March

Some of you may have noticed that I didn't post any goals for this month. No, I didn't just forget to do it. February left me feeling a bit like a slacker...there were so many random things that I didn't get done that I had wanted to, and I don't think it was just because of having only 28 days in which to accomplish them instead of 30 or 31. We were just plain busy, or at least it seemed so at the time.

I've also seemed to get better at some of the goals that were reappearing monthly: making our bed every day, trying new recipes, and being purposeful in taking Lane outside are just a few of them. In short, I feel like the purpose of my making the goals in the first place has been fulfilled: I'm more organized and I prioritize my time better. Our home feels more 'put together' because I've gotten better at multitasking while Lane is awake (I can make the bed and fold/put up the laundry, as well as vacuum). Part of this I'm sure is because she's becoming more capable of entertaining herself, but I also feel like by just purposing to get it done I'm actually getting it done! I've been able to meal plan for a month at a time, spreading out our meals over the weeks so that I use leftover produce well, we eat vegetarian meals twice a week, and I make easier things on days we're busy and easier things on days we don't have class. And we've actually been going to bed earlier, which has been a huge help in my feeling rested and ready to conquer each new day. I'm still working on getting up earlier (help, help, HELP!) but I seem to have mastered at least getting a shower in before Lane gets up. That's helped my time management as well.

There are, of course, still things I'm working on. I welcome any and all suggestions as to how to get myself out of bed in the mornings. I'd really like to be getting up at 6:00. I just have the hardest time dragging myself out of bed in the mornings, though, no matter how much sleep I get. It just doesn't seem to matter. Anyone out there have any ideas to help me out? I have a friend who once told me that she used coffee as her "reward" for getting out of bed. Yeah...that doesn't work for me. I don't like coffee enough to get out of bed for it! Please offer me your insights into how to drag my lazy carcass out of bed in the mornings!

This month I've "given up" facebook. Yes, I still log on on Sundays to check my messages and to read a few status updates. I've gotten on a few times during the week for various reasons (needing to send someone a message whose email address I didn't have, wish someone a happy birthday, etc), but for the most part I've stayed away. I like that Shannon changed my password, so I have to get him to log me on. It helps keep me accountable to not logging on for "just a minute." I don't want to give up facebook for good...I like being able to keep up with my friends who don't blog or send emails. But I know I have a propensity (ooh, big word, huh?!) to waste time on there. So I'm considering trying out a new thing in April...maybe giving myself 20-30 minutes per day on there. I log in at 8:00 pm and out at 8:30. No matter what. Do you think it'll work? How do you keep yourself from wasting time on the internet?

So, this month I didn't set any big goals. I haven't been keeping track of how often I take Lane outside, make our bed, or offer Shannon a back massage (for those who are wondering why that made my goal list, Shannon has scoliosis and a massage, even just a 4-5 minute one, works wonders for his pain level and ability to sleep well). And I think I'm doing just fine at all of them. I may resume monthly goal-making in a few months, but since April and May are looking a tad bit crazy, I'm surely not going to make them for awhile. Instead I'm going to continue working on these current goals relating to organizing my time and my home better. And then I'll decide what to tackle next.

February

Well, now that February is 1/4 of the way over, I figure that I should post these, huh? I also figure that you're all probably tired of reading the ones that I've decided to keep each month, like making our bed every day, or offering Shannon a back massage every night. But, these are for me, and I do better if I write them down. So, too bad. :-)

In relation to God:
1) Memorize Psalm 1:2. Review memory verses from the past 6 months.
2) Read my Bible daily in order to finish it by the end of this year.
3) Listen to 2 online sermons.
4) Make a monthly prayer calendar. Ha! I already got this one done. Yay!
5) Finish "Shepherding a Child's Heart."
6) Choose another book to begin reading when finished with "Shepherding a Child's Heart."

In relation to my family:
1) Have a date night without Lane.
2) Take Lane outside every day for at least 15-20 minutes unless it's raining or too cold..
3) Have an "at home" date night once per week after Lane is asleep.
4) Be in bed, lights out, by 10:30.

Personal goals:
1) Make our bed every day.
2) Get my pajama pants and tank top fixed.
3) Offer Shannon a back massage every night.
4) Try 2 new recipes.
5) By the end of the month, be getting out of bed by 6:30 consistently.
6) Start reading the owner's manual for our new camera.
7) Turn my computer off by 9:00.
8) Develop a general schedule (chores, class, studying, Bible time, computer time, etc).

All that being said, we're on vacation for the week. It's a staycation, as we're not going anywhere, but we're also not studying, not having class, not going to any meetings, and Shannon is going to be easing it up on the business front. We're going to watch movies and eat popcorn and read books, and possibly stay up later than 10:30. We may even go to Ben & Jerry's, since I stumbled upon one the other day. But most importantly we're just going to spend some time together as a family. And quite frankly, I'm excited.

January

I've finally had a bit of down time and been able to come up with some goals for this month. Let me start by saying that I don't usually (anymore...I used to) make New Year's resolutions. This year isn't really any different...as I mentioned before, I much prefer this monthly goal bit. But I do have a couple of things that I'll be striving for this year. Mainly I want to focus on living a more disciplined life, especially in the area of time management. I think that by doing monthly goals for the last few months I've gotten a good start on this, but I want to really step it up a notch. I'm working hard on getting to bed early so that when my alarm goes off in the morning my only excuse for not getting up will be pure laziness, not lack of sleep. One of the first things I did in 2011 was clear out my blog subscriptions. I deleted every blog that I don't love to read or that's not written by someone I know personally. I won't be turning on my computer until I've spent time in the Word and in prayer. I'll use time during Lane's nap to do dinner prep: chopping veggies or cooking meat, shredding cheese, stuff like that.

I'm not calling these things resolutions because I know I won't do them all the time. Life happens. They're not goals, per se. They're steps I've identified that will help me to lead the kind of life I want to. My life isn't going to get any simpler, so I need to stop procrastinating on these kinds of things. I almost decided not to read through my Bible last year because I thought it might be too difficult with our crazy year. But I decided to do it anyways, and guess what? I finished. This year I've decided to do it again, following a different plan, but doing it all the same. I'm also going to add in more in-depth Bible study time, which I tend to skip over when I'm reading through the Bible in a year since it's so time-consuming. But even if I only do 5 minutes a day of deep reflection and study, I'm going to do it. I need to start now.

So there you go: the closest thing to a New Year's resolution that you'll get out of me. Do you want to join me in picking an area of your life that you'd like to become more disciplined in? Do you want to spend less time on facebook and surfing the internet but don't know where to start or who to ask to hold you accountable? Do you want to get up earlier each day but lack self-control in going to bed early? Send me an email (scarbroughfare@gmail.com) and I'll be a partner for you in this! I need accountability too, which is why I'm posting this for the world to see. Keep me accountable. Give me suggestions in areas you see I'm weak in. Help me set goals in areas I seem to neglect. Help me as I strive to live a life I'm not ashamed of.

Thus, my goals for this month are:

In relation to God:
1) Memorize Psalm 1:1-2. Yup, stepping it up with 2 verses a month this year instead of just 1. We'll see how it goes.
2) Read my Bible daily in order to finish it by the end of this year.
3) Spend at least 5-10 minutes each day studying and reflecting on a passage of Scripture.
4) Listen to 1 online sermon.
5) Make a monthly prayer calendar. Or at least get the calendar printed, even if it's still blank.
6) Finish "Shepherding a Child's Heart."

In relation to my family:
1) Have a date night without Lane.
2) Take Lane outside every day for at least 15-20 minutes unless it's raining or too cold.
3) Take a 2-day vacation to see some friends.
4) Do something touristy.
5) Get fully settled and unpacked in our new apartment.
6) Be in bed, lights out, by 10:30.
7) Throw Lane a bang-up 1st birthday party.

Personal goals:
1) Make our bed every day.
2) Get my pajama pants fixed.
3) Offer Shannon a back massage every night.
4) Try 1 new recipe.
5) Order photos for Lane's scrapbook and find someone to bring them over.
6) Get out of bed by 6:00.
7) Start reading the owner's manual for our new camera.

I've tried to keep my goals for this month kind of light since we're moving to a new place and Shannon will be gone for a week.

Care to join me? Leave a comment or send me an email!

December

After taking some time earlier today to think about which goals I wanted to set for myself this month, I finally decided on a few. I'm trying to go easy on them this month, because I know that because of Christmas and a small vacation that we're planning on taking I won't have as much time as I usually would. I'd rather set goals that are attainable and then be successful than to aim high and fail. So, I present to you, my goals for December.

In relation to God:
1) Memorize...a verse. I haven't chosen which one yet.
2) Read my Bible daily in accordance with my read-through-the-Bible-in-one-year plan. Only 28 days to go and I'll have finished it!
3) Listen to 1 online sermon.
4) Make a monthly prayer calendar.
5) Read "Shepherding a Child's Heart."

In relation to my family:
1) Have a date night without Lane.
2) Take Lane outside every day for at least 15-20 minutes unless it's raining.
3) Take a 2-3 day vacation to another city in Turkey.
4) Go to the park once a week as a family.
5) Visit a new part of Istanbul by public transportation.
6) Be in bed, lights out, by 10:30.

Personal goals:
1) Do a trial run on Lane's birthday cake.
2) Make our bed every day.
3) Offer Shannon a back massage every night.
4) Try 2 new recipes.
5) Finish our Christmas shopping and order photos for Lane's scrapbook.
6) Get out of bed by 6:00.
7) Take a pair of pajama pants and 3 tanks I bought to a seamstress and have them taken up.
8) Do 4 pages in Lane's scrapbook.

We'll see how I do this month...I know it's going to be a little insane. We'll have guests for a few days, we're planning on taking a short vacation for a few days, and Christmas is just around the corner. Shannon hasn't been feeling well today, and I just know that this month is going to fly by. So...here's to a new month and new goals!

November

How on earth is it November already? Seriously, it's almost Thanksgiving, which means it's almost Christmas, which means it's almost my birthday, which means it's almost Lane's birthday... It's insane how time flies as we get older.

I posted here about how I was looking at making some goals for myself in order to keep myself accountable for my time. I got the idea from Joy over at Priceless Gifts, and I did it in October but thought I'd keep my goals to myself for the 1st month, to see how realistic I was in setting and fulfilling them. So...I thought I would share with you all some of my November goals:

In relation to God:
1. Memorize Ephesians 4:29.
2. Read my Bible every day in accordance with my read-through-the-Bible-in-one-year plan.
3. Read "Shepherding a Child's Heart."
4. Listen to 2 online sermons.
5. Choose a Bible study plan for 2011.

In relation to my family:
1. Do something touristy once.
2. Have a date night without Lane at least once.
3. Go to the park 2 times per week as a family.


The park near our apartment.

4. Be in bed by 10:00.
5. Visit a new part of Istanbul by public transportation.
6. Take Lane outside for at least 15-20 minutes every day unless it's raining.

Personal goals:
1. Make our bed every day.
2. Try 2 new (healthy) recipes.


Pumpkin-Apple Muffins that I made today.

3. Do another practice run on Lane's birthday cake.
4. Buy myself a new article of clothing (or at least go shopping).
5. Get my booty out of bed by 6:00.
6. Write in my journal every other day (last month's goal was every day...proved to be too optimistic).

There you go, a glimpse into some of the things I'm going to be working on this month. I think that they're not too over-the-top and are attainable. I'll try to remember to let you all know how I do at accomplishing these. Last month I found that writing some goals down served to motivate me to actually try to do them.

Care to join me in making some of your own?