Why my interest in the PMP Certification?

My company sent me to a Principles of Project Management training and since then I decided to prepare the PMP certification. 

Study Materials

I am currently preparing the PMP certification exam using the following materials:

• Books
  • PMBOK, 4th edition. The reference, it is hard to read and to understand, this is why I am using two other  books with concrete examples and a lot of exercises 
  • Head First PMP, O'Reillys editions. Very graphical
  • PMP Exam Prep. by Rita Mulcahy, 3rd edition. Other than covering the PMBOK, it explains in more detail how to apply these concepts in a project 
• Ipod podcasts
  
  • Project Management PrepCast, Cornelius Fichtner's project management podcasts. Excellent approach, I am listening to these podcasts everywhere, in my way to work, walking on the lakes, going to the supermarket, etc
• Internet
  • blogs, forums and web sites dedicated to PMP Certifications and Project Management in general
• Online Exams 
  
  •  I am starting taking PMP online exam simulations. Whenever I find a question I can not answer, I work on the chapter with books, podcasts and internet web sites

How to apply the PMBOK Guide in my daily work?

One of my main questions reading the PMBOK has been how to effectively translate project management theory into actual practice. How to effectively apply this standard to my current projects.