3 Ways to Carry the Spirit of General Conference Throughout the Year + a FREE month of Deseret Bookshelf PLUS

This weekend is General Conference! Which to me is seriously one of the most wonderful times of the year!! I love the feeling I have throughout the weekend and how rejuvenating and motivating it is. I wish that feeling could last all year.

So I've been experimenting with different ways that I could MAKE that feeling last all year and I wanted to share my top THREE ways that you can keep that spirit of #LDSConf with you in the 6 months between each conference.

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1. Use Conference Talks for Family Home Evening

When my husband & are on an FHE kick (it doesn't happen all that often...) we like to read conference talks together and share our thoughts and feelings. We often read one and then can talk about it for 30+ minutes. The church published magazines (Ensign, New Era, & The Friend) all have great ideas each month for incorporating conference talks into your Family Home Evenings.

2. Use Deseret Bookshelf PLUS for Gospel Learning 

Have you heard about Deseret Book's new subscription offer? It's called Deseret Bookshelf PLUS. It's AMAZING! For just $9.99/month ($6.99/month for Platinum Members) can listen to unlimited audiobooks + access to over 1,500 eBooks.

There are so many books by our General Authorities that you will have available to you. There is something so powerful about hearing (and reading!) the words of those who are in tune with the spirit. Want to read...?

Broken Things to Mend by Jeffery R. Holland

Increase In Learning by David A. Bednar

No Ordinary Women by Elaine Dalton

The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright (THIS IS ON MY TO READ!)

These (and many more are INCLUDED in your Deseret Bookshelf Plus. I'm seriously obsessing over it you guys!! You can even try it for FREE for an entire month! Use it on your commute, while you're at work, before going to bed, while taking a bath, etc. We spend so much time staring at our phones, we may as well be reading/listening to something worthwhile!

I usually prefer to read, but some days I just want to snuggle up in bed and listen, and that's why I love that this app gives you both options!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE MONTH

3. Set General Conference Quotes as your Phone Background

As soon as the conference starts the LDS bloggers get their fingers ready and make BEAUTIFUL prints of the most prominent quotes. For the longest time I had the quote, "Many things are good, many are important, but only a few are essential." by Elder D. Todd Christofferson set as my wallpaper. Our lives are busy and it was a reminder that although there are lots of good and important things I COULD be doing with my time, only a few are really ESSENTIAL.

So choose a quote you love and put it on your phone (or wall!) so you can reminded of what you learned in General Conference.

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So now... tell me what YOU do to keep the spirit of General Conference alive throughout the year!

Thanks to Deseret Book for sponsoring this post, all opinions are my own.

march goals //

February's goals were about a 50/50 hit and miss. Which is fine. Because I'm proud of the progress I DID make. But now... we are into March. I had this great idea that I wanted to super simplify my goals, but of course I still filled up almost every single line in my Powersheets. Nobody can say I don't have big dreams I guess!

So here are my goals in all their glory!!

MONTHLY 

+ Create a Monat Marketing Plan : I LOVE working my Monat business. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. Which means I can work it all day long and I just don't want it to consume my life like that. I really want to sit down and make a monthly plan and then STICK TO IT. (see my daily goal!)

+ Reschedule Dentist Appt : My dentist's daughter went into labor during the appt to fix my cavities so... I need to reschedule. LOL

+ Temple Date w/ Colten

+ Send in Foster Care Application : IDK why all this foster care stuff has felt so overwhelming, but taking it chunk by chunk is helping)

+ Foster Care Doctor's Notes : We need our doctor's to sign off saying we are healthy enough to be foster parents.

+ Clear Out Phone Photos : I have Disneyland photos from March that I need to print/store and SOOOOO many other random screenshots I just need to go through

+ Finish 2 books : I'm about halfway through 2 different books! Find me on Goodreads

+ Complete 10 hair goals consultations for my Monat business! (email me at brooklynjolley@hotmail.com if you'd like one!)

+ Host an in-person Meet Monat event

WEEKLY

+ BBG Workout : The last 2 weeks got crazy and I've fallen out of my gym routine. I'm ready to get on track with one BBG workout a week! It might not be much but it's so much better than nothing!

+ Go Live in Monat group : I want to keep my Monat Facebook group active and fun and I think going live makes a big difference!

+ 1 HR on my Social Media job : I run the Facebook page for an accounting company and it's really something I just do in my free time but I NEED to committ at least an hour a week to it.

+ Blog : I've been so happy to be getting back into a bit of a blogging routine. I missed it!

DAILY

+ Follow Monat Marketing Plan : See above! I really need to simplify this aspect of my life

+ Scriptures : one hour or one verse. It doesn't matter

+ Duo Lingo : I'm really trying to stretch my brain and remember/learn Spanish! I love the app so far!

+ No Spend Lent : I'm trying a No Spend Lent and it's going to be SO HARD. But... I've been spending too much lately and I have bigger goals in mind so.... it's time to do a no spend challenge and Lent seemed like the perfect time

+ Pray! : I've got my prayer journal I am trying to work in/use daily but I need to get into the habit so this becomes routine

Do you have big (or little!) plans for March? Share them with me!

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Want to read more like this??

2017 GOALS 

January Goals

February Goals

Books Read in Jan 2017 //

I decided to set a goal to read 24 books in 2017 or 2/month. I'd love to commit to more than that, but honestly being in-between on foster care and such makes life complicated. Underpromise and overdeliver am I right?

I also got a Kindle for Christmas! I was so nervous because I definitely prefer to read actual books, but I knew I could save money and it would make it easier to haul around. So far I have LOVED it. I also love that I can "carry" my scriptures on it and it saves my spot. It's seriously been awesome.

So in January I kicked it off strong and consistent finishing 2 books! I started January reading a book about habits to kick off the year.


Better Than Before // Gretchen Rubin



4/5 Stars

This book is all about habit formation and continuation. Why do we choose habits, why they are hard to keep, how to make them easier and stick with them as well as some suggestions on habits we can make.

I think there were a couple of really good tips in here and one of my favorites is to make it easy to choose right. Plan your habits into routines you already have! Meet up with a friend. (But seriously, where are my friends who want to do yoga at? No one would go with me! LOL!) Plan ahead, wear the right clothes. Schedule the time in your planner.

I find this book really inspiring. I don't agree with everything in the book (mostly her low-carb diet push) but I do agree with most of it and it really encourages me to find ways to make my goals work for me!



Wild & Free // Jess Connolly & Hayley Morgan



5/5 Stars

This is one of those books that has been floating around the Christian blogosphere for awhile. It was one of the first books I downloaded on my Kindle and I read through it so fast. I love Jess & Hayley on social media and this book felt like we were all hanging out at a coffee shop chatting about life and God and Jesus and it was beautiful.

This book is all about chasing the call and the life that God has for you. It's for you who feel like you're too much for some people and not enough for others. It's a reminder that God has a place for you, and no one can take that place. We were born to be wild!

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I am so excited for the books I have up next! As I'm writing this it's mid-February and I've already finished one book, but I'll save that one for a blog post for next month. I'm really trying to finish 24 books this year or 2/month! January was a win!


The Amazon links are affiliate- this just means that I make a small portion off your purchase for recommending it. Thanks for supporting my Diet Coke fund, foster care purchases, and more Jesus tees, because honestly, who can ever have too many Jesus tees? 

January Goals

I wrote a post earlier this week about my 2017 goals. They are very broad, long-term goals and each month I plan to zero in on a few of them to really make them come to life! I use the Powersheets from Cultivate What Matters (which have been an amazing tool for me!) and they narrow it down to daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Here are my January goals.

DAILY 

+ Oil pulling

+ SIT time (This is my scripture study/meditation/journal time)

+ Yoga Practice

+ Post about Monat

+ Greens (Right now I'm using It Works Greens from Colleen!)

+ Probiotic (I'm currently taking a probiotic from GNC)

+ Skincare Routine 

WEEKLY

+ Blog

+ Read for 30 minutes straight (I try to read daily but I want to really enjoy 30 minutes of pure, undistracted reading

+ Date night

+ Meal Plan

+ Cook a new recipe

MONTHLY 

+ Create a weekly cleaning routine

+ Buy a vegan cookbook

+ Finish foster care licensure

+ January Monat posting plan to simplify business

+ Temple Date

+ Workout Schedule for January

+ 3 hour "Brooklyn Date"

I am SO excited to continue working on these goals. 2017 is going to be AMAZING!

2017 GOALS

I LOVE FRESH STARTS!! I love celebrating a brand new year every single January. I find so much energy and power in starting over, and while you can make every single day a fresh start, there is something so refreshing about January 1st. 

I've got some BIG dreams and goals for 2017. I spent December filling out my Powersheets from Cultivate What Matters. They really help me uncover what will make my year the most purposeful one yet.

Here are my 10 goals for 2017...

1 // Enjoy daily SIT time (scritpure study, journaling, meditation) for at least 5 minutes

2// Attend 100 yoga classes

3 // Create daily health habits (greens, probiotic, more vegan meals, cook new recipes, meditation, meal planning) 

4 // Finish foster care licensing and become a foster mom

 5 // Tend my marriage well

6 // Continue to work my Monat business & donate 50% of profits to Utah Foster Care

7 // Make home more holy through cleanliness

8 // Get ready head to toe each day (hair, makeup, outfit, shoes, stop biting nails) 

9 // Read 12+ books 

10 // Blog Weekly 

The goals are fluid. I may not work on every single one every single month but they are my long term goals, so I wanted them in writing. My January goals dial in on few of them, and I'll try to share them this week, , but I wanted to share my over-arching views of what 2017 will look like.

So tell me, what does your 2017 hold for you??

13 by 2017 - an end of the year goal

I'm a big believer in goal-setting. I've been slacking lately, life just got crazy and I felt like I was just barely getting by. Surviving, not really thriving, do you know how that feels? Anyway, I decided to set a fun goal to reach by 2017. One thing I've really missed has been reading! I've missed my long strolls through the library, anticipating my recent Amazon book coming to my door, and having so much to think and talk about because of what I'm reading. 

So I set a goal to read 13 books by 2017! I set this goal a few weeks ago when there were still 13 weeks left in the year! Now there's only 10 which is crazzzzy. 

This Fall weather has been perfect for cuddling up with a book and relaxing in the evening. Although it can be hard to pull my eyes away from Vampire Diaries long enough to read ;) 

You can see what books I read in September by going HERE. I'll do another update for October books read soon! Happy Fall guys!