All Rolled Into One

Faith Jam: Vulnerability

2012-02-16T06:01:00.001-06:00

I really enjoy this blog and as I have set in my monthly goals, I really want to participate in the Faith Jam more. When I popped over there to see the topic for the week, I was floored when I saw the word, "Vulnerable." You see, I have been on this journey. Toward the end of the year, I "happened" upon this video by Brené Brown. This has launched a revolution of sorts in my mind and hopefully in my life. I have found myself trying to absorb from Ms. Brown's teachings as much information as I can. I even chose my one word based on this new way of thinking. I've simply tried to open my mind to what God wants to teach me about AUTHENTICITY. I did choose a Bible verse for the word (Psalm 51:6) and made it into a bookmark...see below:

I am currently participating in this virtual book club, reading Brené Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection. Every single word of this book is twisting me (in a good way). I go through the day really trying to absorb and assimilate this information. How many things are different in our lives because of our shame? We are so stinking scared to be our real, true self....we walk around hiding our true self. It is all because of shame. We are afraid of being vulnerable. We push the shame down, convinced there is something inherently wrong with us and that we are the only ones. Ms. Brown is showing me, through her research, that we all carry shame. I'm starting to believe it.

So I was talking to God about this. (Sometimes we have long conversations in the car.) God brought to mind how I used to lie....a lot. Looking back on it, some of those lies were outright ridiculous, far-fetched.... But I was desperately trying to hide the real me. I think I wanted attention. Deep down, I wanted love and belonging. But the lies I made up to hide the real me....were kinda out there. Sometimes they'd freak some people out. I also kinda think a lot of the folks I lied to knew I was lying. Ironically, I was trying to hide some real stuff that would have probably gotten the "attention" I think I was after. But that's not safe. Some friends did reject me. But you know, deep down, that was me trying to realize my fear...I was afraid they'd reject me, so I would push them until they did....but it was all okay since it wasn't the REAL me they were rejecting. Of course, this was done subconsciously. And this is me psychoanalyzing myself years later.

As I am sorting this out, talking with God, in the car...it hits me. I was making up another story. I didn't want to own my own story. My story has to do with growing up in poverty and feeling basically invisible. My story includes a separation from my husband where I really lost myself, truly believing I was unworthy of him and my kids. My story includes addiction. My story includes emotional binge eating. My story includes walling myself off from people. My story includes working four jobs while my husband is out of work. My story includes a period of time when we got food stamps. My story includes a come and go relationship with my God. MY story includes a girl telling outrageous lies to LOTS of people. MY STORY is packed full of shame. As I am making this realization, I tear up....I don't want MY STORY. I want ANYONE else's....no matter how jacked up it is....I'll take ANYONE else's.... That is the power of shame. But here's the thing...the scary, scary thing....to heal shame, we make ourselves vulnerable.

In the book I'm reading, here is one of the most powerful quotes (although, the entire book could be highlighted....at least for me):

Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy--the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.

As a person of faith, I have an added benefit of being able to be vulnerable with my God first. And it is different....even if God already knows, it is way different when I choose to be vulnerable with him. I don't think that is enough. I think we are gifts to each other on this earth, meant to share our pain and healing with....to grow and have abundance in our lives. But we can practice with God first, and fall on him if our friends can't handle the realness...and God will hug us up, dust us off, and send us out to be vulnerable again. That's how healing can happen.

February Goals

2012-02-01T08:34:00.017-06:00

FAMILY

Date with Hubs 1

Date with Hubs 2

Family Date

Family Game Night

HOME

5 minute Daily Tasks from Get Organized Wizard -- I gotta do more of these...

I went above and beyond last month and got some money into the Emergency Fund. Let's get another $100 in there!

HEALTH

Continue making Chicken Stock, working toward a rhythm (every week or every other week)

Continue to eat Eggs 4 times a week

Any Monday Missions I can

Walk or Exercise 3 times a week

SELF

Finish 2 books

Journal 3 times a week

Make a "Me Time" plan....and start it (for realz this time)

PROJECTS

Weekly projects from here (checking in Monday and Friday with Katie on Facebook)

Practice speed reading at least weekly

At some point, I want to try this for 5 consecutive days

ARCHIVES (stuff I wanna do from my recent dig)

Ya know, I don't think there was anything from that dig that I want to search out and do...which is good for me, because...well...I've got plenty :)

HOUSEKEEPING (what I meant to do....and still wanna)

Post some Jam with Me with Faith Barista

Find the Scripture memory book

Email my emotional work friend, if I can find her email address

Affirmations

January Wrap Up

2012-01-31T10:12:00.001-06:00

Now is the time where I check in to see how I did on the goals I set for the month!

FAMILY

Date with Hubs 1

On January 25th, I texted Hubs and said, "Did we go out on a date this month?" He texted back, "just you and me? no". We quickly kicked it into high gear and started brainstorming ideas...but we squeezed one in--a small lunch date on January 27th...and had planned a bit of a bigger date (talked about finding a ceramics place) but then Hubs broke his glasses and that fell through...

Date with Hubs 2

well, we just got the ONE in....

Family Date

our budget is about to change and not sure why we do this, but sometimes we panic and go on spending binges. I think the mentality is, let's eat out while we have a bit of extra (when really, we should be squirreling some of it away for later). But as a family, we had 3 fairly high dollar eating adventures: Babe's Chicken, Rainforest Cafe, and Texas Roadhouse. In addition, we watched Beauty and the Beast in 3D at our local theater.

Family Game Night

I had announced to my family that we were going to try to have game night again...my daughter got excited....I think my son reluctantly agreed! We actually snuck two in. We played The Office version of Clue and Things. Hubs and I even played Skip Bo with the girl! And then we played a video game on the 29th.

HOME

5 minute Daily Tasks from Get Organized Wizard

I made myself a little chart on a 4x4 sticky note that lists several things I am to try to do regularly (Across the top, I put an initial for the day of the week...S,M,T,W,R,F,S....and an abbreviation for tasks going down) and reviewing the 5 minute daily task over the month is kinda sad. How can I not squeeze 5 minutes into my day? Incidentally, this was the only "Home" goal I made for the month. Maybe I will be able to renew myself and get going on this soon... For goal tracking purposes, I did TWO of the 5 minute daily tasks for January (yuck)!

HEALTH

Make some Chicken Stock

made some chicken stock....granted, I made it on January 29th, but I did make it. Hopefully, I will get into a rhythm and make some regularly. But....baby step one is to make some stock....check!

Eat Eggs 4 times a week

Using that chart I mentioned, I kept up with the eggs...the first week, I had eggs once....second week, four times....third week, once...fourth week, four times... February starts in the middle of the week, but I am off to a good start....with 3 already eaten (well, there is one boiled egg in my lunch box for today).

Any Monday Missions I can

Renew commitment to basics - I've kinda done that, but this is a great post of reminders and ideas for future health endeavors
Get rid of parabens - haven't done anything on this lately....however, I do use mostly hard lotion but I need to be more mindful of this
Ferment Something - I started eating more yogurt...a habit I had gotten slack on. And for almost a week, I ate a bunch of yogurt. I also watched this video and am thinking about making water kefir
Do something new with stock - well, I made it....that's new...sad, huh?
Embrace the Fat - well, I think I do alright by this one. I no longer search for low fat or fat free anything....actually do the opposite and try to make sure it isn't low fat (sometimes they add aspartame to these items or other yucky stuff I want to avoid). I have coconut oil in my house as well as butter....so hey, I am kinda already ok on this one....but I did print out the chart she mentions, for a handy reference!

Record how much water I drink daily

I did even better...I drank at least 32 ounces of water a day and often more like 64

Walk 3 times a week

Not ONE time, let alone THREE TIMES PER WEEK!!! Grrr....

SELF

Finish 2 books

You've GOT to Read This Book and Nineteen Minutes and Don't Say I Didn't Warn You....that's more than 2, can I get a "what, what?"

Journal 3 times a week

Well, I had one week where I didn't journal at all and the other weeks I only got 2 times in, but ya know....this is progress....

Make a "Me Time" plan....and start it

Indirectly looked at this with some of the projects, but I need to revisit this with more intention

PROJECTS

Weekly projects from here (checking in Monday and Friday with Katie on Facebook)

I did this one fairly well, maybe lagged behind a bit, but followed through ok. The first week was about eating a frog, which I discussed with Hubs...who wrote about it here. The second week was to come up with a debt plan, which I did a "mini" one that gives me WORST CASE SCENARIO, having us out of debt when I am 76 years old. That is unthinkable....we gotta start throwing some money at that debt soon. The third week was to come up with a morning routine (which I have one in place and I am tweaking)...fourth week was an evening routine (got one on paper....need to implement). LUCKILY, the last week of January will carry over into February because it is a doozie for me....meal planning! sigh

Vision Board from Rosie's suggesions

did this and blogged about it here

Media Diet also from Rosie's suggesions

and I did this and blogged about it here

ARCHIVES (stuff I wanna do from my recent dig)

List 13 Accomplishments of 2011, like I did in 2007

I did and wrote about it here!

Find something Beth Moore to read/do

I did! I started a Wednesday night Bible Study on January 25th....excited about it...it is the one on David

Post some Jam with Me with Faith Barista --I did once, which can be found here !

HOUSEKEEPING (what I meant to do....and still wanna)

Read every day, even if just for 10 minutes

I did this most days....and many times much more than 10 minutes.

Find the Scripture memory book

Haven't found this as of yet....but I gotta keep looking

Email my emotional work friend, if I can find her email address

I know I have her email address somewhere....still gotta find it...

Affirmations

I need to make this a priority early in February, so it doesn't roll over anymore

BONUS TIME

Even though it was not officially on my monthly goals, we put $500 into our Emergency Fund....go me!

Digging Up Archives--February

2012-01-30T08:56:00.000-06:00

2008
I remember now from this post about going on a trip to San Antonio for work. It was a good trip, when I was working for my previous job. I've always enjoyed trainings and learning new work-related skills and information. Also, I KNOW I am a Starbucks addict, and it apparently goes back to here. I have cut back some on the expensive Joe (thanks to yummy French pressed coffee at home), but now we know this addiction is at least 4 years old. And ah yes, I went sugar free for a bit. As I recall, I fell off that wagon on Easter.

2009
This was the year of Scripture memory and I was of course, on the weight loss quest. This is a fairly traumatic year that was partly in due to female issues. I was apparently revisiting some money commitments (which is also a trend for me/us...some days we do super great). I REALLY LIKED where I was going talking about weight in this post. Sadly, I don't think I allowed that seed to grow much for a couple of years. Again, I haven't blogged yet about my thinking regarding weight and dieting (why AM I avoiding this?)....

2010
Only one blog post in February of this year. I wrote about having 4 jobs. Yuck! That only lasted 3 or 4 months. It was crazy....

2011
This was a good month. I set goals. I wrote a crazy long post about marriage, then I wrote another long post that bared my soul a bit. I was on a quest to do my own Every Monday Matters, but this would be the month of my last one of those posts. And I was really doing the 52 Weeks of Me Challenge and my favorite one of those for the month was going to a yoga class. We can't forgetting dating posts here and here. I wrapped up the month by reporting in how I'd done on my monthly goals.

Thursday 'Thirteen: 13 Accomplishments of 2011

2012-01-26T06:54:00.000-06:00

One of my goals this month was to list 13 accomplishments of 2011. I used to participate in Thursday Thirteens (17 times actually). As I was doing some digging into my own blog archives, I found out that the Thursday Thirteen website was gone, but I found another one. It really is a neat idea and open to just about ANY thirteen things...

Alas, here is my list of accomplishments this past year

I got a new job--I got a job as a counselor, whereas previously I did some volunteer counseling and part-time counseling, but my full-time job was a variety of social work related services.
We sold our house--after 7 years of living in one house, we put our house on the market...in a down economy....but it sold!
We moved to a completely new area--all I can say is I believe God wanted us in our new hometown...but we completely relocated...knew absolutely no one in this area.
We tried out homeschooling--well, we tried online schooling....not EXACTLY homeschool...but the school year was starting while we were still in a transition...we wanted the kids' school to have some kind of continuity...so we started them in a school that could move WITH them.
For 3 months, I lived 3 hours away from my home (with my aunt) during the week (would go home on the weekends)--this was nice in a way because I love my aunt....but this was CRAZY hard....to be away from my family during the week...to be transitioning and adjusting weekly back and forth...and we weren't sure how long it would be....the not knowing is really the hardest part, I think.
I became a supervisor for those wishing to get their clinical social work license--I love teaching others and mentoring others, especially in the field of psychotherapy and social work!
I started supervising two folks working towards their clinical license--this is so cool, to watch these folks blossom as counselors...
I blogged 79 times--is this an accomplishment? well, I used to really love blogging and am continually trying to recapture that....I certainly love reading past blog posts and remembering where I was...wish I'd have blogged even more...
I hyper focused on some me time--it was/IS a time in my life where I need to continually fill my cup to keep my spirits up to be the mother, wife, counselor that I can be
I finished that crazy little project of mine (using the word "finish" loosely)--that was so much fun to put together....a list of things to try to accomplish....and 1001 days seems like a long time but it went by. Very early on, I knew that I had much higher expectations than I could handle...but in a way, it was fun to give it a try...
I set up a coffee corner which I made a huge priority to set up when we moved. It is one of my favoritest places to hang out :)
Survived (at least so far) one of my kids getting his driver's license--if you haven't had the pleasure of this experience, I don't think there is any way to prepare yourself....and my son is a very good driver....I just never knew how hard it would be...
Had a HUGE paradigm shift in how I see my body, weight, and dieting--Over the years, I have really focused on diets and losing weight. In May, I read about Intuitive Eating, which was a good start to an explosion of resources on how you approach your body. Instead of being so focused on the food you aren't supposed to have and how much you hate your body and how bad you are if you eat something on the "no-no" list, you approach yourself with kindness and love....exactly where you are....quit putting your life on hold for when you have the perfect weight/body....live now, love yourself now.... So for the last few months, I have fought the yuck thoughts that pop into my head filled with unkind energy....I am trying to live my life and accept myself as curvy... This is hard work! I really do plan to blog more about this....really!

Head on over to the newest hub of Thursday Thirteen to find others playing around with the number 13!

Media Diet Project

2012-01-23T11:25:00.000-06:00

I mentioned before that I was going to do a Media Diet so the plan was to note (had planned to write down but it became too overwhelming) how much media I take in daily, for 3 days....then take 3 days off and "fast" from media. I did this project and learned so much.

First off, I am not even counting television. That could likely be a diet all on its own, although I feel as though I have a decent handle on it....at least I only use it for relaxing and don't feel terribly dependent on it. I am mainly counting Facebook, Twitter, and anything Internet related. I timed it so that my 3 days off were not at work. Sadly, during down time....I spend LOTS of time taking in electronic media. So it was just simpler to "diet" during my weekend (which currently includes Fridays). I realized that I get "on" this stuff several times a day....starting very early in the morning. I take my shower, get dressed...start coffee (unless Hubs starts it for me/us)... And immediately (I justify this as I am waiting for coffee....whatever!), I have my iPhone and I am checking email, playing Words with Friends, checking Facebook and Twitter. Then, I pull out my Kindle Fire and do a few things on it (that are hardly reading related).

I am not really sure what the hurry is....why I need to bombard myself with media right away. Very often, once I get to work....especially if I get there early....I get things laid out for my morning and get on the Web. I check email again, read through and organize it, look at Facebook and Twitter again, and read through what might be in my Reader. I have also realized that I have some uneasy feelings at work and often "check" email, reader, Facebook, and Twitter....I may be addressing this soon, but I find it is an escape as well as a time filler....as well as...a habit. I don't know that it is so much an addiction, for I do quite alright without it....it is just a habit.

In addition to this Media Project, I am "following along" with Katie using this book as I mentioned here. Last week's project was a morning routine. Basically come up with 5 things you do in the morning to nourish yourself....to fill up your cup. I believe she mentions doing all of this before getting online... Well, starting tomorrow, I am not going to "kill time" on media stuff until I've done my morning routine. I already had a few things I do in the morning to relax into my day. I drink some coffee, read some daily inspiration from a couple of books (currently this one and this one). I journal a bit (this is a quick bit...used to make a list of some things inspired by this...but lately have been trying to add some creativity and draw or write a poem or play with words, etc.), and I try to get 10 to 15 minutes in of reading reading....it can be inspirational but it doesn't have to be, so long as it is for pleasure.... Ideally, I would like to add some yoga and/or mediation to the routine. At least, I think so. But for now, I am going to wait till I am done with my morning routine before I delve into the media. If I don't have time before I leave to go to work, so be it!

Vision Board

2012-01-10T13:54:00.000-06:00

One of my projects for January was to create a vision board, as suggested by Rosie. I am not sure if I did it "right" but I don't mind. I flipped through some magazines and cut out images or phrases that "talked to me." I realize I really like my cup of Joe and cats....okay, this was not a new realization... in addition to a fondness for penguins and ladybugs....I also enjoy coffee and cats....

I look forward to having this up and allowing it to nurture my soul. And I centered all of it in the middle of a fairly large piece of poster board, so I may add to it as the year progresses. I really enjoyed the process and feel very good about the project. I wasn't sure going in...because I wasn't sure what I wanted....but I just clipped and clipped....then glued and glued....and I really like it!

One Word

2012-01-05T07:00:00.003-06:00

Lurking around the cyber-world, many folks are choosing a word....one word....as their resolution. I chose a soul resolution last year, inspired by Faith Barista. In addition to my other resolutions, I wanted to participate in Faith Jam and discuss the word that seems to be plucking at my heart: AUTHENTICITY.

So to "back" up this word, I looked to friends on Facebook to find some scripture to go with my word. Here are some of the responses I received:

Hebrews 12:14 ~ Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
I John 2:6 He who saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” I Samuel 16:7
‎"There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their work. This is from the hand of God." - Ecclesiastes 2:24
Take a look at Phil. 1:10. In the KJV the word sincere means the same as authentic. ( That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ)
Phil 4:8 in the Message speaks about being authentic. It breaks down the well known verse into a more conversational style. Maybe it will be something you could use. :)
one person wanted to hear more about what I mean by authentic

My response: I am looking for scripture to support my "goal" this year to be more authentic--more real, vulnerable, open, honest, sharing....make sense?
Her response: When you said vulnerable the story of the woman with the hemorrhage in Luke 8 came to mind. How vulnerable she must have been to even leave the house in such a condition. She was only brave enough to touch the hem of Jesus's garment. Trembling, she relayed her story to Jesus and the crowd. After going to other healers, she finally found the right person to be vulnerable with. That speaks to me, as a clergy spouse I have to have discernment on who I can be vulnerable with, or say certain things to. That is not always easy.

So I am left with some scripture to consider. All good verses but not sure I've found the one that sings to me yet.....

January Goals

2012-01-02T15:22:00.001-06:00

I really liked how I took last year's resolutions and broke them down month by month, starting in January.... So I want to take this year's and do the same...

FAMILY

Date with Hubs 1

Date with Hubs 2

Family Date

Family Game Night

HOME

5 minute Daily Tasks from Get Organized Wizard

HEALTH

Make some Chicken Stock

Eat Eggs 4 times a week

Any Monday Missions I can

Record how much water I drink daily

Walk 3 times a week

SELF

Finish 2 books

Journal 3 times a week

Make a "Me Time" plan....and start it

PROJECTS

Weekly projects from here (checking in Monday and Friday with Katie on Facebook)

Vision Board from Rosie's suggesions

Media Diet also from Rosie's suggesions

ARCHIVES (stuff I wanna do from my recent dig)

List 13 Accomplishments of 2011, like I did in 2007

Find something Beth Moore to read/do

Post some Jam with Me with Faith Barista

HOUSEKEEPING (what I meant to do....and still wanna)

Read every day, even if just for 10 minutes

Find the Scripture memory book

Email my emotional work friend, if I can find her email address

Affirmations

2012 Resolutions

2011-12-31T17:29:00.000-06:00

After reviewing last year's goals, I have devised a list of goals for this year.

Rolling Over and Revisiting from Last Year:

Emergency Fund * For realz this time...I want to build Baby Step Numero Uno and stash $1,000 in the Emergency Fund!
Read * I've taken up a little audio reading and will one day in the near future have myself a Kindle. I will finish 24 books this year!
Date Nights with Hubs * Two times per month....one low key date and one a bit more extravagant...
Family Dates * I mentioned last year that one month is the whole family date, the next month one parent with one kiddo (like daughter/daddy and mother/son), the next month switch (daughter/mom and father/son)....then start all over with the whole family...
Family Game Nights * one time per month
Journal * Dare I shoot for 3 times a week again, when I am struggling to sneak one? Hey...I think I will...
"Me Times" * I need to get these scheduled in or they fall to the wayside. Like last year, I want to make sure I have a plan and am taking time out for myself on a regular basis...
Monday Missions * I am revisiting the Monthly Missions Checklist, as well as seeing what Katie adds each Monday
Organize * I plan to use the previous resources I have through Get Organized Wizard, as well as this new one I just purchased to be doing something daily!
Quiet Time * I still want this back...

New, or at least New-ish

Move More * walking, dancing, yoga....at some point I want some movement in my every day!
Drink More Water * at one time, I drank 64 ounces of water each day...I had a huge jug and filled it up to make sure I finished before the day was out... Nowadays, I can do really great at this at times....sometimes I am not measuring it but getting more water in... I think I could get back up to 48 to 64 ounces and be in a good place...
Continue Digging through My Archives * While I may not break it down like I did in November and December with the whole Dig/Dream/Do Project, I absolutely loved checking in with myself from previous years....
Grow * I want to tweak goal setting throughout the year and plan on projects for each month....I got lots of ideas... For one, I got this book and Katie said she was going to work on this book in 2012 as well (see)....and it looks like she'll be posting on her Facebook page on Mondays and Fridays. Also, I love Rosie and she has many an interesting suggestion....so I will be doing some GROWTH projects monthly as well...

That is 14 resolutions and some of them really pack a punch. I really liked how I broke it all down, starting in January of last year....so I'll be doing that again this year! I'll continue with these categories: FAMILY, HOME, HEALTH, SELF, PROJECTS....but I'm going to add: ARCHIVES (to include things from my monthly "dig") and HOUSEKEEPING (not home organization, just taking care of some old business from previous goals that I didn't do but wanted to follow up eventually).

Digging Up Archives--January

2011-12-30T10:36:00.000-06:00

Repeating what I had done here and here, I am now digging through blog posts in previous Januarys (or is it Januaries?). This digging, dreaming, doing project of mine is a work in progress and it is still taking shape :) And unlike the last two "digging up archives," I start with the year 2008 because I hadn't started blogging until the summer of 2007.

2008 - I really enjoyed reading through this year. I was still adding a few Works for Me Wednesday posts (although with a different hostess). As much as I can remember reading the many posts on Wednesdays, I am still a bit surprised at how much I actually posted. Still blogging about my struggle to lose weight. In addition, I was adding a few "Thursday Thirteen" posts. This was a carnival (or meme....when will I ever figure that out?) that you could list 13 things....any theme was up for grabs. Apparently the website back then is gone. But, these folks are reviving it =0) I really, really liked that I listed 13 Accomplishments of 2007!! Another one that was fun was 13 Kids Movies I'd Watch Even If I Didn't Have Kids (wonder if it's time for a 2nd edition). I posted randomness, which I did a few times but haven't in a very long time.... My favorite post of January 2008 is about My African American Friend....I love being her friend!! She has moved to Florida and I can't pop over to her house for tea anymore. But we are friends on Facebook and after reading that post, I "popped" over to her wall and said hello!

2009 - I started the Scripture Memory Quest. I still blogged about my weight (my goodness, it really was almost an obsession of mine). January of 2009 had a few good posts. A couple of good ones about my kids: Are They Nerds? and one about the creativity of my kids, especially my daughter and when I am gone =0) And I wrote something kinda cute about hormones. And I am reminded of just how much I respond to this lady and her Bible studies!

2010 - I only had one post in January of 2010 and it was several bits of randomness.

2011 - Being not terribly long ago, I remember how I seemed to have something going on within me....it was a crazy good month with 16 blog posts. I set New Year's Resolutions, which for several months I broke down and wrapped up (I was especially energetic in January with following through). I set a soul resolution and I did a couple of JamWithMe Thursdays over at Faith Barista. For a few weeks, I blogged about Every Monday Matters and for a good part of the year, starting in January, I participated in the Me! Challenge. Probably my favorite post was about Bed and Breakfast Dates with Hubs!!

Dig It, Dream It, Do It Project--December

2011-12-29T21:06:00.000-06:00

Checking in with myself to see how I did actually doing what I set out to do for the month!

BODY=almost got a Check. Being nice and gentle to my body is an ongoing process. Some days I can be both nice and not-so-nice in the same day. Heck, I can do that in the same moment. And I was moving, then allowed the weather to be a handy excuse to not move....then I got sick. This will take some more work!

MIND/HEART/SOUL=half a Check maybe. I did read more, just not every day! Still want to make that a habit... I journaled a couple of times...not every week. I don't think I said that affirmation ONCE (dagnabbit)! Budget notes: well...I think that I will figure out another way to "report" this because well....I just don't know that I did that at all :(

SPIRIT=well not much of a check at all. I did find a book that started out a bit positive in the spirit department. The beginning of December was great....several days in it was going well....then it fizzled :-( I also didn't find that book of scriptures I was memorizing...I still wanna look for it!

EXTRA=not much of a check here either...I didn't email my friend b/c I didn't find her email address. I didn't make the recipe. And as for the blog posts....I did post one, and I suppose it is "from the heart" but I was fairly weak on this category as well...

365 Days Later...at least getting close to 365

2011-12-29T13:55:00.001-06:00

As we say goodbye to 2011, I am thinking about the year and the resolutions I made one year ago here. For five months, I took those resolutions and broke them down each month (January, February, March, April, and May). Then, at the end of the month, I would wrap up how I did each month (January, February, March, April, and May). While I wasn't 100% successful, I really remember how this kept me on track for some things. I have a good, warm feeling about those goals for the first few months. And the reason I stopped was I got a new job, which put my life in a whole new direction. For 3 months, I stayed with my aunt during the week, commuted an hour to work from her house, then went 3 hours back home to my family. Then in September, the family moved out here with me (moving....ugh)! Life was keeping me pretty busy without me adding too much additional pressure on myself....

I am going to do the New Year's Resolutions again, and I may repeat some of these goals so I wanted to take a moment and check in with the resolutions made a year ago and see how I did, in spite of the C-R-A-Z-Y twists and turns my life took....

Lose 25 pounds....while this is not HUGE, I don't have any real plans other than trying to heal emotionally and implement healthier habits. This gives me wiggle room for the whole year. I've been reading this book and doing the activities to heal emotionally. I find it quite helpful, but after weighing myself this morning, nothing is "magically" happening yet--LOL!

Wow, I don't remember what I weighed a year ago, but before 2011 was over I had a paradigm shift in how I approached weight loss. I have been hinting at this in recent posts and do completely intend to blog about this, but I don't know what I weigh right now...and that is just not going to be important to me anymore. This is not easy for me because I do want to be thinner....but I am trying to be kind to my body and embrace my curves!

Increase emergency fund to $1,000. Number 59 of my giant to do list was to stash 2 grand in there. Well, life has been hard while Hubs has been without steady full-time work and sadly, it is WAY DOWN!!! Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps tell us we need $1,000 in that emergency fund and I am committed to getting that back in there....

I want to LOL but this is seriously not funny!!! Currently have $90 in our emergency fund....this one needs revisiting for 2012 FOR SURE!!!!

Read 20 books. I love to read and love it so much that I often get in over my head buying books and wanting to read books that I get overwhelmed. Hubs has often made fun of me for reading several books at once. But, I do it anyway....but I need to get focused to finish them. I read several this past year, but I didn't keep up with it. This year, I am...

While I did keep up with it better, to the best of my calculations I read 15 this year and not 20 (although I could've missed a few....and I didn't count cookbooks or eBooks). Hopefully in the near future I'll be getting a Kindle and currently try to keep up with my reads on Goodreads!

Date nights with Hubs! I want to get back on board with Project 52. I talked about this back in July and actually stuck with it for 4 dates. Well, the plan is to commit to 2 per month.

I did great on this goal for the first 5 months....got in 10 dates :) Since the transition and move, we've had a couple of great days together but nothing "on purpose"....will be revisiting this for 2012 as well!

Family "dates." I have two kiddos. For about 3 years now, we have set a little money aside each month to do things together as a family. We had fun last night doing some of these activities. The plan is to have monthly family dates. One month, we do something all together. The next month, we have one on one dates....Hubs with one kiddo, me with the other. The next month, we flip the one on one dates. This is number 9 on the big list.

Was doing well on this one, too....for 5 months. Since the transition and move, nothing really "on purpose"....I want to revisit this as well...

In addition to the dates, I want to have a family game night once a month. Last night, we played Mille Borne. I really enjoy playing games and hopefully this will not overwhelm and frustrate the family but remind us to have fun together.

Four months, did well...and we did play Scrabble as a family on Christmas....and a few other games as well here and there (including a couple video games together as a family)....I'll revisit this one, too!

Schedule regular "me time." This is a project for me to come up with what I need to do to take care of me. I don't know if this will be daily, weekly, or monthly....but I want to not forget to nurture myself!

Thanks to a wonderful challenge, I did quite well on this resolution. Almost every week, I found some "me time" and listed most of them in this post and then went on to do one, two, three more. A total of 30 weeks, which is 30 different ways to nurture myself...some of which are still done regularly...

Journal 3 times per week. I really believe in journaling. I will often go on streaks of journaling several days in a row. But I want this to become a habit. I figure 3 times per week is manageable!

For the 5 months when I was really keeping track...I did well, journalling at least 2 times every week and many times, I got 3 times in a week. Since the move and transition, I was trying to journal once a week but missed this many-a-time! Worth revisiting for 2012!!

Learn 6 new things. Continuing on in the spirit of 12 New Things that I cannot find on the blogosphere any longer, I want to add to the new things I've already learned....just on my own.

That was such a good idea....I did 2....origami and speed reading =0)

Create some sinking funds. This post explains them well. It seems everyone in my family is saving for something. I want to get into that mentality....when I want something that is a bit pricey, I want to create a sinking fund for it!

THAT sinking fund disappeared....the money in that envelope was used, I am sure, during the transition....sigh...

Implement some Monday Missions. I love Kitchen Stewardship! She teaches so much about health and food and cooking and being green. She also offers small steps so we can each determine what we can do to work toward change.

I did okay on this....some months much better. It has been a process over the couple of years that I have been reading her, and I still love her approach. I'll revisit this one in 2012 as well....totally worth it, even if it is simply paying attention to health habits...

Simplify! Starting with Project 333. Over the next 3 months, I am going to pare down my wardrobe and find the 33 items that are my essential wardrobe!

Yep....I feel like I did this one quite well. I might not have done it like a rock star, but I simplified and took a bit of a spin on it, as I described here.

Design my personal fitness plan! I have found that I enjoy Zumba. I also have several video games on the Wii, including this Christmas gift. In addition, I have several Yoga DVDs and really will take a yoga class soon (#49 on my to do list).

This was an on again, off again relationship. I did take a Yoga class...I did some Yoga on my own...since moving, my family has taken some walks around the neighborhood and I have Just Danced...but I'm currently off again. Be it weather or being sick or just forgetting....I tend to have a ready excuse :(

Create a home maintenance routine. I'll leave it at that! It is self explanatory, huh? -sigh-

Don't think I did this one either....any routine I semi-started is long gone now that we've moved...

Declutter and organize using tools from Get Organized Wizard!

I did well on this....again until the transition and move. I want to revisit this one in 2012!

Create rotating meal plan! Again, I think this is self explanatory. Why is it so overwhelming? I don't enjoy the stress of meal planning and grocery shopping each week, and I know that if I would take the time to create this....it would simplify this activity and help it become less stressful!

Cheese and crackers this is a hard one for me...I've purchased items that I don't use...or only use once. Grrrrr...

Using resources from Get Organized Wizard, I will focus on one area each month. Personal development is the one for January :)

I think I did okay, some months were better than others... But as before, the transition and move really threw things in a tailspin....worth revisiting in 2012.

Focus technology time! I need a strategy for my online activity (such as Facebook), as well as one to limit the time watching television. In addition, I want to come up with a plan for blogging more!

Yeah, I don't think I ever got around to that one either....

Quiet time! Where did this go? I used to have DAILY time in the morning and it seems to have disappeared! I want to get it back, including time to pray daily, have regular Bible study, and memorize Scripture!

This is something I was working on during the first five months and have continued to try to work on it with my Dig It/Dream It/Do It Project and it still needs work. (Speaking of which, I may merge that "project" in with my monthly goals somehow...)

Keep working on goals and habits...tweaking them, adding to them....this is so good for me to focus on and work toward!!!

Yeah, even when I wasn't "officially" working on these original goals, I was still working on little projects here and there...

25 Words

2011-12-19T12:23:00.000-06:00

I have mentioned Rosie Molinary before. I really enjoy her. She is so inspiring and teaches how to love ourselves in very practical ways! Over at Voxxi, she challenged us to describe ourselves in 25 words in this assignment. It wasn't until I had done the assignment, that I realized I had taken my own spin on it. But I decided to use my words to create a Wordle. I have it pictured above and I couldn't figure out how to make it larger without distorting the image. At any rate, it was a good challenge.

Here are my words:

courageous

tough-minded

dynamic

enchanting

encouraging

funny

generous

kind-hearted

smart

witty

warm

willing

steadfast

resilient

nutty

sincere

human

vulnerable

creative

unique

beautiful

becoming

inspired

passionate

breathing

If you read the assignment, you will see that she says not to use "physical attributes." Some may protest BEAUTIFUL, but I believe the word is SO MUCH more than the physical description!

December Dreaming

2011-12-01T17:45:00.000-06:00

Continuing from some of the things I benefited from in November and adding to it from December archives, here's my list for this month:

BODY

Continue to be nice and gentle to my body and post at least once about this paradigm shift I keep mentioning.
Keep doing movement my body enjoys--walk, a few yoga poses, and dancing!

MIND/HEART/SOUL (intellectual and emotional center)

Reading...I actually want to create a habit where I read every day, even if just 10 minutes. I have a book I read a page or two from several days a week, as part of my morning routine...but I am talking something more than that (although that does count). Also, I am about to finish this book and need something quick for the mornings, in addition to the daily 10 minute reading for fun I did go to the book club and it is going to be meeting every other month....next one is in January (though I've already read that book)!
Journal....want to do this at least once per week...notice the AT LEAST....but the baby step is to get myself to journal once a week.
Affirmation...every morning say, "Something great is gonna happen today....can't wait to see what it is"!
In reviewing my budget each month, I want to make a note here at the end of the month how much money I put in the Emergency Fund and how much "extra" we paid toward debt!

SPIRIT

I want to build Bible Study and prayer back into my daily routine, so let me just say most days per week....and decide on the best time to try to make this a habit.
I want to memorize Scripture again....I want to find the little index card book I made back in 2009 and revisit those Scriptures....see what is still memorized.

EXTRA (new for December, from the Digging Session)

The friend who did the emotional work I mentioned here moved and we've lost touch. I'm going to email her (assuming I can still find her email address).
I'm going to make this recipe (not sure if it'll be a gift or if I'll just have it for any Christmas get-togethers).
I'm going to post at least two blog posts that are more "from the heart" or random, just sharing my life with the world. That would include the post I mentioned above about my new beliefs about my body and dieting.

Digging Up Archives--December

2011-11-30T08:50:00.004-06:00

Like I did before, I want to review previous years blogging. I found it fun and insightful to review my own history somewhat, at least what I blogged....

2007 I was doing some blogging about dieting and flip-flopping between losses and gains, but I was trying to shift some of my thinking to more than just weight, but I still considered weight to be a HUGE part of "living well" and combined them. I am saddened by the way I characterized myself as "abnormal" in this post....as I mentioned before I am trying to change the way I think about myself, my body, and dieting (something I hope to SOON blog more about)....but clearly I put a negative name on myself, and publicly no less. I also did some random blogging, trying to find ways to blog more. Like here, I used a one-liner joke to be a bit of a journal prompt. Here, I just wrote about my weekend....sharing my life with the cyber world! Clearly, I wanted to blog more and tried just random thoughts to downright sharing from the depths of my spirituality. In addition, I posted one Works for Me Wednesday post that included a recipe that could be given as a gift.

2008 Much like the year before, I did some free writing, talked about jury duty....ahem, dieting (still)...and my 7 month old kitten. I also wrote about getting my new-to-me car in the midst of CRAZINESS (still love this car...consider it one of my best cars EVER!). And I did write about seeing a movie I really enjoyed (and it was/is a good movie!)!!

2009 I was finishing up year of Scripture memory with this verse and this verse. I blogged about some thoughts about blogging. Not a lot of blogging this year....if it weren't for the Scripture memory in which I blogged twice per month....who knows? (Side note: It was a tough year...Hubs lost his full-time, steady job in early April...and took part-time gigs here and there to try to make ends meet. This struggle would continue for almost 2 1/2 year. The first few months were the hardest....but the hard times continued for so long, our brains just adjusted.)

2010 The only post I made in this year was about goals, and I mentioned that 2011 would be a year worth remembering. I know now that it indeed was....there was a huge shift that took place and I personally am still recovering from the ripple effect from it. Adjustment happens, ya know? So I hope to build momentum again for 2012. In fact, I believe this momentum began on 11-11-11 and can't wait to review 12-12-12, just because the numbers are fun!

Dig It, Dream It, Do It Project--November

2011-11-29T06:38:00.001-06:00

So....I came up with the name for my "project"....where I dig up from the previous year's blog posts for the month, then looking over those posts I then dream up a few goals for the month....and this post is to look in and see how I did for the month. So....let's see....

BODY = CHECK....being nicer and gentler to my body is becoming easier and easier for me. I have lots of work to go, but I know that I am doing better. Plus, I moved lots....walks and yoga and a couple of dancing sessions.

MIND/HEART/SOUL = no check....I don't think I read much at all...let alone every day (sad face)....didn't journal at all in November....revisiting the budget is a bit of a check (I've been doing this lately anyway with the changes in our income now that Hubs is working full-time).

SPIRIT = no check...no progress at all in this area....it needs revisiting!

EXTRA = CHECK...I did make the cake with icing mixed in (YUM!)....I did post one Works for Me Wednesday post...I did have one pumpkin cream cheese muffin. I didn't say the affirmation....not once that I can recall. But I did well on this category I think...

My Numbers

2011-11-21T14:36:00.000-06:00

Thought this was really cute....emailed it to myself so I am not sure where it originally came from....but alas, here are MY NUMBERS:

5:30 – Time my alarm goes off in the morning

0 – Number of times I hit snooze

10:00 – Time I go to bed at night

60 - Minutes I spend commuting per day

35-40 - Miles I drive on an average day

15 - Minutes I exercise most days

3 – Number of co-workers I have

3 – Number of times I’ve cooked a proper dinner in the past month

7 – Number of tabs I currently have open on my computer

Maybe 1 – Number of real push-ups I can do

10 – Number of real push-ups I’d like to be able to do

20 – Ounces of water I’ve consumed so far today

0 – Number of Band-Aids I’m currently wearing

3 (4 if I count each earring) – Number of accessories I’m currently wearing

5 or 6 – Number of things that have gone wrong in the past week

too many to count – Number of things that have gone right

WFMW: Simplifying Lunch

2011-11-16T06:15:00.000-06:00

As per my dreaming session, I wanted to do at least one Works for Me Wednesday post this month. I got to thinking about what exactly works for me...thinking I have nothing innovative to offer. But then I have recently began something that I am kinda excited about. The freedom and "peace" I had when I simplified my work wardrobe was really such a good feeling...and meal planning has always been a struggle and stressor for me. I work four days a week and two of those are longer days...so lunches are needed four times and dinner is needed twice. I have played hit or miss for a while now.

Then, I went to a book club meeting and the subject of lunch came up. One lady said she has the same lunch every day and has now for 5 years. She said it was fairly healthy, cheap, and easy. I borrowed the idea, and so far it works for me....I love not having to think about it. You may think it sounds boring....but when she said she has the same thing every day and has for 5 years....I figure I can give it a try.

So....here it is....my daily lunch:

tuna mixed with a little dijonnaise and relish....I eat an entire can of tuna, which cost me 64 cents (not sure how much the condiments cost but not much)
pretzels....a big handful to eat with the tuna....a bag of pretzels cost me $1.58 and makes way more than 4 servings worth but not sure how many because the extra become snacks and go in other lunches...I am guessing it would make at least 10 servings making it about 15 or 16 cents worth for the daily lunch
yogurt...so many ways you can do this... I really like this way or you can make your own....or I found some for $1.88 for 4 which is about 47 cents at each lunch
apple...depending on the apple you choose, they run about 50 or 60 cents per apple

While you can do all kinds of things to change this up to fit your lifestyle...this was a simple lunch that runs about $1.88 per day. You could make it healthier and/or cheaper with your own personal tweaking. I read lots of blogs and am trying to fit my mind around health and frugality....but sometimes, I just need simple and easy. And....this works for me...

Check out what works for others over here and have a great Wednesday!

November Dreaming

2011-11-07T15:31:00.002-06:00

As I reviewed previously blogged Novembers, I got a little excited....I mean, seeing where I have been can be really energizing! I am now going to dream a little....and I do mean a little....because I want to see what I can do based on what I learned about myself!!! Following one of my previous methods, I am going to divide it up into BODY-MIND-SPIRIT and add an EXTRA category just for fun and posterity!!!!

BODY

I am so gonna be nicer to my body. I have been experiencing a paradigm shift and all the dieting and the way I approached food was just plain abusive to myself (body and mind).
I am gonna do something I know my body likes....movement-wise....most days! I haven trying to go for a walk every other day (some or all of my family --except the cats--walks with me). I definitely feel a difference when I walk. I also really like to do a few yoga poses....they feel so good sometimes. And then there's these video games--we have one and two....they seem like fun....but I haven't enjoyed the like I wish I had.

MIND/HEART/SOUL (intellectual and emotional center)

Reading....for fun and mental stimulation....I want to do this every single day!!! I have been invited to be a part of a book club and that might be really fun!
Journal....want to do this at least once per week!!!!
Revisit budget, using principals learned with financial peace university!

SPIRIT

This needs to be addressed big time....I can barely remember the spiritual person I once was...I want to pray and meditate more....I want to get myself into a good Bible study and soon!
I wanna get back onto that memorizing Scripture thing, too....might be a bit late for the Beth Moore party, but it is good to get into me anyway....

EXTRA

Yep, I am getting me at least one cake mix and one coconut-pecan icing tub!
I'm gonna do at least one Works for Me Wednesday post this month!
Hopefully, if it isn't too late....I'm gonna get at least one more pumpkin cream cheese muffin from Starbucks!
And every morning....I"m gonna say, "Something great is gonna happen today....can't wait to see what it is"--see this post!

Digging Up Archives--November

2011-11-03T06:39:00.006-05:00

2007 I started blogging in the summer of 2007. In November of that year, I was into blogging about my weight. Food and weight issues were/are a huge part of my life. That has been something I've been experiencing a paradigm shift about...will be blogging about that soon....it has become a big part of who I am. Also that year, I learned an incredible parenting style that we implemented for a while at home and I've taught to many a client. Hubs and I started a class at church.... Financial Peace University ...I had read Financial Peace when my kids were toddlers and we had implemented the envelope system. Having taken the class and listening as much as possible to Dave on the radio, I am big believer in his program. Money is a big, hairy deal....and just about everyone walking around has some alligators in their closet related to their money habits or problems. These alligators can cause incredible anxiety and stress and nausea and vomiting and diarrhea and marital problems and, and, and.... Even before you are completely out from under big debt or other issues, having a plan can make such a difference. Dave walks you through a plan that if you will follow it, your life will change! (In case you are wondering, I am on a first name basis with Dave, although he doesn't know my first name....or pretty much anything about me....but I FEEL like he's my friend and on my side!) I was doing some Smart Habit Saturday carnivals/memes (all these years later, I still am not clear on the difference between a carnival and a meme). These were cool....trying to implement a new habit each week. But I don't even think they exist anymore... My favorite posts of November 2007 were about my 12 year old son putting a dime up his nose just because it was so memorable....and Checking in with Living Well, which was a different group of folks with an approach about losing weight but incorporating more areas of our lives....and I really liked some of the things I was implementing.

2008 I apparently used to write more and include more of my life in my blog...I so need to recapture that. I enjoy reading it over and gleaning knowledge from myself. As I was reading over November 2008, I see that I was getting into my "Boobie" issue....oh how that was a journey that I now know would end in surgery. Diet drinks were creeping back in and they hit me HARD and I still struggle with them, even though I know the aspartame is not good for me. It was November 2008 that I started the 101 Things in 1001 Days which was interesting and fun to come up with but crashed and burned mostly....though I learned a lot! I was reminded about putting a coconut-pecan icing tub in a cake mix which I will need to try again. I see my longing for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins from Starbucks was in full bloom (seriously, these things are delish)! Some commercial for oovoo was getting on my nerves, and now I cannot even recall what that was. I was trying to participate in Works for Me Wednesday but I was running out of ideas (please note I still read and enjoy this bloggy feature). My favorite 2008 post was What I've Done Meme and I just recently joined a book club, but other than that....no changes....fun nonetheless.

2009 All my posts in November of 2009 were either Scriptures I was memorizing (that might be worth revisiting) and weight issues. I called myself "outta control" and was trying so hard to get a handle on food. These weight posts are hard to read because I was so mean to myself. I didn't even realize it. And what I wrote in my blog isn't the half of what I thought and said to myself. Definitely will write more about my paradigm shift in regards to weight and food....soon!

2010 No posts at all in November....

That sums up the digging up archives for the month of November. That was definitely fun....in another post, I will see if I can take from this and shape something....perhaps dream a little.....and put some things into action. Maybe a good name for this....if I do it each month as I redefine who I am, who I want to be, and blog all the while...sharing more of myself....maybe revisit some things.... Oh yeah, back to the name....how about "Dig It, Dream It, Do It!"? I so rock....that is cool, huh?

Change

2011-11-02T14:56:00.000-05:00

It is time for change. As a counselor, I know that adjustment to change is hard....even if it is a good change (marriage, pregnancy, new job). Well, my family has had some good changes lately and adjusting is really hard. I started a new job this summer....we are selling our house....we had to move....hubby got a new job... And the adjusting is taking its toll on us....well allow me to speak for myself....it is taking it toll on me, emotionally.

Also as a counselor, I know that we must act with INTENTION. I need to focus on my own mental health with INTENTION. And there are so many "parts" of me that need focus and INTENTION. I want to use this blog as a tool. I tried using it a lot to set monthly goals earlier this year....I'm not quite "there" yet....but I know I want to use this to help me organize and find my balance in life again.

So, I know there will be some change happening....and I know that there has been change. I think it would be helpful (and maybe a little fun) to review where I was with this blog in previous years. I think I'll do that each month for awhile (ideally a year).... If I can see where I was and the changes/progress made, maybe that will help me develop a direction for myself, my family, and my blog! Not exactly sure what to call it....what would be "catchy"? Hmmm....."Where was I This Time Last Year?" (although I plan to do more than last year)....or how about "Digging through the Archives"? Well...we'll see....

Happy Fall Ya'll!

ME! Organize for Peace

2011-10-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, do I have a hard time posting regularly or what? I missed two or three weeks of the 52 Weeks of Me Challenge...my life being out of balance was an excuse for a while, but we are creating a new life....a new normal....since Hubs got the job (I think I mentioned that here). But one thing I learned while out of balance was how being organized could help you out....and I am trying to carry some of that through to the "new normal." Let me share with you what might be a bit quirky...weird...awkward....but I have found it to be a relief....

First, let me share a quick story. At a previous job, a friend shared that she makes a wardrobe calendar every month. She has a cheap calendar she keeps in her closet and for every day of the week, she writes what she is going to wear. She was always well dressed and probably had a huge closet. She didn't want to wear the same outfit twice in a month. That's not really my style. But I took her idea and tweaked it while I was staying with my aunt....I designed a system for my work wardrobe. See, I was trying to slim down my wardrobe, and it was a New Year's Resolution (inspired by Project 333). Staying with aunt, I had limited space. Commuting an hour or so to work, I had limited time in the morning.

My system went a little like this: I had 5 pairs of work pants....each of those pants had two different coordinating "tops" (sometimes a blouse....sometimes a blouse with a jacket). That makes 10 different work outfits. If I worked 5 days a week, that'd be fairly easy to simply rotate...right? Well...I work 4 days a week (holla!). But I came up with a chart so that I rotate those 10 outfits. Without the chart, I'd get lost...so I look at the chart and see what day it is and which outfit. Since I washed my clothes at home, then brought them to my aunt's house....I took it a step further. Since most of the time you can wear clothes at least a couple times before washing, I timed it so that I'd wash two pairs of pants a week (along with the blouses that need washing, underclothes, and night clothes). That took just some simple designation in the closet for "worn before" and "just washed"... I also ironed less to get it ready for my trip back to my aunt's house....hung it, ready to just put on after my shower in the morning. And a final touch....I only wore two pairs of shoes. In the summer, I had a flat sandal and a sandal with a bit of a heel. A couple of my pants are fairly long and I need that bit of a heel. So the pants for the day dictated which shoes to wear.

This may sound a little OCD or quirky....but I rather enjoyed the system and am carrying it over to the new house. I did switch to closed toed shoes since the weather is changing....and honestly, I haven't done my ironing on the weekend since I have a bit more time in the mornings. But that is only a day or so a week that I need to do that. It is really freeing not to have to think about what to wear. I've rather enjoyed this little system, and I am not a naturally organized person.

Now, what in the heck does that have to do with "me time"? Well...by having this system in place....even when life was crazy and hectic...I was able to have some "me time" to drink coffee, journal, and do a little reading. Little bits like that helped to keep me somewhat balanced while my life was out of balance. That balance is something to be treasured.

Taking care of me helps me to be well (mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually)! So, I want to continue with the challenge through the end of the year....well....I want to continue with it forever, even if I don't blog about it. So....head on over and check out what others are doing for their me time!

ME! Creating New Rituals

2011-09-16T08:28:00.000-05:00

As I have mentioned so many times before, my life/family has been in a heckuva transition. For the past 3 months, I have been living with my Aunt during the week, commuting an hour back and forth to work, then heading 3 hours to be with my family for the weekend. Knowing it would be tough, not knowing for how long, I instinctively created rituals throughout the week. Some of them were good mental health things, like some things I mentioned here. Some things, maybe not so much....like watching The Closer on Monday evenings with my aunt (she introduced me to the show).

Well, my husband got a job offer on Monday (to start the following Monday), and everything kicked into high gear. My family came out to look for a place to move into, and since they were getting a hotel, I wasn't in need of staying with my aunt anymore. So Monday night was my last night with her. It was sad. I had to say goodbye to her. Even though we could get together for visits, living with her for these past 3 months, even if only for part of the week, grew us closer together. And I kinda bonded with her cat. In fact, her cat (Sugar) had joined in part of my rituals. She would sit in the chair with me in the mornings while I drank my coffee, read and journaled. And sweet little Sugar (cute little play on words there...she is a sweet kitty, plus...well sugar is sweet) is an older cat and has some health problems. So Tuesday morning, I had my last morning ritual with Sugar. I teared up. I wondered if this was a permanent goodbye to Sugar.

Laugh if you want, but Tuesday morning it really hit me that I would probably NEVER sit and drink coffee with Sugar (ha! another cute play on words) again! I wanted some security. I took my books and journal to Starbucks....it was ok. I was really sad. Then, when I got to work....struggling with the stress of everything happening so fast....and with this overwhelming sadness....I wanted some tea. I had tea bags that I had put in my desk, but in the 3 months of being here....not once had I had any. I struggled to make some tea. I didn't have a mug. I heated up water in a measuring glass and made the tea on a styrofoam. cup. But it really hit me that I was creating a new ritual. The tea was warm, felt nurturing...

So....Thursday, before work, I bought the mug pictured above and decided to repeat the ritual. An intentional ritual gives you some grounding....at least it does for me! So....that's what I did for ME this week! Head on over to the ME! hub for other ideas!

ME! With Feathers

2011-09-09T07:23:00.000-05:00

This may be my best "me time" idea yet! First off, I seem to be posting these ME challenges every other week. This is not on purpose, but life is outta control for the moment. Ironically, I need the "me time" even more during this time.

So, this week....on a whim...I bought a feather boa. I just wanted one. There are a few items in this world that when we wear them, have them, do them....we feel pretty. Feather boas conjure up images of beauty and confidence! So I got me one!

Then....I got to thinking of my kitties. I was pretty sure they will destroy this boa within 24 hours of bringing it home. Then, a stroke of pure brilliance! Life is kinda hard right now and I spend a lot of time in the car....and it can be depressing in the car. So.....I have decided to keep it in the car and when I feel down, driving in my car....I WILL be driving down the highway sporting my bright red boa! If I need to get elbow length gloves and a tiara before this journey is over, I certainly will!

Head over to see what others are doing for themselves!

Putting it All Together....ME time!

2011-08-26T07:03:00.004-05:00

How is it so close to the end of August already? My life, as I've mentioned before is CRAZY OUT OF BALANCE right now. For the last 10 or so weeks, I have been working and living during the week in the Dallas area, then going home where my family is for the weekend. We did adjust to a 4 day work week, which gives me one extra day with the family, but I can tell you....it is not enough. I can do this FOR NOW, but it has certainly gone on longer than I'd like. Because of that transition, I have not been as diligent with my weekly "me times"--quite honestly, I sometimes forget....sometimes I don't even realize I "skipped" the week until I"m reading other blogs in my Reader.

This week, I got nuthin'.....I have been doing the Yoga I talked about. I have missed two or three days so far and that means over 20 days of doing it. It is a small step, but I am absolutely loving it. I love how for a couple of minutes, I get "lost." My mind clears....I breathe....I stretch. It is so cool! I am thinking about adding another pose for September but continuing to do the one pose. For real, the tiniest baby step can built consistency. I'm adding to my on-going list that I had with all the ME links. For the first half of the year, I was pretty "faithful" to my me-times! But ya know, I got a good list going... What did you do this week? Go on over to join in the fun!

The first part of the year:
painting my toenails
getting my haircut
bought myself a treat (earrings)
bubble bath
bought some new smellums and tried them out
got a chiropractic adjustment
pampered my feet at home
took a yoga class
bought myself some new dishes
got a massage
took a day off, just to take a day off
journaling regularly, making it a ritual
bought a pineapple for the first time ever
made myself a coffee nook for enjoying my morning coffee
enjoyed washing my face with a hot washcloth
walked barefoot in soft, green grass
watched some television with my man
bought a nice outfit that FITS
one week, I didn't blog....I meant to take the weekend off and because of blogger being down, I literally did :)
took myself to the movies

And since I accepted my new job:
girl time with my daughter
simplify
celebrate
daily bits of sunshine
at-home facial
reading

ME! Getting Lost in a Book

2011-08-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

I think I missed last week....life is so bloomin' crazy these days. But I had to share that this week I was in a conference and got out a bit early....had some time to myself and TOTALLY got lost in a book. Read the whole entire thing yesterday. I thought I'd read for a bit and then take a nap....just couldn't put the book down!

Head on over to see what others did this week! Be good to yourself!

30 Days

2011-08-01T17:25:00.000-05:00

With all my attempts at goal setting and big ole bumps in the road that I've run into, I've decided to implement itty bitty changes! So, for the next 30 days, I will do Downward Facing Dog (one of my favorite Yoga Poses) each night before I go to bed. There once was a TV Show, 30 Days that piggybacked off of Supersize Me. Morgan Spurlock is a documentarian who took on fast food and learned just how much your life can change in 30 days. I don't expect Down Dog to drastically change my life, but I expect that little changes added to my life over time very well could.

Wish I could tag this to a 30 Day Challenge but just haven't come across one. Although, sometimes....I think there isn't something....and then I find it....and sometimes when I find it, I find BIG or LOTS...so....maybe... And if I have to just make it up on my own, I just might. This may be the first of many 30 Day Adventures!

ME! Face Mask

2011-07-29T09:55:00.000-05:00

Whoa! This week was superhard to find a way to really treat myself. I had a great idea....but simply couldn't find the time (maybe I'll do it another week). But one night, I had worked late....felt grungy and oily and dirty (104 degree heat here in Texas is a big part of the problem). So I used a sample of a facial scrub which warmed up.... felt like a treat. I THINK it was this scrub from Avon....but I believe there are others out there. So that particular night, I went to bed feeling as though my face had been pampered....which was kinda nice! What did you do JUST FOR YOU this week? Head on over to ME! headquarters to see what others are up to....

17 More Days....Final Update on 101 Things in 1001 Days!

2011-07-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

So, it's been almost 1001 days since I started this little adventure, and it is coming to a close. I've updated periodically, like here, here,and here. But, the most recent update was almost a year ago. As I come to the finish line, I look back on that just under 3 years timeline and I see that I have grown....life has changed....and I just almost deleted it all. But.....here is the FINAL....

FAMILY
1. Walk together as a family for at least 10 minutes, 3 times a week
2. Play outside together as a family at least 1 day per week
3. Have meal together with family at least once a week
4. Plan family time together that includes physical activity, at least once every other month (swimming, longer walk, etc.)
5. Go to Disneyworld with family
6. Have a family night every month
7. Come up with a cooking plan, with meals that are diet/family/budget friendly
8. Update will
9. Have one on one “dates” with the kids again, him one month—her the next—then a family “date”
10. Find a geocache
11. Hide a geocache
12. Paint ceramics with family
13. Do Wii Fit at least once a week
14. Do Wii Sports at least once a month

Well, well....I don't think I did ANY of these, especially not the ones that were to happen weekly or even monthly. And updating the will....I was so close! I purchased a kit but didn't follow through. We didn't even paint ceramics AS A FAMILY.....my daughter and a friend did for her birthday, but.....

JUST FOR ME
15. Finish my clinical hours
16. Pass the LCSW exam
17. Read 30 books
18. Take one bubble bath each month
19. Watch the sunrise
20. Buy some fresh flowers at least every other month
21. Project 365 (take a new photo every day)
22. Get caught up on scrapbooks
23. Write 3 pages in my journal for 30 days in a row
24. Make a list of 100 things I am thankful for
25. Get my passport
26. Have something published
27. Blog 30 days in a row
28. Get a freezer
29. Start a garden…even if just one plant in a bucket
30. Start an idea notebook
31. Learn how to make coffee drinks (aka be my own barista)
32. Update my wardrobe
33. List 25 accomplishments at the end of each year
34. Get a massage at least once a year
35. Get a pedicure at least once a year
36. Get a manicure at least once a year

A little better. I did finish my clinical hours and get my LCSW! I feel confident I read 30 books! I got a freezer and I know how to make a few coffee drinks. I have gotten a massage, pedicure, and manicure at least once a year. That's 9 things. The others, well, I may have started a few and not followed through. And then some, I just did not do AT ALL!

HUBS—Marriage
37. Have a date night with hubby once a month
38. Go OUT at least every other month....the other dates can be "date night in"
39. Visit at least 3 B&B’s
40. Attend a wine tasting and/or visit a winery
41. Kiss hubby in the rain
42. Take ballroom dance lessons
43. Go to a musical (preferably “Phantom of the Opera”)
44. Visit the Holocaust Museum in Dallas

We've had date nights but we've missed a few months. We visited 2 (not 3) B&B's during this time frame. The only one that I get an A+ on is visiting the Holocaust Museum...

HEALTH
45. Park further away from the store and walk a few extra steps for 3 months
46. Have fruit or veggie for a snack at least 5 times per week for a month
47. Exercise 3 times a week
48. Have meatless dinners twice a month
49. Go to yoga class once a week for 2 months
50. Lose 30 pounds
51. Floss daily for a month
52. Increase fiber to 35 grams per day
53. Eat slowly at every meal for a month
54. Go without junk food for 30 days
55. STOP cracking my knuckles for 2 weeks
56. Be vegetarian for 30 days
57. Drink ½ of my body weight in ounces for 30 days
58. Take a day off work and do nothing

Ooops....another no so great category to report.....I did TWO of these! I was vegetarian for a month and I took a day off work and did nothing. I took a Yoga class but it was only 6 weeks long. Yikes!

FINANCES
59. Stash $2,000.00 in emergency fund
60. Revisit Financial Peace, re-do budget and stick to it (at least 6 months)
61. Save each month, even if it’s $20
62. Eat out only once a month, 3 times a year
63. Go without Starbucks for 3 months
64. Have a clear cut plan for becoming DEBT FREE
65. Have a no spending day once a week

And....again....not so great. We've stashed money in Emergency Fund....we've dipped into it as well. We do regularly budget and stick to it. And we have a plan to become debt free. I feel good about this category, but still can only count 2 things as done.

HOUSE
66. Get a new roof
67. Get ceiling fixed
68. Paint or fix front door
69. Paint shutters and trim outside
70. Paint kids’ rooms
71. Get curtains for several rooms in house
72. Redecorate kitchen
73. Update furniture
74. Fix yard
75. Host something in my home (Bible Study, Coffee Group, etc.)
76. Get filing/paperwork under control

Here's a great example of how life changes, so your goals change. We are currently trying to sell our home. But, I would say the filing is under control and we did get the ceiling fixed....

GOING GREEN
77. Buy some cloth napkins and use them
78. Get 5 more reusable shopping bags and use them
79. Get rechargeable batteries for items used on a regular basis
80.Change to all CFL bulbs
81. Get motion detector lights
82. Install low flow shower heads

No cloth napkins, no rechargeable batteries, no motion detector lights....I do have shopping bags and use them fairly regularly....I have only CFL bulbs....and we do have low flow shower head! That's 3 more checked off....

VARIOUS
83. Turn TV off during meal times
84. Limit TV viewing to 2 hours per day, even on weekends, for 3 months
85. Leave the TV off one day a week
86. Spend a whole weekend without TV, Internet or video games twice a year
87. Get my handwriting made into a font
88.Grow an indoor herb garden
89. Visit a Farmer’s Market
90. Visit Canton Trades Days on a first Monday weekend
91. Donate blood at least once a year
92. Get rid of 100 things (throw away, give away, sell, etc.)
93. Get another car
94. Use crock pot at least once a month
95. Learn to can
96. Pay for the person behind me at the drive through
97. Buy an angel tree gift each Christmas
98. Comment on 36 different blogs in a 90 day window (13 per month)

Close on a couple things...but only TWO are checked off. I did pay for the person behind me at the drive through and I got another car!

FINISHING TOUCHES (and “the trap”)
99. Blog the progress of this list at least quarterly--DIDN'T DO THIS
100. Make EXCEL spreadsheets to keep up with this list--DID DO THIS
101. Donate $5 to a charity for each task not complete

So....overall, I didn't do so grand! I did 22 out of 100 things! Doing the math....that means I need to donate $390 to a charity. I may have to do this in pieces...not sure I have that big of a chunk I can spare! But overall, it was an interesting learning experience. There are things I'd like to revisit. I think it is good to set goals. I think I set too many and some of them (lots of them) were unrealistic. We'll see what's next in my goal setting adventures!

ME! Little Bits of Sunshine

2011-07-22T07:15:00.001-05:00

Let me tell you about this blog! I absolutely LOVE it! I had to get her book....which is fabulous! I am just soaking it all in, bit by bit....day by day. This is crazy good stuff!

She has a project that I am working on. I don't have my chart completely filled out, but I do have a chart :) And I am working on filling it up!!

I am in a transition in my life. I work 3 hours away from my family, so I stay with my aunt during the week and visit the family on the weekend (until our house sells). So a project like this is adaptable to changing circumstances. So, one of my little bits of sunshine includes my morning routine Monday through Friday, where I have coffee, sit with my aunt's cat who needs some petting, and I read the book I mentioned last week. Then I open up a small notebook, where I name the day (like I mentioned last week), write "Today I get to...." and list a thing or two....then I answer 3 questions that I got from Rosie here. Because I am writing it in the morning, I kinda modify it and ask myself:

Yesterday, I was surprised by....
Yesterday, I was challenged by....
Right now, more than anything else, I need....

So, this week, I started working on my sunshine chart....and I am counting that as "me time" because I am reinforcing something I am doing for myself and adding a bit more. And I am linking up over here with other folks who know are taking care of themselves!!

ME! Celebrate

2011-07-15T09:55:00.000-05:00

Have you heard the phrase, "until further notice, celebrate everything"? Well, I kinda like it! I've been reading this book several days a week since May. It has some good inspiration, but one of the things it taught me was to name the day. Sometimes, there is a name for the day already which we can adopt if we like. Sometimes, it is to WHATEVER we want. I've had "Blah Day" and " Close Enough Day" and "Ladybug Day".....so much better than Thursday or Tuesday, don't you think? In addition to naming each day, I try to list at least one thing I get to do today. This morning's was "Today I get to go home!" (I'm staying with my aunt during the week while I work, then go home on the weekends....until we sell our house!).

Yesterday, it was Bastille Day! Did you celebrate? I'm not French, but I don't know why that should keep me from celebrating. My aunt and I went to Mimi's and enjoyed the celebration. It is one of my favorite places to indulge, with someone I really enjoying hanging out with. So....it was a great celebration. If you missed out but want an excuse to celebrate....it just so happens that this month is National Ice Cream Month....or name the day anything you want.....maybe even "Run Through The Sprinklers Day"!

Linking up here (which I've missed the last few weeks....good to be back) as other bloggers try to make an effort to take care of themselves every single week!

Dear Cyberworld,

2011-07-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

The last post I made was just almost a month ago. It was the Friday before I started a new job and well, I'm pretty sure someone changed the speed of the world because things have just been going fast and furious. Life is dadblum hectic, in other words. I had reignited myself with my blogging this year but it became a lower priority. I didn't expect it to take this long to settle down. I"m in a frump, folks. I do really like my job, although I'm still learning people and whathaveyou.... I really like my aunt (who I am staying with during the week), but I miss my family (who I see on the weekends). And the commute (even though I'm staying with aunt, I still have to drive an hour or so....RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF DALLAS TRAFFIC) got old so very fast.

I keep thinking I'll regain some balance and get into a blogging routine. I thought balance in some form or fashion is what would naturally happen within myself. It just isn't happening, friends! But I am determined with my tough-minded self to find balance, and I will be blogging again soon! I miss participating in the ME! Challenges (which I probably need even more now, when I'm so very out of balance)!

ME! Simplify

2011-06-10T05:52:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the year, I had some resolutions. Each month I broke them down, such as I did here. Then at the end of the month, I would check in (like I did here). But, as I mentioned before, I am going to be starting a new job. With this new job comes a move. We are currently packing, hoping to make our home easier to sell. With all the hubbub going on, including the transition with my job, I have decided to take a little break from my goals, as I mentioned here. I was struggling with my goals as it was....some were fine, others were getting bumped to the next month then the next month, etc.

Giving myself permission to relax on the goals is a small "me time" task that has huge benefits. And with that, I would like to share that I want to implement 2 things each week that are modifications of my original goals.....2 things that EVEN while I transition, I will shoot to do these every week.

1) Journal ONCE a week....I wrote about that here....and the dealio was that I was trying for 3 times per week which I was doing well on and since the beginning of the year journaled at least twice per week, oftentimes 3. I am going to relax on this one but still try to journal at least once a week....ideally, at Starbucks like I mentioned before!

2) Drink more water....2 bottles per day. Until I can buy this nifty little guy, I will likely be buying bottled water and destroying the planet with plastic that will never break down. I'll recycle them, though....

And I guess it goes without saying that I will also try to continue to participate in 52 Weeks of Me Challenge....head on over to dollimama for the link up!

Revisiting My 100

2011-06-08T05:53:00.002-05:00

When I did this post, I ran across this post which was done almost 4 years ago. I decided I needed to update :)

So....here's the updated version updated comments are in blue:

I drive a Volkswagen Beetle....now a Honda CRV--check it out here
I am a Licensed Master Social Worker (after 3000 hours of counseling and taking an exam on 4/13/10, I received the new title Licensed Clinical Social Worker....and since then, I have become a Board-approved supervisor for those wishing to get THEIR clinical license)
I know how to make balloon animals
I am a real blonde (although I help enhance Mother Nature)
I love to wear toe rings (I have not done this is a while....I need get those back out and dress up my piggies)
My ears are double pierced
My left ear is triple pierced
I quit drinking Diet Coke (and incidentally all soft drinks) this past January (ummmmm....this has definitely snuck back into my repertoire....I am going to stop again, starting right away)
I lost over 50 pounds on Weight Watchers (yes, I did gain some back but I'm working on that)....NO COMMENT
I nursed both of my babies until they were a year old
I collect penguins and ladybugs
I was born in the same hospital that John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead in
I love to drink unsweet tea (both iced and hot)...and now coffee
I am certified in CPR and basic first aid
When I was in high school, I worked at a blood center and was in training to be a phlebotomist before I went off to college
I have my Bachelor's degree in Social Work from Abilene Christian University
I have my Master's in Social Work from Stephen F. Austin State University
I was a forensic interviewer (interviewed children for the police and child protective services on video tape, in legally sound way that could be used in court, if needed) for over 6 years and did over 1000 interviews (now how cool is it that I am returning to this venue, just now as a counselor)
I did my time as a Child Protective Services investigator....I lasted 13 months
I have a tattoo of a Christian fish on my right outer ankle
I wear contact lenses (would LOVE to get Lasik surgery)....still haven't had that Lasik surgery :(
I wore braces for 3 1/2 years (and both kids have had braces....daughter will be getting a second round of them in the near future....son is about to get his off)
I have never broken a bone
The only stitches I've ever had (other than those dissolvable kind in my mouth and after babies) was when I was 21 years old (I cut my finger on a can lid)
I played the Clarinet (and even a couple other instruments...but mainly the Clarinet)
I play a mean game of Scrabble (and now....Words with Friends)
I play a decent game of Chess
I have like almost NO hand-eye coordination
When I am at the eye doctor and he does that test where I am supposed to see double....I NEVER see double....I've baffled a few eye doctors over the years
Speaking of eye doctors, when I don't have any corrective lenses on at all, I can't see the E
Before I had braces, I had to have minor mouth surgery because I had impacted teeth, and incidentally, two of my teeth switched places as they came in....are still that way to this day...most dentists don't even notice :)
I have testified in court about a dozen times, both as a fact witness and an expert witness (see #18 and 19)
I am in the bone marrow transplant registry
I climbed a mountain and repelled when I was 14 years old
One of my feet is ticklish and one is not
My two love languages are touch and quality time
I pray with a Moms In Touch group (not anymore...sad face...just got too busy)
I've fallen in love with Bible Study, especially since using the Inductive Bible Study Bible (and even more so with Beth Moore)
My husband and I own no credit cards and refuse to get any (we do use a debit card)
I was a stay at home mom until my youngest was 3 years old
I'm learning to love cooking (this needs to revisited)
I secretly enjoy the animal shows my family watches (especially Meerkat Manor)....I miss this show
I also secretly enjoy Ghost Hunters with my Hubby...kinda lost this and not even sure Hubs watches it very often
I've never seen any of the Harry Potter movies, nor read the books....now, I have seen the first one and part of the second....will probably eventually seem them all
I also haven't seen the most recent three Star Wars movies (although they are apparently the first three)
I used to watch soap operas but gave them up about 10 years ago 14 years ago
I love Calvin and Hobbes cartoons
I love Junie B. Jones books
I graduated 10th in my class from high school (not as impressive when you find out that was out of 53, huh?)
I had the highest GPA in my graduating class for my Master's (they were supposed to mail me a plaque and haven't...I probably should check on that since it has been over a year)....never did check on it
I am married to a man that I am madly, deeply in love with
I have two of the most incredible kids EVER
We have a Dachshund who is pretty dumb but sweet (RIP Schnitzel)
I have airplane anxiety (it is actually post traumatic stress from a flight that had bad turbulence)
I read several books at one time (drives my hubby absolutely nuts that I do that)
I am decorating challenged (seriously, I need help in this department)
I was a breastfeeding peer counselor for a short while when my youngest was a baby
When Hubs and I were both out of work and we had little kids, we applied for food stamps for a few months
I have a strange ability to identify voices in cartoons and commercials
I have been married for 15 and am more in love today than ever!!! Now almost 19 years :)
Try as I might, I cannot STAY organized
I went into some major debt getting my Bachelor's degree from a Christian university, but if I had it to do over again....I would sign every single one of those loan checks again! A Christian Social Work education is absolutely worth it
I wish I had a green thumb, but I don't :) I do have one plant that I've kept alive for 3 years and even split her into two plants...but attempts to branch out from that have failed (took one plant to work and it is still alive....the one at home was murdered by our cat)
I haven't always collected ladybugs and penguins...I use to collect cows and Coca-Cola memorabilia
I'm not confrontational by nature, but when I need to be--Bessy, bar the door :)
I believe I would make a darn good prosecutor, but I don't want to go to law school
I love to scrapbook and am a loyal Creative Memories customer (although, they need to get some paper or stickers for karate...or my loyalty may just waiver)....am a bit behind on scrapbooks,more interested in the digital stuff...and the kids aren't in karate anymore
I truly enjoy planning creative birthdays for my kiddos (kids are now 14 and 16....birthday parties are different for them now)
I had my son write and sign a pledge that he would sit next to me and let me love on him, even when he is 16....and he's now 16 :)
My current car (see #1) is a standard transmission (see #1....current car is automatic)
I have never used any illegal drugs, not even marijuana, not even once
I cannot curl my tongue, although the rest of my family can
I also cannot trill my R's, although the rest of my family can
As a kid my favorite Dr. Seuss book was Green Eggs and Ham
Now it is Oh, The Places You'll Go
My blood type is O positive
I know how to crochet and cross-stitch, but it doesn't relax me in the least, so they are chores when I decide to take up a project
My first memory is from age 2 or 3, when I was sitting in my mom's lap coloring and the door bell rang...I remember she didn't come back and I was heart broken
When I was 6 days past my due date with my first pregnancy and started having labor pains, I did NOT believe I was in labor, walked a mile and a half to my husband's work, and went back and forth between thinking I was in labor and thinking I wasn't...not until the doc told me I was in labor, did I believe it...how silly was that?
When my water broke with the 2nd pregnancy, it trickled instead of gushed. I did not have labor pains yet, but I went to the doctor who told me that he did not think my water had broken....so even when I started having labor pains, I didn't believe it was real labor...after all, the doctor said.....sigh
I could eat Mexican food for every meal, if it wouldn't reek havoc with the diet
As a kid, I had several guinea pigs as pets
I make a really great grilled cheese sandwich
My hubby and I like to visit Bed and Breakfasts....would love to go twice a year....boils down to about once a year
I think I could be a vegetarian easily...I love veggies and don't really care for red meat
When I was younger, I LOVED roller coasters but apparently, you kinda lose some of that when you get older (at least some of us do), now I kinda get sick on them
One semester in college, I lived on peanut butter-- I was poor and a spoonful of that stuff at a time sustained me.
It seems simple, like #83, but I know how to make great peanut butter toast
I generally eat all of one food on my plate before going on to the next....I mess with people and say I eat in alphabetical order, but I don't
I would love to be "fluent" in American Sign Language--even took a class once
I went to high school with absolutely no African Americans
Incidentally, I have a keen interest in civil rights and race relations
I am not the most visual person...it takes work to remember to put lipstick on or run a comb through my hair throughout the day...and if you asked me what someone looked like AFTER they left, I will likely not remember anything
I am very audio, though....which makes me a pretty good listener
In regards to this, it is so important to me to get your name right
My husband and I have suffered identity theft twice...not too serious, though...we've recovered thanks to a great bank
Since watching Super Size Me, I have an aversion to french fries, especially McDonald's fries
I like to drink my margarita on the rocks, with salt
I am fairly double jointed --my fingers and wrists especially
My dreams are almost always symbolic and weird--when they aren't, they scare me!

Full Circle

2011-06-07T12:34:00.001-05:00

Do you know what this is? This is my 360th blog post! Four years ago yesterday, I wrote my very first blog post! I find it so very interesting that 360 degrees make a circle....my four year bloggiversary was yesterday...and I am leaving one adventure for another. When I started the blog, I had only been with this job about six months. It seems I've come full circle with my life and have this lovely blog to point out a few things. Certainly, I wish I had blogged more. And I am still trying to figure out what direction to go with my blog....and it may have a few turns here and there before it is all said and done.

I wondered what I could do with this moment....I remember doing 100 Things for my 100th post but goodness, could I come up with 360? I thought about giving away an Xbox 360 but don't have one to give away and need to pinch the pennies with a move pending and the price of gas and all. So, what could I do? So....here I am with just a simple ole blog post saying what's what :)

ME! Girl Time!

2011-06-03T06:28:00.000-05:00

This week, my daughter and I went to get professional manicures! As a family, we try to intentionally have family dates each month. One month is the whole family, one month is me and the boy while Hubs is with the girl, and one month is me with girl while Hubs is with the boy. This month was my turn to do something with my daughter. Three months ago, I mentioned the idea of getting a manicure. So we've been looking forward to this for a bit...

But this counts as "me time," too! Head on over to dollimama and see the other link ups....better yet, link your own self up.

May Wrap Up

2011-05-31T06:53:00.000-05:00

WELL, life threw me a curve ball....in a good way.... I accepted a new job which will require a move. So with the interviewing and hitting it in high gear to find a realtor, start the packing, etc.....my goal focus has been really shifted off balance. I may take a break until I get settled....since I was struggling to keep the momentum up anyhow. With further adieu, here's how I did on my May goals:

FAMILY

Family Date--check
Family Game Night--missed this one :(
Date #1--check
Date #2--check

HOME LIFE

Continue with the weekly Get Organized Wizard missions

YUCK....didn't even LOOK at them

Add in the other weekly missions I didn't do in April

Seeing as how I didn't do the new....I didn't do the ones I'd skipped either

Come up with some daily and weekly tasks

I was doing well with this one, but it got pushed to the side with just about everything else

HEALTH

Kitchen Stewardship--Start back with the 3 Easy Changes, add two of her other 10 foundational habits (was going to do this the last two month and didn't, again I need decide which ones), and any of the Monday Missions that jump out and get me and maybe focus some of last month's missions I didn't do so much with

First off, I had to "jump" back into the 3 easy changes on May 22nd, but I jumped right back out
Monday Mission 5/2/11 - focus on grains - didn't really do much here
Monday MIssion 5/16/11 - think about preparedness --really thought about it
Monday Mission 5/23/11 - Baby Steps for Peparedness -- haven't taken any baby steps yet

Yoga weekly on my own, hope I do that this month since I didn't last month

nada

Weekly walks with my husband....sigh, again I hope I do that this month

nada

Drink more water, at least 32 ounces per day

some....but not really

SELF

Read 3 books this time

Just one: Intuitive Eating by Tribole and Resch

Continue with the 52 Weeks of ME Challenge

Skipped one week, partly due to Blogger being messed up, but otherwise I followed through here, here, and here

Journal 3 times a week EVERY week
Have a Quiet Time 10 times this month PLUS weekly Lectio Divina sessions

done...12 quiet times and an LD every week!

PROJECTS

Begin developing a rotating menu plan by coming up with 10 solid meals that the family loves are fairly simple and fit within our budget

nada

Review and possible revise existing budget, as well as stash $100 in the emergency fund

did revise a budget to look at for the move...."re-stashed" $100 after having to withdraw it (not sure that counts)

Explore HOME ORGANIZATION

Right! LOL

Me! Recap and Announcement

2011-05-28T07:04:00.001-05:00

I have a confession to make. I didn't do much this week. I accepted a job offer which is exciting (albeit time and energy consuming right now). I considered saying that accepting the new job was something I did for me :) And in a way, it is....this is a job that I will love and is perfect for me....but I don't know if it really counts....

But I had hoped that by doing this challenge/project, I would have a list that I could refer to and continue to take care of myself. So, I thought I would take this time to recap what I've done this year:

painting my toenails
getting my haircut
bought myself a treat (earrings)
bubble bath
bought some new smellums and tried them out
got a chiropractic adjustment
pampered my feet at home
took a yoga class
bought myself some new dishes
got a massage
took a day off, just to take a day off
journaling regularly, making it a ritual
bought a pineapple for the first time ever
made myself a coffee nook for enjoying my morning coffee
enjoyed washing my face with a hot washcloth
walked barefoot in soft, green grass
watched some television with my man
bought a nice outfit that FITS
one week, I didn't blog....I meant to take the weekend off and because of blogger being down, I literally did :)
took myself to the movies

This week, the 52 Week Challenge is being hosted by Mandy....go check out the rest of us taking care of ourselves!

ME! Going Stag

2011-05-20T09:41:00.000-05:00

I skipped a week! Last week, I had intended to follow in the steps of our hostess and take the weekend off because I was going to a weekend church retreat. Well, blogger whigged out on me and I didn't get to post....and then I was gone! And I hit the ground running when I went I got back. I haven't read any blogs (have over 400 in my reader at the moment)....so in a sense, I took the weekend off of EVERYTHING....

This week, I took myself to the movies. I went by myself to see a girly flick. I wouldn't even recommend the movie to anyone, but I love that I "disappeared" for a couple of hours into the theater and into the movie.

Head on over to dollimama (the artist formerly known as Dolli-mama) and see what others are up to!!!

WFMW--Index Cards

2011-05-11T05:38:00.003-05:00

It has been almost two years since I posted a "Works for Me Wednesday"....I had forgotten that I had posted over twenty ideas previously. In the last few months, I've been trying to blog more and have been reading through the WFMW links. Well, I have got an idea a brewing in this here head of mine, and I just wanted to share. I am a counselor and have found that many folks WANT to work on personal development but leave a session with big ideas not having done anything at all by the next session. Some folks are much more natural or more determined. So, I came up with plan that I've suggested to many a client of assigning an activity to each day of the week and trying to be intentional with something every day, but it is no big deal if you pick it up for a few days or put it down for a few days....just pick it back up at whatever day. I usually suggest putting the ideas on an index card to refer to when you are ready to pick it back up again. NEVER stressing about "catching up" just start with today.

And I have since decided it would work in a few other areas of life as well.....and here is an example with step by step instructions:

Firs of all, get an index card, like the example above. I like the bigger ones (4x6) and you can get fun colors, bright colors, or just go with white.
The side without lines, hold vertically (like on the left). I put a small AM and circle it at the top-left corner and a PM somewhere-left. This side is your daily side
Turn it over and starting on the space below the red line, write a day of the week (such as Sunday) and skip a line and go through all seven days.
Now come up with an "ideal schedule"--things you want to do every day go on the AM/PM side, things you want to do weekly go on the days of the week side.
Go easy on the daily side....not more than two things in each of the half day. Then assign SOMETHING to each day of the week on the weekly side.

The example is blurry....and just an example. It's an idea that I am thinking about incorporating some kind of activity into my life. Let me walk you through the example, then give you ideas for other areas of your life.

On my activity card, I have get 5 minutes of sunshine in the AM section and dance around for 5 minutes to music in the PM section (remember I said start easy). Then the weekly side looks like this:

SUNDAY--Do something in the yard

MONDAY--Zumba

TUESDAY--Walk with Hubby

WEDNESDAY--Yoga

THURSDAY--Zumba

FRIDAY--Walk with Hubby

SATURDAY--Play outside w/ or w/o family

The idea is to ease into this...5 minutes of sun and 5 minutes of dancing is nothing, right? SOME activity is better than NO activity. Then, add the other activity into the day according to the day. Being gentle with myself, I remind myself that today is.....(like today is Yoga)....and I want to try to do Yoga sometime today.

Again, being gentle with myself. Maybe I have a good streak and do everything on the card every day for a week. Then I completely space out for 5 days and wonder what happens. I just pick it right with whatever day I pick it right back up on.

Personal Development is a great place to start because so many of us put that on the back burner....maybe have a quiet time or a meditation or journaling on the daily side, with reading a particular book or doing a particular activity on the weekly side.

Housekeeping is a cool one to do this with, too. Swishing the toilets in the morning, loading the dishwasher at night. Then weekly....maybe a 10 minute sweep of the living room one day....a 10 minute sweep of the kitchen another day....10 minute clearing all kitchen surfaces. You get the idea.

Would love to hear any other ideas if this inspires you. And if the housekeeping or activity comes naturally to you, this idea may not fit for you. I'd also recommend starting slow with maybe just one or two cards. Head on over to We Are That Family for other "Works for Me Wednesday" ideas.

ME! Suit Up!

2011-05-06T08:47:00.000-05:00

This week, the way I nurtured myself was to respect my body and its size and bought a suit that is comfortable and looks good on my body! I'm a little heavier these days than I'd like to be and I tend to "punish myself" and wear clothes that don't fit and are not as comfortable. This is a constant reminder that I am not the weight I'd like to be which just doesn't feel good. I'm trying NOT to think like this. I deserve to be comfortable, even if I am heavier than what I want. So...I bought a cute little black suit. I meant to take a picture of myself wearing it and post it....but alas, I did not. So I posted a photo from How I Met Your Mother, which has nothing to do with anything really. Just a cute show with a character who wears a lot of suits and has a catch phrase (one of many) that includes, "Suit up!"

Head on over to Dolli-mama to see what others are doing to take some time out for themselves with the 52 weeks of me challenge!

May Goals

2011-05-01T18:53:00.000-05:00

FAMILY

Family Date
Family Game Night
Date #1
Date #2

HOME LIFE

Continue with the weekly Get Organized Wizard missions
Add in the other weekly missions I didn't do in April
Come up with some daily and weekly tasks

HEALTH

Kitchen Stewardship--Start back with the 3 Easy Changes, add two of her other 10 foundational habits (was going to do this the last two month and didn't, again I need decide which ones), and any of the Monday Missions that jump out and get me and maybe focus some of last month's missions I didn't do so much with
Yoga weekly on my own, hope I do that this month since I didn't last month
Weekly walks with my husband....sigh, again I hope I do that this month
Drink more water, at least 32 ounces per day

SELF

Read 3 books this time
Continue with the 52 Weeks of ME Challenge
Journal 3 times a week EVERY week
Have a Quiet Time 10 times this month PLUS weekly Lectio Divina sessions

PROJECTS

Begin developing a rotating menu plan by coming up with 10 solid meals that the family loves are fairly simple and fit within our budget (rolling it forward from the last two months, since I didn't get started on it)
Review and possible revise existing budget, as well as stash $100 in the emergency fund
Explore HOME ORGANIZATION

Previous month recaps:

January ------------------------- January

February ---------------------- February

March -------------------------- March

April--------------------------April

April Wrap Up

2011-04-30T20:29:00.066-05:00

Wow, I wonder if there are any tricks to building momentum. I just keep "restarting" this each month, which is a good thing to have a new month to try to start a little fresh. I do have some good successes to share, but I also know that I've struggled much like the last couple of months.

FAMILY

Family Date--we saw "Rio" on 4/17/11
Family Game Night--played Clue Master Detective on 4/28/11
Date #1--we tried this date on 4/9/11, although it was crashed by the kids (they wanted to go to garage sales, too) and we didn't really mind
Date #2--our low key date, hanging together at Starbucks, on 4/16/11

*This category has been consistently completed each month so far, so yay me!!!

HOME LIFE

Continue with the weekly Get Organized Wizard missions, just picking it back up where I left off

Did NOT do a single one of these, but....keep reading

Participate in the 30 x 5 Organizathon going on at Get Organized Wizard's blog

I totally rocked this one ;) I was able to do every single 5 minute task and even went a little over on one or two...

HEALTH

Kitchen Stewardship--continue to build on what I've been doing....continue with the 3 Easy Changes (and include yogurt this time around), add two of her other 10 foundational habits (was going to do this last month and didn't, still need to decide which two habits I wanna add), and any of the Monday Missions that jump out and get me

Monday Missions were Build Your Apothecary, Make a Frugal Meals List, Make a Plan for More Veggies this Summer, Know Your Foods
Of those missions, I thought about the farmer market and am "thinking" about my list of meals---kinda sad
I also lost momentum with the 3 habits and didn't add another

Yoga weekly on my own, now that the class is over

Not once

Weekly walks with my husband

Only once

Drink more water

I'm pretty sure I did this....but I didn't make it measurable, so it was more like a concerted effort!

SELF

Read 3 books this time

Read, Think, Pray, Live by Tony Jones -- a very good book about Lectio Divina (a brand new subject to me)
A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren -- I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to figure out what they believe but KNOW they believe in Jesus (or maybe not even know that much)

Two is good, but I missed the mark of 3

Continue with the 52 Weeks of ME Challenge

Did it and blogged here, here, here, here, and here

Journal 3 times a week EVERY week

Did this well, I did only journal twice one week....but I'm still really enjoying the benefits of this habit

Have a Quiet Time 10 times this month, and something bigger, better, longer once per week

Seven small quiet times PLUS four really powerful ones doing Lectio Divina

PROJECTS

Begin developing a rotating menu plan by coming up with 10 solid meals that the family loves are fairly simple and fit within our budget (rolling it forward from last month, since I didn't get started on it)

Not yet....

Review and possible revise existing budget, as well as stash $50 in the emergency fund

Neither one of these...

Learn one new thing

Actually did this one....blogged about it here

Explore HEALTH/FITNESS

Not such a measurable goal....but I am ok on this one. Nutrition, Exercise and Self Care are a part of my yearly goals and will do fine here...

ME! Hanging out with Hubs

2011-04-29T09:36:00.000-05:00

Friday sometimes gets here so quickly! I've been trying to be intentional with the ME challenge, but it snuck up on me this week. However, I do remember hanging out with the husband this week watching some episodes of Grey's Anatomy streamed from Netflix! Not sure if you are familiar with the 5 Love Languages but my love languages are physical touch and quality time. While some folks may question whether or not watching television is "quality"....I absolute love hanging out with Hubs, usually snuggled up (physical touch)! So....that was "me time" this week....we got some more catching up to do...we are still watching episodes from the 6th season!

Jump on over to Dolli-mama for more ideas for "me time" or to lend your support to those of us remembering to nurture ourselves, too!

Speed Reading

2011-04-25T08:54:00.000-05:00

One of my April projects is to learn one new thing. I learned origami in February, so I am on target for learning six new things as I had hoped to do (#9 of my new year's resolutions). This month, I want to learn to speed read.

I am a fairly slow reader. It can be down right frustrating, because I love to read and have many books I want to read....and will add to this list regularly :) I found a free resource through Spreeder. They have other resources for sale, which I wouldn't mind obtaining one day. But finances are a bit short these days, so in the meantime I can utilize the free resource they offer.

Those of us who read slowly tend to read in our heads as though we are reading out loud. Our voice is slower than our brains. Really, our brains could read over sentences quite rapidly and our comprehension would be fine. So, the resource I mentioned is a way to push past that voice in our heads and read more quickly. So, I found this resource a few months ago and played with it some then, but this month have become intentional about speed reading posts from blogs I follow. Most of us read at 300 words per minute or less if we read with our internal voice. I am pushing myself to do 400 with these blog posts right now and hope to push it up to 500 or 600 soon.

So, if you have any interest in playing with this....head on over here....they provide a paragraph you can read. Try it at 300 wpm, then up it to something else. The directions are actually in the paragraph you read through the spreeder.

And do tell me if you own the other software this company (or any other) offers. I'd like to hear how you like it in case I "find" the funds to purchase more.

ME! Barefoot

2011-04-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year when we start to find green grass and one of the things I love is walking barefoot in some soft green grass....

This week, I chose a simple way to nurture myself....refresh myself.... by spotting some green grass, throwing off the flip flops and taking 5 minutes to walk around in it. I can't help but smile when I do this....I'll likely do it again!!!

Head on over to Dolli-Mama while we declare these weekly moments for ourselves in these 52 Weeks of Me!

ME! 30 Second Retreat

2011-04-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

I am working to not repeat these weekly moments, at least not repeat blog posts....I mean, I did get a hair cut this week....I try to journal 3 times a week (and at least one of those times IN Starbucks)....and I am SO enjoying my coffee corner at least once a day! But I am of the opinion that we need to fill our cup up regularly. And if we have a hole in our cup....we need to POUR into our cup....perhaps every day....at least until that hole is repaired and/or healed!!! So, I am in the process of really taking care of myself....filling up the cup as much as I can until I can get the hole or holes fixed :)

For a little over a week now, I have been cleansing my face in a little different way. This method feels so yummy for me. It doesn't take long. My favorite part is putting the hot cloth on my face and taking some deep breaths. I am loving how my face feels afterwards, too! So, I'll say that this counts as me time....

Check out Dolli-mama as we are linking up how we are taking care of ourselves....filling up our cups!

ME! Coffee Corner

2011-04-08T05:43:00.028-05:00

This week, to nurture myself....to take time for myself....I created a coffee corner! I love to go to Starbucks and sit in one of their corners, sip coffee, and just be or maybe read or maybe journaling! My husband and I make coffee most mornings with a French press which makes exquisite coffee, and I decided I needed a coffee corner in my house. I had some old, not so great chairs, I just needed a lamp and table. I found one for just over fifty bucks. Eventually, I would like to replace the chairs with something a bit nicer, but they work for now!

I love this corner (although I have one teenage daughter and one girl kitty who seem to think this is their corner)! I had a most lovely quiet time there this week! I had a couple evenings where I read a book and sipped a hot beverage (tea or hot cocoa....YES, I know it is spring and it is weird....but I like hot beverages)!

Head on over to Dolli-mama to see what others are doing to take some time out for themselves with the 52 weeks of me challenge!

Experience Joy

2011-04-07T05:37:00.003-05:00

It's been a month since I posted in the Faith Barista Jamming Thursdays! I really do want to blog more often in this arena....it gets my brain working in a fairly dusty area, as she dishes out beautiful posts and gives up topics to weigh in on....this week's topic: JOY!

Whoa! I felt like I already wrote about it, but that was several weeks ago, and we are all different people now! I am mulling over the word joy and immediately what comes to mind is my quiet time yesterday morning. I tried a new technique I learned about in this book which many of you may already be familiar with: Lectio Divina. I did my own version and had a moving experience, a personal moment where God really talked with me. Now, God has talked with me before and used to often. Then he seemed to get quiet. I don't know for sure if he got quiet or I just got so loud I couldn't hear him. But....hearing from God brings so much joy! And the paradox is that he shared some hard stuff to hear. He didn't scold me (not this time), but he let me know I needed to stand up and the sand below me was not sinking, like I thought....the ground below me was not about to swallow me up. I was seeing an illusion, a lie, and I needed to TRUST HIM and STAND UP and STAND FIRM! It was beautiful, enlightening, powerful, and true! And it was just for me!

I am not seeing much joy in life these days. It is there....all around me....but I have been so hurt and scared that I would dismiss the joyous moments and focus on the fear, worry, anxiety! But yesterday morning, I felt like I held a secret that not everyone knows! Come close to God and he can whisper secrets to you to!

The morning was so nice and a song came to mind. Martina McBride signs a great song that has this line: "This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today.....believe it anyway." So, I will continue to huddle close to my father and let him whisper secrets in my ear....this will give me pockets of joy. And tomorrow will be better than today....joy will come easier!

April Goals

2011-04-04T20:29:00.000-05:00

FAMILY

Family Date
Family Game Night
Date #1
Date #2

HOME LIFE

Continue with the weekly Get Organized Wizard missions, just picking it back up where I left off
Participate in the 30 x 5 Organizathon going on at Get Organized Wizard's blog

HEALTH

Kitchen Stewardship--continue to build on what I've been doing....continue with the 3 Easy Changes (and include yogurt this time around), add two of her other 10 foundational habits (was going to do this last month and didn't, still need to decide which two habits I wanna add), and any of the Monday Missions that jump out and get me
Yoga weekly on my own, now that the class is over
Weekly walks with my husband
Drink more water

SELF

Read 3 books this time
Continue with the 52 Weeks of ME Challenge
Journal 3 times a week EVERY week
Have a Quiet Time 10 times this month, and something bigger, better, longer once per week

PROJECTS

Begin developing a rotating menu plan by coming up with 10 solid meals that the family loves are fairly simple and fit within our budget (rolling it forward from last month, since I didn't get started on it)
Review and possible revise existing budget, as well as stash $50 in the emergency fund
Learn one new thing
Explore HEALTH/FITNESS

Previous month recaps:

January ------------------------- January

February ---------------------- February

March -------------------------- March

March Wrap Up

2011-04-03T08:48:00.002-05:00

Remember when we were in school and the teacher changed the bulletin up each month to help us be mindful of the month and the goings on in that month? As I post my goals and wrap ups, I find myself trying to remember back to what represents the month. Seems like March was the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" month. But, alas....I chose shamrocks!

March was so hard to keep plugging! I had a hormonal hiccup on the last day of March and am still not fully recovered. I have thought to update my March goals several times but getting myself to do it is another thing altogether. But today is only April 3rd, so I am within a 5 day grace period, huh? I have no idea if anyone reads these goals, but I want to keep doing them....for posterity, if nothing else!

Without further adieu, here's how I did on the goals I set out to do this month:

FAMILY

Family Date--check
Family Game Night--check
Date #1--tried to do this date but it had its quirks, still time with Hubs....so it was good!
Date #2--check, low key date over coffee

Family is my strongest goal set each month....the dates may not go perfectly, but we seem to squeeze them in!

HOME LIFE

Continue with the weekly Get Organized Wizard missions

I got pretty behind on these. Each Saturday, I organize my week with these great daily goal lists and frankly, I haven't been doing this much at all. I did declutter 50 things(actually more than that) one week, and one of the weekly missions was to organize my closet, which I am doing with with Project 333. The trick here is to pick it back up in April!

Project 333--try to use only those 33 clothing items, regroup them as they are losing their place, and possibly tweaking further

This one has been interesting....I think I need a warm weather 33 and a cold weather 33, but for the most part, I've been wearing within 33 or so. I would say this is mostly a success for me

Do 3 home maintenance things daily....probably the 3 I did last month....make bed, clean empty sink at night, and 10 minute tidying project

Oh my goodness, why is this so hard???? I flopped big time!

HEALTH

Kitchen Stewardship--build on what I've been doing....continue with the 3 Easy Changes (yogurt? maybe....maybe not), add two of her other 10 foundational habits (to be decided which two later), and any of the Monday Missions that jump out and get me

I had lots of bean and lots of eggs this month. I did not add any foundational habits :(
Monday Missions were:

Switch Your Salt - she discusses a few different salts....I already use sea salt....I didn't make any other changes or upgrades here....
Do Something Big - do that something big you have been thinking about but have avoided....didn't do that one either
Get Moving - and....besides Yoga (read below), I've walked a couple times with Hubs....sure, I could and should do more, but it's a start!
Spend Time with Your Family - I love this one....and I'm pretty good at it!

Lose 10 pounds

I lost a total of 9 pounds (counting last month's loss) and in one week (Spring Break), I gained back 5 1/2 pounds. Talk about depressing....I spent 6 weeks to lose 9 pounds and until more than half of that in ONE week. I don't even know what to do. And since then, I haven't been able to get back into the eating plan....I have some serious issues!!

Yoga.....continue with the class I started

It was a 6 week class and I loved it. BUT....I missed one week during Spring Break (even though I was back in town....I skipped anyway....just being honest).....and I missed last week because of my earlier mentioned hormonal hiccup.

SELF

Read 3 books this time

ummmm......I read to the very end of one book....not even on my list of books to finish! This book by Dr. Laura. I read it while at my sister's house....during Spring Break :) I wrote some thoughts about how I feel about the author here....and I am even less of a fan now! So, why'd I read this book? Because my sister said it was an easy read (yes, it is) and she recommended it. Please do NOT read this book thinking I am recommending it! Read it if you like Dr. Laura....or not. Don't expect any earth shattering "aha" moments either. Expect easy, simple, narcissistic, and haughty "direction" from someone who makes a living telling the majority of her listeners how pathetic and stupid they are. Therapeutic? not so much! Just talking about her makes me a little nauseated....

Continue with the 52 Weeks of ME Challenge

this is really becoming something I look forward to each week and one of the things I've been consistent on this year
I blogged about March's weekly challenges here, here, here, and here

Journal 3 times a week EVERY week

Another wahoo moment for me here....considering the struggle I had this month, I really want to focus on successes. I DID journal 3 times EVERY week in March.

Have a Quiet Time 10 times this month

I did really well here. I am spending less than 10 minutes in these quiet times. And I did just over 15 this month, not just the 10. I think I'd like to add at least one more substantial quiet time per week next month. But this is hopefully building momentum....hopefully getting closer to the daily quiet time I once knew!

PROJECTS

Stash $100 in the Emergency Fund -- check
Explore MONEY/FINANCES

We've done well in this area before and have a fairly good handle on money. I wanted to revisit our budget and look into money/finances to tweak things if need be....but....I didn't! Not once :(

Begin developing a rotating menu plan by coming up with 10 solid meals that the family loves are fairly simple and fit within our budget

Didn't do this one either :(

ME! Fruit

2011-04-01T06:36:00.000-05:00

This may seem a bit odd, but for this week....just for me....I bought a pineapple. I love fresh pineapple but have always been intimidated by the cutting and peeling of it. So, I wanted some pineapple and decided this was the week I gave it a shot. I looked up on the Internet how to cut it up (it was really pretty easy)! So, alas....I have some cut up, fresh pineapple in my fridge. I think I will have some for breakfast!

Check out Dolli-Mama and the others challenging themselves to have a little more me time!!!

ME! Journaling

2011-03-25T07:02:00.001-05:00

This week, I didn't do anything new....but I decided I would highlight something I do for ME on a fairly regular basis. Pictured above is my journal and pen. Since the beginning of this year, I have tried to write 3 times a week in this little book. This book has soul resolution on its cover....so I'm reminded each time I sit down and open it up. Sometimes, it just flows....I never know for sure what I will write about. Sometimes I sit for a minute and see what pops up....sometimes I just free write. On occasion, I have used journal prompts and tricks. But I find, the most effective for me is just to start.

And take a look at my pen. I love it. All by itself, it inspires me. It was part of a Christmas gift from Hubs, and I am pretty sure the bow/ribbon wasn't meant to stay on there indefinitely but I love it that I have kept it on there. It is so fun. AND....how perfect is it that it writes so well!!!!

And to make the experience EVEN BETTER.....at least once a week (and sometimes several times a week), I head over to Starbucks....order me a nice cup of hot coffee (even if it is 105 degrees outside)....sit down and journal....then maybe even read a chapter or two from a book. I love the atmosphere of Starbucks. Usually, there is fun background music, but I believe the energy in the place is positive. Hubs works part-time as a barista and has a blast. I think this is fairly universal at Starbucks around the country, but I'm not sure that it is a guarantee. However, I just feel the difference in the whole place. I think the staff creates a positive atmosphere that bleeds over into the customers. Lots of times, I will hear folks laughing and talking so happily!!! So, the whole experience is very good "me time" for me!!!

Head over to Dolli-mama for other ME time ideas!

ME! Take a day off work!

2011-03-18T08:56:00.000-05:00

Today's Me! Challenge was super easy. I took a day off work for no particular reason. It is spring break for my kids and I took a couple days off to go visit some family. But yesterday, when I got in, I decided to ask for an additional day....JUST FOR ME! My 101 Things List included me taking a day off and doing nothing. I am not sure if I will really do "nothing"....I am, after all, blogging. So....I'll have to decide if this will count as my "do nothing" day, but this is certainly a treat for me....not to go to work.....not to have any pressing responsibilities....and jump starting the weekend! And it cost me nothing (except a vacation day)!

There are others blogging about what they are doing over at Dolli-mama's blog. Head on over for some inspiration and ideas....do something this week JUST FOR YOU!!!

ME! Ahhhhhhhh......

2011-03-11T09:56:00.000-06:00

FINALLY, I got a massage. I don't know how long it has been and a girl could definitely get used to this!!!! I wish I could afford to do this weekly! Or even monthly. Or maybe afford isn't the right word....I don't know! Maybe I don't make it a priority in my budget. Although these days, my budget is REALLY strapped! But even when it wasn't, I didn't make it a priority!

Head on over to Dolli-Mama to catch up with the other girls who are taking care of themselves!

ME! New Placesetting

2011-03-04T05:04:00.000-06:00

It is time, once again, for me to share what I did for me this week. I am personally trying not to repeat....at least not yet. So, starting on the weekend, I start rolling around ideas in my head. This week was gonna be tough....until....I read a chapter from this book. While this book is about losing weight....it is about more than that. It's about changing your relationship with food....with yourself....with God! So, the chapter said to buy a few things for yourself....starting with a napkin. But then, to also get a place mat, a plate, a knife, a fork, a spoon, and a glass. I don't yet have the candlesticks and music, like it suggested. But, I did purchase these items. I generally go for more muted and neutral colors, especially in something like this....but I went a little bold. I also got a nice stemmed water glass. Whenever I drink from these in restaurants, it feels different.

So, there you have it! Please disregard the background of the photo. I had a kitty who simply refused to budge when I wanted him out of the picture. And this is our nice dining room table, which we seldom use for dining....we generally have our quiet time here. My daughter called it our "prayer table" a couple years ago, and that stuck :) So there are some sticky notes and books in the background. But hey! It is what it is!

Head over to Dolli-Mama to see what other folks are doing to take care of themselves....treat themselves!

Rest

2011-03-03T08:01:00.000-06:00

Our world, at least here in the United States, at least in my circles....does not value rest. We work ourselves so much and that STILL is not enough. Sometimes it comes from pressure without....sometimes it comes from pressure within! Makes no difference where it comes from, that concept is deadly! I don't think anyone would disagree with me that being overstressed is unhealthy at best.... I know scientists are studying stress....which I saw a documentary on. But, I venture to say that those of us who have experienced stress know intuitively that it's not good for us!

When Faith Barista announced that this week's focus was rest....I immediately responded with a question in my heart, like what is that? I had a friend search me out and tell me that God had given them a bible verse for me. You probably know the one....Matthew 11:28. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Yeah, yeah....that's what I thought. I know that verse. I could finish it for them. It didn't resonate with me. Why is that?

Well....because while I know the verse.....I don't KNOW the verse. I know weary! I know burdened! But I don't know rest. I think I am missing a part of the verse....the "come to me" part. See, the come to me part just about requires for us to unplug from the world....the world that is creating the weariness....the burdens....the stress. And I just don't know how to do that.....or do I?

You know Jesus let us in on a little secret when he talked to the woman at the well (John 4). He told her that he offered living water....and that drinking the water he offers, she will never thirst again. This is a bit of an abstract thought, but it is such a beautiful one! And I can't help but believe that when he offers us rest....that the rest will be different than any other kind of rest we've ever experienced. I have experienced "rest" that wasn't restful....have you? I am at a loss for a descriptive word I imagine the rest to be....refreshing doesn't cut it....tranquil? maybe...but I really like how Jesus said he could offer LIVING water. Can the rest be living, too? How about breathing rest?

*DEEP HEAVY SIGH* I want that rest....no matter what descriptor you put on it....I need something real, something lasting....and I believe....no I TRUST that what Jesus would give would be beyond words. Rest...I'm gonna have to shut out the world that screams "do more....be more....it's not enough"! I'm gonna have to shut myself up....for sometimes those screams are from me. Yeah, I think I want what Jesus is offering!

March Goals

2011-03-01T06:24:00.000-06:00

So, I came up with New Year's Resolutions. I broke it down in January and February, which worked really well in January and although I started to lose momentum, it still worked alright in February. So the system is working for me, so I will once again break it down for the month of March and hopefully push it back into a momentum building phenomenon!

FAMILY

Family Date
Family Game Night
Date #1
Date #2

Gotta plug dates in again, but this is a regular monthly set up!

HOME LIFE

Continue with the weekly Get Organized Wizard missions
Project 333--try to use only those 33 clothing items, regroup them as they are losing their place, and possibly tweaking further
Do 3 home maintenance things daily....probably the 3 I did last month....make bed, clean empty sink at night, and 10 minute tidying project

HEALTH

Kitchen Stewardship--build on what I've been doing....continue with the 3 Easy Changes (yogurt? maybe....maybe not), add two of her other 10 foundational habits (to be decided which two later), and any of the Monday Missions that jump out and get me
Lose 10 pounds
Yoga.....continue with the class I started

SELF

Read 3 books this time
Continue with the 52 Weeks of ME Challenge
Journal 3 times a week EVERY week
Have a Quiet Time 10 times this month

PROJECTS

Stash $100 in the Emergency Fund
Explore MONEY/FINANCES
Begin developing a rotating menu plan by coming up with 10 solid meals that the family loves are fairly simple and fit within our budget

February Wrap Up

2011-02-28T17:40:00.000-06:00

I am really enjoying the fact that I am actually following through with some of my goals and keeping up with it on here! First off, by breaking my New Year's Resolutions down into monthly tasks makes me more likely to keep things on my mind. It felt good to report the success of January, I can say I lost some momentum but hope to pick it back up for March. So now let's see how I did on the goals I set for February!

FAMILY

Family Date....snuck it in at the last minute (2/27)
Family Game Night....also snuck it in last night (2/27)
Date #1

Done....blogged here

Date #2

And blogged here

HOME LIFE

Continue with the weekly Get Organized Wizard missions

I looked at voice mails, both in going and out going, to try to make them concise and to the point....this was a strategy to become a better communicator
Cleaned my car....inside and out
Made a list of things that made me happy to try to put into action regularly
Decluttered 50 items

Project 333--try to use only those 33 clothing items, possibly tweaking an item or two
Do 3 home maintenance things daily (I currently make my bed almost every single day....I just need to add two to that)

I decided on (1) making my bed every day, (2) keeping the sink cleaned out and clean, and (3) a 10 minute project every day that has to do with home maintenance
In January, I know that I made the bed everyday even though I didn't really make that a goal....figured February would continue with this....and I know that I did except when we had a snow day (2/4/11)....guess I got lazy
WHY is this so hard for me? I did "okay" making the bed....it was hit or miss with the other two!

HEALTH

Kitchen Stewardship--build on what I started last month....continue with the 3 Easy Changes (they certainly need some growth) and any of the Monday Missions that seem plausible for me right now

I ate eggs almost every day, as well as beans at just about every meal (see next item). I didn't eat any yogurt at all, but I used real butter to make eggs and didn't have any milk at all
The first week's mission was to look at your use of the microwave and consider using it less, I didn't do so much with this one.
The only other Monday Mission that Katie offered this month was try organ meats and that is more advanced than I am for the moment....
Lose some weight this month....this time I think I need to actually do something....I got some ideas....after reading from this book, I decided to implement a slow carb diet (because it fit with some of Kitchen Stewardship's principles, it seemed mostly healthy, and do-able). I weighed myself as well as measured in a few places. I lost 7 1/2 pounds and 6 1/2 inches

Yoga....I really will start this class this month

AND.....I did! I blogged here

SELF

Read 3 books this time....I only finished TWO:

The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferris
Why Is It Always About You? by Sandy Hotchkiss

Continue with the 52 Weeks of ME Challenge

Blogged about these here, here, here, and here

Journal 3 times a week EVERY week

I did journal at least 2 times every week and 3 times a couple weeks

Decide on a time to implement my Quiet Time plan....try out a couple different times....and have a Quiet Time 10 times this month

Apparently, I do very best at keeping a quiet time if I work it in in the mornings! I did have quite time 10 times, actually

PROJECTS

Stash $200 in the Emergency Fund....actually stashed $500!!!
Explore HAPPINESS....which I did and am going to implement some things into my life that make me happy and cultivate making a gratitude list of 3 things daily (I hope)
Learn one new thing this month

DONE....origami....blogged about it here

Decide on one item to save up for and create a "sinking fund"....yup I decided, although I am not sure I made the best decision. But I got me an envelope and have $20 in it so far!

ME! Move....Breathe...Be....

2011-02-25T06:29:00.000-06:00

Number 49 on my ginormous to do list is to take a yoga class once a week for at least 2 months. I've dabbled in yoga at home. I even set it as a goal for January (which I didn't do). I set it as a goal for February and am just now starting it, but alas....I started it!

This week, I signed up for a yoga class! I am not a big fan of exercise, but I have felt an attraction to the practice of yoga, for the physical benefits and for the connecting to and listening to my body. I actually went both on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. I misunderstood when the class started and went a day early, but they let me go to another class and try it out. Two different teachers and two different experiences, both very good....very "me time" feeling experiences! They both ended with a time of relaxation and meditation. They put a cloth sprayed with lavender oil over your eyes as you relax (WONDERFUL!!). And Thursday, the teacher gave mini head massages. THAT ALONE felt like a gift "just for me."

I titled the post "Move....Breathe....Be...." because of an amazing woman I met at a meditation retreat who teaches yoga. She really touched my heart....she writes (or used to) this blog. But I just enjoyed remembering her as I jumped into this class this week. I haven't talked to her in a few months, but I felt a connection to her as I was moving and breathing and being. I think I'll shoot her an email!

At any rate, I'm checking in over at Dolli-Mama to see who else is taking care of themselves....filling their cup so they aren't as empty as they pour into others throughout the week!