My 2014 Vision Board

OK it's Saturday and I have time so here comes another blog post for today! I have a feeling most of my posts will happen on the weekends when I have time to catch up!

So I read this fab blog called Peak 313 Fitness and this year she talked about making a vision board to visualize your goals for the year. Her post is HERE if you want to take a moment to read it and get an idea what I'm talking about.

Taking my word INTENTIONAL and running with it, I had SUCH a fun time putting this board together! I already had the large bulletin board in my bedroom, it had photos of hubby and I through the years on it - I moved those photos to another place and used the bulletin board for this project. I used things I found in magazines, some free printables from the Peak 313 blog, and also printed out some things from my Pinterest Boards that I found especially inspirational.

The board is set up in four sections with four major areas of life I'd like to be intentional in this year. 

Relationships, Finances, Health and Faith. 

I know a few friends who are making similar goals this year and I'm excited to have people who will help keep me accountable and cheer me on. I hope to do likewise for them as well and pray that I can be an encouragement in their lives as well.

Clare's vision board idea stems from the concept of 'dream it, do it' ... so you dream of the progress you'd like to make in certain areas of your life, then you make a plan of action so you can DO IT! 
I also LOVE how on Clare's posts she uses this verse as a guideline, after all, if you pray that the Lord will help you, He will never fail to show up and give you the strength to accomplish great things! 

                                    “Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
                   and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3

OK, here is the whole picture of my board: 

Here is the HEALTH section

And my health section DREAM IT / DO IT goals:

Here is my FAITH section

And my faith section goals:

Here is my FINANCES section

And the finances section goals:

My RELATIONSHIP section

And the relationship goals:

I put this photo of my family over the photo of NO FB ... not because I am 

going to stop using FB altogether, but I want to be intentional about limiting

my time on there and specifically limiting the time while my family is home

and awake. If the girls aren't home or are already in bed for the night I don't

mind spending a little time on it. But if it's the evening time and everyone is home

and awake I want to spend that time WITH THEM, not with FB. 

At the top of the board is my word for the year as a little reminder. 

And in the center I printed out Clare's Dream it ---> Do it graphic. 

Here is the whole thing hanging on my wall. I get so inspired each time I walk past it!

How about you? Do you have big dreams, plans or goals for the year? 

New Year

I know some people loathe making New Year's resolutions. I know some people may think they're just crazy aspirations that never come true or never get carried out.

But I always love to think of the New Year as a chance for a fresh start. A chance to begin again and do things better. A goal is set and is hopefully reached. And even if it's not reached ... it's something that I continue to ponder and work towards.

With that being said ... I have a few 'resolutions' that I'm planning to work on this year.

* Spend more time with the Lord. Reading the Bible, having my quiet time, praying, writing in my journal, etc ...
* Spend less time watching TV and being on the computer
* Eat more healthfully
* Exercise more consistently
* Prioritize my time better
* Plan specific times to have one on one time with each daughter and hubby and make sure that I carry them out.
* Make more time for friends and keep in better contact with the ones that live farther away.
* Read more books.
* Model Christlike behavior for my girls and anyone who sees me.

I'm sure the list could go on ... as I sit here I think of more and more things I'd like to do this year. I'm going to leave it as it is for now. I know that I can't possibly carry out all these things in my own strength - but only with the strength and wisdom from our loving God can I do these things. He knows the desires of my heart and knows that I'd like very much to be able to carry out these things in my life.

Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

Happy New Year everyone!

Encouragement

I've been trying for a couple of months now to lose some weight. 
And just to be healthier in every aspect of my life. Unfortunately,
I haven't seen any success yet when it comes to weight loss.
So I'm in the process of trying to figure out what steps I need to
take to start seeing results. 

Anyway, there is someone who is very special to me who is
always full of great words of encouragement ... especially on
the topic of healthful living.

I copied and pasted a portion of her email today because I
found it to be very encouraging and uplifting. 

Here it is:
" I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me "
Phillipians 4:13

Day 1 .....   Begin writing food eaten in
journal.

" If you bite it...write it "  ww motto

Day 1 ......  Begin cardio program, 10 minutes of any cardio (
eliptical, walking, dance dvd )    
          Write it in the journal !!!!

" The toughest thing about a new exercise program is the first
step "  -joyce meyer
     
Day 1.... " Draw on the limitless power of the Holy Spirit, rather than
your own very limited power.  HE will always lead you to victory . "
- Joyce Meyer



So my 3 things for day one that I need to remember are:
1. Write down everything I eat.
2. Start some kind of cardio, even if it's only 10 min to start
3. Pray for success and discipline, God will lead me to victory!

I think I can handle that. 

I CONFESS!!!

I CHEATED! I HAD A CUP OF COFFEE THIS MORNING! I know, I can't believe I only made it TWO days! How bad is that?! I have NO discipline!

I gave in and allowed myself one cup this morning. And I split my sugar amount in half by adding half sugar/half splenda.

That's not SOOO bad, is it?

OK, now I need to go do some exercise because I'm so consumed by guilt ... =)

Today was harder.

I thought I was good to go with dropping my coffee habit since (overall) Monday went so well. But today was worse. I felt tired all day and had a headache most of the day too. I had to lay down and close my eyes for about an hour this afternoon.

And I also have to confess ... I cheated a wee tiny bit. Bob got a coffee on the way to swimming lessons and I was just dying to have one too. So instead of getting one for myself I had 3 sips of his. It did seem to satisfy the craving.

Is it too early to change my game plan?? Would I be quitting if I decided to allow myself just one, small cup each day? Should I be giving this some more time? Most people think I'm crazy trying to give up coffee anyway ... so what do you think?

Day one with no coffee.

Started out well. I felt energized and good.

Then we encountered a very mean, rude man while trying to homeschool at the library ... and the weather was awful today (cold, rainy, windy) ... and I hadn't had any coffee (for comfort and for warmth) ... and I just lost it. I started to tell my MIL the story about the mean guy at the library and I just started crying! I can only blame it on the lack of sugar and caffeine in my system! (Well, the guy was rude, and I was very ticked about him, but I would like to think that if I had stopped and bought a nice warm cup o' joe that I would have felt better!)

Maybe that's why I need to do this ... I rely on food (and coffee) all too often as comfort. And that's not good. Food needs to be my nourishment, not my comfort when I'm having a hard day.

So anyway, I made it through the day. I feel much better now. I did give in to a small cup of tea this afternoon with just a small dash of sugar in it.

Tomorrow is another day ...

I'm going to quit.

Coffee that is. I know, I hear your gasps right through the computer! I have tried and tried to find a way to drink it 'lighter', as in -- with less sugar and cream -- to no avail. I have tried splenda, skim milk, no sugar, no milk ... etc... and it just doesn't work for me. If it doesn't taste good, I'm not havin' it!

So I've decided to quit. I am trying to eat healthier, and possibly shed a little extra 'winter' (or YEAR ROUND!!!) weight - and I really think that eliminating my coffee habit will help. It might not help much, but every little bit helps!

Of course I have all these big plans in my mind because it's 8:30 at night and I can say anything I want right now. I'm sure when that alarm goes off tomorrow morning and I can't smell my already brewed coffee I will definitely be re-thinking this bright idea of mine! And then by 11am when my head is pounding and I know it's screaming at me "GIVE ME SOME CAFFEINE YOU CRAZY LADY!!" -- I'll surely want to quit the quitting, but I hope to stay strong!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes ... =)

Patience

I will admit, I have a real lack of patience when it comes to my kids. I often find myself shouting at them to 'hurry up and get in the car!', 'hurry up and get dressed!', or 'hurry up and get eating your breakfast!'.

It's not that we are running late, it's just that I have this need to be in control at all times, and to have everyone else follow my agenda for the day. I often find myself getting frustrated and impatient when the kids don't do things exactly as I want and when I want.

This morning while doing our Bible time I saw my faults staring me right in the face ... our subject for the day was, you guessed it, PATIENCE!

Last night I was busy doing something when H kept bugging me about watching a TV show, she nagged and nagged and nagged until I finally yelled at her to 'BE PATIENT!!'

So this morning as we read in our Bible lesson about patience, I felt such guilt over my own lack of patience. I feel as though I fail my kids so many times when it comes to modeling good behaviors and self control. After all, how can I expect them to be patient when I myself can't control my own impatient attitude?

Being a parent is definitely a real eye opener. Daily I am faced by my own inadequacies and guilt over the many ways I have messed up. I'm truly thankful that my kids forgive me, time and time again. Even more, how much more does God forgive me ... and He knows all the hidden thoughts and faults that no one else even sees!

This week, my prayer and my mission, is to work on being more patient with my kids. Our verse this morning was from Lamentations 3:26 "It is good to wait quietly". I wrote it out on some index cards and posted it in several places in my home ... it will be my daily reminder to watch my impatient attitude.

Drop in guests

Recently I've been involved in several discussions about 'drop in guests'. So I figured it made for good blogging material and also a way for me to challenge myself.

Basically, the 'drop in guest' is someone who just stops by your house unannounced. As I was talking about this with a friend I couldn't even remember the last time someone had just dropped in. I think one reason is that so many of the people I know lead busy lives ... myself included! And most of us wouldn't take the time to drive to someone's house unless we knew for sure they would be there.

Another very important topic came up as well. Would you welcome someone in to your home who had just dropped by? Well yes of course, I might say ... but what if my house was a disaster?? Would I be able to physically sit and enjoy the company of a friend, without frantically rushing about to pick things up or apologizing profusely about all the clutter and mess??

As I pondered these things I realized this is an area that I really need to work on. Not just my house, but my heart. Yes, I like to have a clean, organized house ... and if I was expecting company you can bet I'd make it clean before they came. But the truth is, my house is often very messy! Dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor, kids toys, books and coats everywhere .... and most of the time my one bathroom is pretty gross too! (I'm so ashamed to admit that!)

But I could almost bet that if any one of my friends stopped by unexpectedly they wouldn't care! They would want to chat and hang out and would see that I'm a real Mom, with a real house. (the lived in look is what I like to call it!)

So my challenge to myself is to really take this to heart. To try my best to make sure my home is picked up as much as possible, but to not stress if it isn't.
And now I just need some drop in guests to test it out for me! So come on over, I always have coffee and tea, my kids don't nap so no need to worry about that, and I would love to have company!

Great little websites ...

So like most years, one of my 'resolutions' is to try to have more discipline in eating right and exercising - the two big E's. Not by any means two of my favorite things as I LOVE food and I LOATHE exercise.

Still, I know it's something I need to do. I've noticed this slow weight gain that has happened to me over time. Mostly I realized it because I have a closet full of things that don't fit anymore.

Now please don't anyone panic. I'm not looking to be skinny minny, anorexic girl. I just want to shape up and start living more healthfully. (And I'm a little scared to be revealing this to all of you, for I fear this makes me have to be accountable for my words!!!!)

Anyway, I found these two very helpful websites to help keep me on track. On the first one you can input your daily progress, such as everything you eat and all your daily activity. And it will show you how many calories you've used and how many you have left. It's called myfitnesspal.com -- you can link right to it from here.

The next cool site is called hungrygirl.com, they show you lots of cool low fat recipes and substitutions for lots of your fave foods. Even yummy lower fat versions of your favorite Starbucks drinks. And, you can subscribe to their newsletter and get daily emails from them about new items/recipes. It's pretty cool. And the best part is, Hungry Girl is just like me, she LOVES food!

So if anyone else out there would like to join my quest for daily discipline, please let me know. I'd love to have some accountability/encouragement partners!

I've been carded.

My dear friend Pauleen has "carded" me, not sure exactly what that means, but I received these instructions so here goes!

Here are the rules:

1. Each player starts with 5 gifts that they would want for the New Year. Following Pauleen's example I did more than 5 but I think that's OK. :)
2. People who are “CARDED” need to write their own Blog about their 5 things & post these rules.
3. At the end of your Blog, you need to choose 5 people to get “CARDED” and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a COMMENT telling them they’re “CARDED”, and to read your Blog.

Spiritual Needs

*To be diligent with spending time in the Word. (me too Pauleen!)
*To spend time in prayer - specifically for my hubby and children.
*To set a better example for my kids by having daily 'quiet' time with God.
*To set a better example of Christlikeness by not losing my patience and yelling so much.
*To follow the Holy Spirit's leading in where I should be serving in the church.

Physical needs (as in my body)

*To be disciplined to eat right.
*To be disciplined to exercise.
*To set a good example of health for my kids.
*To go to bed early instead of staying up too late.
*To not give in to junk food just because it's quick and easy.

Fun needs

*To read through all the books I want to read.
*To catch up on my scrapbooking.
*To keep in touch better with my friends and family.
*To have more date nights with hubby.
*To have more fun with the kids.

You know it's funny ... as I read through this list of 'wants' ... it's almost like my list of New Years resolutions!!!

So I guess these are the things I'm going to resolve for the New Year. And now I get to 'card' the following people ...

Mary N., Amy D., Nicki W., Lynn W. and Carol T.

Happy New Year!