Monday, May 17, 2010

Wanna Be in the Next Miller & Mueller Book?

LOVE
Girlfriends! It looks like there is a good chance that Cheri Mueller and I will be writing another book about friendship together. The working title is The Five Women You Can't Live Without. It's based on our Friendship Quiz and the material from our retreats, seminars, and conferences. We're currently writing sample chapters for our agent and a couple select publishers.

We'd love it if you'd pray for God's wisdom and guidance and blessing on this project. Also, we'd be honored if some of you would like to contribute to the book. How can you contribute?

Please take the attached Friendship Quiz, then complete the following:

I could not live with out my ____________ (fill in the blank with one of the following: Social Butterfly, Therapist, Giver, Soul Sister or Playmate) friend. And here's why . . .

If you decide to join us in this writing adventure please e-mail your contribution, pasted in the body of an e-mail, to sallymiller@ameritech.net. Or, feel free to post your entry here. Please include your full name (if you want us to use it, or let us know that you'd like to remain anonymous and we'll make up a name for you), your mailing address and, just for fun, let us know what your Friendship Style is, based on our quiz.

We can't promise you royalties (Lord knows we rarely get these ourselves). But, if the book gets picked up and we use your entry in the final draft, we'll send you a complimentary copy.

Thanks again for your prayers and support. We'll keep you posted; and we can't wait to hear from you!

Waiting on Word,

The Word Girls (Sally Miller & Cheri Mueller)

The Five Friends Quiz
Circle one answer for each question (or two, if you can’t make up your mind). Go with your gut (or imagine what your friends might answer for you)! Don’t over-think. You’ll find instructions for compiling your results at the end of the quiz.

1) Do you tend to be more:
a) spiritual and organic
b) hilarious and thrill seeking
c) loyal and open-hearted
d) inviting and commemorative
e) wise and perceptive

2) A television show you’d most likely watch:
a) Saving Grace
b) The Comedy Channel
c) A Hallmark made-for-TV movie
d) Giada at Home (on the Food Network)
e) Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab

3) At a party, do you....
a) remind the hostess to ‘just breathe’
b) show up in costume
c) help remove a red wine stain from a friend’s white blouce
d) critique the wine/food pairing
e) secretly diagnose everyone’s issues (including your own)

4) Which famous person is most like you?
a) Maya Angelou
b) Ellen
c) Jennifer Aniston
d) Martha Stewart
e) Oprah

5) What might you be overheard saying?
a) “Everything happens for a reason.”
b) “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
c) “You go, Girl!”
d) “Can I borrow your bundt pan?”
e) “Now, the tornado in your dream means . . .”

6) What vacation would you most enjoy?
a) taking respite at a mind/body/spirit spa
b) joining the circus for ten days
c) going to Africa and volunteering at an AIDS clinic
d) inviting your friends to join you for a weekend at a cozy B & B
e) attending a Dream Workshop

7) What your friends might say about you:
a) “Even when everybody is freaking out; she always seems so centered.”
b) “She makes me laugh so hard I pee my pants.”
c) “When I’m bummed out, she brings Ben & Jerry’s and Kleenex (for both
of us).”
d) “She feels like family.”
e) “She knows me better than I know myself.”

8) If you were a best seller, what would your title be?
a) Keeping Faith by Jodi Piccoult
b) Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy
c) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
d) Real Life Entertaining: Easy Recipes and Unconventional Wisdom by
Jennifer Rubell
e) Woman Power: Transform You Man, Your Marriage, Your Life by
Dr. Laura Schlessinger

9) How you might spend a Saturday afternoon:
a) meditating, doing yoga, or hugging a tree
b) taking a belly dancing class just for kicks
c) volunteering at a homeless shelter
d) reorganizing the living room in perfect Feng Shui
e) writing in your gratitude journal

10) The song title that describes your best quality:
a) Soul by Seal
b) Carnival Ride by Carrie Underwood
c) Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
d) Home by Daughtry
e) Intuition by Jamie Fox

Finding Friendship Style:
Tally your number of a, b, c, d and e answers in the spaces provided here. Your Friendship Style is based on your two highest scores. Read both descriptions on the Rap Sheet below; you're a combo of the two different types.

a______ b______ c______ d_______ e_______


Five Friendship Styles
A Rap Sheet

(a) The Soul Sister: the one who sees magic in every day life.
You’re spiritually sensitive and in tune with the numinous. Because you live a deeply centered life - rooted in a divine dimension - you encourage your friends to be enlarged on their own faith journeys. You’re always honest and transparent about your life; so women come to you for guidance and words that buoy or shed a lasting perspective on temporary issues. At times you may get sick-and-tired of always being the anchor in your circle of friends. It’s worth it, though, 'cause they don’t know what they’d do without your spirit of strength.

(b) The Playmate: the friend whose entrance makes you feel like the party has just begun.
You have a knack for finding humor in the ordinary. Friends call you when they need a good laugh. You spark up any gathering with your witty comments and prankster personality. Because you can be tender at heart, it may be hard for you to trust others with your deepest feelings. Your sense of adventure inspires people to do things they might not otherwise do. The way you help others play is invaluable. You get it – on a soulful level – that laughter is the best medicine.

(c) The Giver: a woman who wears her heart on her sleeve even though it’s the size of Texas.
You’re a compassionate and generous friend. Others feel comfortable coming to you when they need a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on. Patience and understanding come easily to you. Friends might accuse you of being overly sentimental (even sappy). If you don’t take care of yourself, you might often become depleted from giving so freely of your time and resources. You have an uncanny knack for figuring out hit-the-spot ways to nurture those in need.

(d) The Social Butterfly: the one who finds any excuse to pop a cork (whether it’s a job promotion or Revlon’s release of a new lipstick).
You are creative, fun, and often the planner of parties. You always keep tabs on the goings on in the lives of women closest to you. Everybody feels at home when they’re around you. You know how to celebrate your friends, and enjoy marking meaningful moments like births, deaths, new love interests, job promotions, etc. It can be easy for you to get stuck in high gear, though, unable to find solitude for yourself. Friends appreciate your creativity, and often look to you to coordinate the next meaningful get-together, group vacation or party.

(e) The Therapist: the girlfriend who saves you thousand of dollars in therapy bills.
You’re a wise and perceptive friend, obsessed with finding meaning in life. You have valuable insights that others might miss on their own. People crave your perspective on life and love, and often come to you for advice. Friends may need to remind you of your tendency to over-analyze. Journaling, reading and reflecting help strengthen your abilities of insight and perception. Your friends benefit because you often know them better than they know themselves.


We hope you had a blast taking the quiz; and that you shared it with a friend or two. Thanks again! We'll look forward to hearing from you.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

ANNA! Our New CCI Puppy!


This is Anna, our adorable docile Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) Lump of Love. We're raising this pup for the next year in the hope that she'll qualify to be a working dog for someone with a disability.

Canine Companions for Independence® provides highly-trained assistance dogs for children and adults with disabilities, free of charge. They - and I - believe that the most advanced technology capable of transforming the lives of people with disabilities has a cold nose and a warm heart!

Already, Anna has enriched our lives, challenged us, grown our spirits and home. I'll be journaling our shared journey with her at http://www.raisinglove.blogspot.com/. and I'd love it if you visit us there for frequent updates on Anna's progress and impact on our lives. For now, if you'd like to learn more about CCI, feel free to leave a question for me here or to check out their website at http://www.cci.org/.

And, if you're in the area and in the need of a puppy kiss . . . come on over!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Happy New Year

LOVE
I'm normally not a big fan of chain e-mails. However, this morning, in my yoga class the instructor read the following mass e-mail titled 2010 Handbook. So much of it resonated with me that I decided to share (part of) it here. Let me know if you like it. Happy New Year!

2010 Handbook

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Make time to pray.

5. Play more games.

6. Read more books than you did in 2009 .

7. Sleep for 7 hours.

8. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

9. Try to make at least three people laugh each day.

10. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.