Find Your Strongest Life

In the January-February issue, I reviewed Marcus Buckingham's Find Your Strongest Life. In the article I promised to share links to online resources to give you more information on the Strong Life concept.

Marcus Buckingham on YouTube.

Buckingham's site.

Take the Strong Life test at www.stronglifetest.com.

Index of all articles about Strong Life concept on Oprah.com.

Index of all articles about Buckingham on Oprah.com.

Year-End Gratitude

In the November-December, 2009, issue of Hometown, the article entitled "Gratitude Adjustment" described the process of keeping a gratitude journal. See page 11 of the current issue if you haven't read the article.

The concept is not new. Remember the hymn, "Count Your Blessings?" The language is a bit dated, but the message is perennial.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
[And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.] Alternate 4th line for refrain.

We invite you to share your gratitude list for 2009 by commenting on this blog.

Take a look at Ehow article on how to keep a gratitude journal.

Celebration of Freedom

In the July-August (2009) issue, I quoted several presidents in the "Celebration of Freedom" article. Well, Mark Twain wasn't a president, but he was a great commentator on American life. Below are the links to the Web sites where I found those quotes.

Mark Twain:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain386139.html

Dwight D. Eisenhower: http://www.quotegarden.com/freedom.html

John F. Kennedy: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/quotes/kennedy.htm

Thomas Jefferson: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/liberty.html

Patrick Henry: http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_freedom.html


Also mentioned in the article was the Web site of the national archives, where you can find the text of the Declaration of Independence. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

The quote sites all have search features where you can search for other "freedom" quotes.

Hometown Wedding Stories

In the May/June issue, which will hit the streets in the KenTenn area during the first week of May, the Senior Grapevine section includes an article on weddings. We invite you to share your wedding story with us by commenting briefly on this post. Or, if you know of someone who has an interesting wedding story, please e-mail us at hometownkytn(a)gmail.com.

PS---we listed our e-mail with (a) where the @ should be in order to frustrate spammers. Please change the (a) to @ when you e-mail us. Thanks.

Come Again? Hearing Loss Resources

In my article on hearing loss in the November-December Hometown, I promised to post some resources for people who are hearing-impaired and those who care about them.

General information on hearing loss and and older adults

Dealing with denial

Solutions

Other sensory disabilities

Information on miscellaneous ear problems

Please feel free to comment on this or any other post on this blog. We hope that it will help us build the Hometown community and keep you updated on your favorite stories in the magazine.

If you have questions, please e-mail me.

Emily Akin
Senior Grapevine Editor

Okay, I'm through with the whining. (See whining in my article "From Natural Gray to Irish Red" in the November/December 2008 issue of Hometown magazine at http://www.hometownkentenn.com/). The aging process is natural, I know, and I really think it is about living a positive Christian life no matter your age. I think it's also about learning or doing something new every day to keep you motivated and active. I love all the senior citizens in my life, maybe even more than I love the Irish! Seniors have so much gusto, life, history, and wisdom to share. Share your wisdom and your thoughts with Hometown readers by leaving a comment on the blog. You can start by answering the question "Should Nelda dye her hair Irish Red or stay natural gray?"

Nelda Rachels
Hometown contributor

Overflow Recipes from July/August Issue

The theme of July/August Hometown is food, a popular subject with everyone. Our recipe section is a favorite with our readers, so our food issue contains extra helpings of recipes.

Hattie Lou Brown of Union City, a native of South Fulton, submitted some of her grandmother's recipes. Here's one that we didn't have room for in the magazine.

Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg
2 1/4 cups plain flour
Pinch salt
3 teaspoons spices -choice as in cabinet, cloves, cinnamon , ginger

Mix and make small flat patty. Bake on well-greased cookie sheet about 10 minutes.
Extra good if added black walnuts or hickory nuts. Note: the recipe doesn't say how hot to set the oven, but most cookies are baked at 350 degrees.

If you have a family recipe to share, post it as a comment on the blog.

Digging for Your Roots, Genealogy Resources

In the May-June 2008 issue, space limitations prevented us from including the URLs for online genealogy research. We're providing all that information in this post for your convenience.

Genealogy Web Sites:

www.ancestry.com
www.rootsweb.com
http://www.cyndislist.com/


Genealogy Software:

Ratings and pricing on software is available here:
http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/


KenTenn Area Libraries:

C. E. Weldon (Martin): http://www.ceweldonlibrary.org/resources/genealogy.htm
Fulton, KY: http://www.fultonlibrary.com/gen2.htm
Obion County: http://www.oclibrary.org/genealogy.htm
Weakley County (Dresden): http://www.weakleycountytn.gov/library.html
UTM: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Paul Meek Library) West TN Heritage Center: http://www.utm.edu/departments/acadpro/library/wthsc/

Sources for Genealogy Forms:

Everton Publishers: www.everton.com
http://www.thefamilyhistorystore.com/index.php?cPath=130&osCsid=49944dcf71610df908473cecaa5577cd

Books:

Local genealogist Martha Clendenin recommends a book entitled Collecting Dead Relatives by Laverne Galeener-Moore, first published in 1987, now in its seventh printing. The book gives practical advice on genealogy with a refreshing dash of humor.

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Christmas Pageant Bloopers - Nov/Dec HOMETOWN

The Nov/Dec 2007 issue is on the streets. It's also online at http://www.hometownkentenn.com/ under Current Issue.

My article, "Christmas Pageant Bloopers" was fun to write, and we thought we'd let our readers in on the fun by encouraging you to post your own Christmas pageant bloopers as Comments to this post. Just lick on the Comments link at the bottom of the post, and you'll be taken to the page where you can enter your story. Keep it short, please.

All posts are reviewed by HOMETOWN staff before they go live on the blog, so please be patient.

While you're at it, subscribe to get updates on blog posts. Just type your e-mail in the white box. Click "get e-mail updates," and follow the directions. You'll get an e-mail every time there's new info on the blog. You can always unsubscribe if you decide you don't like it.

Emily Akin
Senior Grapevine Editor

Country Color Commentary, Join the Fun

In the process of writing the article on country sayin's for the September/October Hometown, I found that there are more colorful country sayings than I can shake a stick at, much less publish in Hometown. Some of you might be tempted to give me down in the country for getting some of them wrong or for leaving out your favorites. If you have a different interpretation of any of the country sayin's I mentioned, please let us know by commenting on this post. If we left out your favorite, please post it in your comment.

My favorite country saying: "Slow as molasses in January." Now that's slow!

We invite you to subscribe to Hometown's blog and join in the hometown conversation.

Check out the new Web site at http://www.hometownkentenn.com/.

Emily Akin
Senior Grapevine Editor

Update on July/August Story on Mary Vowell

Mary participated in the national Senior Olympics this summer after the story about her appeared in the July/August issue of Hometown. She entered six swimming events and got ribbons in each one!

This is in the 80--84 age group, as follows:

5th, 50 Yard Breaststroke, 1:15.35;
6th, 100 Yard Breaststroke, 2:55.48
4th, 200 Yard Breaststroke, 6:20.38
8th, 50 Yard Freestyle, 1:01.16
7th, 100 Yard Freestyle, 2:24.44
6th, 100 Yard Individual Medley, 3:17.00

Congratulations, Mary. We stand in awe of you!

Readers, please feel free to comment on posts.

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