Thursday, January 2, 2014

Setting Goals

One thing that I want to do this year is set some attainable goals.  I think that the biggest reason why New Years' Resolutions aren't kept is that they are to generalized.  I also think that the majority of us want to have achieved those resolutions by the end of January.  So, I thought I'd walk through setting my goals and maybe that will help you set yours.

I started off by thinking of the basic things I want:

I want to grow in my faith.
I want to be a better wife and a better mom.
I want to be healthier.

Then, I broke those things down even more.

Faith
I want to spend more time in the Word and in prayer. I want to find an accountability/group.partner.

Wife
I want to respond better to my Sweetheart, both in general and when we disagree. I want to be more attentive to him and his needs. I want to put him first. I also want us to really be a team.

Mom
I want to not yell so much and be more consistent with discipline. I also want to really be "here" when I am at home.

Health
I want to eat better and start exercising more. I spend way too much time working out the glutes. Time to get up and get moving.

From here I am planning simple habits to start each month that will build up to a whole new me by next December.  For example, in January I am going to get myself off of coffee. I am starting with this one because it will be the hardest to break. I will follow this with soda in February. I am also planning a garden for spring so we can start growing our own yummy foods.  I'm still mapping out my monthly, weekly and daily plans to accomplish my goals for this year, but this is pretty much the easiest way I have found to set goals. If you're not a natural planner, Pinterest has some great worksheets and ideas.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

New Years' Revolution!

Welcome to 2014!

I've spent the last week really reflecting on the last year.  As I look back, I see all the things that were unpleasant turning beautiful. I can see that God has been working in my life, even when I was too fearful to acknowledge Him.  Here is 2013 in a glance:

-Found out I was pregnant 2/13/13.
-Bought my first home 6/1/13. Ian is obsessed with dogs.

-Adopted Lily, an American Stratfordshire Terrier (a.k.a. pit-bull) 7/26/13.   I also lost my job this day.
-Delivered my beautiful baby girl 7/27/13, she was 2 months early.
-Brought  my pretty princess home 8/23/13.
-Got a new job 10/28/13.  The company I work for is beyond awesome, as are the people I work with!
-Went with a co-worker to pick up her foster dog. 12/23/13.
-Sweetheart took our oldest son to pick out a dog to rescue.  Brought home Penni, a pitbull mix (we think hound) 12/29/13.

As you can see, 2013 was pretty great.  But in the midst I couldn't see all the great things that were happening.  I was so afraid that if I continued to trust God that He would let me down and everything would fall apart if I let go of my control.

So, I am going to allow God to revolutionize my soul. I want Him to make a sudden, complete, and marked change within me. This is something only He can do!

Isaiah 43:10 is my verse for this year.
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.