What's On Your Bests List of 2012?

What's On Your Bests List of 2012?

2012 Begins with friends and family!!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples.                                                  1 Chronicles 16:8

I’m so grateful to have an opportunity to take a look back at the Best of Everything in 2012 thanks to Ann Voskamp at http://www.incourage.me/2012/12/the-best-of-everything-2012-and-a-giveaway.html

Her post inspired me to think about some specific “Thanks” I have for some specific “Bests” I experienced in 2012. And it's a good thing to take a look back before going forward. So here goes...

The best recipe you couldn’t not make again.

I have a lot of these, particularly baked goods that become tradition. So I guess that means I can’t not make them again. Baker’s Chocolate One-Bowl Brownies would top the list of bests, and enduring. I add milk, semisweet, and white chocolate chips for my signature touch. My best first for 2013 would be crock pot Chicken Marsala…or the Pecan Crusted Tilapia I made my husband for Father’s Day.

The best book you couldn’t put down?


I’m thankful for so many excellent books this year…One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is way up on top. I’ve given away several copies and plan on giving away many more. Another life changer for me was Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst, because I need help in this area! Also appreciated Renee Swope’s A Confident Heart and am enjoying Greater by Steven Furtick with the online study at www.MelissaTaylor.org. Lots more reads coming up…Holley Gerth’s You’re Already Amazing, Karen Ehman’s Let.It.Go. and Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson.

The best song that you just couldn’t get out of your head?

Sometimes I find a song startling in its beauty. This was the case with Dara Maclean’s Bethlehem Skies. Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryHsD4gaOwc

The jeans that fit best?

The ones that fit me 15 pounds ago. I had such victory, losing over 30 pounds, and feeling great…many jeans fit well, not painful! Determined to get back on track and take care of myself and the only body I have.

The tool/gizmo/idea that worked best?

Ya know…my Itty Bitty Book Light was a bright spot in the very dark nine days of the Hurricane Sandy blackout. It illuminated my path when I had to make my way from room to room in our pitch black home. And I even used it as a makeup mirror when we ventured out one evening (it is not lost on me that we experienced the minor inconvenience of no heat and electricity…so saddened by so much greater losses).

The risk that returned best?

Definitely starting my new website with Kimberly Amici www.CirclesOfFaith.org. There were many setbacks. People who dropped out of the project at the last moment. Technical and design difficulties that threatened to derail us. I’m so thankful we pushed through as the Lord led. And now we have a website that’s a growing community with wonderful contributors. I’m so excited for the year ahead…

The best link of 2012?  

What can I say? Our first post on Circles Of Faith http://www.circlesoffaith.org/welcome-to-circles-of-faith/

The best laugh?

The one on Christmas Eve…when everyone gathered laughed till we cried!

The best living?

For today…in the moment…appreciating every moment.

What was the best habit?


Walking four or five days a week with my husband.

The best holiday?

Christmas this year was fun, mostly peaceful, reasonable…and joy-filled. Just the right mix of quiet and celebration.

The best gift?


My family and friends and the time spent together.  Material...Very thoughtful gifts—homemade Neapolitan Three Color Coconut Slice Candy Bars, Bookmark Pens (so I don’t have to find a pen or my place in all my books and journals), and a refreezable plastic icicle to chill drinks without watering them down.

The best sacrifice?

I don’t feel very sacrificial this year. It’s been a very rich year. Any time given to someone that feels sacrificial at the time is ultimately not a sacrifice, but a gift.

Now it's your turn...What are your Bests of 2012?