Happy New Year! Here’s a post of some “Best of” lists I created looking back on 2016….here’s to YOUR BEST year yet! 🙂 Maria Dismondy
Best of Personal:
- Making being outdoors a priority all year long because of how much JOY it brings me!
- Incorporating more READING for pleasure!
- Recovering from three surgeries in one year and being back to good health.
- Co-Hosting a Children’s Film Festival at the DIA this summer.
- Bringing a Parent/Teacher and Parent/Child book study to my daughter’s school.
Best of Family Moments:
- My sister getting married over the summer!
- Face timing on a regular basis with my parents from their winter home in Florida.
- My mom moving two miles away from us 🙂
- Family Meetings every Saturday–we now have a family mission statement and slogan!
- Our family winning the award of “Best Dressed” at the school dance!
Best of Couple:
- Our night out at a recent wedding with a twelve person band. We danced the night away!
- Learning to drive the speed boat to take Dave skiing before work.
- Our 10th Anniversary Cruise to the Bahamas, just Dave and I!
- Outdoor concert over the summer to see the Dave Matthews Band.
- When our relatives told us we make an excellent team after we hosted a delicious Thanksgiving. We really do!!!
Best of Business:
- This year I started working with a new distributor, IPG. It has made a WORLD of difference with my work!
- I welcomed several new members to my team this year after launching a new website for Cardinal Rule Press. Add them all up and there are 10 freelance women working on CRP’s projects.
- Chocolate Milk, Por Favor has a signed contract to become a children’s musical in the fall of 2017 with the touring company, Stars Within Reach.
- The private Facebook Group I started called Empowering Kids with Character has grown to over 500 members!  This is a space for parents and teachers to collaborate and discuss important topics on supporting children on their journey through life and providing them with important skills and tools to tackle tricky situations with positive character. My business is a proud to sponsor Multicultural Children’s Book Day which will fall on January 27th, 2016. I love the awareness this initiative is bringing to the world of children’s literature.
- There were a few excellent features for my books this year. Real Simple in the March 2016 issue and NPR.
Best of Books:
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
- The Beach House by Jane Green
- The Light Between the Oceans by M.L. Stedman
- The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
- UnSelfie by Michele Borba
Best of Podcasts:
- The Boss Mom Podcast
- Inspired To Action by Kat Lee
- Joyful Courage Parenting Podcast
- Mompreneur on Fire with Ashleigh Blatt
- On Being with Krista Tippett
Best of Movies:
- Trolls
- Boyhood
- Miss You Already
- You’re Not You
- Joy