Looking Back...

Before I start rattling of goals for next year, I really want to take a few minutes to look back at last year. I believe if we don't appreciate what we WERE able to do & accomplish then we just feel discouraged at what we didn't accomplish.

I do a Christmas card blog every year: http://www.hamiltonchristmascard.blogspot.com/

I do it to save time & $ on cards (I'm cheap, it's true). But the interesting side benefit for me is that I can look through it & say WOW. I did a LOT last year!

Here are some things I did:

-MOVED. That is huge by itself.

-Did 2 sprint-distance triathlons and a 1/2 marathon.

-Was at Primary Children's hospital with my baby girl for 4 days. Now she is on medicine 2x a day.

-Had a SUPER-busy summer, including trips to the zoo, splashparks, regular parks, Richfield, Snowbird, LP Aquarium, This is the Place monument, the pool - for fun & lessons, Discovery Gateway, Lagoon, the Benson's cabin & Thanksgiving Point.

-Lost 2 precious people in our lives - my Aunt & Jason's grandma. And did 2 memorial slideshows for each funeral.

-Started homeschooling McKinley. This is also huge.

-Read about 13 books - including a couple "self-improvement" books.

I am so VERY blessed to have three young daughters and an amazing hubby that in-between all these activities keep me very busy.

So - even though it's true that most of the goals I set for last year should probably be repeated this year, I can still look back & say I was very busy and very blessed. I can look back on last year & say it was GOOD. And I was thankful for it.

A few goals I feel like I really did make progress on:

-Probably 75% of the time, I am dressed & ready before the girls wake up. This is huge!

-I have been really a lot better about taking care of my skin & nails.

-Probably about 70% of the time, I am able to put God first in my day and do my personal study before the girls get up.

-I have been a lot better lately about my journal, too. It makes such a difference for me!

-Planning healthy meals. I feel pretty good about this goal. I get most of my recipes from Zonya or alter existing recipes.

It doesn't even have to be goals, but take a minute & recognize what YOU did last year!

2011 Here I Come!!!!!!!

2011 GOALS
I started many goals/habits that I like and many that fell by the wayside. I plan to continue to work on the good ones. The goals below are ones I’d like to try this year. I hope to mark whether I’m making progress on them a few times each month (on my nifty new mac)

Be part of moromon.org
monthly speaking engagement
get back into daily exercising (following trouble with my knee and wrist)
wisdom in eating
continue reading enjoyable books
Homemaking cards system Heidi and I developed
Learn tech. so I can listen to recordings, songs, etc. on phone. Let virtue...
do temple work for Althea
work with Darla to make our ebooks and audiobooks available
continue mtgs. and speak with Kerri
continue exercise fun with Margaret
writing: senior review?

HELLO!

I was writing in my journal the other day, frustrated & wondering why my goals & follow-through have been sliding so much, when I realized that my journal isn't the best place for tracking my goals. I've been missing this outlet more than I expected.

First, I have to recognize the progress I have made before I go into the ones I'm still struggling with..

1. I did my Echo Triathlon last weekend! Yay! I had to dig deep for this one because I really was tempted to opt out this year with the move & everything, but I was glad I stuck with it & finished.

2. My bedtimes & wake-up times have generally been pretty good. We are usually asleep by 11pm, which is good, because I'm usually up between 6-6:30am to read my scriptures & go work out.

3. Outside time with the girls. I'm usually out there with them for at least 20 minutes while they ride bikes, jump on the tramp or play in the water. This is easier to do in the summertime.

4. I have been reading. Not as much of the spiritual or self-help, but some really good novels to add to my list.

Now... on to my struggles:

Well, the whole routine thing has been anything BUT routine. I know with the move & all, that's to be somewhat expected, but we've been here for almost 2 months now & I should really get back into the swing of things. I was looking over the routines the other day, thinking "wow. These are really good. I remember how much smoother everything went when I did those routines."

So...

For the next couple weeks, I'm going to focus on my night routine. Especially the "washing my face," "laying out clothes" and "looking at the next day's routines & appts" parts.

Also, I have had a MAJOR struggle with sugar lately! Seriously! As in... I am addicted to sugar. I mean, I knew that before, but it's BAD! I'm 90% sure sweets are to blame for this solid 5 lbs I'm still carrying around from Kezia's birth. Somewhere in my mind, I'm using the rationale that since I've been training a lot, I should be able to eat what I want, but this belly & butt don't lie! There's also this thing I have mentally that I need to get past, where I think I DESERVE a sweet after the kids take a nap or go to bed. Yup... I DESERVE a sweet. therefore I DESERVE the extra lbs that come with that.

So...

I'm going to really try to reach for fruit instead of something bad for me. AND for the next couple weeks, I'm doing to try mom's tactic (this is going to take some getting used to, though) of drinking one entire glass of water before I eat a sweet.

So - there you go... wish me luck. Or better yet, pray for me!! :)

Becka's update

Well, I think progress not perfection is a perfect theme for this year. I've yet to accomplish anything but I know I'm still trying. I've made a lot of progress this year on my goals to get up early and exercise more and although I've had a lot of set backs I feel like my mindset is changing and hopefully that will make all the difference.

Right now I am really weak and haven't exercised in weeks. I haven't cared about getting up early or gone to bed early for that matter. I know I have to start slow to regain some of my strength and I also know that I still need a lot of rest but I've decided to make a plan to get back on the right track. This week I'm going to take it kind of easy but the point will be to be consistent in doing something.

Goal 1 - Take a walk every day this week. I don't care for how long or where I go, just to get out and feel I'm doing something.

Goal 2 - To get to bed by midnight and up by 9 am. That may seem really lame but it's the routine I'm caring about not the time. I feel 9 hours should be enough sleep and this will help me to not sleep in to late.

I'll let you know how I do and hopefully I can get a lot accomplished this week.

Sometimes Progress means Counting

I woke up this morning with a horrendous headache #8 1/2. So much for progress today. I spent sometime by the wastebasket and wished the pounding and rocking would end.
Somehow between exedrine, tylenol, prayer, extra angel help and a wet washcloth doused with lavendar and peppermint I made it to church to lead the children in singing.
I left early and came home to sleep my headache off only to find that it still rode my neck like a determined cowboy when I woke up.
I went through my checklist of "things to do when you get a headache" and checked them off one at a time then I noticed the acronym EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique.) I figured that I had tried everything else so I went through the exercise.
Surprisingly, my headache went from a #4 to a #2. I am now able to think clearly enough to look at things more clearly and evaluate my options for the rest of the day. My attitude went from "poor, poor me" to "The day isn't finished yet. I can still do some good before it's over." I thank my Heavenly Father for his blessings today.

Simplify!!!

I have been listening to some CD's from Tony Robbins. I loved one of his suggestions about simplifying goals. Simply fill in the blank "My Day is successful when I..." Keep it simple and short! Here is mine:

My Day is sucessful when I am:
Always Remembering Him
Having His Spirit
Showing Charity for Myself
Showing Charity for Others
Making a Difference
Creating Order

Hello April!

Can't believe we're entering the end of the 1st quarter of this year.
Goes by so fast!

Things have been uber-crazy at our house with Jason getting his job & getting the house ready to sell, so I can't say I've been very consistent on much of anything, HOWEVER, I did:

-Run 8 miles by the end of March! Hooray! My running has been spotty, but I was determined to get this goal. I hope to start the biking & swimming soon.

So... looking at April, I am excited in a way to have Jason go back to work, just because I think I'm more consistent w/ things when I don't have him to fall back on & I have to take full accountability of my day.
So, here's what I'm focusing on for April:

-BED ON TIME. Yes, I know. It never ends. BUT - if I'm going to be able to work out, I can't go in the middle of the day anymore, so I need to get to bed early, so I can wake up, do personal study & work out.

-ROUTINES. Yes, again broken record. Need to get back on the wagon w/ my routines. Especially looking at my goals and schedule before the day starts EVERY day.

-Clean house. This goes hand-in-hand w/ the other 2, but I really need to MAINTAIN my clean house, so that it can be ready to show in a short amount of time. It's SO much easier to maintain than clean up.

-Look for more opportunities for kindness & the golden rule. I've been so wrapped up in myself & our changes that I haven't taken the time to really serve & help others.

-Dressed, apron on, BED made before breakfast. This should be easier to do now that Jason has a job & has to get up!

-"suffer the children to come & forbid them not" I have been so overwhelmed w/ everything that I've had a very short temper w/ the girls & have been trying to just basically avoid them so I can get stuff done. I need to seek them, cuddle with them, LISTEN to them, LOVE them.

Anyway, that's what I'm workin' on! Looking forward to these changes!

A Dream Come True

The last few weeks have been full. I am beginning to see some speaking opportunity dreams come true. Angie, Kerri and I formed a speaking group entitled PEACE IN A NEW DAY (Trisha was the one who came up with the actual title). As the Marketing and networking specialist Angie set up many speaking engagements along with a bloghttp://www.peaceinanewday.blogspot.com/ (Trisha created it)and we are on facebook as well. I have wanted to share my story with others and now with Gods help I will be able to do this much more in our group. Thanks Father- please help us bless others (and stay balanced in the mean time)

With the look of spring outside I wanted to review and revise my hopes for the year. I don't expect you to read them all but it was fun to revise.
Love,
Patricia

Progress not Perfection

I was grateful to be part of the discussion about this year’s theme. It seems so perfect! I hope to make progress in a few areas by weekly (or daily in some cases) reviewing them and simply recording whether I fell short, made some progress or made good progress.



Here are the areas I want to make progress in throughout the year:

Personal
Physical
• Taking a 2 minute aerobic/stretch break every hour or so
• Better eating choices: Fruits & Veggies
• Better eating choices in portions
• Exercise every other day or so
• Aerobics/stretch break every hour or so
• Drink water
Spiritual
• Kneel while praying more often
• Saying Thank you (poems etc.)
• Learn to do family history, gather names and do temple work.
• Music before bed and in morning
Mental
• memorizing names of people
• Speed reading
Emotionally
• Using EFT when needed
Marriage
• Reading and applying the “love dare”
• Offer to do”bugs
• 4 get-aways
• Sunday planning
• Temple every few months
• Get to bed earlier more often
• Create goals together
Family
• Be willing to help the our children (moving, pregnancies, deliveries, school etc.)
• Finish mom and dad’s history dvd’s
• Do something with Christmas tapes
• Temple with girls
• Scrapbook time.
• Visit Joseph and Tiff
• Help Cindy weekly with study time
• House total down to $145,000.00
• Call/contact Althea, Richard
• Mom & Dad interviews
• Tew-reunion, Mapleton, water day, McBurton’s Farm,
• Help Heidi move
• St. Patricks/Halloween party
• Help Trisha with Baby Parker
• Trisha’s shower
• Mini-books for grandkids
• Perpetual calendar for Christmas
Home
• Patch and paining (Cindy’s help)
•
Callings/Serving
• Learn to use power point in primary. Use it and transparancies often
• Learn and embrace primary songs
• Frequently play inspirational music in the background
• Learn names of primary children
• Call/visit less actives every few months
• Help tutor people recovering from depression (paradym shift lessons)
Professional (writing, speaking singing, guitar teaching)
Writing
• Create an ancestorial perpetual calendar
Speaking
• Speaking with Kerri and Angie
- New website
- Business cards
- Power point
- Secure speaking engagements
- Regular meetings
Singing
Guitar Teaching

It's 8am...

and I've already done my personal study, ran 5 miles & I'm dressed!
HOORAY for waking up at 6:30am!
I realize that this will not happen EVERY day, but I gotta celebrate when it does!

progress...

Hello! How is everyone out there doing?
This past week was good for me! Kezi has now gone an entire week sans-binki & it's generally getting better every day. My 2 goals I was really intently focusing on last week went well - drinking water (I still would like to find a container I LIKE to use & I think I'll do even better) and getting my house clean. Currently, my whole house is straightened. I would not be ashamed if one of you were to walk right in & check things out. I even got my pantry & storage room organized!

So... here's what I'd like to focus on this week:
-Get up by 7am!! This is my #1 goal this week. I would LOVE to be up by even 6:30. That would make such a difference in my day, but if I'm up by 7am, it would still be great!
-Get the kids going on their morning things. I made a new chart for them & hope that it's going to give them (and ME!) some accountability to get things done. I'd really like to have it all done by 10:30am so I am go running/work out.
-House Cleaned! I have a spring cleaning list that I'm working on & I'd like to have all the cleaning things checked off by the end of the week.
-Better about Jason & I's one-on-one time at night. We commit to have at LEAST 20 minutes of non-electronic time. I always look forward to it, but lately it hasn't been happening consistently.
-My running has been sub-par the last couple weeks & it will be a stretch to be to 8 miles by the end of the month, but I'm working on it. I'd like to get 5, 6.5 & 7.5 miles in this week!

Also - please pray for us. Jason had 4 interviews last week. We are praying one will pull through. Thanks!!!

MARCHing orders

Hola! Again, please forgive my lack of posts. My goal is to get on here every week & post an update. I think I'm letting the guilt take over a bit. I nowhere near where I had hoped now that we're already into the 3rd month of the year, but I do feel I've made progress from last year. In the past couple weeks, I feel good about my progress with:

-Running - I ran 7 miles last week. Hope to get to 7.5 this week & 8 by the end of the month. Then I'll feel good about starting to cross-train and work on swimming & biking so I can be ready for the tri in July. I still wish the scale would move a bit faster, but I'm trying not to get hung-up on that & just focus on my overall health.
- Date nights - Thanks to my neighbor Robyn & mom, we've been able to have some fun dates in the past month.
-Stop eating 2 hrs before bed. Not perfection, but definitely progress.

This week is our "weaning Kezi from the binki" week, so I'm going to be realistic here & not try to overdo it, knowing I'm not going to have enough sleep, so for the first few days, I'm just going to try and hang in there & just focus on the day-to-day tasks.

I still would like to work harder on a couple important things:
-Personal Study in the morning - especially the Book of Mormon. Remember the object lesson in Relief Society, where they have all the golf balls & things that are supposed to fit in the jar. When they put the little ones in first, everything doesn't fit, but when they put the bigger balls in first, the smaller ones fit. I NEED to put the personal study first, THEN I will get more done during the day - priorities.
-Drinking water (I've regressed on this & need to work harder at making this something I do naturally)
-I've gotten way behind on my housework. By the end of the week, I'm going to work on having a clean home - even the downstairs.

Thanks everyone for being on top of it & giving ideas & support. Here's to a great March!

Loosing momentum

I was doing well with my calorie count and my physical therapy and taking breaks every half our or so. I've hit a slump. My M&M (momentum and motivation) went out the door when m&m's decided to visit (you'd think they despise each other). Anyway, I am leaving for a 2 week road trip today and I hope I can keep more of the good choices with me...

Good Morning - Becka

I've been wanting to post for awhile but felt like I didn't have much to report.

I'm doing really well at getting up early. My kids have to be to there new school by 7:55 which means we need to leave here by 7:30. I've been getting up at 6:00 am, having a little time to myself, waking them up at 6:30, getting breakfast on the table at 7:00 and out the door at 7:30. We probably don't have to leave that early but we have to drive a couple miles to school and I don't want them to feel rushed because we're running late. Also, depending on the traffic it can still take us up to 20 min., although it's usually closer to 10 min. I'm not doing this every day but I'm getting much better. Most days I get up between 6 and 6:30 but I'd like to make it always 6. Also on the weekends I almost always sleep in which I need to stop. It's hard because my husband is a night owl and it's hard to go to bed when he's still up.

I've also been working on getting my house more organized. I have a long way to go in this area because I am essentially a slob. A neat freak slob but a slob none the less. I get really discouraged when my house isn't clean and tend to give up altogether. I could blame my mother for working and us always having a messy house or I could blame my illness because when I'm sick things seem to fall apart but I know I could do a lot better then I am. I do have to make adjustments for the fact I get sick but if I was better organized then I wouldn't have to worry about getting sick so much because I'd know that things would be taken care of. I'm not even asking for a perfectly clean house. I'd be so grateful if we always had clean dishes and we didn't trip on toys going down the stairs.

I've been working on a job chart for awhile. We've used it before and it worked pretty well but it was a pain for me to put out different jobs every morning and if I forgot the kids never did anything. I'm now making laminated papers with larger jobs on them to make it easier for me.They keep them in there slots for a weeks moving them daily between "to do" and "done". Also, it describes how I want the jobs to be done and that is one of the hardest things for my kids. It's kind of like a step by step list to ensure they get everything in a room done. I've made some for their morning routine, evening routine, and afternoon routine so far. The morning and evening routines aren't difficult it's mostly to help Joe (my 3rd child) see what he's suppose to remember to do; like brush his teeth, get dressed, say prayers. If I don't list them he gets up and goes straight to reading (which totally makes me laugh). The job lists are more instructions on how to do a specific job. Sometimes the way they load the dishwasher makes me cringe or wipe off the table. I know a lot of it is they are just different people then me but a lot is also some of these jobs need to be taught because it doesn't come automatically.

My goals for this week are
1. To get up by 6:00 am every day, even on the weekends.
2. To get my job chart finished and rehang it on the wall.

I can do these for a week, right? Well, I just have to remember Progress not perfection and that small goals will do more then trying to do big ones and that at least if I'm trying then I'm at least not moving backwards. Thanks for all the support. I love being able to come here for help.

Not too bad, really.

I am writing this while waiting on hold for someone to pick up the phone at the doctor's office. My life is just so hectic, this is the only free time I've had for awhile! (If it can be called that!)

February has actually gone better than I thought it would. I have surprised myself and my ability to achieve.

Goal 1- Establish a daily exercise program: I am doing great with this. I'm not exercising daily, but I am at least 3 times a week, if not more. So, that's a huge improvement, since I was not exercising at all before this month!! And, I can see it effecting my body, too. My shape is better, and my energy is much more steady throughout the day. Also, it's keeping 'the crazies' at bay, which is nice. Oh, the benefits of a good work out!!

Goal 2- Foot zoning study/practice: No go. But, the month isn't over yet!! I'll get it going.

Goal 3- Be more aware of what I eat: This is going great!! I've found that when I pay attention to what my body is craving, and stop eating when I am satisfied, I crave foods that are better for me. Once in awhile I am still craving junk food. But, once in awhile is okay with me!! It was the all the time eating junk that was not working!

So, that's it!! I have to say, I've been really impressed with the recent posts by all you ladies. You are in inspiration to me.

Tiff S.

This week...

First of all, Welcome Diana!
Second, sorry I've been slacking in posting...

In keeping w/ Tiffany's "no future in the past" statement... I am not going to beat myself up about the past few weeks. Kezia's sleeping is slowly improving - and so is my ability to get things done, so I am really looking forward to this next week. Here's what I'm focusing on:

BED ON TIME! How come I still can't get to bed before 11pm even when she hasn't been sleeping well?? This is a goal I just need to do. I need to head to bed at 10pm so I can BE trying to sleep by 10:30.

ROUTINES, ROUTINES, ROUTINES: So my routines are, well... far from routine right now. I am still incorporating much of them, but it doesn't happen efficiently and definitely not before the kids get up. My night & morning routines are so important. I am going to try and do most of my night routine right after dinner from now on. I'm just too beat after we get them down & all I want to do is relax. Hopefully that will help. And if I wake up more than twice in the night, I am still going to try & get up, but I'm not going to stress about it if I'm too beat. I'm going to try harder to get my afternoon nap, though.

Feb goals:
1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up.
Not happening well, but truly hope to get to bed earlier this week and so I can get up before the kids do & get in my personal study. PLAN B, though is that I still do my personal study - just later.
2. My room cleaned & bed make before breakfast.
Yeahh... not so good. Going to focus on this!!
3. Date night at least twice a month.
We've been once this month - Stake Dance (it actually was really fun!) and hope to have another date this month (mom - I need to e-mail you about this)
4. Home Blessing Hour once/week
The past couple weeks have been pretty mediocre. I haven't gotten the deep cleaning in that I'd like. I'm planning on this for Tuesday morning.
5. Stop eating 2 hrs before bed.
So-so. I'd say I'm over 50% for this, but need to do better. (Also, I need to double-back & work harder on the water thing, too)
6. Run 5 miles by end of February - maintain & improve time
Yeah! I went 6 miles last week & felt pretty good about it. Hope to get to 6.5 this week. Would like to improve my time to closer to 9 min/miles though.
7. Once a week - pamper night - yoga, face mask, nails, etc.
Did a mini-pamper this week - just my nails, but hope to do this Tuesday night this week.

My daily Chart of Progress

Finally I kept up my chart this week! Yea! Here it is:

A Good Reminder

I renewed my temple reccommend on Sunday. Things went well. I passed. However, there was a problem with the recommend itself; the top layer of one edge was peeled off a little leaving a slightly ragged edge. I felt like asking for a new one so it would be perfect, but then I thought, "No, this will be a good reminder for the next two years--progress not perfection. The recommend is still 100% acceptable at the temple--flaws and all--and so am I." So now, I'm glad I have the recommend I do. It's a good reminder that the Lord doesn't expect me to "perfect" to enter His holy house, only "worthy," and that is something I can do--ragged edges and all.

Feb. 7-13

OK, so I do not want to step on the scales because I don't want to know what it says.  Therefore, I am counting calories for a past time today.

Last week if I erase the first 3 days because of neck pain I did make some progress so I will not CTR (Count the right things)
- I bought a another holiday mug so I could do better on my water
I exercised 3 times

I took breaks every hour or so (walk around, do a few minutes of aerobics and stretching then did something fun for a few minutes)

I worked on QB (Quicken budget summaries) 4 times!

That's about it!
Love you all.
Thanks for posting and cheering and inspiring
Thanks Heidi, for creating such a positive space in the world!

A new day - Becka

Well, a new day has dawned at the Thomas household and I'm not sure it's going to be a good thing or bad thing. Let me go back a little to explain.

As most of you know I have an auto immune disease called Behcet's disease. I have been without insurance for a long time and have had a really hard time getting medicine. I also have some really challenging kids and taking care of them has always been my number one priority not myself. I have also been homeschooling for the past year because the way my kids learn doesn't work well with the public school system. My six year old also has Aspergers which makes homeschooling him even more challenging.

A few weeks ago my husband and I were talking about what we could do to take better care of my health. One of the things we talked about is putting our youngest (Clara) in Kindergarten next year instead of homeschooling her. She doesn't have any of the same problems that our other kids have and we both think she would thrive in school. I told him I wanted to check out some local charter schools before I put her into our local school. We have three here in Fort Collins and were really impressed with the Arts and Knowledge charter school. When we went to their open house we realized that they would not only be great for Clara but might be really good for all of our kids. It's a charter school that emphasizes Arts. They have an extra long school day and 2 more weeks of school a year but almost no homework and almost everything is learned through art.

They actually had openings for our older kids right now and after carefully praying about it and talking it over with all the kids we decided to put them in right now instead of waiting until next year.

Now the reason I went on this whole rant is because my goal this year is to get up every morning. Well, I guess I'm not going to have much of a choice now. The hope is that I will be able to heal my body by having the time during the day to myself. I will also say that the whole reason that was my goal is so that I could be a better home school mom. I'm feeling a bit like a failure even though Dave constantly tells me that I'm not. And who knows, this may not work out at all but I feel like I at least need to try.

So, as of next week I won't be a home school mom anymore, at least not for now. I know I need to sit down this week and come up with some current goals to help me to be the best charter school mom I can be. So, I'll be back on soon hopefully with more info on my new goals. I know no matter what they are you'll support me in them.

Where to begin...?

Hmmm... I'm not quite sure where to begin. I had the best of intentions before the new year began but they all fell to the wayside. :( The good news is, there's never been a better time than now and I hopefully only have UP to go.

Here's a quick thought that may be encouraging. When I visited Adam in L.A., there was a guy I talked to in the LONG line waiting to check my bag in. He was friendly and super successful in real estate and investments. He said something I really loved, are you ready??? Okay, here goes: "There is no future in the past." That's it. The great thing about setting goals is the feeling of accomplishment and being able to track progress. However, I think we can all agree by tracking our progress (or lack of it sometimes), we can get caught up in what we haven't accomplished and feel pretty crappy which can turn into a downward spiral.

Anyways, here are just a few goals I'm going to try and focus on over through the rest of February:

• Focus my prayers on others instead of myself and my problems (I do that a lot.)
• Surprise Adam whether it's putting away his laundry for him, offering a back rub, making a nice meal, etc.
• Organize office and file loose papers
• Read one chapter of Get Motivated every other day

Okay, there you have it. I'm not sure I want to reach higher for the moment since this is already a touching the ceiling kind of a stretch. :)

Thanks for contributing to this blog. You all inspire me.

Love ya!

Tiff

Sleep...

Remember at the beginning of this when I said that really all my goals are for naught if I don't get the sleep I need? My motivation goes down the toilet. I get emotional at the dumbest things. In general, I am not myself. And right now, I do not feel like myself. Heidi - are you in there somewhere?
When Kezia was under a month old, she was sleeping longer than she is right now. I'm talking 3-4 times a night I am up with her. I have tried giving her the binki, I've tried feeding her, I've given her Tylonol in case she's teething, I've let her cry it out, I've tried putting her of a better schedule. Still...she has maybe one good night a week & the rest I am up multiple times with her.
The result?
-I am currently still in my pajamas
-My home is not very clean. I have laundry that needs to be folded, dishes put away, the girls' bedroom is a mess, the basement is a disaster.
-I am highly emotional. I cry at things I would probably normally laugh at.
-I do not get up for personal study & it usually gets pushed to the end of my 'to-do' list
-I am a grouchy mom & wife
-I do not get enough exercise

O.K. - I can't completely blame the lack of sleep for all my problems. I do need to be accountable here because it is still my choice.
I'm sorry to be such a downer on here, but that's where I'm at w/ my goals the past week or two. I've had a few good moments, too, but I'm not where I would like to me.
Don't let me set-back mess you up though! Please post your updates. I am hoping you all are having great success!

Another step backwards

I'm feeling bloated this morning.  Maybe it was the twice baked potato with last nights meal...sigh, back to the drawing board.

 Sometimes there are so many conflicting nutritional voices. One is the straight cereal diet (it seemed to work for us), another says NO MILK and AVOID GRAINS!

Maybe it's back to the prayer board...

January, February

January was decidedly a success. Ups and downs, but overall I feel a definite sense of progress and excitement over goal setting. It's maybe the first time in my life I've ever taken an interest in goal setting at all, and I am loving it!

I'll start with my joke of the week this time:

One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug.

"I can't dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room."

A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice:
"The big sissy."


February I've decided to focus on physical goals.

1-Establish daily exercise program - I'm trying to make this all about getting healthy, instead of about losing weight!

I've got a certification in something called Foot Zonology, a holistic healing method using the signal system on the feet to heal the body. I haven't been doing it for some time, because of various factors in my life, including caring for small children! Goal #2 is - set up and keep a Foot Zoning schedule and study schedule, to get back into 'zoning'.

3- I'm also into "Intuitive Eating". (an excellent book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, by the way!) It's kinda the opposite of dieting. It's all about listening to your body and giving it what it wants. One of the key components of eating this way is that you cannot limit yourself at all. You eat what you want when you want it, and as much as you want. I know that sounds crazy, and you have to read the book to understand why it works for weight control, but it does! Anyway, I wanted to set an eating goal, but that's hard to do when you're not limiting yourself at all. So....goal #3 is to be more aware of what I am putting into my body. I'm not just going to put food in my face. I'm going to think about what it is I am eating, how it will make me feel, how I am feeling while I'm eating, etc...

Sorry I'm so long winded! This month should be an interesting one. Fitness is a hard thing for me!! Wish me luck...

-Tiffany S.

Progress doesn't happen in a perfectly straight, unwavering line

I cut up one of my FIRST-AID FOR FEELINGS books and made notes for Dan's lunches.

I liked the quote on this one "Progress doesn't happen in a perfectly straight, uwavering line...there are some periods of peace and some periods of serious war." - Colleen C. Harrison. pg. 82

Well, I'm about to "wage war" on a few more of my vices. I hope they will give up the fight by the end of the year. I now plan to:
* Really listen more when Dan talks (instead of just impatiently waiting for my turn)
* spend 10 minutes a day on finances. downloading to quicken etc. (instead of avoiding them for 3 weeks and not remembering exactly WHY I spent so much at Walmart!)
* Evaluate my medication/natural suppliments to find the right balance for my body (I am working with Karen Shaw with this one.)

I have added them to the excell page I have in my planner.  I thought I'd check it off each night.  That just isn't happening but even if I review it and make check marks 3x a week I think it will be worth it.

So, there you have it. 
A slice of my life for this day in the year 2010.
Love,
Patricia

February?

Hello All!
Hope you all have had a wonderful January. Can't believe February is tomorrow! I had a better week overall last week, even though I think it will be even better once Kezia is all the way better. She's still up too much at night.
Anyway, with the new month, I'm looking over my January goals to see if I've really "got it" with them and made them into a routine. I'll look at each one & if I feel that they need more work then I'll continue to focus on it, otherwise I'm moving on to the next one.
So, here's the summary:

ROUTINES: Well, I did better than last week, but I still have a ways to go before I really consider these routines, well, routine. I have this part of me that I've always struggled with. I KNOW everything goes smoother when I stick to a routine, but there's a part of me that still feels like she has to be rebellious. There's a part of me that shuns repetition and routine and wants to just live the way I want to live every moment. This voice in the back of my head says "Wait a minute! I thought when you were grown up you got to do what YOU wanted to do! It's NOT FAIR that you have to follow this routine and all this structure. Just do what YOU want to do!" Then, of course the rational part of me counters with "Hello! Being a grown-up is about responsibility. Life goes better when you follow a routine, so stick to it!"
I'm not completely schizophrenic, I promise. (so do I - he,he,he!)
Sorry :)
Anyway, I'm working on the balance of responsibility and living in the moment.

Bed on time: ahhh, OK. Not perfect. I need to do so much better - especially w/ Kezi waking up so much.

GOALS:

SPIRITUAL: (My ultimate goal is to make my relationship with Jesus the most important one in my life. These goals seek to accomplish this)
1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up. Personal study - continue to read the New Testament and learn more about Him - and apply His teachings to my life.

I'm going to keep working on this one into February. Last week I did a little better than the week before - probably about 4 for 7.

BETTER MOM: (My biggest goal here is to be a better example to my children).
1. Dressed before breakfast with my apron on.
I need some work here, but I generally feel like I've done well. When I put on my apron, I really do feel more powerful! When I don't put it on, I tend to feel more laid-back, don't get so much done, whatever...

So, here's February's goal:
2. My room cleaned & bed make before breakfast
The biggest obstacle with this goal is actually my DH (Dear Hubby). He is not usually up by the time I am and he is still in the bed that needs to be made. So... I'm going to adress that tonight in our family council. We'll figure something out.

BETTER WIFE:
1. Finish the Love Dare.
Hey - HOORAY! Check this one off! I finished yesterday. It was AMAZING. It's definitely something I'm going to have and keep incorporating its principles.

February goal:
2. Date night at least twice a month.
I actually accomplished this last month, courtesy of my neighbors and my mom & dad. We had a great time at the movies, at the temple, and skiing!
Looking forward to this next month - I need to coordinate w/ mom & Robyn. Maybe we'll even do something Valentine-sy.

HOME:
1. Clean, shiny sink.
Not perfect, but DEFINITELY progress from last month! I'm getting back into my routine where I don't like to put anything in there because it's clean.

February goal:
2. Home Blessing Hour once/week
I was originally planning this on Monday, but with McKinley's preschool, I think Tuesdays will work better. It REALLY does make a difference when I accomplish this goal.

NUTRITION:
1. More water. Full glass before breakfast. Each person has a full glass of water at each meal.
This is not perfect, but I've been doing better & feel pretty good about this goal, but if I feel I'm regressing, I'll come back to it.

February Goal:
2. Stop eating 2 hrs before bed.
Usually this will be about 8:30pm, so I need to remember.

EXERCISE:
1. walk/run minimum of 3x a week
2. Run 5 miles by end of February
These kind of go hand in hand. I did pretty good last week. I'm up to almost 5 & a half miles, so I'm pretty much there with my Feb goal - but I need to maintain it & improve my time.

OVERALL HEALTH:
1. Wash Face twice a day
I did pretty good, but need to do better - especially at night. Still, though, major improvement.

Feb goal:
2. Once a week - pamper night - yoga, face mask, nails, etc.
I did this on Tuesday last week & it was SOO nice. seriously. I think I'm going to plan for Tuesday nights for this.

So, summary for Feb goals:
1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up.
2. My room cleaned & bed make before breakfast
3. Date night at least twice a month.
4. Home Blessing Hour once/week
5. Stop eating 2 hrs before bed.
6. Run 5 miles by end of February - maintain & improve time
7. Once a week - pamper night - yoga, face mask, nails, etc.

Not taking myself too seriously

A friend forwarded this to me. You've probably seen it before, but hopefully it will give you all a chuckle - and I would love to hear if anyone actually does some of these things - I'm eyeing a couple myself :)

To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom.. Don't Disguise Your Voice!
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks . Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
5. Skip down the hall Rather Than Walk and see how many looks you get.
6. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
7. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'.
8. Sing Along At The Opera.
9. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You have a headache.
10. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'
11. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the parking LOT Yelling 'Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'
12. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

This week - Becka

I have to say this week has been really crappy too. I have actually gotten up every day this week but not because I've been following my resolution to get up early but because I've been sick and haven't been able to sleep. This morning was actually the first day that I got up to an alarm. It was really really hard for me since it was the one time I actually had to get up. It's fantastic to know that I've been succeeding even if it's not for the reasons I want. Oh well, progress is progress.

Encouraging

Apparently we're all posting updates, today! I was so glad to see updates from Heidi and Patricia in my inbox. Ladies, a word of encouragement: even if we're not doing as amazingly well this week as we have hoped to, I think it shows an amazing amount of fortitude that we all got on here and posted anyway!!

That said, it must have been something in the water this week, because I didn't do so well either. Well, let me clarify. I had some progress. But I have had to be very forgiving with myself.

I was too busy being sick to want to serve others. So, I didn't. Except my family, which I originally said counts. I guess I will have to count it as progress. Or at least blissful complacency, since I already take care of them anyway!

I was too busy being sick to be joyful. Honestly, I spent most of the week being grouchy and inaccessible. My poor children.

I was also too busy being sick to be very positive. Are we sensing a pattern here??? I'm guessing from the tone of my post, you can guess that I was not feeling very positive this week.

Thankfully, a beacon in this dark abyss of sinus pressure: my sense of humor stuck. It's just about the only thing getting me through a time of snotty-icky-cough'y-yuckiness. I'm ever so glad I have been working on keeping things light. I will prevail!! This next week will be much better. I can already tell. My nose is feeling much more clear, and the baby went to bed at a decent hour tonight!! HOORAY.

My long term goals went pretty well. We're back on our budget and headed for home-ownership. WOOT! And, I am taking in a meal to a friend this week.

Again, as we part, my joke of the week. Not a 'laugh out loud' joke, but it still made me smile:

A man whisks his wife away from their children and messy house, for a weekend at a coastal resort. They're walking along the beach, hand-in-hand, when a beautiful, buxom, bikini-model- type blond goes strolling by. The man is careful not to look too closely. But his wife, at seeing the blond, bursts into tears. "Why are you crying?" asks the man of his wife. She replies, "Because my body will never look like that again." The man sweetly and sincerely takes his wife in his arms and says, "Neither will hers."

good, pretty good, ok and could have done better

OK, I guess I'll follow Hedis lead:

Before I got sick I did:

good at family history time (we had a breakthrough at the family history center!

pretty good at drinking water, exercising, doing physical therapy, taking breaks every half hour or so, taking my suppliments, memorizing positive songs, serving my family, serving some neighbors.


O.K. at drinking water at meals, only taking 3 spoon fulls, serving others,homemaking time

I could have done better at grandma time, wife time, working on my speaking, writing

Not letting guilt win!

Tiffany Checketts - we MISS YOU!
Ok, so this week was admittedly not as progress-ful as the past couple. I had sick children, I wasn't feeling well myself, and I was up with Kezia more at night, so exhaustion. So... this is going to be one of those weeks that I'm going to cut myself some slack & say I did the best I could with what I had. I'm not giving up! I'm hoping for a better week this week - Kezia is still not sleeping well - she up at night coughing and can't breathe w/ her congestion - poor thing. Anyway, blah, blah - here's my update:

Routines really suffered this week. I realize truly how MUCH MORE I get done when I'm able to get up and get my apron on. I'm going to get back into it tonight, though. Hot spots, face washed, clothes laid out, bed by 10:30!!

1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up.
Geez, I feel like I'm going backwards on this, BUT It's still progress from last year & I'm NOT letting guilt win. I was like 3 for 7 this week on this one.

2. Dressed before breakfast with my apron on.
3 for 7.

3. Finish the Love Dare.
I was O.K. this week. Almost done!

4. Clean, shiny sink.
This one is still doing well. Not as well, but pretty good. I feel like I'm truly making it a habit - keeping it clean. Makes me happy!

5. More water. Full glass before breakfast. Each person has a full glass of water at each meal.
Less progress than last week, but still better overall. I need to work more on making it a HABIT, though - morning, noon, night, and in-between. water. water. water.

6. walk/run minimum of 3x a week
I am proud of myself with this one. I hadn't done anything at all by Wednesday morning & was ready to just throw in the towel for the whole week because we had so much other stuff going on, but I decided I was going to make it work. I ran on Wednesday morning, did Tae Bo on Thurs early morning, and ran on Thursday (even though I didn't go as far, I think I deserve extra credit for this one because I braved biting snow, wind, and ice)

7. Wash Face twice a day
Yeah...probably like 3 for 7. This needs to be a HABIT - especially at night when I have the tenancy to pop zits instead of taking care of my face.

Better late then never - Becka

Well, I'm finally getting to writing on here. I've had my new years resolution for weeks and yet I haven't had the time to write. Partially because we had to make a trip to Utah for some family things but partially because I'm a bit lazy.

As you might know I usually only pick one thing to work on. Last year it was to homeschool my kids and I did it and I'm really proud of myself. I didn't do a perfect job. Some days I hated myself for even thinking up the idea but most of the time I loved it and reveled in how good my kids were doing.

This year my resolution is (drum roll please). To get up early every morning. For me this is huge. There are a lot of things I want to work on but for me it all comes down to the fact I hate mornings, hate getting up, hate waking the kids up, hate waking my husband up, really hate being the responsible one. Oh, and I love staying up late with my husband. I want to not just wake up early but change my habits and feelings about getting up.

So this is how I'm doing right now.

I have been reading up on the computer and I found a great blog that had some great ideas on how to get up early to an alarm. http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/04/how-to-get-up-right-away-when-your-alarm-goes-off/ I have been practicing getting out of bed during the day so that I can get up in the morning. I also have been getting in bed much earlier then I usually do and reading. I have yet to actually set the alarm (mostly because I have been out of town and didn't have an alarm) but I'm getting close to it. I really like to get up first thing and exercise but even if I don't exercise I've made a list of other things I can do.

Right now I'm getting up at 8:00 which is huge for me. (Dave usually gets up at about noon) My goal by the end of the year is 6:00 am but I'm trying to take baby steps. So there you have it. I'll write again when I have something more important to say.

Love it...

Tiffany Sanderson - this one's for you - and anyone else reading this that needs a good laugh. I have to share this guy's blog that my friend sent me. You have to at least read "The Standoff" and "The Nice Guy." LOVE IT.

http://robierto25.blogspot.com/

A week good and bad....

This week went really well. I met every one of my goals (almost). Some short comings, though, were:

I did a good turn everyday, but did not write any of them down. In fact, I didn't write in my journal at all last week. I really want a record of this time in my life and the things I am doing, so I need to get on top of writing!!

I found tremendous joy in the everyday and mundane, and I didn't even have to look very hard. Joy is everywhere. When you're looking for it, it's so obviously and wonderfully abundant!

Making one person a day laugh was also a cinch. I used to be the 'funny girl' (aka: class clown) and really enjoyed getting a laugh, but I lost my sense of humor somewhere between diaper changes and loads of laundry. It's been a lot of fun getting it back!

Decidedly my goals are easy, but I wanted to ease into the business of goal setting, make it fun, and get excited about a goal-driven life. And, do you know what?? It's Working!!!

I leave you with my joke of the week: (it's a little juvenile, but I still thought it was funny.)

So, a man wakes up one day, and every time he farts it sounds like "honda"
This freaks him out, so he heads to the doctors office.
"Doctor, I have a problem," says the man, and then he farts and the farts goes "honda"
The doctor is stumped, but he sends the man to a gastro-intestinal specialist.
Again, the man shows this new doctor. He farts, and the farts goes "honda"
This doctor is stumped as well. No one can come up with an explanation as to why his farts sound like "honda"
So, as a last resort, the man goes to see a medicine man.
He shows the medicine man, and sure enough: the fart goes "honda"
"Ah, yes." Says the Medicine man. "This is an abscess tooth."
"An abscessed tooth?" asks the man..."but I don't understand why the one would effect the other."
"Well," says the medicine man, "It's really very simple. Abscess makes the fart go 'honda'."

-Tiff

Heidi's update

Hello everyone! How are you??
Mom - Have you talked w/ Kerri? I did send her an invite. Also - Tiffany Checketts! Welcome back from Cancun! We can't wait to hear from you!

Here's a quick update from last week:

Routines are still going pretty well - at least the morning one. There were a couple mornings I didn't make it up before the kids because of a rough night, but on the whole I did & again it made a world of difference when I was able to get up & get going before the rest of the household.
The evening routines have been slipping a bit. I'm not so great at hitting the hotspots - even though I know I'm only going to do them for 10 minutes. I'm definitely going to work on that this week.
Getting to bed on time has been going OK - still more like 11 instead of 10:30.

1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up.
I was more like 4 for 7 this past week, but that's still progress! And - I'm not going to beat myself up over it - especially if I was up more than 2 times the night before.

2. Dressed before breakfast with my apron on.
Again, about 4 for 7.

3. Finish the Love Dare.
Better this week! I only have 5 days left. WOOHOO!

4. Clean, shiny sink.
Again, definite progress. Not perfection, but it's made a big difference.

5. More water. Full glass before breakfast. Each person has a full glass of water at each meal.
not as good as last week, but again, progress. I find that I crave it more now that I'm better at drinking it.

6. walk/run minimum of 3x a week
I did it! I'm up to about 4.5 miles now. My body sure can tell I'm working harder. It hasn't been dropping the lbs as fast as I'd hoped, but it's slowly but surely coming off.

7. Wash Face twice a day
Again - probably 4 for 7. I REALLY need to work on doing it at night - that's my biggest weakness.

Here's to a great week! Happy progressing!

Yipee!

Yea! Only 2 more lbs. to go!!
The bowl full of produce and glass full of water is helping!

ksl.com - Bountiful teen wins national award for parkour video

Great video from our hometown. He set a goal of excellence and achieved!
ksl.com - Bountiful teen wins national award for parkour video

Heidi's Goal Update

Hey y'all!
So - this past week went really well! Obviously, this is the beginning & the motivation is there, so I'm not expecting it to always be like this, but I'm excited for this great start. Here's the update on my goals for January:

As far as routines, just with the 2 steps of laying my workout clothes out at night & waking up at 7am each day to do my personal study & get dressed before the kids wake up (and put on my cute apron) - has made a HUGE difference! I get so much more accomplished! And - I usually end up working out simply because I'm already in my workout clothes.

The bed-on-time thing still hasn't been perfect - it's usually 11pm instead of 10:30, but hey, PROGRESS, right?

1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up.
Good! I got up 5 days out of 7 this week. Progress!

2. Dressed before breakfast with my apron on.
Again, about 5 days of 7.


3. Finish the Love Dare.
Not so good. Only got about 2 love dares in.

4. Clean, shiny sink.
PROGRESS! It really is clean probably 90% of the time!

5. More water. Full glass before breakfast. Each person has a full glass of water at each meal.
MUCHO progress - even Jason has stepped up. I've noticed it helps me feel so much fuller.

6. walk/run minimum of 3x a week
Check!! I even ran about 4 miles - pushing the double-stroller! Triathlon - here I come!

7. Wash Face twice a day
Progress - still need to work on it for sure, but I was probably 4 for 7 this week.

I guess the name of the game is to, first declare loudly and proudly our goals for 10. Okeydokey, here we go:

Long term, I am focusing on the following areas: Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, Mental, Financial, and Service. Most of those goals are very standard and good: execrise daily, seek the Lord early, write in my journal regularly, etc...I wanted to set some goals this year that are a little more light hearted, and (I think) will help me get back to being more like myself, after having a little on just 9 short weeks ago. So, for January, here are my short term goals:

1- Learn a new (clean) joke every week.
2-Make someone laugh everyday.
3-Find joy in the mundane and everyday routine
4-Do a good turn daily, and write down my experience with it. (the things I do for my children totally count towards this one)

Also, I tried to write my long term goals in a memorable way. ie: "get into good enough physical condition that I can run without 'flouncing'."

Long term: we have a goal to own our home before Jeremy is 40. We have 8 years to make that happen. So, we have outlined an accelerated debt pay-off plan which will make that goal a reality. We got way off track of that outline when Christmas came around, so another short term goal for this month is to get back on track with debt pay-off. NOT easy! Wish me luck. It's just so much more fun to be spendy....at least it's more fun in the moment!!:)

Long term goal: to be more positive. I have committed myself to finding a positive way to say everything, and if I cannot find a way to do that, I will not say whatever it is. Especially when it comes to my physical-self. I am watching the words that come out of my mouth, and hoping for big impact. Going along with this, I have committed to express my gratitude everyday. (gratitude in general, to whomever for whatever, and as often as possible.) Yay for positivity!

For service: I plan to start by taking in one meal each month, to someone who needs it if they can be found, or to whoever I want to if not. Very excited about this last one.

Being Goal Oriented has REALLY got me feeling like superwoman. What a great way to live life.

Welcome!

Just wanted to make a quick post to welcome a couple members - Becka - welcome back! And I want to introduce Tiffany Sanderson. I met Tiffany at Sherri (my midwife)'s prenatal forum. She had her baby boy just after Kezia was born. Welcome, Welcome!

A Years Focus then 4 simple goals

Progress not Perfection




I was grateful to be part of the discussion about this year’s theme. It seems so perfect! I hope to make progress in a few areas by weekly (or daily in some cases) reviewing them and simply recording whether I fell short, made some progress or made good progress.



Drinking water   or  



Here are the areas I want to track throughout the year:



Personal

Physical

• Taking a 2 minute aerobic/stretch break every hour or so

• Eating a “bowl” full of produce and a glass of water before a meal

• Aerobics/stretch break every hour or so

Spiritual

• Kneel while praying more often

• Learn to do family history, gather names and do temple work.

Mental

• memorizing names of people

• Speed reading

Emotionally

• Using EFT when needed

Marriage

• Reading and applying the “love dare”

• Get to bed earlier more often (3+ times per week)

Family

• Be willing to help the our children (moving, pregnancies, deliveries, school etc.)

• Finish mom and dad’s history dvd’s

• Do something with Christmas tapes

Callings

• Learn to use power point in primary. Use it more often

• Learn and embrace primary songs

• Frequently play inspirational music in the background

• Learn names of primary children

• Call/visit less actives every few months

Professional (writing, speaking singing, guitar teaching)

Writing

• Create an ancestorial perpetual calendar

Speaking

• Speaking with Margaret (Schools)

• Speaking with Kerri and Angie

Singing

Guitar Teaching

-----------------------------------------------------------
Now that I've shared my years focus I'd like to share four January goals like Heidi:
* Bowl full of produce before meals
* Feel good about the speaking engagement at Rolling Meadows Elem.
* Learn more about family history at sunday school class
* Learn to use power point in Primary

Heidi's 2010 Goals

I want to start off this blog by saying WELCOME!
This is a place for people to post their goals for the new year (or any time of year) and track progress. Our mantra is "PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION." We will NOT let guilt or feelings of being overwhelmed break us down. We will not have the mentality of "all or nothing." We will see each step as progress, and if we take a step back, it's OK, too!! This is not a blog for perfectionists - it's a blog for people who have real lives and understand that we will not be able to accomplish everything, but we understand the desire to become the best person we can be, with the Lord's help.
We support each other - no matter what!

I just felt like I needed to state that since some people last year stopped posting because they were feeling guilty about "not making any progress." We are NOT here to judge or compare - we are here to SUPPORT!

Ok, ok, with all that said, and with the understanding that this is a "working document" - meaning that I can change goals or get rid of them or add them at will, here is what I came up with for the year. I am working with the "power of one good habit" theme. I am working on the first habit in each category and once I feel really good about that goal - that it's become a natural part of my life, I will move on to the next one.

Before I list them, though, there is one KEY that will make these goals happen for me. What is it? SLEEP!
When I don't get enough sleep, there is a MUCH lower chance of me accomplishing these goals. When I don't get enough sleep, rationalizing goes way up and motivation goes way down, so with that said, I am working on getting to bed by 10:30 (I set my watch to remind me).

Here are the night & morning routines that I am hoping to incorporate into my life - make them HABITS, so I don't even have to think about them. And, again, I'm not going to be perfect with them. There is, of course, real life and again these are "working documents." They may need to be tweaked:

NIGHT ROUTINE:
7:30-8pm Family Clean
8-8:30 Girls to bed (read books, journals, scriptures, prayers, bed)
8:30-9:30 pm Jason & Me time
9:30-10:30 Hit hot spots for 10 min (by fridge, stereo, stairs), start dishwasher, lay out clothes for next day (workout clothes), wash face, brush teeth, look at routines & schedule for next day, say prayers.
10:30 zzzzzzzz

MORNING ROUTINE:
7-7:30am Personal Study & look at day, goals & routines
7:30-7:50 Dressed & ready - swish & shine bathrooms
7:50-8:15 Bed made. Breakfast out (full glass of water, vitamins, fruit, protein)
8:15-9am Scriptures & breakfast
9-9:30 Breakfast clean-up - empty dishwasher
9:30-9:45 laundry - fold, put away, re-boot
9:45-11am Help girls get ready for day & do their morning things
11-noon - exercise

If I can stick with these routines for the most part, many of my goals will be accomplished.
Here, in each category, are my goals. REMEMBER, for most of these I'm not moving on to the next one until I feel comfortable with the first one.

SPIRITUAL: (My ultimate goal is to make my relationship with Jesus the most important one in my life. These goals seek to accomplish this)
1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up. Personal study - continue to read the New Testament and learn more about Him - and apply His teachings to my life.
2. Council with my Savior more every day - pray to ask forgiveness, pray for help with disciplining my children, pray in praise for blessings, pray for wisdom in difficult circumstances, pray for patience and trust.
3. Random Acts of Kindness (RAK). Even though this one is #3, I'm going to make it a goal to do 52 RAKs this year (hopefully one every week). I'm going to plan some of them this week.
4. Invite a family (especially new ones) or missionaries to our home for dinner once/month.
5. Be better about the Golden Rule. REALLY aim to SEE and meet the needs of those around me. Put myself in their shoes & then do what I can to help.

BETTER MOM: (My biggest goal here is to be a better example to my children).
1. Dressed before breakfast with my apron on.
2. My room cleaned & bed make before breakfast.
3. Outside time every day after nap time/quiet time - for at least 20 minutes.
4. One-on-one time w/ each girl every day - even 5 minutes!
5. Make sure the girls brush their teeth (and see me brushing my teeth) twice a day.

BETTER WIFE:
1. Finish the Love Dare.
2. Date night at least twice a month.
3. AT LEAST 20 minutes of "us" time every night - no electronics.

HOME:
1. Clean, shiny sink.
2. Home Blessing Hour once/week (probably on Mondays)
3. Hot Spot for 10 minutes at night
4. night & morning routines down pat.

NUTRITION:
1. More water. Full glass before breakfast. Each person has a full glass of water at each meal.
2. Stop eating 2 hrs before bed.
3. Plan healthy meals for the entire month at the beginning of month
4. More Protein - at EACH meal and snack!
5. More fruits & veggies - 5 fruits and 5 veggies each day!

EXERCISE:
1. walk/run minimum of 3x a week
2. Run 5 miles by end of February
3. Run 8 miles by end of March
4. Echo Triathlon - sprint or Olympic - July 10
5. Yoga - once a week.

OVERALL HEALTH:
1. Wash Face twice a day
2. Once a week (Wednesday nights) - pamper night - yoga, face mask, nails, etc.
3. Write in journal at least once a week
4. Read 4 inspirational novels, 4 self help books, 4 spiritual books, and 10 pages of each Ensign.

So, here's my goals for JANUARY:
1. Seek God early every morning - before the kids get up.
2. Dressed before breakfast with my apron on.
3. Finish the Love Dare.
4. Clean, shiny sink.
5. More water. Full glass before breakfast. Each person has a full glass of water at each meal.
6. walk/run minimum of 3x a week
7. Wash Face twice a day