Goals, Not Resolutions

I'm afraid to make resolutions! They seem like such a set up for failure.

At the same time, I don't want to let this opportunity of a clean slate just pass me by - because you know it will be mucked up soon! So, I'm setting some goals. After all, without goals, how will I know where I'm going, and if I've arrived?

I'm using Allison LaMarr's "Eight Lanes of Living" to help me put some structure to this. (Click that link to read the intro to these concepts. It is really good! And her posts that follow explain each and every one of them in detail.)

Spiritual Life:

I need to have a more organized prayer life - perhaps make myself a journal, and set aside some time each day. I know I am capable of making a great artsy journal, and that might be a fun project for this weekend - if I get all my other stuff done. I'm not all that efficient in the morning, and getting up earlier is more a problem than a solution for me, so it may be that I need to set aside time in the evening to do this.

I also need to find a good devotional for me. I love our weekly Bible Study, but really, I need something daily. I'm interested in studying the book of Daniel, but I don't have any materials. So, I'll have to seek something out and get a move on with that.

Family Life:

I feel pretty good about our family life in general, but there is room for improvement in everything. So, relative to J, I'd like to be better at supporting him through school challenges - like better at being consistent in helping him to practice his writing. I'd also like to be better at being consistent in expecting him to clean up after himself. Those are both pretty big goals, so for now, I'll leave him alone.

Relative to Andy, I'd love to have more one on one time with him. Maybe a monthly date night, to start with. Also, I need to return to asking him every morning what he needs from me that day.

For all of us together, I'd like to have at least a day a month where we do some adventure together just for fun. That's not always easy, but these are goals, not resolutions, right!?!

Professional Life:

This is a big area this year as I start my new job on Monday. So, first I want to be a sponge and absorb information about my new area of work. I think I'll try for one training event a month - whether that is attending a webinar (already set up for one later this month) or reading a book or article, I need to keep myself open to many new ideas to accomplish this job.

I also want to keep my Mary Kay business going. That means I need to start checking in with my customers so they know I still love them. I've slacked off in this, but can get better!

And I need to be organized about keeping up with my responsibilities at Andy's office - do time sheets every Friday night and do the filing after work on Mondays! That doesn't seem like much, but if I don't keep it as a priority it will get ignored, and Andy will be unhappy. I want him to be happy!

Personal Development:

Ah, the place I'm tempted to spend all my time. I'm thinking this covers art and photography. I'd love to find a photography class to take. They seem pretty far out of my price range right now, but I'll keep looking. In the mean time, I may look for a group of online people who would like to do a photography group and give constructive criticism and helpful hints to one another. (If you are interested in this, let me know! I'm really serious about this!)

And on the art side, I'd love to do at least four scrapbook pages a month, and one project a month with other medium (fabric, fibers, whatever). That's a pretty big goal, so I may have to keep the projects smaller.

I'd also like to work on my listening skills - be better at listening all the way before I start to formulate my response in my mind. It will help me with all aspects of relationships, I'm certain.

Physical Health:

This is "easy" in that I know exactly what I want to do: EAT CLEAN! I've been doing it for three days now, and I see so much potential! It already has increased my energy levels. (I got more done before noon today than I do most days total, and I wasn't wiped out from it!)

Financial Health:

Ugh, this is a hard topic. But, I want to be focused here because there is so much to do.

First, I want to really be good at paying off our debt, which means not treating my new income as money that is available to us. Instead, apply it to anything and everything that needs to get paid.

Second, I want to be a good saver. Andy and I want to have six months of expenses saved up (won't happen in a year, but something we will work towards) and still be putting money aside for retirement.

It is kind of depressing to think of these, because basically it means we will be just as tight as before, even though we are significantly increasing our income. But, that is only for a couple of years - then we'll be able to have a few extras, although we will always be putting money into savings! And, really, although we will live the same frugal lifestyle, we won't have the stress of being concerned that we can't afford what is necessary!

Social Life:

I think it would be good for me to have at least one outing a month with my women friends - whether that is just dinner together or an evening scrapbooking together.

And I would love for our family to entertain at least one night a month - we need to invite some of those wonderful people we love to spend some time with us in our home! We love to do it, but we allow ourselves to get too overwhelmed to make it happen. So, time to see if we can change that a bit.

Community Involvement:

Whew! Is there really time for this? I think I will focus this at my church, and be sure to keep a servant's heart there. I am stepping down as the Deaconess of Women's Ministry (not enough time with my new job), so I need to find another way to serve. I'd like to teach a Sunday School class or lead a Bible Study, as I've done in the past. Maybe that will be where I can serve.

This is an area I need to look into a bit more.

So, there you have it. A set of goals for the year. I won't have everything all perfect by the end of January. I may not get it all done by next December. But it is something to work towards!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

BRING ON 2010!

A look back. . .

to see where we were this year. Reflection is always a good thing for me this time of year.

We started the year recovering from Andy's big scare at the hospital - Thank God it turned out to be nothing! That all seems so far away now! And his health has been stable and great - except that arthritic hip, which needs replacement, but I'll touch on that more with tomorrow's looking forward post.J made it through third grade, had lots of fun, matured and grew like crazy and for the most part thrived. He provided so much joy! He loved deeply, lost a cat and gained a kitten.I struggled with fatigue, but learned a lot of humility through that, and resolved the health issues. And got to see God work a miracle there! And I'm feeling more energetic than every, again, more on that in tomorrow's post. I started and stopped studying for the bar exam - God had such better plans for us! I took on new challenges (Mary Kay business most notably! And I changed my look!

The economy was a big issue for everyone this year, and we are not an exception. Being in business for yourself is a challenge in times like these! We had a scare that our Public Defender work would dry up as the State of Montana began to make some cutbacks, but God is good to us, and blessed us with a continuation of that source of income. But the scare put us into a good reflective mode and we realized that we needed to make some changes. So, we've learned to cut back on expenses and be more self sufficient - everything from changing our own oil, to getting groceries for under $100 a week,to relying on firewood for more of our heating, to getting a whole wardrobe for under $25 at the thrift stores. This was great because it means we are coming out of 2009 in better financial shape than we entered. Still have some goals to accomplish, but feeling good about what we did accomplish.

But we still had time to play. We enjoyed the company of friends and family who came to visit.I practice my photography and even got a new camera. So much to learn both with the camera and with the computer after the pictures are downloaded!

It was a painful year in some ways, but it was a good year. God was faithful, and we are doing our best to be faithful to him.

A Blog Lift!

This morning Stephanie Howell had the theme "I Am" on her blog. I am copying Stephanie Howell, but probably not as interesting as she is.

• I am a wife and mom, and even more, but sometimes I forget the even more.
• I am middle aged, but I feel like I'm in my 30's.
• I am sometimes too smart for my britches - meaning there are times when I am too quick to give advise. But I am always sincere in my desire to be helpful. Hopefully that sincerity makes up for the awkwardness of giving too much advise.
• I am an aspiring photographer - in my head I see the kind of photos I want to take, but that is not what I see when I download from my camera - yet. I will get there someday.
• I am sitting in the quiet because my boy is spending the night at a friends and my husband is out for his morning run.
• I am married to the most wonderful man on the planet - sorry ladies, I know you think it is your husband, but I know in my heart that my Andy has them all beat! He's strong, kind, a spiritual leader in our family and in the community, humble (he wouldn't like it that I'm being so public about his attributes), and very very healthy (we went to the doctor yesterday for a physical, and the doctor literally raved about how healthy he is for a man his age - except that hip that needs replacing).
• I am craving opportunities to be more creative, but not putting in the effort to make it happen - maybe tomorrow! If I get my craft room cleaned . . . which leads to:
• I am not the worlds greatest housekeeper. Lots of clutter accumulates in my home. My theory is that this is caused by a very fast moving brain that wants to do ten things as once, and my body doesn't have time to clean up as I'm trying to keep up.
• I am getting more nervous about my new job which starts on Monday. I do not want to let anybody down and the task I face is quite large. There are a lot of zeros in the number of dollars I need to raise so we can build our new school facility!.
• I am allergic to milk (found out three months ago) and really missing cheese.
• I am starting a new diet - Eating Clean by Tosca Reno - and pretty excited about it. I have never seen a diet plan that looked so appealing to me.
• I'm starting that diet TODAY. I know, it's not the first of the year, the first of the week, the first of the month, my birthday, or any other typical start a diet day. But, today I start. I did the shopping for it yesterday, and we'll see how I do.
• So, I am eating oatmeal with nuts, Cinnamon, raisins and black berries for breakfast as I type this. It's blander than I expected, but I think if I mix the black berries in better it will be more tasty.

• Have a wonderful Tuesday!

He's growing up faster than I like!

The other night J had a friend over to spend the night. The both enjoyed playing the new Wii (thanks Grandpa Gary and Grandma Nell), and had a great time. I noticed two things about how J is growing.

First, I thought J's friend was the tallest in the class. As this photo demonstrates, not so. J is taller by at least two and maybe three inches. Wow!

Second, they talked about girls! Ugh! I am so not ready for that. J has hinted that he might have a crush on a wonderful little girl in his class, but I thought it was just one of those following along with the crowd thing because his friend liked the same girl. Turns out his friend likes someone else, and J is sticking to his guns about liking the wonderful little girl. Hmmm. At least he has good taste in girls to like.

We did have the discussion that for the next few years (yes, years) it is appropriate to like in secret! Don't need any girlfriends anytime soon!

I got out and took some photos late in the afternoon yesterday. Went to the top of a nearby hill where there are some fields covered with snow and lined with old dry weeds and grasses. The weeds and grasses accumulate ice crystals and look beautiful.

Since I don't have a macro lens, these photos will have to do. A macro would really allow the beauty of the individual crystals to be evident.

But you can get the idea of what we see daily as we drive to and from town!

I'm thinking it may be time for an end of the year reflection post followed by a New Year's resolution type post. I'll let those ideas brew in my mind a bit, but you can check back later this week to see what I come up with.

Happy Monday!

More Sledding Today!

Christmas fun!

I made 10!

Six of them I did yesterday! Two are not pictured here because I mailed one off already and the other is for J, and I didn't want him to see it. I thought I would make them for a niece and nephews and one for J. That was a total of 4.

Then a family with four children came to my attention that they were having a lean Christmas - blame the economy!

So I made four for them.

Then, I realized I forgot to get something for the two boys who live next door, so I made two more. These two had to be free of chokables because these boys are quite young.

It was fun.

I love these.

I was inspired by the cover of a magazine I saw at JoAnn's.

But mine are very different!

I didn't buy the magazine (not in the budget), and I don't even remember the title.

Happy Christmas Eve!