Before writing this post, I looked back at some of my past year's goals...yeah...I feel like writing a big fat TRY AGAIN over them or just copy and pasting them here!! But that's boring and doesn't make for an exciting post...so....how about I just write some of the new ones here? If you feel like it you can take a look at the older ones here. Before I spit out a big to do list for 2018, I'd like to highlight what went well in 2017.
I cleaned and purged in the alcove! That means I emptied the huge bin of mostly kid papers and projects that I moved to our new house 2 years ago!! This felt sooooo soooo soooo good, even if it took me forever to do it. School papers are better organized now and have a real home. I'll be ironing on that latest "You're a grown-up!" badge real soon.
Dave helped me in a big way to get a garden cage up. I really hope this year to get some things started in the house. Overall, the garden is set up and ready for the next year. Big win for someone who 'has to' grow stuff!
We camped quite a few times w/family and friends - this was so good for my soul - I really hope we can plan out more of this in 2018. I like the long trips too, but sometimes a girl just needs to see her besties and hearing the kids make mischief w/their cousins is definitely priceless.
I've been able to get to bible study w/some women from church on a semi-regular basis. Still working on relationships and my own personal faith journey, but meeting w/people IRL is a good thing.
Guys - I've been cooking!!! COOKING!!!!! Now don't go thinking I mean that fancy pants restaurant kind of stuff, I'm talking casseroles, quiches and Mexican dishes, but being that we are at the Y at least twice a week for a number of hours, I've pushed myself to make real food for my family. I even tried a new thing today! I'm getting to be a master of all things 9 x 13...another 'grown-up achievement level' unlocked! Where's my bouncing star and tinkly electronic theme song?
I've been decorating the house...there are pictures on the wall...still no decorating theme or coordinating put together rooms but I'm trying! I am even thinking of hiring a professional for some advice. I'm ready for grown-up furniture (bought one piece already) and an actual 'style'. Other than "I'm too lazy to do this, I have no interest, and no eye for what looks good", that is.
Alright! Now for some new stuff! First of all, the kids are doing well. It's been 2 years since we added to the family and we've reached a loose routine and sense of peace in the house. I know I can step up my game as a momma and some of my goals are related to that. I'll begin meeting Moses at the library after school to work on his online Spanish class next semester. I need to carve out at least 10 minutes a week w/each kid. That sounds easy, but Lord help me, my scrambled brain can never remember to slow down and focus. I steal moments here and there but so much of our lives happen in a group...it just needs to be a priority for me to make that connection w/each one on purpose. Another thing I'd like to do more of is hosting people in our home for meals, Bible study or 'play dates' for the kids. Hang outs? Are they too old to say play dates? Maybe! We are always willing to have people over but I feel like I need to make everything BETTER for that to happen. "Maybe when we get better furniture....maybe when we re-paint in here....maybe when it's not so muddy outside..." This year I commit to trying to host someone(s) once a month! We already hosted a family in the month of Jan, I think...which means I need to get working on a Feb date! I feel like that one is not a super new goal, but oh well. Here's another one - get active more. I think this one will be a little bit easier this year, for various reasons. Back in the day, I used to run. I miss it and wonder if my 40yo self can muster up the strength and energy to get back to where I left off? I once set the goal for a sub 30min 5K and came really close! I think I technically achieved it but didn't count it for some reason. I'll have to look that up. Anyway - living on a country road, I still need to decide if I want to run along the shoulder out there or just drive the 3 mi to town to run on sidewalks. That seems ridiculous but there is pretty much no shoulder on our road, just a big ditch! Road running sounds better right now, but we'll see when I actually do it. Finally, a big goal I have never written down but always wanted to do - design a photo book for each year since I met Dave. I'm talking about setting it up online and having it printed. I can't stand the thought of sitting in front of a screen editing a year's worth of photos but I know my kids love the photo books Nana has made!! It would be totally worth it, even if there were only 100 photos in the book. (Dude, I take THOUSANDS of photos each year, granted, not all of them are keepers, but narrowing it down to 100 for each year would be tough!!) Lots to do in 2018!!! Can't wait to get started on all the good stuff!!
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Crush vs. mush
My goals for 2016 were totally random. In the past, I have made goals based on 3 categories - Spiritual, Personal and Physical. Last year we added to our family in January and I just couldn't. The chaos around me caused me to flake out on a lot of stuff. I knew I needed to make goals. I didn't think I would meet any of them, but for me, if I don't have anything to shoot for, I'm lost. One year later and I'm still in a bit of a fog. However, when I looked back at last year's goals for myself, I felt a little lift! I actually did meet some! I hope to make 2017 goals soon, but for now, I'm content to review the old ones.
-Compost pile - I have my hot hubby to thank for this!! He was willing to use some pallets and build a 2 sided bin so I could turn it over. It's pretty full from leaves right now but that usually drops down a lot in winter. Our trash can thanks us - all the food waste goes out there now. I'm guessing the creatures in the woods thank us too!
-Get rid of some baby/toddler clothes. This might be 50/50 but I'm calling it a win b/c nothing new came in. That counts, right?!
-Date nights - SUPER SUCCESSFUL! We have such a nice babysitter and we have been going very regularly. THANK YOU JESUS! It is such a blessing to have even just 2 hours to talk to DW w/o little people or the mess of the house around us.
-Trails in the woods are not made by just me, but I helped. We have a bridge system to the 1st ridge and now that it's winter we have been hiking a lot, all the way back, even over the frozen parts. We have better ideas where the lot line in and there's talk of a going w/the neighbor to map out the easement. Fun stuff - can't wait to do more!
-The house has more decoration than before, slightly random, but it's there!
-Go through bin of school papers. Well, I sort of want to count this one halfway. I kept up w/the current papers so as not to create an even bigger back log. But the bin is still in the exact same spot. Never opened, not once. This goal will go back on the 2017 list b/c I MUST get that bin out of here!!
-Covered feeding station and dust bath area for chickens. Chickens made their own dust bath area. I'd love to shore that up or make a better one. I also want to add to this one - a better water station.
-Hang up a Pippa the chicken picture on the coop.
-I had a garden, but it didn't do well. We were gone (A LOT) and deer and other woodland creatures had fun in the big part. The little part was close to the house and we ate beans, cilantro and kale from it. In the future I would love to have a bigger area fenced in...ah, don't get me started. I could garden dream for days!
-Camping w/family/friends. Sad. Didn't happen. We did tons of camping, just not w/anyone. Ok, I stand corrected. Once. And it was too short! So much fun but way too short!
-Bible study in person - I tried. I cannot keep a regular schedule these days!! And you would think day time is better, but it's not. I'll keep trying but I may go back to the online version w/strangers. I'm not going to make new friends in town that way, but which is more important? Bible study or friends? Don't answer that, I think it's too messy.
-Food prep is happening little by little. No major progress, but holding the line.
-Decent family photos did not happen. Too much advance planning. That and I was busy living life, photo taking was not always first on my mind unless we were on trips.
I tend to be hard on myself so this time I'm going to celebrate the little things that went well =) I'm looking into a new short term goal system for 2017. My next goal is to implement a new set of goals...it sounds funny, but that's how I operate! We'll see if trying something new helps kick start this year!
Goals I crushed in 2016
-Getting Bert and Ernie into counseling - BEST BEST BEST thing EVER!!! If I failed all the other goals, this was the one to fight for tooth and nail.-Compost pile - I have my hot hubby to thank for this!! He was willing to use some pallets and build a 2 sided bin so I could turn it over. It's pretty full from leaves right now but that usually drops down a lot in winter. Our trash can thanks us - all the food waste goes out there now. I'm guessing the creatures in the woods thank us too!
-Get rid of some baby/toddler clothes. This might be 50/50 but I'm calling it a win b/c nothing new came in. That counts, right?!
-Date nights - SUPER SUCCESSFUL! We have such a nice babysitter and we have been going very regularly. THANK YOU JESUS! It is such a blessing to have even just 2 hours to talk to DW w/o little people or the mess of the house around us.
-Trails in the woods are not made by just me, but I helped. We have a bridge system to the 1st ridge and now that it's winter we have been hiking a lot, all the way back, even over the frozen parts. We have better ideas where the lot line in and there's talk of a going w/the neighbor to map out the easement. Fun stuff - can't wait to do more!
-The house has more decoration than before, slightly random, but it's there!
Goals that went to mush in 2016
-Working out, even once a week, just didn't happen, save for maybe 2 days. Literally.-Go through bin of school papers. Well, I sort of want to count this one halfway. I kept up w/the current papers so as not to create an even bigger back log. But the bin is still in the exact same spot. Never opened, not once. This goal will go back on the 2017 list b/c I MUST get that bin out of here!!
-Covered feeding station and dust bath area for chickens. Chickens made their own dust bath area. I'd love to shore that up or make a better one. I also want to add to this one - a better water station.
-Hang up a Pippa the chicken picture on the coop.
-I had a garden, but it didn't do well. We were gone (A LOT) and deer and other woodland creatures had fun in the big part. The little part was close to the house and we ate beans, cilantro and kale from it. In the future I would love to have a bigger area fenced in...ah, don't get me started. I could garden dream for days!
-Camping w/family/friends. Sad. Didn't happen. We did tons of camping, just not w/anyone. Ok, I stand corrected. Once. And it was too short! So much fun but way too short!
-Bible study in person - I tried. I cannot keep a regular schedule these days!! And you would think day time is better, but it's not. I'll keep trying but I may go back to the online version w/strangers. I'm not going to make new friends in town that way, but which is more important? Bible study or friends? Don't answer that, I think it's too messy.
-Food prep is happening little by little. No major progress, but holding the line.
-Decent family photos did not happen. Too much advance planning. That and I was busy living life, photo taking was not always first on my mind unless we were on trips.
I tend to be hard on myself so this time I'm going to celebrate the little things that went well =) I'm looking into a new short term goal system for 2017. My next goal is to implement a new set of goals...it sounds funny, but that's how I operate! We'll see if trying something new helps kick start this year!
Monday, February 8, 2016
Random goals!
In case you haven't heard...there are more kids in our house. Which is a pretty crazy way to start the new year, if you ask me! Usually I make some goals for the new year, nothing too serious, and this year is a little different. For various reasons, I am not really focused this year and I'm also exhausted! My 'go to' way to 'get it together' is to make lists. I really wanted to make these fancy goals this year, but I'll have to settle for a random list.
- Get back to working out. Even just once a week!
- Get Bert and Ernie into some counseling, maybe even family counseling. We've said that for almost every foster kid that has come into our house. All of them have needed some form of it, but none more than Bert and Ernie. In the past, it just didn't work out - either they were unable to attend due to their visitation schedule or they were too young to benefit much. In our situation, there will be no excuses made.
- Go through the bin of school papers from past years. I hope to weed out a lot...it would be nice to have a binder for each year. That would be an improvement on my current filing system (aka dump it in the bin and deal w/it later)!
- Make a covered feeding station and dust bath corner for the chickens.
- Get a compost pile going again.
- Hang up the pic of Pippa and make a name plate for the coop.
- Grow stuff - we live in the woods, so there is tons of shade, but maybe people will trade veggies w/me? I can grow plenty of things well, like greens and such, but between the shade and the deer, I'm not sure how successful I will be at growing a variety. Either way, I need tend to growing stuff to feel happy =)
- Plan ahead some camping for the summer. Schedule a camping date w/my aunt and uncle, who have a fancy new trailer, as well as with some willing friends!
- Give away the baby/little toddler clothes. Seriously. I have given a lot away and weeded a lot out, but the youngest is 4 and it will be at least 2 years before any new kids can come into our home. I need to unload a lot of clothes. I have some prospects - the crisis pregnancy center, a place that gives them away to young moms, a mission in Haiti, etc...but there are memories tied up in the clothes and it's so hard! Baby steps, right? Like I said, I've made a huge dent in it, but I can do better.
- Get back to Bible study of some kind. It's been too long. I used to do it online and I just haven't lately. I was all set to join the one at church, but now I am no longer kid-less for the times they meet and childcare is not an option. I have made it work before, I've seen the benefits in my life, but I'm just not there right now.
- Date nights need to happen. I miss them a lot. Another area where I make excuses. I'm not ready to leave everyone w/someone yet. Maybe if it was a duo of young people, like sisters or a brother sister team or something? I don't know. I've got ideas but still trying to find time to talk to people.
- Keep prepping food. I have been impressing myself a bit lately by cooking a boatload of chicken breasts and then building various meals off of them. I had my hubby pop popcorn and kept it in an ice cream bucket for quick, fairly healthy snacks. I made a double batch of chili. Who is this person? Again, I'm not good at cooking and this is not really a huge deal to most of you, but I was pretty proud of myself. I even invented taquitos! Yeah, I know, I didn't invent them, I just made them from an idea out of my mind. We've never had them b/c I was too scared they were hard to make. They're not. But you already knew that!
- Make a trail in the woods. Or trails. There are ridges that we could build forts on, but between the ridges it is boggy. We'll need to build bridges. We can't wait! We should build tree forts, both on the ground and in a tree too. We hope to put up swings of some kind...Oh man, I could stretch this goal out for a whole post on it's own!
- Get some decent family photos done. I have a lot of friends who are photographers, but again I need to set it up. I will try not to stress about what people will wear...I hate the monochrome, matchy matchy kind of thing...I have some ideas in my head of doing something different - it seems everyone around here does the beach thing. I like that, but I'd love to do something in the woods!
- Decorate. The kids' posters for their rooms have languished in a box for over a year! I have gotten a few photos on the walls of the living room, but I plan to do more. Some of that will happen after a major fix on the house, which will hopefully lead to some new furniture. We would love to do a renovation too, but not sure that's in the budget. It would be good to just start by decorating.
I'm sure this isn't it for my random goals....but my boy's practice is almost over, which means my relatively quiet free time is too. I'm grateful for the chance to write more often!
- Get back to working out. Even just once a week!
- Get Bert and Ernie into some counseling, maybe even family counseling. We've said that for almost every foster kid that has come into our house. All of them have needed some form of it, but none more than Bert and Ernie. In the past, it just didn't work out - either they were unable to attend due to their visitation schedule or they were too young to benefit much. In our situation, there will be no excuses made.
- Go through the bin of school papers from past years. I hope to weed out a lot...it would be nice to have a binder for each year. That would be an improvement on my current filing system (aka dump it in the bin and deal w/it later)!
- Make a covered feeding station and dust bath corner for the chickens.
- Get a compost pile going again.
- Hang up the pic of Pippa and make a name plate for the coop.
- Grow stuff - we live in the woods, so there is tons of shade, but maybe people will trade veggies w/me? I can grow plenty of things well, like greens and such, but between the shade and the deer, I'm not sure how successful I will be at growing a variety. Either way, I need tend to growing stuff to feel happy =)
- Plan ahead some camping for the summer. Schedule a camping date w/my aunt and uncle, who have a fancy new trailer, as well as with some willing friends!
- Give away the baby/little toddler clothes. Seriously. I have given a lot away and weeded a lot out, but the youngest is 4 and it will be at least 2 years before any new kids can come into our home. I need to unload a lot of clothes. I have some prospects - the crisis pregnancy center, a place that gives them away to young moms, a mission in Haiti, etc...but there are memories tied up in the clothes and it's so hard! Baby steps, right? Like I said, I've made a huge dent in it, but I can do better.
- Get back to Bible study of some kind. It's been too long. I used to do it online and I just haven't lately. I was all set to join the one at church, but now I am no longer kid-less for the times they meet and childcare is not an option. I have made it work before, I've seen the benefits in my life, but I'm just not there right now.
- Date nights need to happen. I miss them a lot. Another area where I make excuses. I'm not ready to leave everyone w/someone yet. Maybe if it was a duo of young people, like sisters or a brother sister team or something? I don't know. I've got ideas but still trying to find time to talk to people.
- Keep prepping food. I have been impressing myself a bit lately by cooking a boatload of chicken breasts and then building various meals off of them. I had my hubby pop popcorn and kept it in an ice cream bucket for quick, fairly healthy snacks. I made a double batch of chili. Who is this person? Again, I'm not good at cooking and this is not really a huge deal to most of you, but I was pretty proud of myself. I even invented taquitos! Yeah, I know, I didn't invent them, I just made them from an idea out of my mind. We've never had them b/c I was too scared they were hard to make. They're not. But you already knew that!
- Make a trail in the woods. Or trails. There are ridges that we could build forts on, but between the ridges it is boggy. We'll need to build bridges. We can't wait! We should build tree forts, both on the ground and in a tree too. We hope to put up swings of some kind...Oh man, I could stretch this goal out for a whole post on it's own!
- Get some decent family photos done. I have a lot of friends who are photographers, but again I need to set it up. I will try not to stress about what people will wear...I hate the monochrome, matchy matchy kind of thing...I have some ideas in my head of doing something different - it seems everyone around here does the beach thing. I like that, but I'd love to do something in the woods!
- Decorate. The kids' posters for their rooms have languished in a box for over a year! I have gotten a few photos on the walls of the living room, but I plan to do more. Some of that will happen after a major fix on the house, which will hopefully lead to some new furniture. We would love to do a renovation too, but not sure that's in the budget. It would be good to just start by decorating.
I'm sure this isn't it for my random goals....but my boy's practice is almost over, which means my relatively quiet free time is too. I'm grateful for the chance to write more often!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Respire, aspire, maybe perspire a little and hopefully inspire
If you read my blog or know me, you know I am a notorious list maker. I make them, lose them, write new ones, compile them, file them, etc...I have written a life list, or a bucket list, of sorts at least 3 times on this blog and yearly goals for a few years in a row. (You can read them here, here and my 2013 goals here - the second one is really the best.) A lot of the things on the lists I thought I might actually have a shot at (like adopting) and some of them I may never get to do (like seeing a komodo dragon in the wild) but I put them on there anyway. That being said, I realized the other day that a handful of my life list items are 'in progress' - I am in some way, shape or form actually doing 3 or more things I didn't think I would ever get the chance to do! Recently I saw a FB post from a 40 days for Life type of group (can't remember which one) about starting a crisis pregnancy center in my town. My eyes nearly jumped out of my head - I have always wanted to do something like that, ever since I 'met' Bethany. She had written about volunteering in one and I put it on my life list b/c I really want to do that too. I figured it would have to wait until I moved to a bigger city...I was wrong! Thank God I was wrong! I have been to a few meetings and we have a board, possible location and funds - more funds than I ever thought possible, thanks to the Teens 4 Life group we have here! I cannot wait to go to each meeting and I have met some people filled w/compassion and love! I know God will do great things...I am so grateful for the chance to be a part of it here, now...
...Another thing from my list was to get back to the drama world. I can’t say for certain when, exactly, it was, but I believe it was the summer of 2012 when a pastor from my church came to me and told me about an acting opportunity. He had been working with a man from another church on a script…immediately intrigued, I told him to keep me posted. A few weeks went by and I received notice about the auditions. We were a small group that first night, but we prayed and God directed the steps of a few others to join us. In spring of 2013, we performed the play for the first time, under my pastor’s direction. We all felt exhausted afterwards, but sad that it had to end. The author of the play reminded us that it didn’t have to end! We have since performed it again and there are contacts being made and at least two more bookings seem forthcoming. Our goal of performing for many people far and wide no longer seems out of the realm of possibilities…I've designed a website for our merry band of actors and we shall see where this takes us. It's so exciting to be a part of this, to be doing something I love to shine the light of Jesus into the world!
One of the things on my goals was to be a part of a women's ministry. All my life I have had a wide variety of friends, but mostly they were guys. I just found it to be easier to maintain those relationships - too much drama w/the ladies!! I'm not a 'girly-girl' either so shopping and makeup and jewelry don't interest me much, but sports and stuff does. I've managed to keep some very dear friends who are girls close and for that I consider myself blessed, but it's always been a challenge to attend anything women oriented at church. I have generally steered clear of large gatherings of women!! but then when I did actually go, I started to feel encouraged, loved and happy. I forced myself to try again and pray about relationships w/women. The opportunity came up to be one of the 'founding members' if you will of the women's ministry team a woman is starting at our church. I said yes, wondering if I was biting off more than my emotions could handle, but not a day goes by that I don't think of one of the other women on our team and how she has blessed me w/her friendship! One night we were getting together to make some decorations for an event...a bunch of us arrived w/supplies and tools, but our fearless leader was not there yet so we didn't know where to start. We sat talking, laughing, hugging and crying...when our leader came, we got right to work and the talking, laughing, hugging and crying didn't stop! It didn't feel like work =) Our hands were busy and so were our hearts. I had to blink back tears when I thought about how I would feel if I had missed out on all of that, the friendships, the chance to serve others in the church and just to say that I was a part of a team who wanted to share what we had w/other women in the community! How I had ached for something simple, just friends who could do stuff together every once in a while and actually cared about each other's lives! And now that I have it, I will fight to keep it! There are times when I feel like I'm such a goof and I don't fit in or I don't have the newest clothes or whatever kind of crap Satan made me believe all my life - but I kick him in the teeth and go anyway. So there.
As for all the other stuff on my list...still working on it. As you know, we've adopted once already and are on the wait list to do it again. (Please pray that God hurries...it's hard to wait!!) I've seen a komodo dragon at a lizard zoo (or something like that), so I'm sort of counting that. We've visited both Duke University and UNC (more specifically, the basketball courts), but haven't seen a game yet, so we are what - 1/4 of the way there? I'm slacking in the exercise dept these days, so improvements to my 5K time will have to wait. Some serious discussions (including price checks!) have been had about the house boat down the Mississippi River, but...trying to decide which items are more of a priority than others. Buy a house in the country? Get a new truck and camper? Go on a super awesome trip down the river? Go to Europe? How do you go about deciding??? Apparently I am learning the lesson that you don't. God opens a window or a door and you just go through it. Then you write a FB post telling people to stop praying for your life list! Then you write a blog post of how blessed you are to knock things off your list....
...Another thing from my list was to get back to the drama world. I can’t say for certain when, exactly, it was, but I believe it was the summer of 2012 when a pastor from my church came to me and told me about an acting opportunity. He had been working with a man from another church on a script…immediately intrigued, I told him to keep me posted. A few weeks went by and I received notice about the auditions. We were a small group that first night, but we prayed and God directed the steps of a few others to join us. In spring of 2013, we performed the play for the first time, under my pastor’s direction. We all felt exhausted afterwards, but sad that it had to end. The author of the play reminded us that it didn’t have to end! We have since performed it again and there are contacts being made and at least two more bookings seem forthcoming. Our goal of performing for many people far and wide no longer seems out of the realm of possibilities…I've designed a website for our merry band of actors and we shall see where this takes us. It's so exciting to be a part of this, to be doing something I love to shine the light of Jesus into the world!
One of the things on my goals was to be a part of a women's ministry. All my life I have had a wide variety of friends, but mostly they were guys. I just found it to be easier to maintain those relationships - too much drama w/the ladies!! I'm not a 'girly-girl' either so shopping and makeup and jewelry don't interest me much, but sports and stuff does. I've managed to keep some very dear friends who are girls close and for that I consider myself blessed, but it's always been a challenge to attend anything women oriented at church. I have generally steered clear of large gatherings of women!! but then when I did actually go, I started to feel encouraged, loved and happy. I forced myself to try again and pray about relationships w/women. The opportunity came up to be one of the 'founding members' if you will of the women's ministry team a woman is starting at our church. I said yes, wondering if I was biting off more than my emotions could handle, but not a day goes by that I don't think of one of the other women on our team and how she has blessed me w/her friendship! One night we were getting together to make some decorations for an event...a bunch of us arrived w/supplies and tools, but our fearless leader was not there yet so we didn't know where to start. We sat talking, laughing, hugging and crying...when our leader came, we got right to work and the talking, laughing, hugging and crying didn't stop! It didn't feel like work =) Our hands were busy and so were our hearts. I had to blink back tears when I thought about how I would feel if I had missed out on all of that, the friendships, the chance to serve others in the church and just to say that I was a part of a team who wanted to share what we had w/other women in the community! How I had ached for something simple, just friends who could do stuff together every once in a while and actually cared about each other's lives! And now that I have it, I will fight to keep it! There are times when I feel like I'm such a goof and I don't fit in or I don't have the newest clothes or whatever kind of crap Satan made me believe all my life - but I kick him in the teeth and go anyway. So there.
As for all the other stuff on my list...still working on it. As you know, we've adopted once already and are on the wait list to do it again. (Please pray that God hurries...it's hard to wait!!) I've seen a komodo dragon at a lizard zoo (or something like that), so I'm sort of counting that. We've visited both Duke University and UNC (more specifically, the basketball courts), but haven't seen a game yet, so we are what - 1/4 of the way there? I'm slacking in the exercise dept these days, so improvements to my 5K time will have to wait. Some serious discussions (including price checks!) have been had about the house boat down the Mississippi River, but...trying to decide which items are more of a priority than others. Buy a house in the country? Get a new truck and camper? Go on a super awesome trip down the river? Go to Europe? How do you go about deciding??? Apparently I am learning the lesson that you don't. God opens a window or a door and you just go through it. Then you write a FB post telling people to stop praying for your life list! Then you write a blog post of how blessed you are to knock things off your list....
Friday, January 4, 2013
It feels like yesterday.
Alright, I'm not feeling so hot today so what better time to crank out my 2013 goals? It literally feels like yesterday when I wrote the 2012 ones. I just re-read them and I kinda feel like I just want to say "ditto". But I'm me and I can't ever keep things short when I talk/write so what fun is that?
2013 goals
Spiritual
-I will be joining Inspired To Action's Maximizing Your Mornings Challenge once again!
-I'm hoping to do more scripture memorizing w/the whole family. Out of all the verses I had memorized w/Moses, a little over half have 'stuck' in my gray matter. I can do better.
-Still thinking about serving, whether it be on a missions trip away from home or here. I have so many ideas!!! Sometimes I wish God would stop giving me these ideas...I think of something or hear about it somewhere and I'm like, "That is so cool! Someone should do that here!" and then I get the feeling like that someone should be me and my head nearly falls off b/c it's shaking NO so hard!
-I don't think I will ever have time to be a part of women's ministry on a regular basis but I am glad I was able to be a part of this upcoming conference planning. I do want to make it a goal to keep being in a small group or women's ministry in some way though.
Personal
-Step it up in the homemaking department. (Said the woman sitting on her couch w/2 torn out pages of a magazine, a binder, a highlighter, the remote, a banana peel, some laundry and a pile of kleenexes!) This one is super broad so I need to break it down into smaller pieces...
-Make more hot breakfasts.
-Get better at meal planning and prepping things ahead.
-Buy less cans, packaged foods and aim for more things from scratch.
-Sew stuff.
-Declutter in general.
-Declutter/minimize clothing stash. (I'm kind of a hoarder when it comes to clothes. For everyone, not just me. Stuff that doesn't fit, stuff that might fit, stuff that looks good or doesn't...stuff we wear or don't...I like options. I feel better when their are a lot of options for everyone. But I'm realizing it's ridiculous - many people could use the clothes that just sit there, taking up space. I read a really good book called 7 and there was a chapter on clothes that convicted me way down deep. I'm a work in progress and the more I talk about my clothing issues, the more I realized I need to pare down. There's a whole lot more to this part of the 'story of me' but that's the short version.)
-READ. Again. I miss reading books!
-Get involved w/the Intergenerational Center.
-Make it more of a habit to have Sundays be outdoors - hiking, playing kickball, going for bike rides...just keeping at least one day a week for family oriented stuff. Not family oriented in the way that it's just us, but I mean that we're doing things as a family, maybe w/other families, outside.
There are others from last year's list that I just don't feel are as big of a deal for me this year...
Physical
Last year was a breath of fresh air in this category!! I turned 35 and pushed myself harder than I have in a long time. I didn't think I could still do stuff like running (I can, I'm just slower) or working out and still have energy to stay awake until 9pm! (I don't know, I guess I pictured that since I haven't always taken the best care of my body that it might quit on me sooner than others!) But I did that stuff and it felt good. So this year my physical goals are to top last year's!
-DRINK WATER!!!
-Get sleep - 7-8 hrs each night. I know everything else in life goes sooooo much better when I do!
-Start and FINISH the R.I.P.P.E.D. and Zumba class at the YMCA. No excuses!
-Run a 5K in less than 30 minutes.
-Run five 5Ks. (Not going to happen unless I find 5 I like =) So...know of any no-hill, not too hot/good weather, for a special cause races near by?)
-Thin the thighs. Ugh. I did well for 10 months and crashed in Nov/Dec.
-Make a game plan so Nov/Dec doesn't turn into a SAD (Standard American Diet), SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), SAD (Surly, Annoyed and Depressed) cycle.
Family/Household
-Adoption. Step one already done!
-Memorize Bible verses together.
-Save $ for a few things that are a little bigger than average. It's time to take action and stop talking about what's important to us.
-Out West trip. There is a niece who graduates this year and more family we haven't seen in way too long.
-As always, we're are moving in the direction of less waste, less plastic, less consumption of unnecessary goods, real foods, less chemicals, more garden boxes, more chickens, etc...just keep moving in that direction.
-Move? out of the city. This is a long shot again this year, but it's still a goal and we can be taking steps toward it every now and then.
I'm sure there are others I am forgetting...and I think I need a nap. But this is my list so far.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Best, Worst and Most Interesting (for Catherine)
When I was dating Dave, we went to Madison a bunch for football games and to visit his brother and family. Being that his brother and wife are a few years older, they were/are ahead of us in life and already had a kid at the time. Being that we both wanted to have kids, we'd visit and take mental notes and then talk about stuff on the long ride home. I remember when one of the times we visited, their cute little family sat around the dinner table w/us and taught us a new 'game'. We went around the table and asked/told each other what was the best, worst and most interesting parts of our day. It was fun! And it was adorable to hear my niece ask us and comment on our answers! Well, she's just adorable so she could have been throwing the biggest tantrum and I would have said that anyway. She still is adorable, even if she's about to go off to college. (No, I haven't aged at all myself, it's some sort of time warp thing. She got older, but I am not old.)
Anyway - fast forward to now, when I can't stand the fact that my own squirrelly kids do everything but make conversation at the table! When I think of it, I remind them of the game and we go around the table and report on our day. There is actual conversation shared, and it is then that I am reminded of how brilliant of a tool that is! When we see friends we haven't seen in 10+ years, we ask them to summarize our time apart by playing the game! It's really special to hear about their highs and lows and some really oddball stories...
I've decided to use this method to summarize 2012. I worked on my goals for the year and had some successes, but some not so successful ventures too. Always learning, always improving, it doesn't matter if I give myself an A+ or whatever! So here we go...
Anyway - fast forward to now, when I can't stand the fact that my own squirrelly kids do everything but make conversation at the table! When I think of it, I remind them of the game and we go around the table and report on our day. There is actual conversation shared, and it is then that I am reminded of how brilliant of a tool that is! When we see friends we haven't seen in 10+ years, we ask them to summarize our time apart by playing the game! It's really special to hear about their highs and lows and some really oddball stories...
I've decided to use this method to summarize 2012. I worked on my goals for the year and had some successes, but some not so successful ventures too. Always learning, always improving, it doesn't matter if I give myself an A+ or whatever! So here we go...
2012's Best, Worst and Most Interesting
Best
- went to a women's conference and am working w/a group planning another one in January of 2013.
- participated in 2 small groups - Courageous Parenting and a sermon based one. AWESOME!! The group of people we met and connected w/quickly became good friends and we are hoping to join/start new groups w/them soon!
- was the most successful so far in this season's Maximize Your Mornings Challenge. We read through the book of 1 Peter and I am so glad I stuck it out.
- I did a super job of staying active and running in the warmer months, w/help from my hubby to free up some time in the schedule.
- (other random stuff not on the goals list) I instituted a 5 bag policy for the kids (one ziploc for each day of the week, they pack the bags over the weekend so there is no discussion of what to wear in the AMs) and that is the best thing I think I have ever done! I'd been doing well on getting enough sleep for most of the year but fell out of habit by the end (more on that later...). I think I'm getting more of a hang of the rhythm of our days/life in general, which makes me so much happier. I also feel like I have encouraged a lot of people to step out and try some things we've been doing - garden, eat better, etc...I try not to preach, I try not to criticize, but I aim to encourage. I thought it would be so hard to break some habits or make changes for the better, but it gets easier every day. I am no expert but I love to help people =) Got that from my Mom! I LOVE YOU MOM!
Worst
- I just can't seem to find time for my personal hobbies like reading, scrapbooking and sewing. =( I should say make time. It's there...I just choose otherwise.
- I realized a few things this past Nov/Dec. I do well for most of the year, but all my ambition, willpower and determination are gone by November. It's like I just cave in! I/We start eating SAD again (Standard American Diet), the days get shorter and we get less sunlight so we suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), life gets busy, I make excuses, I make poor choices and I just feel SAD (Surly, Annoyed and Depressed)!! (----no, no link for that I just made it up!) ***EDITED*** I had a whole paragraph here about food and feelings and it looks like blogger ate it. I have no idea where it went!!*** =(
- Other worsts were the lack of progress on an adoption, a move, a trip out West, and reducing the amount of packaging in our lives.
Most Interesting
- Well, I never thought I'd be part of the planning committee for a women's conference, nor going to practices for a community drama!
- I also didn't think I'd get so good at french braiding hair, much less hair of someone w/a different ethnic makeup than myself. But then again - at the least, it takes me an hour each week, so...I can say I have close to 60 hours of practice in!!
- This last small group we participated in was hosted by a couple who were our first friends at the church we currently attend! We hadn't hung out w/them in quite a while and rarely see them much anymore since we no longer attend the same church. But it was sort of funny that we became friends by joining their small group back in the day, and here we were signing up for a group hosted at their house...it was sort of like old times =)
- It was interesting that we had the same foster care placement for the whole entire year. Most of our past placements were either a year long or for a very short time. This one is turning out to be over a year, it may even go past a year and a half. This is interesting...also, we're learning more about 'co-parenting'. W/our previous placements, there was very little transition (for one reason or another) and very little reason to co-parent. It looks like there will be plenty of both in this placement. I can think of no better way to describe it than interesting. We are learning a lot. Not just about the system and co-parenting, but about ourselves, too.
- Dave has a beard again. It's been a while! He's talking about letting it grow big again! Due to his alopecia, it probably won't get as big as it was in college, but it's fun! I like him w/a fuzzy face =) We watch that show Duck Dynasty and I think he was inspired. For as long as I've known him, he's never been able to get his beard to grow long/down b/c the curls are so tight! It just gets dense and bushy, but not flowing like the guys from that show. I commented that maybe since he's older now, it might grow differently. I don't really care - beard or not - I love the guy and I just want him to be happy! I have a feeling that by the time the heat of summer comes around, it will get shaved off, though, so I'm just sitting back and watching it grow for now. Yep, that's interesting...
Well, that's the goal recap for 2012. I don't fret about the details, but I like to check on my progress in a relaxed way. I was hoping to have time to write the 2013 ones before nap time was over, but...no such luck. Maybe tomorrow =)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Yesterday's gone...yesterday's gone...
We are hurtling through March! I have a few minutes to write and wanted to get in an update on my 2012 goals. (You may want to reference the original post to see detailed notes on what I am talking about here. Or not! =) Either way I think you'll get the gist.)
PERSONAL:
-Time for hobbies? Not so much. Unless you count getting my tube fed daughter to drink from a glass! =) Which, coincidentally, is going a little better! (More on that in another post, maybe.)
-Watch less TV? Maybe 20% better.
-Women's Conference? I am going to be in the drama for one this weekend. So YES!
-Join a small group? YES! Thank you to my best friend in town for hosting!
-Call the Intergenerational Center? Nope. Maybe after spring break. This summer we should have a lot more time to participate in their events so I am looking forward to that!
-Read? I am almost finished w/the first book of the year, but I have been also reading my Bible a lot more.
-Grad class? Slow progress but I am enrolled.
SPIRITUAL:
-MYM Challenge? I am still Maximizing My Mornings! The Bible reading part is easy, the exercise and planning are not.
-Bible reading and journaling? Doing well, but there is always room for improvement!
-Memorize scripture? Mo and I have at least 4 new verses down. I would love to up that to 4 a month =)
-Mission trip? No progress here.
-Small group and Women's conference? See above.
PHYSICAL:
-8hrs of sleep? Doing well, but again, room for improvement. I know it has really helped my attitude so far, though, so it's always good when I can see results.
-Exercise? Started Jillian again and did well for 2 weeks or so but then I got sick and now it's busy! Yes, those are excuses. I hope to pick it up again after this busy weekend. I have found 2 events I would like to run in, so I'm using that for motivation.
-Thighs? Arg. I am afraid to measure. But I know when I was doing Jillian last time it made a huge difference.
-5K? Like I said, I will be signing up for at least one and I found a 2K close by that hopefully we can do as a family. I will look into a few more when we get back from Spring Break.
-Water? Why is this so hard for me? I'm doing ok, consistent, but it's never enough.
FAMILY:
-Real foods? We have been doing a 'detox' of sorts by not eating out for the past month. I'm really proud of us! I know, that doesn't necessarily mean we are eating real foods, but seriously, we used to eat out anywhere from 1-4 times a week. BLECH. This was a really good place to start. Still using mac and cheese in the box, but I made almond milk and I continue to 'make'/grow kefir. We make our own pizza, but use store crust. Things like that are where I think we are doing well, but again, could do better.
-Eliminate packaging? Well, yes for the almond milk, but not really anywhere else I can think of. I need to do more bulk bin shopping!
-Out West trip? The finances just don't seem to be there. We are dreaming and scheming, but unless we find a financial sponsor or a lump sum buried in the backyard, I don't think it will be this year. =(
-Research a move? Always. Plenty of interesting houses for sale. Not ready to make any steps in that direction yet, but...still on our minds.
-Another adoption? Also, always in our hearts, minds and prayers.
PERSONAL:
-Time for hobbies? Not so much. Unless you count getting my tube fed daughter to drink from a glass! =) Which, coincidentally, is going a little better! (More on that in another post, maybe.)
-Watch less TV? Maybe 20% better.
-Women's Conference? I am going to be in the drama for one this weekend. So YES!
-Join a small group? YES! Thank you to my best friend in town for hosting!
-Call the Intergenerational Center? Nope. Maybe after spring break. This summer we should have a lot more time to participate in their events so I am looking forward to that!
-Read? I am almost finished w/the first book of the year, but I have been also reading my Bible a lot more.
-Grad class? Slow progress but I am enrolled.
SPIRITUAL:
-MYM Challenge? I am still Maximizing My Mornings! The Bible reading part is easy, the exercise and planning are not.
-Bible reading and journaling? Doing well, but there is always room for improvement!
-Memorize scripture? Mo and I have at least 4 new verses down. I would love to up that to 4 a month =)
-Mission trip? No progress here.
-Small group and Women's conference? See above.
PHYSICAL:
-8hrs of sleep? Doing well, but again, room for improvement. I know it has really helped my attitude so far, though, so it's always good when I can see results.
-Exercise? Started Jillian again and did well for 2 weeks or so but then I got sick and now it's busy! Yes, those are excuses. I hope to pick it up again after this busy weekend. I have found 2 events I would like to run in, so I'm using that for motivation.
-Thighs? Arg. I am afraid to measure. But I know when I was doing Jillian last time it made a huge difference.
-5K? Like I said, I will be signing up for at least one and I found a 2K close by that hopefully we can do as a family. I will look into a few more when we get back from Spring Break.
-Water? Why is this so hard for me? I'm doing ok, consistent, but it's never enough.
FAMILY:
-Real foods? We have been doing a 'detox' of sorts by not eating out for the past month. I'm really proud of us! I know, that doesn't necessarily mean we are eating real foods, but seriously, we used to eat out anywhere from 1-4 times a week. BLECH. This was a really good place to start. Still using mac and cheese in the box, but I made almond milk and I continue to 'make'/grow kefir. We make our own pizza, but use store crust. Things like that are where I think we are doing well, but again, could do better.
-Eliminate packaging? Well, yes for the almond milk, but not really anywhere else I can think of. I need to do more bulk bin shopping!
-Out West trip? The finances just don't seem to be there. We are dreaming and scheming, but unless we find a financial sponsor or a lump sum buried in the backyard, I don't think it will be this year. =(
-Research a move? Always. Plenty of interesting houses for sale. Not ready to make any steps in that direction yet, but...still on our minds.
-Another adoption? Also, always in our hearts, minds and prayers.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
...and beyond...
Many of you may remember that I wrote some goals for 2011. I have done the same for 2012, only I admit they look similar to those of last year! I didn't entirely complete some, while I can improve on others. At any rate - here are my 2012 goals. Once again I am focusing on my own health and wellness, choosing to organize my goals into 3+ categories. Some goals may apply to more than one category, but I attempted to sort them out accordingly. Also, please know that I am being real here and I am asking for support and not judgement. Thanks =)
PERSONAL (bear with me, it seems there are a lot!)
-make time to do more scrapbooking/sewing/completing Pinterest pins (I had this on my list last year. Epic failure! Prepare for round 2...DING)
-watch less TV during the week/overall (should help w/the first one - we have DVR now so I should be able to record some things to watch on the weekends)
-go to a women's conference/retreat, something of that sort...
-join some sort of a small group, which will hopefully help me maintain and cultivate old/new relationships
-call the Integenerational Center nearby (I have always had this dream of opening one and what do you know?! There is one less than a half hour a way! Why re-invent the wheel? I should investigate volunteering there)
-READ (I have a weak looking book list, but I hope I can read at least one book a month)
-take a grad class to renew my teaching license, but also investigate possible future Spanish classes/maybe even a Master's!
SPIRITUAL (I am excited for these!)
-I will be Maximizing My Mornings, starting tomorrow!
-keep up w/my Bible reading and journaling
-memorize scripture w/my family (there are some good ones here, including in the comments, but we will also use the verses from Sunday school at our church)
-go on a small/big missions trip (again, I really didn't even come close on this one last year - hopefully we can take steps to get closer to this goal this year)
-small group - see above
-women's conference/retreat - see above
PHYSICAL (same as last year, w/a few minor tweaks!)
-get 8 hrs of sleep a night (No seriously. 8.)
-exercise 30 minutes 3 times a week (I'm not sure this will happen right away, but it's a goal - I will be taking baby steps to get there - it's harder than last year since we have more kids, but do-able)
-thin the thighs (Judgement free zone here people - I don't care if I lose weight, just if I can get these thunder thighs under control!)
-complete a 5K in under 30 minutes (I almost got there last year!)
-complete more than one 5K (Yes!)
-drink more water (Like last year, if I can do more than 3 glasses a day, I am doing good - I just need to be more consistent)
FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD GOALS (new this year...)
-eat more real food (I can help by cooking more breakfasts and being ready so we don't do fast food out of desperation)
-reduce packaging (this has been on my mind lately...even if I do a little, it's better than nothing)
-out West trip (some extended family have moved out to WA and we would love to go back to CA)
-researching/prepping moving out of town (don't freak out - there's is a minute fraction of a chance we will actually pull this off in 2012 which is why I said researching/prepping, but it's been on our minds for the near future, so we have to be honest that it is one of our goals)
-adoption (there! I said it! Again, don't freak out, we have no news but this is always a family goal)
There's probably more of these, but I didn't really focus too much on these. I can help us reach these goals, but it will be a team effort and will take a little more planning.
Like last year, I hope to post goal updates but I doubt it will be every month. Being that there are 2 more children in our house than last year at this time, life gets pretty busy! But I am confident that in writing this post and reflecting on my goals, I will be able to stay on track and take better care of myself.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Things I did well in 2011...
I have a post in my mind, all ready to go, about my 2012 goals. They look pretty similar to the 2011 goals but first I wanted to comment on what I did well in 2011. If you forgot, I attempted to do monthly updates on my goals (I accomplished that goal 5 out of 12 times). This was the original post. I made 3 categories - physical, personal, and spiritual. I was really good at drinking more water, running, doing the 5K (not so much once it was over, though) and sort of good at getting 8 hours of sleep. The physical stuff kind of fell off the track after fall hit...for various reasons! Dave and I have been super awesome about date night, many thanks to 2 reliable and willing babysitters =) I was mediocre at my Bible reading, but for me, mediocre was a massive improvement!! Some things that were not listed on my goals post, but I was good at anyway, were things like making lunches and washing laundry on time. I was also a rock star when it came to finding things that we needed at thrift/consignment shops, thus avoiding box stores and buying new. I was really good at changing our eating habits and continuing on our 'green' journey. I was good about helping to keep the chickens alive! Didn't think I'd be saying that....I was GREAT at hanging wash! HA! You already knew that, didn't you...well, there is lots of room for improvement. But I think writing out my goals last year really helped me. I can't wait to share my revised/new goals in the next post!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May I be late?
It's late May and I haven't done a goals update! Here we go...
Physical
-DRINK MORE WATER! Well, I'm am drinking more...but I find it easy to fall back into old habits.
-Get 8 hours of sleep each night. Nope, not happening. Re-committing myself to this one right now!
-Complete a 5K in under 30 minutes before the snow flies at the end of 2011. If you've been reading here lately you know I finished my 1st 5K in a while =) I came in just under 36 minutes! So this goal is totally do-able! I am planning to run another 5K (I keep typing 5L for some reason...??...) the Saturday of Memorial Weekend. More on that later...
Personal
-Have a weekly planning time. I have just instituted a plan to do better than this - daily planning time. More on that plan in the spiritual category.
-Go out on a date w/Dave every other week. GOOD NEWS!! For the past 6 weeks or so we have gone out every week!! It is so cool - we put the kids to bed and have a great sitter come over. We go out kid-free for 2 hours - mission accomplished. We hope to keep it up during summer!
-Two hours of scrapbooking, sewing or crafting each week. Another thing not happening. Again, re-committing myself to this one.
-Go on a women's retreat before 2011 is over. Proud to say I 'survived' a 2 day women's conference at our church. (I don't say survived b/c the conference was bad - if you remember from the goals post in January, I explained some of my issues w/women's events...) The cool thing was, this conference included worship in Spanish, a rockin' awesome speaker in Spanish and just some really cool topics. I felt very inspired by the women/speakers and I know this will help my attitude about attending more! =)
Spiritual
-Track my Bible reading. Still catching up on The Purple Book, but I have just joined Inspired to Action's Hello Mornings Challenge. I am getting up before everyone else to have 'me' time - worshipping, reading my bible, praying, getting organized for the day, and exercising if there's time. So far so good! This also ties into getting to bed earlier each night. All around, all good stuff for me to be doing...it's not that hard, but my inner morning person has gone into retirement lately and needs a jump start. I think this will be just what I need!
-Family Devotion once a week. I am currently blaming life for this one. Too many activities. Not happening. Over summer would be a good time to start...
-Go on a missions trip??? There's a reason this one has question marks behind it! No progress here, no surprise...
Physical
-DRINK MORE WATER! Well, I'm am drinking more...but I find it easy to fall back into old habits.
-Get 8 hours of sleep each night. Nope, not happening. Re-committing myself to this one right now!
-Complete a 5K in under 30 minutes before the snow flies at the end of 2011. If you've been reading here lately you know I finished my 1st 5K in a while =) I came in just under 36 minutes! So this goal is totally do-able! I am planning to run another 5K (I keep typing 5L for some reason...??...) the Saturday of Memorial Weekend. More on that later...
Personal
-Have a weekly planning time. I have just instituted a plan to do better than this - daily planning time. More on that plan in the spiritual category.
-Go out on a date w/Dave every other week. GOOD NEWS!! For the past 6 weeks or so we have gone out every week!! It is so cool - we put the kids to bed and have a great sitter come over. We go out kid-free for 2 hours - mission accomplished. We hope to keep it up during summer!
-Two hours of scrapbooking, sewing or crafting each week. Another thing not happening. Again, re-committing myself to this one.
-Go on a women's retreat before 2011 is over. Proud to say I 'survived' a 2 day women's conference at our church. (I don't say survived b/c the conference was bad - if you remember from the goals post in January, I explained some of my issues w/women's events...) The cool thing was, this conference included worship in Spanish, a rockin' awesome speaker in Spanish and just some really cool topics. I felt very inspired by the women/speakers and I know this will help my attitude about attending more! =)
Spiritual
-Track my Bible reading. Still catching up on The Purple Book, but I have just joined Inspired to Action's Hello Mornings Challenge. I am getting up before everyone else to have 'me' time - worshipping, reading my bible, praying, getting organized for the day, and exercising if there's time. So far so good! This also ties into getting to bed earlier each night. All around, all good stuff for me to be doing...it's not that hard, but my inner morning person has gone into retirement lately and needs a jump start. I think this will be just what I need!
-Family Devotion once a week. I am currently blaming life for this one. Too many activities. Not happening. Over summer would be a good time to start...
-Go on a missions trip??? There's a reason this one has question marks behind it! No progress here, no surprise...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Running late! (March goals update)
Twelve days into April already! I have been busy trying to train my old body into doing new tricks, i. e. preparing for a 5k! But I promised myself I would keep updated on my goals, so here we go...
(I hope to recap my goals and why I am or why I am not achieving them each month.)
Physical: Drink 5 mugs a day, get 8 hours of sleep and run a 5K. Drinking - So fantastically better! I'm running 4 days a week and I feel like I'm floating those days but it is so good for me! As for the 8 hours of sleep, I give myself a B. It happens at times, but not consistently. And like I said, I actually signed up for a 5K. MAY SEVENTH, people, I have until May SEVENTH!! The calendar is ticking...or something...Today I really felt good, like this is a goal I can do. Maybe not super-well or fast or anything, but the fact that I can do it is pretty good!
Personal: Weekly planning time, bi-weekly date w/Dave, 2 hours me time and attend a women's retreat. Ugh - can I just cut and paste the part from the February recap? Still not accomplishing much in this category. I don't know what is going on w/me, I love to make lists and plan, but I haven't been doing much more than scraping by here. I need some action steps - write a meal plan out, bug Dave to get a sitter more often, stake out some weekend time for me and look into the women's ministry conference day at my church.
Spiritual: Track Bible reading, family devos, and a missions trip - Pretty stagnant here. Still doing some good reading in the Purple Book class, stealing a few nights to read w/the kids and not really researching a missions trip. We need to bump it up, I know...ideas??
I think this month's theme is a plateau....
(I hope to recap my goals and why I am or why I am not achieving them each month.)
Physical: Drink 5 mugs a day, get 8 hours of sleep and run a 5K. Drinking - So fantastically better! I'm running 4 days a week and I feel like I'm floating those days but it is so good for me! As for the 8 hours of sleep, I give myself a B. It happens at times, but not consistently. And like I said, I actually signed up for a 5K. MAY SEVENTH, people, I have until May SEVENTH!! The calendar is ticking...or something...Today I really felt good, like this is a goal I can do. Maybe not super-well or fast or anything, but the fact that I can do it is pretty good!
Personal: Weekly planning time, bi-weekly date w/Dave, 2 hours me time and attend a women's retreat. Ugh - can I just cut and paste the part from the February recap? Still not accomplishing much in this category. I don't know what is going on w/me, I love to make lists and plan, but I haven't been doing much more than scraping by here. I need some action steps - write a meal plan out, bug Dave to get a sitter more often, stake out some weekend time for me and look into the women's ministry conference day at my church.
Spiritual: Track Bible reading, family devos, and a missions trip - Pretty stagnant here. Still doing some good reading in the Purple Book class, stealing a few nights to read w/the kids and not really researching a missions trip. We need to bump it up, I know...ideas??
I think this month's theme is a plateau....
Monday, March 7, 2011
Goals: February Recap
(I hope to recap my goals and why I am or why I am not achieving them each month.)
Physical: Drink 5 mugs a day, get 8 hours of sleep and run a 5K.
Drinking - I give myself a D. I was doing well for like a week! I never did write it down, so that's the action point again. As for the 8 hours of sleep, I give myself a B. It happens at times, but not consistently. Right now we have a newborn in the house so unless I nap or go to bed at 6pm, that is just not happening!! I actually signed up for a 5K. MAY FIRST, people, I have until May FIRST!! I rocked the workouts this month (w/the exception of this past week - more on that later). I have been doing the 30 days w/Jillian and I made it to level 3. As a friend pointed out, level 3 is easier than level 2!! Out of the 30 days, I think I did at least 20, so I give myself an A there. The past week I received an F, but my excuses are that my grandfather passed away and I spent a day going to pick up the newborn at a hospital an hour away. Also, I wasn't feeling well. This week I really need to push myself even harder and I am looking forward to the challenge! I can do it!!
Personal: Weekly planning time, bi-weekly date w/Dave, 2 hours me time and attend a women's retreat.
My weekly planning time still is not on track. I get a C- there. I did write our schedule (getting crazier now that we signed up for more stuff!) out in a public place, so we didn't miss anything. However, I didn't plan meals, or at least not too many. Dave and I did secure a once a week babysitter for 2 hours after the kids go to bed so that is really helpful! We have had one date and are going again this week. We get an A+ there!! In regards to the 'me' time - I went to a women's coffee...I think I get a B- here. I tried, I really did, to have scheduled me time. It's just not happening yet. No leads on the women's retreat yet either...
Spiritual: Track Bible reading, family devos, and a missions trip
Oof...we have been going through a Bible study using the Purple Book, so I have been doing plenty of reading, just not on my own. Can I claim a B here? As a family, we decided that we want to do more scripture memorization. It's been pretty easy for me to do that, a verse or 2 each week, and easy enough to include Moses. That kid complains when I practice w/him but then when we least expect it, he busts out w/the whole thing memorized like he had someone else practicing w/him! He motivates me! I've got to keep up w/him, right? Again, the missions trip is a longer term goal...
Well, I like writing about these goals each month. It really helps me focus and attempt to eliminate excuses. It's good to examine my behavior and publicly humiliate myself! (Kidding...mostly...)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
My 2011 goals, my progress and my January excuses
(I hope to recap my goals and why I am or why I am not achieving them each month.)
Physical: Drink 5 mugs a day, get 8 hours of sleep and run a 5K.
The 5 mugs a day is not happening much b/c I haven't pushed myself. I am going to write it down this week to keep myself on track and hopefully up it soon. The 8 hours of sleep, however, is happening b/c I have been pushing myself! I feel a lot better too! Running the 5K will most likely not happen until May or later. I haven't even gotten back into the swing of working out regularly yet. YIKES! I blame being sick. That and the chaos of one foster kid leaving and another getting adopted. Give me 2 weeks to get back up to speed on that one.
Personal: Weekly planning time, bi-weekly date w/Dave, 2 hours me time and attend a women's retreat.
Last week we managed to kill 2 birds w/one stone when my parents watched the kids. We used our date as a planning time! Is that cheating? Maybe a little. I hope to change that this week. Those should be 2 separate things. The 2 hours of me time was spent wasted doing other stuff. Like I said, I've been sick/dealing w/allergies (?? ever heard of winter allergies??) and that crushes my motivation. For the next week, I plan to add more pages to the foster kid scrapbook. The women's retreat will most likely not happen until summer.
Spiritual: Track Bible reading, family devos, and a missions trip
I have been spotty but I am tracking my Bible reading. I love the book of Isaiah and that is where I chose to start. My best time to read is the half an hour I take before everyone comes home for lunch. I set the table and get lunch ready, then eat while I read. Everyone comes home and I am ready to serve them! Some days though, I put a little more effort into the lunch and then I lose track of time. They all come in the door and I'm scrambling to both eat and serve them! The family devo time has been working, at least on a casual level. Nothing formal takes place, but the kids love reading and listening to the Bible. I think soon we will start a fruit of the spirit workbook though. Moses loves the Music Machine songs about the fruits of the spirit and when he had troubles in school at the beginning of the year, we prayed about self control, gentleness, etc...for him and with him. I like the workbook b/c it has crafty type stuff and memory verses. I'm thinking it might be good for me to try that on Tuesdays when Dave is gone to practice. Then we can all do something on Thursdays too...as for a missions trip, that also may not happen for a while. It may wind up being something more local, rather than global, but I am still praying and researching ideas.
As always, there is plenty room for improvement when it comes to reaching my goals! I do think, though, that my goals are pretty manageable and attainable. Either way, I'm ready for February!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Falling short
'Tis the season to make resolutions...set goals...reach decisions...
...and 'tis the season to fall short, too!
(If you click the link, you'll be directed to an article that says we can blame our brain!!)
Despite my distaste for making New Year's resolutions, I am still going to 'publish' some goals here. I appreciate being able to look back at these types of blog posts to see how far I've come (or how far short I've fallen, as the case may be). This time I will be setting goals in 3 categories, some I will post here, others will just be private.
Physical
-DRINK MORE WATER! 5 mugs a day. I've been working on this for 2 months and it's getting easier. I am embarrassed to say that I am no where near the 8 glasses a day rule, but I never have been and right now this is a manageable goal. I will bump it up to 6 soon!
-Get 8 hours of sleep each night.
-Complete a 5K in under 30 minutes before the snow flies at the end of 2011. (I know - not hard for most people, but I haven't really run since college. It's been a while! I figured I had better set the bar low. I think I can walk a 10 minute mile, so if I poop out and walk, I may still meet my goal.)
Personal
-Have a weekly planning time.
-Go out on a date w/Dave every other week. It won't happen unless it's in the plan! This also means finding reliable local babysitters...which may be hard, but we need to do it!
-Two hours of scrapbooking, sewing or crafting each week.
-Go on a women's retreat before 2011 is over. If you know me, you know I am not really into 'girlie' stuff and I don't really hang out w/women much. I am, quite frankly, a little scared of large groups of women! But I love the Yada Yada Prayer Group books, I want to attend a women's conference and I actually do have some good Christian women friends in my life who might go w/me! (I think this one counts for both personal and spiritual!)
Spiritual
-Track my Bible reading. (I'm not setting a goal or limit on this one, but I would like to be more purposeful about my reading. If I notice I'm slacking, I need to make more time. I spend waste plenty of time on 'bookface' or other blogs reading, I certainly can read the Bible as much!)
-Family Devotion once a week. Hoping we can read the Bible, do an activity and talk about it as the week goes on...this one is a little vague. I'm still working on what I would like this to be.
-Go on a missions trip??? I have been knocking this one around in my brain a lot lately!!
Something new that I am doing this year is praying about my goals. Why didn't I think about that before?? I am going to ask Dave to pray, and now you too! For nothing is impossible with God! Luke 1:37. If you have any goals or resolutions you would like me to pray for, you can leave a comment, email me, or if you know me in real life, feel free to call or talk to me in person.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Top Ten Tuesday
Jenni at One Thing posted a list of the top ten things she would like to do in her life, a bucket list of sorts and I am in the mood to join her today! So here goes...
1) Adopt. A LOT. But if you know me and you read this blog you aren't surprised, are you?!
2) Go back to Spain and Europe in general.
3) Go on a missions trip as a family. I have dreams of using my Spanish language skills in an orphanage!
4) Write my personal history.
5) Make my own stuff. This one is really broad and I contemplated breaking it up, but that didn't seem fair. I'd love to make my own soap, toothpaste, clothes, slipcovers, curtains, veggie paradise, etc! I could go on, but I think you get what I mean.
6) Memorize parts of the Bible. Seriously, I have been in Forensics and done plenty of public speaking where I've memorized things, but I seem to have a block when it comes to verses. I lack discipline, which doesn't help, but that doesn't stop me from starting over again and again!
7) Be involved in my kid's education. As a teacher and a Christian mom, lots of people assume that I'm going to home school. At this point, no. I could get on my soapbox and explain more, but I won't. I just hope I can support my kids in their public school education and find ways to encourage them to always be learning =)
......(This is harder than it looks people!)......
8) Stick to an exercise plan. Try to get the hubby to compete or join! LOL At this point running and biking sound good. I'm not a swimmer (right Mom?) and I don't mind aerobics but but I hate paying for classes and maybe missing some. But if I have a plan to just get outside and use the school district's awesome gyms for free in the winter, I think I could do it. I'm not necessarily looking to lose weight but just gain muscle!
9) De-clutter the house and kick the habit of collecting/saving dumb stuff. LIVE SIMPLY.
10) Get a Master's Degree in Spanish.
WOW - You've probably heard some of these goals already...but some are new. Thanks, Jenni for sharing your top ten list!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Updates
Many, many updates! I haven't been writing much lately. Life has been a slow blur lately.
1) Yesterday was Monday and we made a HUGE batch of burritos again. Rice, corn, beef, 2 kinds of beans, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, etc. Yummy! We freeze them individually for lunches. I think there were about 20. Today we made peanut butter oatmeal cookies! In the process I discovered we are out of honey, brown sugar and peanut butter. We're almost out of whole wheat flour. I can't remember the last time I ran out of baking supplies! No that doesn't mean I buy in bulk. It means I rarely bake! But that's been beginning to change. The last store bought cookies we had were from a certain group of girls who are famous for cookies. Before that, I don't even remember. So I think that's a good sign =)
2) The interviews w/the county social worker went well. Pretty basic. Checking to see if we are normal...which we are I guess. The SW was nice, young, like us. She explained things well and seemed to want to help us speed things along. We got fingerprinted and set a date for the home visit. FINALLY! That will be an exciting day...May 9. Please pray. I'm sure I'll be a nervous wreck that whole week...slightly distracted and anxious! I'll be scrubbing everything down and hiding junk! No hopefully I can try to relax and be myself a little. I'll still clean, don't worry, Mom, but she'll be making surprise visits in the future so she might as well see a little of how we are...
3) Once again a situation has come up where we know someone who might not want her baby. Again, I'm asking for your prayers. Every fiber of my being says "Yes! Yes, we'll take the baby! We'll figure out all that legal stuff later..." But common sense says to pray and seek God's will again. The circumstances are not the best. We don't know how to legally do this or if it will be worth the effort. Most likely we will continue gathering information, but at this point it seems the only one able to answer our questions would be an adoption lawyer. I'll keep you updated. Mostly I don't want to talk or think about it until it is for real. But then I get all control-freak again and I know I'd be so-o-o mad hurt if the baby went to someone else just b/c I wouldn't talk about it.
4) Dave visited his new job sites. He seems a little more upbeat about it. The one that worried him the most actually seems better than the other. People have been more friendly and helpful. I'm hoping that he will get a big surprise from the fact that he finds himself enjoying it =)
PHEW - what else...?
5) We're both teaching summer school. Dave will only be teaching half the summer b/c he is staying home the first 2 weeks to watch our friends' son and daughter. They're foster kids, but they hope to have successfully adopted them by that time. Anyway, Dave will be home w/3 kids under the age of 3! I teased and told him I expected the laundry and dishes done when I get home. That and lunch already on the table! Think he can do it? I do!
Well, that's all I can think of. Sorry I've been slacking on the posts. Now there's plenty to read!
1) Yesterday was Monday and we made a HUGE batch of burritos again. Rice, corn, beef, 2 kinds of beans, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, etc. Yummy! We freeze them individually for lunches. I think there were about 20. Today we made peanut butter oatmeal cookies! In the process I discovered we are out of honey, brown sugar and peanut butter. We're almost out of whole wheat flour. I can't remember the last time I ran out of baking supplies! No that doesn't mean I buy in bulk. It means I rarely bake! But that's been beginning to change. The last store bought cookies we had were from a certain group of girls who are famous for cookies. Before that, I don't even remember. So I think that's a good sign =)
2) The interviews w/the county social worker went well. Pretty basic. Checking to see if we are normal...which we are I guess. The SW was nice, young, like us. She explained things well and seemed to want to help us speed things along. We got fingerprinted and set a date for the home visit. FINALLY! That will be an exciting day...May 9. Please pray. I'm sure I'll be a nervous wreck that whole week...slightly distracted and anxious! I'll be scrubbing everything down and hiding junk! No hopefully I can try to relax and be myself a little. I'll still clean, don't worry, Mom, but she'll be making surprise visits in the future so she might as well see a little of how we are...
3) Once again a situation has come up where we know someone who might not want her baby. Again, I'm asking for your prayers. Every fiber of my being says "Yes! Yes, we'll take the baby! We'll figure out all that legal stuff later..." But common sense says to pray and seek God's will again. The circumstances are not the best. We don't know how to legally do this or if it will be worth the effort. Most likely we will continue gathering information, but at this point it seems the only one able to answer our questions would be an adoption lawyer. I'll keep you updated. Mostly I don't want to talk or think about it until it is for real. But then I get all control-freak again and I know I'd be so-o-o
4) Dave visited his new job sites. He seems a little more upbeat about it. The one that worried him the most actually seems better than the other. People have been more friendly and helpful. I'm hoping that he will get a big surprise from the fact that he finds himself enjoying it =)
PHEW - what else...?
5) We're both teaching summer school. Dave will only be teaching half the summer b/c he is staying home the first 2 weeks to watch our friends' son and daughter. They're foster kids, but they hope to have successfully adopted them by that time. Anyway, Dave will be home w/3 kids under the age of 3! I teased and told him I expected the laundry and dishes done when I get home. That and lunch already on the table! Think he can do it? I do!
Well, that's all I can think of. Sorry I've been slacking on the posts. Now there's plenty to read!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Yipee!!!
Just got an email from the social worker (she was on maternity leave!)!! We're working on scheduling individual interviews...PRAY that we can get them both done this week! ASAP!!!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sweet peace and a random rant
Ahhh...sorry, I'm just enjoying the peace that is in our house this morning! I think we are OVER the nutchie. It has been 2-3 days of decent naps and sleeping through the night. We are all so much more fun after a good night's sleep! Just now, Mo was reading a lullaby book that includes Twinkle Twinkle and he went and found that book. He's been reading them quietly for over 10 minutes. Ahhh...It's been a busy week, but good. Mo's wearing 3T pants on a regular basis now. We used the facilities at Goodwill, Younkers and the library. He seems willing to go with me every hour, which helps avoid accidents. Sometimes I can't believe he is doing so well. He counts up to 14!! Usually just to 10 though. We got a letter in the mail about Creative Play, a 3 yr old program through the Rec Dept. It costs money, so Dave was pretty flippant about not putting Mo in it. It's only 2.5 hrs for 2 days a week, so I was thinking why not? I know I have no job, but I'd certainly get a lot more done around here if he wasn't in my hair. (Did you read the beginning of this post? He's not always that way...but...) Then we talked about how we might have more kids in the house by that time! We also talked about how the brochure has a pretty significant mathematical error. That sucks. It really makes them look dumb. I hate that. Especially when it's supposed to be an educational thing. Here's the teachers' names, come to our school, ps we can't do simple math. Yeah, I want you to teach my kid! (Note the dripping sarcasm!) I really want to call. I know the Rec Dept is not a school per se, but here it's part of the school district. We figure they probably use the same flyer every year and the price has gone up so now the 'less than $5/day' is no longer accurate. I guess I could understand if that was the case, but I just can't excuse lack of editing. I used to find errors in the newspaper all the time, when we got one, and I'd rumble around the house for a while saying I should work for them! So that's today's random rant. I'm ok now, really I am...
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Cookie recipe and other food talk
A fellow blogging mom suggested I post the cookie recipe I mentioned. First of all, I will say that I based the recipe I used loosely on one I found in the Sneaky Chef cookbook by Missy Chase Lapine. And I know that there are some people out there who don't agree w/sneaking vegetables in your kids' food when you really should just get them used to eating them from the start and you won't have to sneak them in! But Mo eats a fair amount of veggies on his own, like this pile of red and yellow peppers we were supposed to share at lunch today! I checked the cookbook out from the library more for me and Dave! We are trying to eat healthier. The way I see it, why not have a veggie on your plate as well as something like cauliflower snuck into your mac and cheese? Which by the way, I have decided must have been my high school cafeteria's secret ingredient too. I remember the mac and cheese being really stiff and glue-ey, not that I'm complaining - I ate double portions most times they served it, but that's what this turned out like. Mo really gobbled it up and Dave was hesitant, but he couldn't turn down hot mac and cheese. Anyway, back to the cookies!
1/3 C whole wheat flour, 1/3 C white flour, 1/3 C wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking SODA (sorry, I always get them confused!)
1/4 C rolled oats, finely ground in a food processor
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 C sugar, 1/4 C brown sugar
1 lg egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C white bean puree
1/2 C mint choco chips
(the book said you could also grind up 2 Tbsp blanched almonds or add chopped walnuts, berries, raisins, etc. but I didn't.)
Preheat oven to 375*. Remove butter from fridge to soften. Whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, oats and almonds if using. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Beat in egg, vanilla and white bean puree. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Stir in choco chips, berries, walnuts, whatever you're using. The book suggested using a rounded half-teaspoon to make bite size cookies. I tried that for the first batch and they were so small they almost got burned. Anyway, bake for 12-14 minutes. I never really got up to the 14 minutes, but keep an eye on them. Hope you like them! I know Mo enjoyed helping me dump stuff in and pushing the buttons on the food processor. We had a serious discussion about that mixer. "That could hurt me," he kept repeating. At least he got it, right? And he never tried to touch it. We had a lot of fun and the best part was that they were getting done just as Dave was walking in. "We made cookies!" That's the best way to welcome your man home =)
1/3 C whole wheat flour, 1/3 C white flour, 1/3 C wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking SODA (sorry, I always get them confused!)
1/4 C rolled oats, finely ground in a food processor
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 C sugar, 1/4 C brown sugar
1 lg egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C white bean puree
1/2 C mint choco chips
(the book said you could also grind up 2 Tbsp blanched almonds or add chopped walnuts, berries, raisins, etc. but I didn't.)
Preheat oven to 375*. Remove butter from fridge to soften. Whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, oats and almonds if using. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Beat in egg, vanilla and white bean puree. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Stir in choco chips, berries, walnuts, whatever you're using. The book suggested using a rounded half-teaspoon to make bite size cookies. I tried that for the first batch and they were so small they almost got burned. Anyway, bake for 12-14 minutes. I never really got up to the 14 minutes, but keep an eye on them. Hope you like them! I know Mo enjoyed helping me dump stuff in and pushing the buttons on the food processor. We had a serious discussion about that mixer. "That could hurt me," he kept repeating. At least he got it, right? And he never tried to touch it. We had a lot of fun and the best part was that they were getting done just as Dave was walking in. "We made cookies!" That's the best way to welcome your man home =)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Grow it
We're still knee deep in snow, but I can't help thinking of what I want to grow in the garden this year. We're hoping to get a lot of veggies from a CSA (community supported agriculture) but there's just some things I want to try. We already have a lot of raspberries, but I wonder about winter raspberries. I'm thinking about asking the local nursery about growing blueberries. Then there's beans! Black beans and kidney beans...can they be that hard? I remember growing these little beans in a paper towel in grade school! Not sure if they were plain old green beans or whatever, but I'm curious. I was reading about growing potatoes in a bin, but I've heard about piling up old tires to keep them growing too. Most CSAs don't include too many melons so I was thinking about those yellow watermelons that are small. Have any of you successfully grown any of these things?? If you have a garden, what are you thinking of growing?
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