February Goals

Lets be honest, I started out 2014 running about 3 weeks behind.  Wow.  I felt like I had a constant barrage of thoughts running through my brain as far as what needed to be done.  Then, I got a break.  My kids visited Papa and Nana, I got to take a day out for me and do some shopping.  January was a tough month in some ways - a good friend of mine almost died due to a massive infection after surgery (Like, the doctors took her organs out of her body to clean them off it was so bad), a Pastor friend of ours died from a massive stroke . . and he is "our" age, a friend went into labor 6 weeks early and delivered a surprisingly healthy little boy who weighed in at just over 3 pounds . .. while her husband was on a missions trip in Haiti trying desperately to get back home. On the flip side . . well, three friends had babies!  The one mentioned above, along with two others who delivered right on time :-)  Crazy month!

So, as January started winding down, I started thinking about February.  My goals in February come from two main places . . .my Goal Listed I posted earlier in January and the book "7" that I finished up last week.  AND, as I've learned over and over, I MUST print this list or it doesn't get done.  I also have to try and write the things into my planner so that they actually get into the calendar.

1. Piano Songs - this next month I want to practice and learn the following three songs: Beautiful, Moment by Moment and Fur Ellise.

2. Books.  You can see the updated list HERE.  I do have some goals for this month: 1) To Finish "Power of a Positive Mom", 2) To read "The List" and "Good and Angry" 3) To continue on with the "Women Living Well" study 4) To start "Hands Free Mama" which is a year long study and continue with another year long study on Organization.   

3. Plan Darryl's birthday weekend

4. Finish up our taxes

5. Do school lessons at least two days a week

6. Plan some fun things for Valentine's Day

7. Create and keep up financial paperwork

8. Scrap booking - I worked last month to try and organize my stuff to make it more user friendly.  This month I really want to start conquering projects.  I'm going to work on three areas starting this month and continuing on throughout the year.  One, finally going back through all of my albums and making sure everything is 100% complete.  I wold like to get through albums 2000-2003 which includes our wedding and honeymoon albums.  Two, I want to work on some special projects  and get those current, in albums.  This month I want to be current on the boys Christmas ornament albums and birthday question albums.  Three, working on photos.  The goal this month is to finish June and July 2013.  In order to accomplish this I really have to plan some scrap booking time!

9. Bible Study - To continue on with the two Bible Studies.  So far I've kept up with them even if I haven't spent as much time doing "study" as I would like.
10.  Scripture Memory - Lets keep it real, I memorized one verse last month.  I didn't catch that there were weekly verses with the "Living Intentionally" Bible Study until week 2 so I'm going to work on memorizing those verses each week during February.
11. Still need to order that "Word a Day Calendar"
12.  Living Room - Never did get that "Vision Board" done so I'm going to work on that again this month.
13. The Date with the hubs this month will be his Birthday Weekend.  I'm working on some plans that I can hopefully pull off  . ..
14. The whole Teeth thing - My plan is to do the Crest Challenge for the entire month of February.  The commercial says you'll notice a change after two weeks so a month should be even better!  The kids have done better at brushing their teeth twice a day but we need to work on it more.
15. Simplify - I'm still working on going through the kitchen cupboards but I'm also adding the Bathroom to this list for February.  I want to make the storage in that room more useful AND clean out the stuff we never use.  I've redecorated some in there and want to finish up the mini-room makeover in February.
16 - Me Time - Need to pick my day once I figure out our schedule for February.

18. Working on Caring for others - I am working on something that I just want to do before I say anything about it.  :-)
19.  Get my cleaning schedule back into motion including those once a month projects to keep everything running nicely.
20. Learn to Use my Cricut
21. Take the boys to see the Dinosaurs at the Museum AND attempt to get to the lake shore to see the HUGE amounts of ice on Lake Michigan (this is something Josh has asked to do so we'll see if we can get there!)
22. (Don't Laugh) Watch as much of the Winter Olympics as possible.  I just love this event - especially learning all of the stories behind the athletes and seeing the underdogs come to the top!

That seems like enough to keep me busy this month :-)  

If you are interested, here is a recap of January's goals and accomplishments.

What to Blog About . . .

I usually do some sort of odd Homeschooling post today but . . .we haven't been doing much.  We are in the middle of "The Long Winter" and I don't mean the Little House Books either ;-)  I, personally, am enjoying a true Michigan winter.  The snow brings a softness and quietness to the world.  Even yesterday as we drove to church, the snow was falling, the drifts were piled high, and the trees were covered - true beauty.  Last winter I felt discouraged by the end because it was so . .. brown . . .and wet . . but this year is fabulous.  With that said, it is also the coldest it has been in decades.  On Tuesday, the high is supposed to be 5 degrees with a windchill of between (wait for it . .. ) -30 and -40 below.  Reminds me of my days at college :-)  With it that cold, the kids are not going outside at all.  One one hand, it sure is nice not to spend 30 minutes getting them dressed for outside to only play outside for 15 minutes but, they would enjoy playing in the snow.  For the record, yes, my Christmas stuff is still up.  I like having 10 fingers and don't want to lose them to frostbite just to get Christmas decor down!  We at least unplugged them :-)

So that's all for now - stay warm and maybe, since we are stuck inside, we'll do some class work this week.  Maybe. 

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail

Normally on Sundays I like to post the funny things my kids have said/done but they have been gone most of the past week so I don't have much to share.  Instead I thought I would share a blog post I read recently on the topic of Goals.  If you know me at all, you know I love goals and planning so this was a great read for me!
What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

Arms that Hold the Universe

Yesterday, we attended a funeral for a friend and former pastor of ours who died this past Sunday from a massive stroke that occurred early Sunday morning. On Monday morning, as I was driving to town, this song came on the radio and it just "fit".

Food Friday - Quesadillas

Quesadillas
adapted from  The Other Side of Fifty

I think I have mentioned before that Darryl got me a Panini Press for Christmas and I have used it alot.  One thing that I love using it for is to make quesadillas.  I have had this recipe on my pinterest board for a long time so I decided to try it out. It just so happened that Darryl was home this day so he got to test them out too.  I did leave out the beans - I don't care for the texture of beans inside something like this.  I also left out the banana peppers because I couldn't find any!  Next time, honestly, I would leave the spinach out . .. it got really stringy and mushy after the first day.  I think that you could throw in some thick salsa and it would replace some of the veggies.  (Or add other veggies!) One of the great things about this recipe is that you don't need the cheese because the mixture is thick and kind of creamy.  (Granted, I used cheese in mine!)

Chicken, Spinach And Cannellini Bean Quesadillas

1 1/2 -2 cups seasoned, cooked and diced chicken breast meat
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 banana pepper, diced
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (heaping) TBSP all purpose flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed, coarsely chopped
1 (15.5 ounce) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Cooking spray
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, cheddar or a combination of the two works well here)
Avocados, diced
Fat free sour cream

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, red bell pepper and banana peppers. Season with the crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Saute until veggies have softened, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir to combine. Cook while stirring for several minutes so that the flour loses its raw taste. Whisk in the chicken broth and stir until bubbly and smooth. Add the baby spinach and continue cooking for another minute or two or until spinach has wilted. Stir in the cooked chicken and cannellini beans and remove from heat.

Spray a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray. Heat over medium to medium-high heat. Place one tortilla on griddle and spread cheese over tortilla. Spread chicken, bean and spinach mixture over one half of the tortilla. Check underside of tortilla and when browned a bit, flip the half with just cheese over the half with the chicken. Remove from heat and cut into slices. Top with diced avocado and sour cream, if desired.

Weekly Menu

Last week was awesome.  I didn't cook for 4 days in a row.  Not a stitch.  That is my ideal break from life!  Then we ate Paninis a couple of nights in a row.  THEN I'm cooking a turkey today so my house will smell so good!

Here's what is on the plan for this coming week.

Friday - We have a funeral to attend this afternoon so I'm not sure what we'll do for dinner.  We may just pick up McDonald's just for the sake of "easy".

Saturday - Time to use up some turkey!  I think that "Chicken" and Dumplings along with a salad sounds good to me!

Sunday  - And, as you know, I always turn the left overs into Chicken Noodle Soup and add some rolls to make it a yummy dinner.  We'll have this after church.  For dinner that night, well, I don't like to cook so probably left overs/Mac and Cheese for the boys.

Monday - Crispy Orange Chicken, Rice and Egg Rolls - a carry over from a week or so ago.

Tuesday - Rainbow Chicken - I saw this recipe on Pinterest and, unlike I usually do, actually read the recipe to see if I thought we would really like it.  I think it is a pretty straight forward dish with some good seasonings and we love roasted veggies.  Some simple fried rice will go well with this along with some biscuits.

Wednesday - Applesauce Glazed Pork Chops, Pasta w/mixed veggies and Biscuits.

Thursday - It is time to have a winter favorite - Beef Tips and Noodles!  Yum!

What I'm Reading

Women Living Well
This week I read chapters 4 and 5.  Ironically chapter four dealt with media and how it now takes up so much of our time; the same topic I read in "7" also.  I think that the main point Courtney was trying to get across is to not allow media to identify you and your life but, rather, allow God,to define everything about your life.  Chapter five talked about Bible Studies and Mentor Groups.  I have to be 100% honest and say that this chapter felt slightly like a sales pitch for Good Morning Girls.  Now, please understand that I think GMG's is a wonderful source of accountability and Bible study and I think that the success of the program is fantastic.  this specific chapter just didn't speak to me a whole lot.



"7"
The chapters I read through this week included one on giving up all media for one month.  No TV, texting, e-mail, facebook, smart phones ect.  EEEEKKK!!  One of my own personal goals this year is to unplug a little more but I am not into giving it all up.  I need my sanity!  I moved on to the chapter on waste. I don't mean trips to the bathroom either ;-)  This chapter touched on the whole idea of planting a garden, buying at thrift stores and more.  I have to admit that this is not my forte.  I am not about recycling or saving the earth so I'm having a hard time coming up with a way to apply this to my life but I'm still thinking!

As I'm reading this book I am thinking of what my own personal challenges will be for each of the topics she discusses.  My goal right now is to finish up this book by the end of the month and I plan to start my first challenge(s) in February.  


Power of a Positive Mom
Well, I didn't read a chapter in this book.  Oops!  So,instead I will say that my goal for next week is to have read Chapters 2-4 and do the book study questions..

I've actually picked up a couple of new books to add to my reading list for this year.  One is a book my mom picked up at the bookstore for me and the other is one that I saw at the bookstore.  Looking forward to sharing those soon!