January's Desktop Calendar, Our Christmas, and a New Year!

{Email subscribers: I’m sorry you’re receiving this so late! My RSS feed has had a problem which prevented the email subscription from sending. I’ve tried to fix it each day, with no success. I think I did it today, in which case it will land in subscriber inboxes on Wednesday, January 10.}

December’s desktop calendar contained a photo of an apple orchard because, as I said, Georgia isn’t a winter wonderland. We had snow within the week!

It is currently 31° and sunny. While Georgia may not see much snow, we’re definitely seeing cold temperatures so far this winter.

Camp Christmas 2017

Our family celebrated Christmas very simply in 2017, and it helped me get over the usual feeling of stress and that I fail at Christmas. When we tell our kids that the budget is low and not to expect many gifts, they always surprise us by declaring it the best Christmas ever.

I think we remember the traditions more than the gifts themselves, so that’s what we focused on: new pajamas and family movies to open on Christmas Eve; our traditional stocking stuffers; a family-favorite board game, Ravensburger’s Labyrinth, for every home. (With half of our kids grown and gone, there are five Camp households from our original bunch!)

(Labyrinth is included in my Amazon page, which I hope will continue to give you gift ideas! You can always find it at amazon.com/shop/dawncamp or by clicking the Amazon Page link under my photo in my right blog sidebar.)

Anticipated Events in the New Year

In March we welcome our second grandchild and our first granddaughter to the family—I can hardly wait!

On March 6 my fourth book releases: With Love, Mom: Stories that Celebrate the Remarkable Bond Between Mothers and Daughters. Y’all, this one’s a beauty! I’m going to take a moment to brag, not about myself but about the amazing ladies who contributed to it, including Rachel Macy Stafford, Holley Gerth, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Wynter Pitts, Rachel Anne Ridge, and many, many more.

These stories are so beautiful—really, these ladies outdid themselves! The cover photo features one of my dearest friends and her daughter, and the interior contains photos of the mothers and daughters in each story. It is simply AMAZING!

This book makes the perfect gift for any mother of any age and releases in time for Mother’s Day (and hopefully birthedays and other special occasions on your gift list). Pre-order now and you won’t be billed until the book ships. If the price drops before then, that’s the price you’ll pay.

Word of the Year

My 2017 Word of the year was Family. This year I’ve chosen Serve (or rather, it’s chosen me).

Do you pick a theme word each year? If so, what one word have you selected for 2018?

My Young Living Essential Oil Business

The Lord has really laid it on my heart to develop my Young Living essential oils business this year (read about it and our family’s journey here). It goes hand-in-hand with my one word: Serve. I am studying and preparing to better serve the families who have joined under me in the past and to welcome new families on the journey to a healthier, more chemical-free lifestyle.

That’s as good a goal as you’re going to get for 2018!

This week I’ve recorded a series of videos to teach Essential Oils 101 classes online and I’m starting to teach live classes here in Georgia too. Please comment or message me if you’re interested in either!

If you’re ready to jump right in, click this link and sign up within 10 minutes. It’s that easy.

What are essential oils? Listen to a 101 audio class here.

My Facebook Page

Follow my Facebook page for more information about our family and also giveaways, like the ones I’ve run recently for tickets to the Fox Theatre for the Russian Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty and a 3-DVD giveaway in conjunction with the new movie The Man Who Invented Christmas.