Most Popular Books by Michelle Lynn

Twelve families in need, two friends with a heart to serve, and a love struggling to surface. Colette Hillard and Elliott Ashcroft have been friends for over three years - and each is harboring a secret fondness for the other. Elliot hasn't dated anyone for two years - but that isn't enough evidence to convince Colette he has feelings for her. She hangs back and waits, hopes, and prays for something to happen. It's been three years since Colette's husband died serving his country, and despite her inviting smiles, Elliot refuses to ask her out. He hesitates, wondering if, and when, there will ever be a chance at a new beginning for either of them. Then Colette leads a new Christmas program at their church to bless needy families in the community with dinner and gifts. Individuals will pair up and visit the twelve homes on their list - each visit representing a different story. Before he can second guess himself, Elliot asks Colette to be his partner. As Elliot and Colette discover a wealth of emotions along their twelve visits, will love be among them?

How do we, as parents, help our children grieve? Find help in Listen with Your Heart. This unique book includes suggestions on how to personalize the book for you and your child, along with activities to help your child process the grief. Read about Brendan, a young boy who misses his grandma and wants to say hi to her in heaven.

California "Callie" McCoy feels most alive when her feet are planted firmly on her surfboard on a big swell. And one day, she dreams of riding that wave out of her small town. Away from everyone. Her plan is simple: graduate high school. With Callie's best friend gone away to college, she plans on spending her senior year skating by. She isn't looking for friends, and especially not for love - all she needs are her waves and her twin brother. Even if he comes with an annoying best friend, Jamie Daniels, who she can't stand. Jamie is a care-free, easy-going surfer who has everything. On the surface, his life appears perfect, but reality is far from it. He has his share of secrets, including one that burns deeper than any other. It's a good thing Callie hates him because if she didn't, Jamie knows there's no way he'd be able to stay away. And then, one night, everything changes. And nothing will ever be the same.

When you walk the stage during your college graduation, you are handed your diploma. Although it's just a piece of paper signifying the completion of your degree, to many, it feels more like a ticket into what society deems acceptable in order for you to step foot out into the real world. With this ticket into adulthood comes the pressure to have it all together. The reality is, the postgrad transition causes many young adults to silently struggle with anxiety, postgrad depression, and the need to "be on time" for all of the adulthood milestones. Within this book, author Michelle Lynn Johnson highlights her own experience of dealing with anxiety and the grief of detaching from the identity of being a student. Shift your Standards is filled to the brim with resources to help guide college graduates through this difficult transition. Not only does the book include an inspiring written section, it also includes an entire workbook for readers to begin to implement all that they learn. Michelle's goal as an author was to not only provide helpful advice, but provide clear-cut action steps for readers to take to jumpstart them on this new journey of self-growth.

Through a meditative and physically demanding creative process, transcendental questions are asked: Can fun be recreated? And can simulated experiences be genuine? Lived moments are documented in journals, through poems, watercolor paintings, and drawings, and then executed through the physical construction of text-based objects and performances. The natural environment is compared to interpersonal relationships, and the bridge becomes a metaphor for the body, a wave, or a rainbow. By fragmenting my internal space into an external and public statement, my practice investigates whether the grand gesture is inevitably a futile gesture.

The damage caused by soil liquefaction during recent earthquakes has highlighted the social and economic need for liquefaction countermeasures. One method of liquefaction mitigation is the installation of a grid of vertical driven timber piles, which aim to control liquefaction by restraining cyclic shear strain. Timber piles applied as a liquefaction countermeasure have previously been designed through the use of empirical equations. These methods are based on the assumption that the soil and pile have equal strain during dynamic loading, essentially that the pile deforms purely in shear and there is no slip or gapping at the soil-pile interface. Empirical design methods also assume that the pile does not structurally fail during dynamic loading, and in-situ soil compaction occurring due to the pile driving process is ignored. This research aims to assess if existing empirical design methods accurately predict timber pile effectiveness as a liquefaction countermeasure. The research objectives are addressed through numerical modelling employing the three dimensional finite element program OpenSees. Numerical modelling is conducted to verify the OpenSees output accuracy, followed by an assessment of the effect that the grid of timber piles has on excess pore water pressure generation. Each of the assumptions employed by existing empirical design methods is examined in detail. Comparison is also made between empirically and numerically estimated excess pore water pressures for three New Zealand design examples. Results indicate that the grid of timber piles alone provides very little restraint to excess pore water pressure generation. Significant magnitudes of soil-pile interface slip and gapping are recorded, indicating that the equal strain assumption may be inappropriate. The assumption that the pile does not structurally fail during dynamic loading does appear to be appropriate for the ground conditions and earthquake excitations investigated. Incorporating in-situ soil compaction due to pile driving significantly increases the pile effectiveness as a liquefaction countermeasure. Overall, existing empirical design methods may significantly overestimate timber pile effectiveness as a liquefaction countermeasure. Future research could identify scenarios where timber pile effectiveness as a liquefaction countermeasure may be improved, and could investigate alternative pile materials and the application of inclined piles.

Temperament in cattle is often defined as the reactivity to human handling or novel environments. Temperament differences have been shown among breed-type categories, within breed types, among crossbreds, and between sexes. Temperament tests are typically completed at weaning time on beef cattle, and rarely on fed Holstein steers for beef production. Balking behavior, or cease in forward motion, in the cattle working facility can pose welfare issues as the electric prod use to coerce movement is implemented. Three observational field projects were designed to evaluate balking behavior incidence in unknown breed-types at the processing plant, Holstein steers in the feedlot and processing plant, and Angus and Hereford-Angus crossbred steers over their lifetime. Objectives of the processing plant study were to determine if cattle of certain coat colors or characteristic markings, or sex, had an effect on balking behavior, and if balking behavior had carcass implications. In 6,510 observations at a slaughter plant, Holstein steers balked more (P

This qualitative site study examined the effects, if any, of a 2008-2009 school year induction program to support new teachers in County X, that was located in an exurban setting that served 2,500 students in grades PreK-12, and employed 165 certified teaching professionals. The study explored the psychological, organizational, and structural dimensions of the county’s induction program. The psychological dimension examined whether the interactions of new teachers and mentors affected their attitudes and behaviors,while the organizational dimension inspected the parameters and framework used to shape the induction program. Specifically, the organizational dimension examined the atmosphere within each individual school that was shaped by the culture created by the administration and/or the faculty. Finally, the structural dimension examined how the induction program manifested itself over the course of the implementation year. Interviews, surveys, and field notes were used to gather the data, with subsequent triangulation, sorting, and coding into appropriate categories and subcategories. The new teacher participants and their mentors evaluated their individual and joint experiences during induction, and also reported whether their inputs were taken into consideration when framing the induction program. Data gathered revealed both the psychological and professional benefits of an induction program, specific barriers to an induction program, and recommended changes to enhance the induction program for the subsequent school year. Seven significant findings were presented to enhance and/or improve the induction program: allocating time to discuss school-related items, the importance of the principal, navigating the various phases of teaching with the mentor’s support, listening to the needs and concerns of new teachers, allowing room for professional growth, taking advantage of team building opportunities, and the nature and value of alternate teacher certification. As a result of the findings, several recommendations were offered to improve the county’s induction program for the following year. Ultimately, the recommendations could be incorporated into any induction program in any school system.

Three couples with interconnecting lives. Three stories of love winning out over doubt. When perfection became flawed... Michaela Mathews and Jason Marks come from different backgrounds. Will her family ever approve of the broken bartender? Can he overcome all the hurt she's faced in her life? When friendship became an excuse... Maggie Marks and Elijah Lugo have been best friends since they were kids. They take care of each other. But what if that isn't enough anymore? Their friendship is a lie; a ruse to keep them both from being hurt. But maybe the bliss is worth every moment of pain. When pain became all they knew... Josh Walker knows one thing: hockey. Until his coach's daughter walks into his life, blaming the sport he loves for killing the boy she loved. Taylor Scott wants nothing to do with her father's professional hockey team, but what if the one person with the power to heal her, also had the ability to crush her all over again? Book 1: Choices When perfection became flawed... Michaela Matthews--future wife of Connecticut's most eligible bachelor--lived the perfect life. An upcoming socialite, all she had to do was embrace the good fortune handed to her. But nothing was ever that simple. When she envisioned what her life would entail, she freaked and fled to her brother's apartment in the city. Straight into the arms of his best friend, Jason Marks. Jason--a hardworking, bar owner--scraped together a life anyone would be proud of. Anyone, but Michaela's family. Theirs was a match made in desperation. Kindling, just waiting to be set aflame. When the reality of their separate worlds neared, would it be enough to light the blaze? Book 2: Promises When friendship became an excuse... Maggie Marks--a resilient woman with a painful past--only wanted one thing in life. A family. Instead, she got an abusive father and a drunk husband. Through it all, she had her best friend. Elijah was the one person who made her feel safe. And she couldn't lose him. After the dramatic ending to her marriage, Elijah followed her to New York City, keeping his promise to always be there for her. But what if that wasn't enough anymore? Elijah Lugo--dedicated friend and hardworking carpenter--lived his life by his word. He never broke a promise to Maggie, even when it hurt to stand by her side as she married another man. He'd always known how he felt. As a kid, he'd kissed her and promised never to do it again. He didn't know how those words would shape their relationship. If he broke that promise now, would Maggie ever forgive him? Book 3: Dreams When pain became all they knew... Taylor Scott--grieving girlfriend of the boy killed by the sport she loved--couldn't let herself move on. A year after the worst day of her life, she found herself in a new town. Her grief took everything from her, and she wasn't sure she wanted it back. Until she met Josh: the mysterious boy with the kind eyes who befriended her for a reason she didn't know. When she realized it was finally time to let go, he was there to help find the pieces of herself she'd lost. But she had one rule. No hockey. She couldn't face the sport she blamed for her pain. What if the one person with the power to heal her, also had the ability to crush her all over again? Josh Walker--young winger in the National Hockey League--just wanted to focus on his game. No distractions. No relationships. Certainly not with girls whose dad answered to Coach in his team's locker room.