There are just 5 months left in this year to accomplish my "year goals" that I posted all the way back in January. Yes, that January when things were still normal and we all thought that this was THE year because it was, well, 2020.
I'm calling July my "reset" month. The month where I just relaxed and enjoyed summer by reading in my chair and staying cool! Therefore, August is my "get back into the groove" month. I took time to go back to my 2020 goals and focus on what needs to get accomplished!
1. Scrapbooking - I've refocused on my scrapbooking goals after being all over the place for a few months. 1) Order the rest of 2019 photos. That's the only year I'm focused on when it comes to ordering photos. 2) Scrapbook 2019. My desk is currently clean and I am organized and ready to go. I'd like to get all of April and May 2019 scrapbooked this month. 3) Finish up my niece's graduation book and get it mailed to her.
2. Reading - I wish my kids loved to read as much as I do. I tried. I really did. They only read at this point because they are required too :-) BUT I love to read so read is what I will do. I have a two fold goal this month 1) Read for fun. Every day. Preferably outside if the weather allows. 2) Read my "self-help" books on my list. I don't like the word "self-help" but I'm not sure what else to call them :-) I have a goal of reading 4 of those in August.
3. Cleaning - It's time to get back on track. My original plan was a 20 day a month cleaning plan. I'm back to this concept - a room at a time. I'm also really working toward simplicity. We live in a small house and each room works for multiple purposes often so keeping a simplicity through the house is key as is organization. My goal is August is to revisit some rooms I worked on the first half the year and just do a quick redo of those rooms. That would include the master, the dining room, and the living room. Once those are done, the fourth room (one a week!) is the kitchen. This one needs little more work to just go through all the cupboards again and clean some things out.
4. Family - Josh needs some running shoes. I've "heard" there is a running club he can join through out on-line group so I want him prepared for that adventure. We have a day trip planned to New Buffalo to visit the beach. We always camp in South Haven in August but we aren't camping this year due to COVID - I'd like to take a day trip to South Haven and do the things we normally do such as go Blueberry picking (for like 20 minutes because I actually hate it HA), go to the beach and order our favorite Italian Food.
5. Homeschool - I wrote my goals HERE. The August goal is to just make sure we are ready for school to start. This includes cleaning out the boys desks, making sure they have any needed supplies, and making sure we have the items for their goals.
6. Holiday Journal - I've kinda let this slide this year because, well, it's been different. I do need to focus on Halloween, Birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas now though and start working on my plans.
7. The Basement - I really do see light at the end of this tunnel. To think, when we bought the house we didn't need the basement HA! I'm cutting this into more manageable pieces, though. For August my one main goal is to reorganize the toy room in the basement. I have new shelf that fits the space better. I need to hang Nate's race track, clean out some of the toys, move the big shelf to the other side of the basement and maybe add some more of the floor panels so it's more comfortable for the kids. Secondary to that is to clean out the area at the base of the stairs.
8. Piano - 1) Get the piano tuned. I have the name of the tuner, I just have to schedule it. 2) The boys need to get back into practice. I'm hopeful their teacher will teach this fall so that they can pick up their lessons again. 3) I need to work on a song.
9. Photography - I still have a goal of figuring out my new lens more.
10. Spiritual - Two things - 1) Read my daily devotional. 2) Do my weekly Bible Study that ladies from church are doing together via Facebook.
11. Misc Goals - 1) Gather our cameras/video cameras and make sure they are all charged, work, etc. 2) Continue to work in the yard depending on the weather. I've even thought about planting my Sunflower seeds now - then they will be in full bloom by the end of September!! 3) Organize our beach bags 4) Set up the new shelves in the garage and start organizing things better 5) Hang my new flag; get a new flag pole for the front of the house and have Darryl hang it 6) Fill the holes in the yard 7) Clean out both vehicles
Thursday, August 6, 2020
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
What We are Eating Wednesday - Veggie Ravioli
This is a recipe that I put together a few weeks ago after seeing it on an episode of The Pioneer Woman. It was super easy and so tasty. I would list this one as a "Church Potluck Dinner". It's, again, easy, feeds a crowd, and being pasta, makes a lot of people happy! I did take a photo but, forgot to upload it before I sat down so . .. here's is the photo from the The Food Network Pioneer Woman Blog:
As well as a link to both the photo and the actual recipe:
It's super easy to just print it right from her blog.
Also, for the record, I used our traditional spaghetti sauce in the recipe, not the vodka sauce. I am not a fan of vodka sauce. So, obviously use whatever sauce you love. I think a nice creamy Alfredo would also be good.
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Happy Anniversary to Us!
It was 19 years ago today that I married my best friend. We met on-line through a Christian Matchmaker website and the rest was history!
Great memories of a great day! It was everything I every dreamed of.
We went on a cruise for our honeymoon and it was just amazing
We added two kids to our family a few years later (This is one of my all time favorite photos!)
Another favorite from about 6 years ago at a family gathering. This was just a few days before Darryl's major back surgery
This is us now . . .well almost a year ago :-) Another favorite!
I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband. He brings joy, fun, and wisdom to our home. I appreciate the way he thinks through things and solves problems and how he makes us ALL laugh . . .a lot!
Sunday, August 2, 2020
Weekly Worship - Chris Tomlin - Who You Are To Me (Lyric Video) ft. Lady A
I've heard this song a few times on the radio this week and enjoyed it so I thought I'd share it with you!
Saturday, August 1, 2020
2020 Weekly Photos - #29
What a week! Some unexpected things this week but that makes life more exciting, right?
Saturday - we attending a wedding for some friends. It was small, outside, social distanced and we left after the ceremony. Then we went to my mom's for dinner that night as well - we ordered pizza and it was a great treat for all of us.
Sunday - a totally relaxing day at home. The boys had their last Sunday School Zoom for the quarter and I also had my weekly family Zoom call as well.
Monday - Our day started out with no power. They were outside moving lines today and had to cut the power. So, I went to our favorite coffee shop, Sozo's, for the first time since April 27th (when Darryl got me a coffee for my birthday!) and got both Darryl and I a coffee. It tasted a little like heaven. The power came back on about 12:15. We noticed the things in the fridge seemed warm . .. and then I checked the freezer. Everything was mushy and thawed. Uuugg! Apparently it died sometime on Sunday and we were completely unaware! We moved things into coolers and headed out to Nate's Tae Kwon Do testing. He did amazing. He was "highest rank" at testing so he got to lead the pledge and lead warm-ups. The grandparents and Nana came so we headed out for ice cream afterwards. Thankfully my in-laws own two electric coolers so they gave them to us to use . .. we headed home and emptied the fridge!
Tuesday - Today started with a dentist appointment for me. Back in February I had my teeth cleaned but the dentist was gone and couldn't do her exam. I was scheduled for a few weeks later thinking I had a cavity from something the hygentist said. Then everything shut down instead. I finally got back and, come to find out, there was no cavity - just a small chip in my tooth. Whew! Came home from that to completely clean out the fridge and get the cooler's organized.
Wednesday - Today, Darryl, Josh and Nate headed to Darryl's mom's for the day. Darryl had some things of his Grandma's he wanted to sort through and the boys just like getting a day by the lake. I stayed home with my extra kids and enjoyed a low key afternoon with some scrapbooking. I can tell you from what Darryl told me that Josh Kayaked, Nate fished, and both boys jumped off the boat into the lake . .. but he took ZERO pictures!!
Thursday - Today Nate's friend came over again. We also ate dinner at my mom's - yes, an extra night to help us out while our fridge is down.
Friday - Man, I was ready for Friday this week HA! I tackled things on the to do list for the week, did my weekly cleaning, and just enjoyed the day.
Saturday - we attending a wedding for some friends. It was small, outside, social distanced and we left after the ceremony. Then we went to my mom's for dinner that night as well - we ordered pizza and it was a great treat for all of us.
Sunday - a totally relaxing day at home. The boys had their last Sunday School Zoom for the quarter and I also had my weekly family Zoom call as well.
Monday - Our day started out with no power. They were outside moving lines today and had to cut the power. So, I went to our favorite coffee shop, Sozo's, for the first time since April 27th (when Darryl got me a coffee for my birthday!) and got both Darryl and I a coffee. It tasted a little like heaven. The power came back on about 12:15. We noticed the things in the fridge seemed warm . .. and then I checked the freezer. Everything was mushy and thawed. Uuugg! Apparently it died sometime on Sunday and we were completely unaware! We moved things into coolers and headed out to Nate's Tae Kwon Do testing. He did amazing. He was "highest rank" at testing so he got to lead the pledge and lead warm-ups. The grandparents and Nana came so we headed out for ice cream afterwards. Thankfully my in-laws own two electric coolers so they gave them to us to use . .. we headed home and emptied the fridge!
Tuesday - Today started with a dentist appointment for me. Back in February I had my teeth cleaned but the dentist was gone and couldn't do her exam. I was scheduled for a few weeks later thinking I had a cavity from something the hygentist said. Then everything shut down instead. I finally got back and, come to find out, there was no cavity - just a small chip in my tooth. Whew! Came home from that to completely clean out the fridge and get the cooler's organized.
Wednesday - Today, Darryl, Josh and Nate headed to Darryl's mom's for the day. Darryl had some things of his Grandma's he wanted to sort through and the boys just like getting a day by the lake. I stayed home with my extra kids and enjoyed a low key afternoon with some scrapbooking. I can tell you from what Darryl told me that Josh Kayaked, Nate fished, and both boys jumped off the boat into the lake . .. but he took ZERO pictures!!
Thursday - Today Nate's friend came over again. We also ate dinner at my mom's - yes, an extra night to help us out while our fridge is down.
Friday - Man, I was ready for Friday this week HA! I tackled things on the to do list for the week, did my weekly cleaning, and just enjoyed the day.
Friday, July 31, 2020
Weekly Menu
Why, Hello August, how are you this fine day? July was not the fastest month in the book but I don't mind that at all. It's nice to let summer linger a little. Normally, as August hits, we start to gear up for a lot of things but this year, I think it will match the rest of the months . . .slow and steady. I'm still enjoying the quieter schedule at this point even though I know eventually things will resume to normal again.
I had some really great plans for meals last week . .. and then my refrigerator died. Oops. We moved things to three electric coolers but we lost some food from the freezer because we didn't realize that it had quit working until I went to pull something out of the freezer on Monday afternoon and discovered a lot of mushy, unfrozen, warm food HA! Oh well. So, this weeks meals will be super simple to keep the need for food in the coolers simple. We still have our chest freezer in the basement so that does help :-)
Friday - Normally this is our treat night but we had treat night earlier in the week after a busy day of moving food into coolers :-) So tonight we are going to have either the Hawaiian Sliders or Chicken and Snow Peas that were on the plan earlier this week. At the typing of this - I'm not really sure which one I will feel like making! .
Saturday - This is our normal "eat at mom's" day. This might also continue forever.
Sunday - When my brother was here, he grilled some amazing pork chops. I've picked up the marinade that he used so we are going to grill up our own. I've also picked up some Michigan sweet corn to have with them along with Mac and Cheese. Yum!
Monday - French toast sticks, bacon and sausage.
Tuesday - Sloppy Joes and fries. The sloppy joes were leftover a few weeks ago and I threw the leftovers (in a container) in the freezer in the basement thankfully!
Wednesday - Pork Roast, Baked Potatoes, and fresh sweet corn (you have to eat it a lot while it is in season!)
Thursday - Chicken on the grill, baked beans, and a veggie
I had some really great plans for meals last week . .. and then my refrigerator died. Oops. We moved things to three electric coolers but we lost some food from the freezer because we didn't realize that it had quit working until I went to pull something out of the freezer on Monday afternoon and discovered a lot of mushy, unfrozen, warm food HA! Oh well. So, this weeks meals will be super simple to keep the need for food in the coolers simple. We still have our chest freezer in the basement so that does help :-)
Friday - Normally this is our treat night but we had treat night earlier in the week after a busy day of moving food into coolers :-) So tonight we are going to have either the Hawaiian Sliders or Chicken and Snow Peas that were on the plan earlier this week. At the typing of this - I'm not really sure which one I will feel like making! .
Saturday - This is our normal "eat at mom's" day. This might also continue forever.
Sunday - When my brother was here, he grilled some amazing pork chops. I've picked up the marinade that he used so we are going to grill up our own. I've also picked up some Michigan sweet corn to have with them along with Mac and Cheese. Yum!
Monday - French toast sticks, bacon and sausage.
Tuesday - Sloppy Joes and fries. The sloppy joes were leftover a few weeks ago and I threw the leftovers (in a container) in the freezer in the basement thankfully!
Wednesday - Pork Roast, Baked Potatoes, and fresh sweet corn (you have to eat it a lot while it is in season!)
Thursday - Chicken on the grill, baked beans, and a veggie
Thursday, July 30, 2020
July Goal Recap
Well, July wasn't my best month. As I mentioned in another post this week, statistically I probably shouldn't set goals in July - it's my least productive month! I don't love the heat at all so I tend to do not much :-) Oh well! There is always next month!
1) Scrapbooking. I'm going to continue on with my goals in May and June 1) I'd like to continue to order photos - I have changed my mindset a little and instead I'm working on ordering one month from each year I haven't printed (2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). My goal is to get March ordered :-) 2) I'd like to continue to make time to scrapbook a few weekends this month. 3) I'd like to finish ordering the 2010 scrapbook pages - just one month left to go and I'll only order if there is another sale. I did not order any photos. I think switching to doing all those years was so overwhelming that I didn't even want to look at photos so instead I'm going back to just ordering for one or two years at a time.
2) Reading - My goal this month, as the weather allows, is to spend at least 30 minutes outside a day reading. Or to just read in the house when it is too hot. I think I can say I read just about every day. I read outside as often as I could but we had some mercilessly hot days in July.
3) Cleaning - My goal in July is to get back to Flylady daily zone "challenges". I also want to work on my Drawer Project both upstairs and downstairs. Some months this just doesn't happen . .. July was one of them HA!
4) Family Time - We enjoy being together. We have enjoyed going for drives on the weekend the past few weekends so it's mostly just spending time together. We want to make it to the beach at least once in July and maybe the drive-in movie theater. We had some great family time not only with just the 4 of us but with extended family too!
5) Another main goal this month is my niece's graduation book - This book will be done this month since I will give it to her in July when they are visiting. This is as completed as it can be - I'm still waiting on some letters.
6) Darryl's list - Darryl is still working on his list. :-) there are just a few items left! Darryl worked on the garage and doing more weed control
7) Homeschool - 1) To continue to plan and execute our daily activities. 2) To work on my plans and goals for the fall and begin ordering any supplemental books (Bible, Cursive Writing, and some Grammar Practice books. Also, find a typing program) 1) We did do the first week in July and then we took vacation! 2) I have started to work on this buy ordering a few books but I have more to do.
8) The garage - I have some boxes to go through that have been stored out there for a few years. Then take anything to my friends fundraiser garage sale I don't want to keep. Depending on the heat level of July - Darryl and I will work on more organizing in the garage. I think I've mentioned the heat in a few posts -- so, I did not go through any boxes in the garage but Darryl did work in it some so it is much neater!
9) The basement - Work on my "Drawer Project" in the basement. The "Drawers" are the bins - going through them one by one and sorting stuff out, repacking it in correct bins, and putting them neatly on the shelves :-) Total Fail. The basement takes motivation and I didn't have much in July (those "dog days of summer", remember HA!)
10) Music - We are continuing with at home piano lessons for the summer We took a few weeks off
11) Co-Op - I'm also working on my lessons for homeschool co-op. I'm hoping to get 1-2 complete lessons done for each class. This means having my "teacher copy" put together and everything else ready to make copies once I know how many students (I'm going on faith we will have classes this fall and, if not, I'll have my two classes ready for when we DO meet again!) We cancelled our fall classes so I haven't done anything with these lessons.
12) Photography (- One of my goals this year was to take a photography class but, right now, I'm not sure I'll be doing that. I just bought a new lens I've wanted for a long time with some birthday money so I want to research how to use that lens better and I also know that there are some great classes being offered on line too. Never even touched this one!
13) Spiritual Goals - To continue on with my devotional book this month I let this slip too.
14) Dates with Darryl :-) Maybe this month we will try to get out together - just to a favorite take out place (Like the Adobe) We did get a "half date". We took Nate to a doctors appointment and then went and got Chinese (to go) food afterwards.
15) The Yard - This is all depended on the weather but some things on my radar are: 1) Clean out the sandbox 2) Begin weeding along side the house to get it ready for next summers idea (you'll have to wait HA!) 3) Just do general weeding around the yard 4) Figure out how to kill some big root weeds we have that constantly grow back. And . .. the heat. Yuck.
16) Misc - my one misc project on the list this month is just cleaning out the beach bags and consolidating things to make it easy to carry stuff. I also need to pick up two more beach chairs - the boys finally outgrew their little ones we've had for years. I did get the beach chairs but I did not get to the beach bags!
1) Scrapbooking. I'm going to continue on with my goals in May and June 1) I'd like to continue to order photos - I have changed my mindset a little and instead I'm working on ordering one month from each year I haven't printed (2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). My goal is to get March ordered :-) 2) I'd like to continue to make time to scrapbook a few weekends this month. 3) I'd like to finish ordering the 2010 scrapbook pages - just one month left to go and I'll only order if there is another sale. I did not order any photos. I think switching to doing all those years was so overwhelming that I didn't even want to look at photos so instead I'm going back to just ordering for one or two years at a time.
2) Reading - My goal this month, as the weather allows, is to spend at least 30 minutes outside a day reading. Or to just read in the house when it is too hot. I think I can say I read just about every day. I read outside as often as I could but we had some mercilessly hot days in July.
3) Cleaning - My goal in July is to get back to Flylady daily zone "challenges". I also want to work on my Drawer Project both upstairs and downstairs. Some months this just doesn't happen . .. July was one of them HA!
4) Family Time - We enjoy being together. We have enjoyed going for drives on the weekend the past few weekends so it's mostly just spending time together. We want to make it to the beach at least once in July and maybe the drive-in movie theater. We had some great family time not only with just the 4 of us but with extended family too!
5) Another main goal this month is my niece's graduation book - This book will be done this month since I will give it to her in July when they are visiting. This is as completed as it can be - I'm still waiting on some letters.
6) Darryl's list - Darryl is still working on his list. :-) there are just a few items left! Darryl worked on the garage and doing more weed control
7) Homeschool - 1) To continue to plan and execute our daily activities. 2) To work on my plans and goals for the fall and begin ordering any supplemental books (Bible, Cursive Writing, and some Grammar Practice books. Also, find a typing program) 1) We did do the first week in July and then we took vacation! 2) I have started to work on this buy ordering a few books but I have more to do.
8) The garage - I have some boxes to go through that have been stored out there for a few years. Then take anything to my friends fundraiser garage sale I don't want to keep. Depending on the heat level of July - Darryl and I will work on more organizing in the garage. I think I've mentioned the heat in a few posts -- so, I did not go through any boxes in the garage but Darryl did work in it some so it is much neater!
9) The basement - Work on my "Drawer Project" in the basement. The "Drawers" are the bins - going through them one by one and sorting stuff out, repacking it in correct bins, and putting them neatly on the shelves :-) Total Fail. The basement takes motivation and I didn't have much in July (those "dog days of summer", remember HA!)
10) Music - We are continuing with at home piano lessons for the summer We took a few weeks off
11) Co-Op - I'm also working on my lessons for homeschool co-op. I'm hoping to get 1-2 complete lessons done for each class. This means having my "teacher copy" put together and everything else ready to make copies once I know how many students (I'm going on faith we will have classes this fall and, if not, I'll have my two classes ready for when we DO meet again!) We cancelled our fall classes so I haven't done anything with these lessons.
12) Photography (- One of my goals this year was to take a photography class but, right now, I'm not sure I'll be doing that. I just bought a new lens I've wanted for a long time with some birthday money so I want to research how to use that lens better and I also know that there are some great classes being offered on line too. Never even touched this one!
13) Spiritual Goals - To continue on with my devotional book this month I let this slip too.
14) Dates with Darryl :-) Maybe this month we will try to get out together - just to a favorite take out place (Like the Adobe) We did get a "half date". We took Nate to a doctors appointment and then went and got Chinese (to go) food afterwards.
15) The Yard - This is all depended on the weather but some things on my radar are: 1) Clean out the sandbox 2) Begin weeding along side the house to get it ready for next summers idea (you'll have to wait HA!) 3) Just do general weeding around the yard 4) Figure out how to kill some big root weeds we have that constantly grow back. And . .. the heat. Yuck.
16) Misc - my one misc project on the list this month is just cleaning out the beach bags and consolidating things to make it easy to carry stuff. I also need to pick up two more beach chairs - the boys finally outgrew their little ones we've had for years. I did get the beach chairs but I did not get to the beach bags!
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