2010 Goals Update for May

It's been five months since I made my goals. And I feel I'm doing pretty well in some areas (like parenting) but completely horrible in others (like everything else...) I guess it shows where my priorities have been this year! I deleted the goals that I have accomplished and posted about in previous "goal" posts. Here's my progress:

Parenting:
** I've been done with the reading list for a while but my midwife suggested a couple books at my last appointment, so I'm going to be reading the one I just bought yesterday - Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (My midwife looked over my birth plan (more in the appt. post) and Robert and I have been discussing what his "job" will be in the delivery room, so I feel pretty prepared and ready right now.)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (I think I've missed a few since Robert's been home.)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (I thought we were done with this goal ... but apparently not. We've spent like $400 since last month. But most of that was the crib I just purchased.)
** Attend Le Leche League meetings every month (I went to the May meeting. I will probably go this month and then skip next month since Robert should be at home then.)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (We spent a few hundred dollars on eating out in the two weeks after Robert got home ... even though I had meals planned. - This is the only reason to look forward to deployment -- we can't spend so much money then!)
** Follow my daily chore list (Well, I haven't been doing well with accomplishing something every day, but the house does stay clean, so I guess that's all the counts.)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (I'm doing pretty well with this. I think Robert understands that I have to have things a certain way, b/c he didn't fuss with me at all when I was putting in the car seat or putting together the toy storage shelf or deciding how the room should be arranged.)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday (I've really been struggling with this. I don't know how to do it, exactly .... so I'm kind of at a roadblock for now.)
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (Definitely haven't been doing this either. But I have read a few pages in my pregnancy prayer book. So I hope that counts. )
** Start reading the Bible - again... (I have not worked on this at all. I did a little bit with Bible study, but now that it's over, the Bible seems to have found its way back on the bookshelf!)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages (I still haven't bought the scrapbook paper. I have a feeling this isn't going to get done before the baby comes ... which means it may never get done!)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (Well, we don't spend over our monthly income. We're just not saving as much as I'd like. So I guess we're actually doing okay with this goal.)

2010 Goals Update for March & April

It's been four months since I made my goals. I forgot to write an update for March so this is things accomplished in two months. I deleted the goals that I accomplished in February. Here's my progress:

Parenting:
** Done with the reading list! There's still two books on my shelf to read - one about discipline and one about potty training, but I might read those later this month or when Robert's gone.
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (still on target for drug-free, intervention-free)
** Take baby classes (didn't learn a whole lot, because I read so much, but I'm glad Robert got a lot out of them -- even if I did have to "drag" him!)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (still doing well)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (we stayed on budget and we're finished buying everything ... until after he comes!)
** Attend Le Leche League meetings every month (went to the March and April meetings)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (We eat out a lot when Robert's here, but I'm going to stick to my guns on this in May and June because we need to get on track with the budget!)
** Follow my daily chore list (I kind of fell off the wagon a bit with this, but I've been making daily goals for a week and doing really well with that!)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (I think I was a little "hard to handle" when we were putting up the shelf, but I'm trying!)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday (Since Lent is over, I've certainly faultered with this goal. I'm going to have to try to get back with this.)
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (see above!)
** Start reading the Bible - again... (been doing a little bit with Bible study, but not as much as the last session)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages (was going to work on it this past week, but realized I didn't have any scrapbook paper so I will have to postpone this until I can buy some)
** Finish Robert's uniforms - so we can donate them (FINISHED & donated!!!)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (When Robert's gone, we do fine. When he's here ...... We're still working on this!)

2010 Goals Update for February

It has now been two months since I made my goals. I deleted the goals that I accomplishd last month. Here's my progress:

Parenting:
** Finish/read all baby books on my list (I had 9 books to read, and I read 5 in February. I crossed the other 4 off my list because I decided I didn't want to read those anymore, but I do have some other parenting books that I would still like to read I will post about that later)
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (still on target for drug-free, intervention-free; I asked quite a few questions at my last visit and feel confident that I can have the L&D that I want)
** Inform myself as much as possible about drug-free labors (I've read two books solely about L&D and 3-4 others that had labor information in them)
** Take baby classes (the baby feeding class is in March and baby care class is in April)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (still doing well)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (staying on budget with baby stuff)

** Continue attending Le Leche League meetings every month (went to the meeting in February, will go again in March)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (need to stop eating out so much...)
** Follow my daily chore list (been doing well, getting chores done throughout the week)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (haven't noticed anything yet...)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday (doing well with my Lenten praying)
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (praying almost daily throughout the week with my Lenten "challenge")
** Start reading the Bible - again... (been reading the Passion in the Gospels for Bible study)

Personal: (really need to start working on these goals...)
** Finish scrapbook pages (not started yet)
** Finish Robert's uniforms - so we can donate them (not started yet)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (if we stop eating out, it wouldn't be a problem!)

2010 Goals Update for January

It's been one month since I made my goals and here's my progress:

Parenting:
** Finish/read all baby books on my list (I added four to the list and finished 7 along with continuing my weekly/monthly chapter in my pregnancy books, so I'm down to 11 yet to read (9 without the pregnancy books that won't be finished until I'm due))
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery (still on target for drug-free, intervention-free; going to ask LOTS of questions regarding this at my prenatal exam this month)
** Inform myself as much as possible about drug-free labors (finished reading my Lamaze book last week and put a hold on two others at the library)
** Sign up/take all free baby classes offered (they no longer offer the free baby care classes so I signed up and took the budgeting class, which is free, and signed up for the feeding and newborn care classes at the hospital - not free but fairly inexpensive)
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day (been pretty good with this)
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying (buying a couple things this month, I'm going to hold off though because my Bible Study group asked if they could throw me a baby shower!)

** Continue attending Le Leche League meetings every month (this is a new goal, I went to the first meeting Jan 14th)

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals - instead of eating out (started, and going okay - still needs some work)
** "Deep clean" the whole house while Robert's gone (finished all within the first week)
** Get back into following my daily chore list (been doing well, not necessarily following the daily tasks, but getting them done throughout the week and that is what's important)
** Go through all magazines -tear out articles I want & recycle the rest (finished the first week)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!! (haven't noticed anything yet...)

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday
** Set a prayer time - even if it's just once per week (I've been reading a prayer book I bought, Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine Month Novena, about once a week)
** Start reading the Bible - again... (this is probably going to be pushed back until I finish all/most of my baby books, but started Bible study so that will include some reading of the Bible)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages (not started yet)
** Finish Robert's uniforms - so we can donate them (not started yet)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET (not so good for January, but most of it was because of the vet bills for Snowflake and that needed to be done)

Cleaning and Other Things

Well, I have been cleaning up a storm! I won't list all of the items I've accomplished since I started on Monday, but I've been B-U-S-Y!!! And I still have quite a bit to do. Hopefully, I will get the whole house finished by Thursday or Friday, then I can relax over the weekend and start my daily chores on Monday.

I'm feeling so much better about this house and about myself since I started cleaning. I think the exercise I'm getting along with the accomplishment of achieving my goal is really helping me.

I've also finished reading one book (a "small" portion of my goal for the year). I can't wait to get my other two breastfeeding books in the mail so I can get started on those.

And just for fun, a picture of the "new edition" to our family. He's still outside until he gets all his shots and gets neutered. He started his first round today and goes back in two weeks for his booster and rabies vaccine. His name is Snowflake and he loves to cuddle. Such a sweet boy!

Goals for 2010

I have a lot I need to work on this year. I may add, subtract or otherwise modify these as the year progresses, but I'm going to re-post this at the beginning of every month with my progress!

Parenting:
** Finish/read all baby books on my list (currently 14 on the list)
** Stick with my current "goals" for labor and delivery
** Inform myself as much as possible about drug-free labors
** Sign up/take all free baby classes offered
** Remember to take vitamins EVERY day
** Stick with the budget when it comes to buying

Homemaking:
** Get back into menu planning and cooking our meals (instead of eating out)
** "Deep clean" the whole house while Robert's gone
** (then) Get back into following my daily chore list
** Go through all magazines (tear out articles I want & recycle the rest)
** When the "nesting" comes - make sure I take criticism and suggestion from Robert well!!!

Spiritual:
** Try to focus my mind more toward God in my daily activities instead of just on Sunday
** Set a prayer time (even if it's just once per week)
** Start reading the Bible (again...)

Personal:
** Finish scrapbook pages
** Finish Robert's uniforms (so we can donate them)
** STICK TO THE BUDGET

November Goals

Spiritual: Well, it seems I can only achieve goals from two categories in one month - the others just get tossed aside. So since I really need to start focusing on my spiritual life, this will be one center for goals this month.
* Start reading the Bible once per week. (I figure, start out slow and if I can get better, then at least I finally accomplished this goal!) (2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27)
* Start prayer time before reading the Bible. (1, 2, 3, 4)
* Finish all Bible study questions. (The study part of the class finishes this month then we have a pot luck in December. I've been doing well, finishing all my questions before class - just need to keep it up!)

Personal:
* Keep up my exercise - Walk 3x per week. (2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27)
* Stay on budget - We NEED to do this both this month and next month!
* Continue reading. Finish 2 books this month (1, 2)

Well, there you have it. Hopefully, I can achieve all this goals this month. I did well last month, but didn't accomplish everything. Maybe I can even cross somethings off before this is posted!

We're Out of Debt!!!!!

Today, the last check is being delivered (via online bill pay) to the credit card company which means we are DEBT FREE!!!!!

I was so excited when I discovered a way to pay it off a month early. Now we can start building our emergency fund and we (God willing) will not have to worry about paying bills or not having enough money again.

This means we will also be able to have money for Robert's birthday and Christmas (which like I said here, is a big deal for us).

So, we will be able to accomplish all of our financial goals for this year. Which is so wonderful, because with the past few months getting so far off budget, I thought we were "doomed" for sure!

October Goals

Spiritual:
I need to get back into reading the Bible again and also try to start praying daily. I need to work on my Bible study also. So here are my spiritual goals:
* Start reading (somewhere) in the Bible daily (M-F).
* Start setting aside a daily prayer time (maybe 1st thing in the morning?).
* Finish all Bible study questions each week. (14th, 21st, 28th)

Homemaking:
We received a lot of food from our neighbors who just moved out about ten days ago, so I need to come up with some meals in order to use it all up. Hopefully, this will also help keep the grocery budget down. I've also got some catching up to do with my monthly chores that didn't get accomplished while I was gone.
* Come up with a meal plan for the excess food.
* Finish 1st Monday's chores.
* Finish October's chores.
* Maybe ... get to some of August's chores done that I didn't do.
* Start planning for "No Spend Month" in November. More details later. -- I'm putting this off for now. Post to come.


Personal:
I didn't do so well on my personal goals last month. I think I set them too high, so this month, I'm going to start small and see if I can accomplish them all.
* Start walking to the mailbox 2x per week. 12-16; 19-23; 26-30
* Read 2 books.
* Continue to let go of the small things.

Blog:
I'm going to try to come up with some new topics this month so I can start writing again. I've kind of hit a "writer's block" of sorts.
* Two new blog topics (1, 2)

September Goals

I'm going to start making monthly goals for myself. I think writing goals is necessary for me to grow. I do a lot better when things are written down (and it's proven that others do too). If it's not on paper, I don't get it done. These are to be completed by the end of September. I've been getting ideas from a ton of different blogs, and here's what I've come up with for me.

Spiritual:
* Finish reading Numbers
* Read through Deuteronomy and Joshua

Homemaking:
* Set up daily schedule for chores (the list thing isn't working for me!) - this is already completed
* Try one new recipe
* Work on cutting grocery budget (lots of meatless meals)

Personal:
* Start working out 2x per week
* Read 5 books (Finished 2 ½)
* Let go of the small things (this sometimes causes fights with us) - I failed a few times, but mostly achieved this goal

Blog:
* Research Going Back to Nature topics

Don't worry. My Going Back to Nature will post Monday.

Busy Day (yesterday)

I achieved another goal!!

I finally made my own bread!!!!! I used the recipe from The Happy Housewife. I had to make one loaf short and fat because I currently only have one loaf pan (we're getting me another one very soon!!). And it's delicious - when Robert tries it, I'll let you know what he thinks, since my opinion could be bias.

I'm so excited to be making my own bread. I don't think I'll go back to buying it unless I have to. I really enjoyed it (making and eating)!

I even ate the heel - and if you know much about me, you know that I hate edges, crust, and heels! But I ate it and it was good! I have been changing in that regard as well. I used to despise leftovers and now (if I made it) I'll eat them! I am thoroughly enjoying making homemade food for my family.

Yesterday, I also made Cheesy Potato Casserole (to which I added 1t garlic powder and 1T parsley flakes - it is delicious) and Potato Salad yesterday so my kitchen was a mess! But it's clean now and ready for me to make tomato sauce. I'm using up the last of our spaghetti sauce tonight and pizza sauce tomorrow so I will be using homemade for pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce from now on.

Scrapbooking - Professional Photos

I've been working on the scrapbooks .... achieving more goals!

I finished three pages today - one of Robert's first duty station and two of his professional photos. I have to come up with something to go on the backside of the page though ... so I'm working on ideas for that. I thought about doing a page with his writings.

Saving Money & Financial Goals

I've read a lot of books, taken classes, and read advice from other blogs and websites about how to save money. If you want to find it, there's tons of information floating around out there. My favorite "financial guru" thus far is Mary Hunt - and truth be told, she doesn't even have a degree in finance or accounting. She's just been there (in debt), and I think that's one of the most important things!

Since we've been working on getting out of debt, I thought I would share a few of the ways we save money and still live well on one income.

1. We cut our cell phone bill by 30% by making sure we got all available discounts and cutting our text message plan to the smallest one available.

2. We cut our grocery bill by 25% by planning our meals and buying less (or no) convenience foods. The only convenience foods I buy are trimmed and ready chicken breasts, spaghetti sauce, and pizza sauce. I'm going to start making our own sauces though as soon as we use up what's left in the cabinet.

3. We use our programmable thermostat and we don't have an air conditioner (we would have to buy/install a window unit ourselves). In winter, we keep the house at 70° during the day and 60° at night (the furnace doesn't even come most nights).

4. We have a budget!!! -- This is the most important thing. If you don't know where your money is going/supposed to go, you'll never get ahead.

5. We're working our butts off, more like "sacrificing our butts off", to pay off all our debt by November. We definitely made some poor choice last year and now we have to pay for it (literally)!

Goals -- by the end of the year I would like to we will have:
* All debts paid off!!!!
* Start an emergency fund
* $200 for Christmas presents ... this is kind of a big deal for me because Robert and I didn't buy Christmas presents for each other last year.

Feel free to give any advice of your own ... I'm always open to new ways to save.

Goal!! Pretzels

I achieved another goal today -- making pretzels!!!!! I used a recipe I found at allrecipes.com (there are so many out there). It had a good rating (4.5/5.0 with 581 reviews). And the picture looked good too. I followed the recipe exactly except I cut the dough into 24 pieces instead of 12 so the pretzels would be smaller (about 4" instead of 8").

I made about half salted and the other half cinnamon and sugar. They are both excellent and even though it takes quite a bit of work to make them (rolling and shaping 24 pretzels), I think I will be making these pretty often!

Scrapbooking - A-School & Family Day

I finished six pages in the Navy scrapbook today - two from Robert's A-school and four from Family Day 2009. This accomplished two goals on my list! ... I'm getting there.

Homemade Fudge

Last week, I made a wonderful homemade Peanut Butter Honey Fudge for a treat when family was visiting. The recipe only has 3 ingredients and it turned out wonderfully! The fudge was absolutely delicious!

Thank you Laura @ Heavenly Homemakers!

This was also one of my goals ... to make my own fudge. (I think I will still try a traditional fudge too.)

My List of Achievable Goals

Cooking:

* Try all my recipes (will take about 18 weeks because of my planning)
* Make a (new) dessert every 2 weeks
* Make pork chops
* Make pot roast
* Make my own soft pretzels
* Make my own graham crackers
* Make my own cheese crackers
* Make my own chocolate pudding
* Make my own bread
* Make my own toffee
* Make my own fudge


Crafting:

* Add pages to the my scrapbooks for:
. * A-School (Navy)
. * Robert's professional photos (Navy)
. * Family Day 2009 (Navy)
. * Mark Twain/Cameron Caves (Family)
. * Maryland visit (Family)
. * Tulip Festival (Family)
. * Seattle/Space Needle (Family)
. * Wedding Ceremony (Family)
. * Mount Rainier (Family)
* Sew my own apron
* Crotchet a few pot holders for the kitchen
* Finish at least one architectural floor plan


Other:

* Save enough to go on a "real" vacation
* Visit all our siblings (hopefully they'll all mingle to the same place one day!! lol)

I will post about each of these when I achieve them. -- Aside from the "other" goals, I should be able to accomplish everything in just a few months!