Our Family Project

Be sure to scroll down and check out all of my posts ... I went on a "catch-up" spree. After a two month long hiatus, I finally decided I should check in.  Recently, I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness ... for me.  It's one of the hardest things for me right now: forgiving myself.  For some reason I have a hard time letting my little imperfections go, and it seems to drag me down. In the evenings when 4:30 or 5:30 rolls around, I am kicking myself because my day is almost over and I haven't been able to get everything accomplished on my list.  And, I spend time rehashing everything that I did and why I don't have the time to finish everything before bedtime. I've learned that what I need to do is just move on.  Look at the situation and realize that I made a few mistakes, but it's okay.  It's all part of this learning experience we call life, and I've learned that there are lot of ways to make mistakes.  But, what makes this life so...

This is a most depressing blog post to check in on my goals.  First of all, we are in the middle of March, and I still haven't finished reading Jane Eyre.  In fact, I'm not even close!  I haven't been very good about staying with our old schedule when I would get to read for 30 minutes everyday during our independent reading time.  So, I've had a hard time finding the time to read something that requires more prowess to read (as opposed to form fiction). Anyway, I also haven't been very good with many of my other goals.  Except for exercising ... I have been consistently exercising at least 3 days a week.  Not a lot, but at the end of every week I look back and realize that I made my goal of at least three workouts, and I don't feel so terrible about myself. So, this post is just a reminder to continue to move forward and work on at least one goal a week.  This week?  It will be to read Jane Eyre.  :-)

This week, the goal is making my children a priority.  Because of some recent events, we felt it was important to prepare our children for a/the time when they are faced with the decision to remain physically pure, and to know when another person may be touching them inappropriately. We decided to broach the subject during a Family Home Evening lesson.  I found a great lesson online that was exactly what I felt was right for our family.  It was so perfect. The lesson started out by talking about how our bodies are temples.  We read about the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland temple as found in the Doctrine and Covenants.  The specific verse we read was this: "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;" We talked about how we are supposed to treat our bodies like the temples are treated. ...

This last week I was forced into my "priorities" goal.  And, it was so much fun!  During our camping trip, I had to set aside all of the things that split me in two and only focus on having fun with my children.  We schooled ... and made it the first priority of the day so we could go have fun.  We hiked (on a trail that I sincerely hope Jon NEVER bikes on again ... it was terrifying thinking of him on a bike on that trail), we rode bikes (about 4 miles ... my children rock!), we made great food in the dutch ovens (my first), and we told each other stories. I have the hardest time breaking away from the things that distract me when I am at home.  So, I'm grateful Jon pushed the camping trip on me.  Personally, I was more geared toward going to fun places like  Jump Street (a trampoline place), or the Zoo, or the Science Center.  Because we went into nature, we weren't at home with all of the distractions.  It was so blissfully wonderful. ...

Okay, so this last week wasn't so great.  I've had a hard time letting go of bad habits and replacing them with better habits.  One of those is consistency.  It's so hard for me to be consistent at anything.   One of the things that I want to be more consistent at is a daily schedule.  This has been plaguing me for years!  I have made schedule after schedule, some very lenient with time, and others planned down to the half hours.  And, I've had a hard time sticking to any of them. There are a few things in my schedule that I am pretty consistent at ... one of them is lunch time.  When 12 o'clock rolls around, it's pretty guaranteed that we are eating lunch, or I am making lunch.  Not so with any of the other mealtimes/snack times.  Or, even for family bedtime routine, morning routine, start of school time, etc. For years I've had the same thought running through my head: that everything I do is in preparation for something else:...

Exercising has always been a battle for me.  As I've stated before, I would much rather go out and play a sport, than get exercise through an at-home video, running, or going to the gym.  Those kinds of exercise are not enjoyable for me.  Rather, they don't inspire me to exercise.  Now, an organized basketball, volleyball, or softball game .... why, yes, I'll clear my schedule to be there. The last week has been a struggle.  I've learned a few things: 1) P90X is not for me. It is for some people.  Not me.  At least not right now.  I am so out of shape that trying to do something as hard core as P90X was extremely difficult for me.  My muscles just aren't ready for that.  I only worked out to the first video (chest and back), and 30 minutes of the second video (plyometrics).  After the 30 minutes of the second video, my legs were shaking and I couldn't walk up my staircase to get to my shower.  Literally.  I had to pu...

It's only been a little under a week, and I have very little to show for my progress.  My list of "fun" goals actually is much easier to focus on.  I am up to date with the number of pages I need to read of The Book of Mormon ... in fact, I am ahead.  :-)  I went to a used book sale and got five new-to-me classics for my classic book reading goal ... and I've been reading Jane Eyre.  I have practiced my guitar almost everyday as well.  And, I just finished day one of P90X ... Jon and I are doing it together.  We borrowed it from a friend to see if we want to invest in it.  I like The Firm a lot, so I'm still having a hard time transferring my loyalties.  But, Jon's going mountain biking tomorrow morning, so I think I'll pull out The Firm and do that while he's gone. Now, my harder, more important goals?  Well, right now I feel a little bit like the group of soldiers in the movie, Mulan.  You know, the group that ends up fighting ...

My good friend, Aubrey, posted about her new year's goals.  I love the word "goals" instead of "resolutions."  I don't know why, but "resolutions" has always sounded so negative to me.  Kind of like: I'm-making-list-of-things-that-I'm-going-to-say-I'm-going-to-work-on-but-will-only-work-on-them-for-the-week-after-new-year's-day. At least, that's how all of my "resolutions" have turned out. Another of my good friends, Erin, had a list of her goals for a year in the sidebar on her blog.  Each time she reached one of her goals, she would put down the date it was accomplished.  It was fun to watch her cross off her list, and even help with some of her goals. So, I am going to post my goals on here as well.  I figure that one of my goals is to be more consistent (not only in blogging, but in general) in posting on my blog, so I may as well make the updating on my goals a part of my blog.  Here is my list of goals for ...