Gift Idea for Newlyweds and Other Couples Plus Wedding Planning Help During My Blogging Break

Mother of the Bride, with Christmas coming, are you looking for a meaningful gift to give to your daughter and her beloved? Even if they won’t be married by Christmas, you can still give them a couples gift that will help them on their coming newlywed journey.

Our Daily Question: A Three-Year Journal for Couples is a 365-day guided journal that poses a question a day designed to stimulate conversation. I haven’t seen the book myself (it’s brand new on the market), but for the past few years I’ve personally been using The Daily Question: My 5-Year Spiritual Journal. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed answering each day’s question and then looking back to see my answers from the previous years.

 Our Daily Question works the same way as The Daily Question journal I use. What fun it will be for newlyweds to see how their answers may change over the course of three years. They may enjoy the exercise so much that they’ll want to get another one! And just think—this is a gift you can keep in mind for other couples as well. Remember, Christmas is coming!

With that in mind, it’s time for me to take a holiday blogging break—but not before I leave you with some great wedding planning help. I’ll be back with my weekly posts starting Jan. 5th, but in the meantime, I hope you’ll find lots of helpful ideas and info as you take advantage of today’s post.

Here are four resources from yours truly:

  1. Look through the list of Favorite Posts on the sidebar and click the links to the ones that spark your interest. (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find the sidebar items.)
  2. Use the drop-down feature in the Archives to spot some posts that might be especially helpful to you at this stage in your Mother of the Bride journey. You’ll find the Archives on the sidebar too so use the directions above to find it if you’re on a mobile device.
  3. Check out my Pinterest pageAmong other things, it features eighteen wedding-related boards!
  4. Glance through the roundup posts I’ve written so far. Roundups can be very helpful:

Wedding Photography: Bridal Portrait Roundup

Roundup: Popular Mother of the Bride Blog Posts

Bridal Bouquet Roundup

Wedding Cake Roundup

Wedding Registry Roundup

Wedding Photo Ideas Roundup That Star the Groom

Finally, if your daughter is in the beginning stages of gathering ideas and investigating her options, try Martha Stewart WeddingsReal Simple Weddings, and Brides.  And if she  your daughter wants a rustic wedding, check out Rustic Wedding Chic.

Hope this helps you and your sweet daughter, MOB!

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early February. Sign-up is FREE and to the right! (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find it.)

*Flickr photo by wuestenigal, Creative Commons License

A Planning Journal for Your Mother of the Bride Notes

IMG_3155Mother of the Bride, if you are new to this grand MOB adventure or just haven’t started using a planning journal yet, run out and buy one asap. After all, you have all kinds of notes you’ll need to jot down during the coming months.

As MOBs most of us buy nice planners for our bride-to-be daughters, but you need one as well, MOB. You will be researching and shopping for so many things, it will all become a jumble of confusion if you don’t write things down.

Since you need a planning journal, go ahead and treat yourself to a pretty one. Maybe you can find one in one of the colors of the wedding or you can just find one that looks super feminine or appeals to you for some other reason. Make it something that will feel like a little splurge. And choose one small enough to fit in your purse. Believe me, you’ll be using it on the go.

A planning journal will be your sanity saver for sure, MOB. It will help you keep track of everything from notes about where you and your sweet girl saw which bridal gown or cake or flowers to the prices for all these things. You can also keep a running list of expenses, due dates for deposits, and your ongoing to-do list. If you’re faithful to jot down anything and everything wedding related, this little planner will indeed become your lifeline.

So go on, MOB—have fun finding a planning journal just for you!

*You might also like to read Mother of the Bride Memory Boosters for Shopping and Mother of the Bride—Info Source for Gift-Givers.

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, came out last week. It’s not too late to receive it. Sign up is free and to the right!

*My photo

Adventure Wanted!

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I admitted this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago so I’ll admit it here, too—I’ve purchased two travel journals recently. But since our twin grandsons were born in January, my travels have consisted of making the nearly 6-hour trek to go see them as often as I can get away with it. So, my travel journals remain empty as of yet. After all, I have a grandparent’s journal for all things grandparenty!

Thoughts of adventure have been popping up with me lately, though. Last week I exhorted all of us to live life. Adventure fits right in with that mantra, doesn’t it? In January, I predicted that adventure awaited us all this year. And now, here it is pulling at my heart again.

In truth, it can be unusual or even difficult for people like me—creatures of habit—to break free from our regular routines and actually welcome adventure. So when adventure starts calling to our spirits, we need to pay attention. We need to be alert to what life may hold around the corner.

Let’s not forget that adventure can look different at different times and to different people. The past several years adventure for me has looked like vacationing in new places, like shown above in our trip to Yellowstone National Park. The past few months, however, my great adventure has looked an awful lot like two sweet baby boys. My life changed forever with their birth. Yes, I set sail on one of the best adventures of my life—being grandma to precious twin boys. I want to be available this first year of their lives to answer the grandma-we-need-you call to adventure. Their momma needs an extra set of hands fairly regularly, and I love lending my hands to the cause.

Even though my new grandmothering adventure is of prime importance to me right now, I want to be ready for new adventures. I want to start making entries in my travel journals. I want to see my world with fresh eyes. I want to be ready for what life may have around the corner. Yes, I want to live life.

Are you with me? Let’s hop out of the regular ruts of our lives. Let’s strain to see what God has in store!

“‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?’” Isaiah 43:19a

*What does adventure look like in your life right now? What great adventure would you like to pursue?

*Photo by my husband Don