the morning. We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. I was too tired to stay up to go to church. I was in bed asleep before I could even hear reindeer paws on the roof. I'm not sure which part of that was the highlight!

December 25 We walk up to realize that Santa had visited our house. We opened gifts, ate baked pumpkin french toast, and then we left our house on our secret mission. We also went to church and then celebrated with my husbands part of the family. I think the secret mission was my highlight.

December 26 We caught our breath at home, played with new toys, and I started reading The Right Brained Business Plan.

December 27 - 28 Sam spent the first ever night away from both parents. The grown ups had a retreat at True Nature. It was our Christmas gift to ourselves and each other. It was perhaps the highlight of the whole break!

December 29 - 30 I did some reading, made some art, worked on some improvements and expansions of the Brave Teachers website, and discovered a new tv series, Leverage. I felt both productive and relaxed! I felt so good I put a great deal up on Brave Teachers for just a week.

December 31 Cleaned up the house for our New Year's Feast, and went to First Night Akron. The highlight of First Night was a Beatles tribute band called Hard Days Night.

January 1 Hosted a New Year Day feast with some family and friends. I announced my word for 2012, too.

January 2 Today is the last day of break, and I don't want to sound greedy, but there is possible lake effect snow, and I can't help but smile at the thought of an extended break!!!

What were the highlights of your Winter Vacation? Read other people's highlights HERE.

Enchantment is the Word of 2012

You might be wondering how I ended up with the word {enchantment} as my word for this new year. Here is a bit of the journey--

It actually started months ago--maybe August, when my friend Lori told me I was an enchanting person. She then asked me if I had read the book Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki. I was truly enchanted by the book. It impacted the way I approached my new school year, my interpersonal connections, and my business dreams for Brave Teachers. I'm rereading it these days.

When I started to think about a word for the new year (around Thanksgiving) nothing jumped out at me. I started to feel some pressure. I'm telling everyone else to do this word for the year thing, while I'm having a block! Every direction I was going was toward calm and peace and serenity, but I couldn't really settle anywhere. Enchantment did flutter by, but it never stuck.

And then this past week it flew in, it stuck, it let off some fireworks in my heart. Voila! I had my word for the year. The same day I was watching a video about Italy {sigh} and there was this quote:

"Enchantment is both the capacity of the world to charm us and the spell that comes upon us when we open ourselves up to the magic in everyday experiences." (Thomas Moore)

Perfect, I thought!

This year I want to be both enchanting to the people who pass through my life, but I also want to be enchanted by people and places and experiences I live. Some of my favorite synonyms for enchantment are: amazed, awed, captivated, delighted, ecstatic, enraptured, magical, wonder-struck, and wonder-working.

I'm not sure what all that means for me, but I believe it's going to be and enchanting year!

If you still haven't picked a word for the year, grab this free mini-workbook.

HERE is an amazing post (and cautionary tale) from Andrea Scher about the impact of a word of the year.

Best wishes to you wherever your new year takes you!

Word Of The Year 2012 Revealed

Happy 2012! Best wishes from me to you. I'm hoping you have your best year EVER!

It's here! The video below reveals my word for 2012. As you can tell it's already inspiring me!

{Tomorrow I'll let you know how I arrived at my word for the year.}

Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

Approaching The Gate of 2012

So we're just a bit away from entering 2012. It certainly feels like we're approaching the gate. It's still closed, but we know it's about to fly open. And I'm wondering if I'm ready. I'm tired, but I want to be so present when the gate flies open, and I boldly walk through.

I feel my heart and soul propelling me in other directions--away from the safe path. I'm so excited and scared by it. I already know that 2012 is going to be HUGE! I feel the earth moving and shifting. I know I'm going to be engaged with my little family, traveling, and taking Brave Teachers into great directions. I'm getting really into the business nitty gritty. Have I mentioned The Right Brain Business Plan by Jennifer Lee? I'm gobbling it up!

I'm actively pursuing calm. I've selected by word for 2012 {to be revealed soon!} I'm working on lots of plans for next year, and I'm trying to think of how to integrate the shift in my heart with my day to day interactions within my classroom. I'm thinking of little lessons to empower kids--the kind of stuff you have to sneak in because it has nothing to do with standardized tests but everything to do with the future of the human race. Am I the only person out there who thinks that is just soooo wrong? But I digress--give me a moment to hop off my education soapbox. . .

How about you? What are you planning or hoping or dreaming for 2012?

If you live within a couple hours of Akron, Ohio, I would LOVE to spend time with you at the Brave Teacher Play Day, January 16! We will be super casually creating and empowering and supporting each other. It's going to be a great chance to catch your breath so that you can move boldly through the gate and get 2012 started so beautifully!

Special Deal For You and A Friend

Are you feeling tired, warn down, needing some inspiration?

This week you can grab a copy of Visioning The Best Year Ever for just 5 bucks!

Click here to receive all 63 colorful pages of this pdf delivered to you via email.

As a happy new year bonus, you can purchase a copy for yourself and I'll email a copy to your friend for FREE. Get the details here.