Resolution Wrap-Up

Spiritual: My goal was to read the entire Book of Mormon, Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price this year.  The good new is that I kept with it. I read every day, but didn't always read enough each day.  So, I'm 100 pages behind which means this goal will take approximately 12 months and 2 weeks to achieve.  I'm okay with that.

Physical:  Ugh.  This one was the worst.  Between my injury in the spring when I did something nasty to my posterior tibial tendon and getting walking pneumonia at the end of August, running was no bueno this year.  That being said.  I would like to try again.  But, I'll start small this time.  Maybe just try to run 38 miles before my 38th birthday in a little less than 3 months.  I'll have to run between 3-5 miles per week, but I think that's manageable.  And if my body can handle that, I'll make a new goal for the spring.

One thing I found was that I am terrible at training while on vacation.  We travel for at least 4 weeks in the summer and between all the driving and the wacko schedule and staying in new places, I'm terrible at sticking to a fitness routine.  Although, I did discover some really fun fitness apps for my phone that I used a lot while travelling.  I could listen to scriptures in my room in the morning and spend 20 minutes doing the fitness apps for sit-ups, crunches, push-ups, planks, and squats.  My phone became my trainer.  It worked really well on vacation, even if my normal routine didn't.

Financial: We were doing really well with financial goals until last month.  And now we need some pretty major (major=expensive) service done on our van, a new refrigerator, and going over our financial's we realized that we needed to make a larger tithing payment than we'd originally budgeted for thanks to some stock sold earlier in the year that I didn't factor in.  So, we paid the tithing, but are in some cases literally holding things together with duct tape until everything else is sorted.  Just like last January, we're planning on spending money for the two family birthdays we have coming up, and signing up for the next round of classes at the rec center, but food will come as much as possible from our own cupboards and pantries, so we will have a much smaller grocery bill this month.

Last year I started off with a financial fast.  We didn't do it for more than a few months, but it did make me more mindful about what I was buying when and more importantly, why I was buying it.  At the beginning of each month, I would make a list of the things we needed to purchase that were outside of our typical budget and it definitely kept me more focused on our goals.  I will definitely carry that over.

Organizing:  The challenge was great for me.  I confess that I didn't follow everything to the letter, and I didn't finish all the mini-challenges within, BUT it was great to take some projects by the horns, so to speak and get rid of a lot of clutter.  There is still A LOT of room for improvement, so I'll be doing it again this year.  I'll also be doing another month of winnowing, where I donate, throw away, or sell at least one item every day for the month of January. That's something I've been much better about doing this whole year.  And while I still feel like I'm drowning in toys, clothes, papers, etc. I also feel like I have a better handle on it.  

Books I Read this Month:
The Holy Bible (well, I finished it this month, anyway.)
Miranda's Big Mistake
The Nature of Jade
Awaken
Boundless
Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince
The Secret Life of Prince Charming
Unspoken (WARNING: If I had not had the 2nd book in the series already in my possession, I would have thrown this one across the room at the end.  WORST ENDING EVER! But very compelling story and the sequel left me more satisfied, though anxious for the 3rd to hurry up and come out already.)
Untold
Blackmoore
Sweet Tea Revenge
Also, I was able to read a friend's manuscript and it was fantastic! I'm so excited for it to be published! 

Keeping Myself Honest 6

Spiritual: I'm behind but catching up. I've been listening to scriptures while I do tasks in the kitchen during the day. Or while folding laundry. I'm only about 15 pages behind, which in the grand scheme of this project is not much, but which I've been fighting hard to not let get any worse.

Physical: In an effort to be kind to my posterior tibial tendon, I was a total schlubb in April. Other than working in the yard, which I've been doing a lot of, and belly dancing I've barely gotten my heart rate up. The good news is that my tendon feels as good as new! The bad news is that I'll probably need to start if not from scratch, probably back several weeks in my training.

Financial: Better this month, but not as good as I would have liked. Still, we were able to increase our mortgage payment even more, which should shave an additional few months off the end. The long term goal is to have the house paid off by 2017. (13 years from the time of purchase.) We'll have kids graduating in 2018, 2020, and 2022 which seem like pretend dates as I'm typing them, but which are disturbingly close. Not having a mortgage to pay right when we will potentially have 3 kids in college or on missions all at the same time sounds pretty awesome.

Organizing: The challenge was good this month. One of the challenges was to clean out my email inbox. This is a daunting task, but I did take the time to unsubscribe from quite a few companies that I just don't need to be getting email from, especially at the alarming regularity with which they send it. The one that amused me the most was Roy's. Roy's is a restaurant that used to be in the financial district in NYC (It exists in cities all over still, but shut down their NYC location many years ago).  Todd and I haven't been there since our 5th wedding anniversary.  We've been married for 14 years.  I really don't need to hear about what's going on at Roy's.


Books I Read this Month:
Notorious Nineteen
The Beekeeper's Apprentice (The very fact that the Mary Russell books exist makes me happy.)
Thale's Folly
Wicked Appetite
Wicked Business
A Monstrous Regiment of Women
Edenbrooke (Charming.)
Minding Frankie
Heavens to Betsy
O Jerusalem
The Builders (This novella is part of an adult literacy series. I love the idea of "easy" readers for adults that don't bore the reader to death in the process.  At only 87 pages for the entire story, it's a quick read, but enjoyable.)

Keeping Myself Honest 5

Spiritual:  I'm a few pages behind in my scripture reading, so I'm cutting this short tonight so I can go catch up!

Physical: I was doing FABULOUS until 2 weeks ago when I did something unfortunate to my posterior tibial tendon. I am trying to behave so I can start running again in a few more weeks. It was completely my fault. I did not listen to my body one night and am losing a month of training because of it. grrrrrrr!

Financial: Not so great this month. We had several unexpected things pop up, but also, I just wasn't as diligent about being prepared when I went grocery shopping. I did a lot of "I'll just run out and get..." type trips to the grocery store. It's amazing what a difference that makes! 

Organizing: The challenge wasn't very challenging this month, because I was already up to speed in those areas covered. April is a whole different story!

I'm ready for a new month and the chance to start fresh, so to speak!

Books I Read in February: (Slightly higher number thanks to the lack of running.)
Stay
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Importance of Being Seven
Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled
Smokin' Seventeen
The Mark of Athena
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
Forever
Explosive Eighteen
In the Garden of Beasts
Code

Keeping Myself Honest 4

Spiritual: I am completely up to date on my scripture reading. Mostly because I have started listening to scriptures while I run. Do you know what doesn't help you run faster? Leviticus. Or Numbers. Or Jacob, Chapter 5.  However, I'm not really going for speed. I'm going for not dying before the end of the race, which I think is a worthy goal.

Physical: I ran 34.75 miles this month. It should have been closer to 40, but I started out the month sick and then had a couple of days where I had to short myself a mile because there just wasn't time.  My proudest moment was when I ran 2.5 miles in 28 minutes a few weeks ago. I know that for a real runner, that isn't at all impressive. I also recognize that I have run much faster than that in years past. But for me right now with this body, that was awesome!

Financial:  We've done pretty well! There were some things that we needed to purchase, but we did a much better job of keeping our spending in check.  Next month will be more of a fast because   the last trimester of dance tuition is due. Also, I'm going away for an overnight of alone time on my birthday weekend, and buying a new vacuum. I'm all done with the vacuum that has literally been held together with duct tape for so long. I hate having to re-duct tape the hose each week, too. I found someone in the neighborhood who can use our old vacuum, so as soon as I get my new one, I will pass the old on to her.

Organizing: The challenge is going okay. I went through much of Lilyanna's toys and dolls and dress ups the other day and got all of those organized. And I'm still doing great at winnowing things. I've been donating and selling left and right. It makes me feel lighter.  Stuff really can weigh you down.

Books I Read in February:
Postcards from the Dead
Time after Time
Virals
Seizure
Heaven is Here
True Colours
Drop Dead Healthy
Why Can't I Be You

Keeping Myself Honest 3

Spiritual: I am completely up to date on my scripture reading. I did get a bit behind when I was away helping to care for my sister, but it wasn't too difficult to catch up. I brought my scriptures in my carry on bag for my flights, but I apparently lack the attention span on an airplane. Incidentally, there is nothing like horrific turbulence on a flight to remind me of how incredibly powerless I really am. I found myself humming the Indigo Girls song "Up on the Airplane". Specifically the line "Up on airplane/nearer my God to thee/I start making a deal/inspired by gravity."

Physical: I got all 4 runs in for the week and went to belly dancing. Didn't make it to boot camp. Lilyanna had a high fever the night before and little did I know it but was kicking off the rash of strep and head colds to beset our family for the rest of the week.  I will confess on the running thing, I didn't get all my miles in.  On Monday, I tried, but discovered that the treadmill I was on was broken, so while I was feeling AWESOME at how fast I was running my requisite miles, I finally looked over at the woman next to  me to compare her mph and discovered that while our footfalls were exactly the same, her setting was way lower than mine. I finally got off and asked the gym trainer what was up, and he confirmed that indeed they have problems with that treadmill.  Still, for a couple of miles I was the BEST runner! ;)

Financial:  We did okay at this for the month of January. My unexpected travel was in there, but all told, we did okay. We kept things simple for the birthdays we had this month, and definitely spent less.  While we have a few things to stock up on this month, we are going to be more mindful of our spending and do another financial fast in March.

Organizing: The challenge is going okay. I'm sort of picking and choosing the tasks I do for the month rather than going in the assigned order. In reorganizing drawers and cabinets in the kitchen I discovered that somehow we have accumulated FIVE potato peelers. Five! I don't even have an explanation for how that might have happened.

Books I Read in January:
Born to Run
Eat and Run
The Raven Boys
The Scorpio Races

Keeping Myself Honest 2

A report on my resolutions more for my own benefit than anything else. 

There is a bit of a caveat this week. It's not my story to tell, so I'm not providing details, but a very close family member of mine who lives far away nearly died this week. I spent two full days this week fretting about a situation completely and utterly beyond my control and did pretty much nothing on those days. I mean, I went through the motions. I homeschooled, and taught piano and made dinner and drove kids where they needed to go. But every other minute was spent either worrying or praying or trying to find out what was going on.  My goals and self-betterment, while important, paled mightily in comparison to the life of someone I love. I'm not excusing myself, but giving myself a bit of wiggle room.  Due to the incident, I will be travelling west this week to help care for this person and her family and am trying to prepare everything for my family for while I'm gone. So, other than scripture reading, everything else is going to be catch as catch can.

Spiritual: I accomplished my reading goal everyday, though I found that if I don't get the bulk of the reading done in the morning before Lilyanna wakes up, it mostly gets left until the evening when I'm definitely not absorbing as much.

Physical: Running went great this week! I am following a training schedule for a couch to half marathon, but discovered that I could skip to week 4. This is especially good news, because it means I might actually be ready in time for the big half marathon this spring in Columbus.  We'll see! Belly dancing was super fun, and I totally skipped my hellish boot camp class since it was in the midst of the days of fret.

Financial:  Financial fasting was okay. I spent unexpected money for travel, though the bulk of my plane ticket was given in a most welcome but unexpected offering of frequent flier miles from my father in law.  The whole situation made me reflect on something I read in a book by the Economides family. They mentioned that one of  their standards for an emergency fund is "How much would it cost to fly the entire family to a funeral of a loved one on short notice?" Tickets are absurdly expensive if you don't have the traditional two weeks lead time.  The price for us, right now, would have been so prohibitive that there's no way we all would have been able to go should things have gone as badly as they could have gone. Fortunately, we didn't have to make an awful choice like that, but it makes me all the more determined to make sure that we pad our emergency fund better.

Organizing: I'm still doing a good job at getting rid of things, but the challenge was a bit of a disaster. My counters are improved, but in no way good. Losing two days didn't help, but honestly, I didn't make it enough of a priority at the beginning of the week. I was using a cram mentality, which isn't going to work for me with organizing. It needs to be a more methodical process.

Keeping myself honest

A report on my resolutions more for my own benefit than anything else.

Spiritual: I did great with scripture reading! And my days flowed better as I made reading scriptures a priority.

Physical: I did my horrific bootcamp class on Thursday, and ran on Friday. I only ran a mile and walked a half mile, but still for day one, not bad. My schedule for running is going to be M/T/F. I would love to do every other day in an ideal world, but schedules do not allow for ideal.

Financial: Financial fasting wasn't so great this week BUT money was spent on the things we knew ahead of time we were going to need. I had to renew my membership at the rec center and sign up for my classes. I also had to order some homeschool books and supplies for my kids, although I had an amazon giftcard that paid for most of that.  We did a great job at meal planning with ingredients we already had on hand. Last night I went to the grocery store and kept myself from picking out anything that I didn't need. (Except there was a great price on GF chicken nuggets, so I did pick up a box of those.)

Organizing: I've been doing a good job at getting rid of things, but the challenge I'm doing doesn't start until tomorrow anyway, so I'm good. ;)

Resolutions 2013: Financial

I like resolutions. But I typically get into them more at the beginning of the school year. This year because of the last minute flurry of homeschooling stuff, I didn't feel quite as ready to jump into self-improvement.

I've had a lot of time to consider what I'd like to do for the new year and am going to introduce this week the ideas I've had.  Today I'm going to share with you the financial fast that we are going to go on as a family for January and February.

I read this about a month ago and liked the idea. After Todd and I did our budget for the year last week, I LOVED the idea.

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we pulled out the Monopoly money and divided one month of our combined income among the kids and then read down the list of household expenses. They were very concerned when they all ran out of money before we finished the list of expenses.  We explained that because we had money set aside at the beginning of the year, we were able to do trips and go to fun camps, etc. this past year. But that we have reached the end of the year and that money is gone. I was very proud of our boys and how quick they were to come up with great ideas for how to save money, earn money, and acknowledged that they needed to ask for less while trying to earn more for the specific things they want to do or buy.

They were enthusiastic when I told them about the financial fast and willing to help me inventory the kitchen so we can begin meal planning the month with things we already have on hand. (Maybe enthusiastic is overstating things a bit. But they didn't hate the idea.)

If anybody else wants to join us in a financial fast, let me know. I'd love to compare notes or swap ideas!