Book: “Everything Romance” by Todd Hafer
Any time is the perfect time to celebrate with the ones you love! With Valentine’s Day celebrations around corner I thought I would share with you a book I recently read called Everything Romance by Todd Hafer. The book is packed full of great quotes, recipes and information. It has plenty of great ideas to get your creative juices flowing for your upcoming Date Night, Valentine’s Day, Honeymoon, Anniversary or any other fun celebration with your spouse. You will get a wonderful variety of romantic inspiration from the book through:
- Blessings & Prayers
- Did You Know? (fun love facts)
- Features (Conversation Starters and More)
- Lists (such as Creative Ways to say “I Love You”)
- Love Boosters & Love Busters
- Love Letters (from famous people like Mark Twain and more)
- Perfect Pairs & Famous Quotes
- Poetry & Poets
- Special Recipes
- Gift Ideas & Love Stories
- Scripture Verses, Trivia and More!
I thought this book was great reminder of how important it is that we spend time with our spouse. Going on a Date Night even after your married helps keep you connected. The book has a lot of different ideas. My suggestion is take the ones that work well for your marriage and implement them. There is plenty of fun activities to try and inspirational sayings to get you started. I especially enjoyed the love quotes and the recipes. The top 100 lists for Love Songs and Romantic Movies are wonderful starting points for Date Night ideas.
I haven’t had a chance to try all the recipes but here are a few fun ones:
- Berry Sweet Breakfast Parfaits for Two
- Lip Smackin’ Spicy Lime Popcorn
- Smooth Operator Blue Smoothie
- Perfect Pair Pizza Pita Snacks
If you need some great ideas for the upcoming Valentine’s Day celebration or more ideas for your Date Nights I would recommend checking this book out. Everything Romance would be a neat Valentine or Anniversary gift for your spouse. You could read through the book together or use it to help plan out your next date night.
I think investing time and energy into our marriage is important. While I may not be inspired by every story, quote, or activity in the book I believe the author did a good job of putting a great mix of ideas so each person can pull their favorites out for them to implement or enjoy. The book was a fun one for me to read and I appreciate a book that focuses on building better relationships! I am already looking forward to our next Date Night! 🙂
Rate my review & be entered into a giveaway: I reviewed this book for “Blogging for Books.” By rating my review, it allows me to choose another book and enters you in a GIVEAWAY! The rating is a two step process.
Step 1: Rate my review below (select the number of stars, enter your email, and hit submit).
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Book: “The 60 Minute Money Workout” by Ellie Kay
I recently finished reading The 60-Minute Money Workout by Ellie Kay. Each chapter was designed for a 60 minute personal finance workout once a week. You can work through the chapters on your own or with your spouse. The author uses the personal finance steps like an exercise workout but for your finances.
The five “workout” steps are covered in each chapter:
- Warm Up – prep for your money workout (5 minutes)
- Strength Training – set financial goals (10 minutes)
- Cardio Burn – put goals into action (20 minutes)
- Heart Rate – measure financial performance (20 minutes)
- Cool Down – Reward Yourself (5 minutes)
The book includes nuggets of personal finance information as well as worksheets that you can use or you can go to her website for additional worksheets and tools. Several of the financial principles she goes over are great for someone or a couple just starting to get their finances in order. I do agree with Ellie Kay on the importance of paying off debt, saving for emergencies and paying cash whenever possible. I think her “10/10/80 Rule” is a good starting point too:
- 10% – Share with nonprofit organization (church or other worthy organization)
- 10% – Save through an allotment or designation to a savings account and for investments
- 80% – Spend wisely
Making it a habit to give, save, as well as where you spend your money is valuable with the intention that you would eventually get better with your finances and you will be able to both give and save even more then the initial 10%. The author gives several quizzes throughout the book to help you identify were you are at on certain area of personal finance, such as personalities, spending, saving, debt, and more. I do like that she dips into the entrepreneurial side especially for the kids and small businesses.
Overall I think Ellie Kay provides a good basis for personal finance with nuggets of valuable information to get you started on the right track. At times I felt the five workout steps distracted from the content of the chapters and there were a couple areas I felt could have been more detailed such as outlining how to set up your first basic budget. Even if you have already been following the majority of the principles she outlines in her book it is good to be reminded of some areas that may need continual improvement.
Rate my review & be entered into a giveaway: I reviewed this book for “Blogging for Books.” By rating my review, it allows me to choose another book and enters you in a GIVEAWAY60! The rating is a two step process.
Step 1: Rate my review below (select the number of stars, enter your email, and hit submit).
Step 2: Check your email account for a message from Blogging for Books and click their link to verify your email.
Once you rated my review AND confirmed your email, you will automatically entered in a giveaway for this book by WaterBrook Multnomah!!! They will pick one person to receive a copy of the book for themselves! WaterBrook Multnomah will contact the winner directly.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”