Sunday Worship - "Nobody Loves Me Like You "

I always enjoy sharing music on my blog.  I think because music speaks to my soul.  A song can bring forth so much emotion on all levels.  I heard this song sometime last fall and actually sat in my vehicle in the driveway until it finished because it was so good.  Such a great reminder of the simple fact that God loves us more than anyone else every could.

Our Week in Photos 2019 #1

I decided to start "Our Week in Photos" over a #1 for a new year.  I got a little behind last year but hope to keep up better this year!

These photos aren't technically from this past week - they are from the week before but, honestly, I didn't take a single photo this week.  New Years Eve and New Years day slipped by quietly and that's ok.  It's in the 40's here with lots of sunshine, which is beautiful but it also means I'm lacking any great snow photos too!  Next week we get back to our normal routine so hopefully I can remember to grab a picture or two of our week!

 The traditional opening of the Christmas Eve gifts. 

 This cat has to be in the middle of everything - he is such a people loving animal :-) 

 The traditional Christmas PJ's - this year, unbeknownst to me they came with nightcaps and the boys love them.  They wear them to bed most nights and I find it to be the most adorable thing ever. 

 A long standing tradition in our family - the kneeling, facing the tree photo.  My mom took this photo of my brothers and I ever single year until my brothers ruined it got to old to do it anymore. HA! 

 And yes, the both still believe in Santa.  Ironically all year long Nate will tell me Santa isn't real but let me tell you, on Christmas Eve Nate is the first one to write his note to Santa and he is the one to make sure that plate of cookies gets put out!! 

 Time for stockings! 

 We rubbed cat nip on Harley's stocking . . .Harley attacked Josh when he tried to take the stocking HA!  It was awesome! 

 I may have taken more photos of the cat this Christmas . . .again, he had to be part of everything. 

 Christmas was a day of fun and lots of gifts.  It was a relaxing day with my mom with us too.  

We had one last family celebration with Darryl's family last Saturday.  These are the only two photos I took.  

I think I need to practice my photo skills again this year.  Maybe do some online classes or watch some Youtube videos to take some better pictures!!  

Weekly Menu - The Official First Menu of 2019

I've been planning Menu's and meals for a very long time.  All the way back to when I was single!  Crazy!  No wonder I get tired of planning and cooking sometimes!

I know that in 2018 I got into a serious rut when it came to cooking and meal planning.  I'm going to work to get out of that rut while trying to trim our grocery budget a little more.  I've thought, again, about going back to planning a month at a time so I can shop sales.  I did this at Thanksgiving and Christmas and saved between $50.00-$100.00 around each holiday plan by shopping only the sales for the two weeks before the event and then picking up the final items.  I'm wondering if I can do that with a month of meals.  I'm not sure though - it takes a lot of time to plan like that and put together a master grocery list.  I've also thought about using 2019 as my planning year and making the weekly menu planner in a way that I can use it every year.  In other words, by the time I get to the first week in 2020, the years menu would already be basically planned.  But again, I know that takes a lot of work too!  So for this week, I'm just planning this week and then I'll go from there.  Not everything has to start on week one!

I've decided to focus on family favorites and comfort food in January.

Friday - Stuffed Shells, Green Beans, and Garlic Bread

Saturday - Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin, Mac and Cheese, and baked beans

Sunday - BBQ Stuffing Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli, and Crescents.  (A good Sunday Dinner)

Monday - Amish Baked Chicken, Buttered Noodles, and Cooked Carrots

Tuesday - Might as well start of the year right - It's Taco Tuesday!

Wednesday - Tonight is a good leftover night - I'll pull together whatever is left from the other meals and have dinner. 

Thursday - Chicken and Dumplings (with plans to make Chicken Noodle Soup on Friday with the leftovers!)

I feel really good about this plan for the coming week.  I wonder how many items I can get my kids to successfully try?? :-) :-) :-)

January Goal Focus

January brings a fresh start.  It's clean and clear; the first month in a new calendar and the first month is a new year of goals.  I know not everyone is goal oriented (Like my husband!) but I am.  I love my goals; my lists; my plans . .. even when they don't work out or get done.  I love having a way to measure what is being done (and, honestly, not done!).  It also shows me what is important.  If something is on the list but never gets done it is either not important or too big of a project.

I mentioned in my first goal post about an accountability group I'm part of and that focus is picking one main item for the month and focusing on that one item.  Then focusing on individual items daily.  I'm not going to follow that to a tee but I like the overall concept.

My January focus is
Strengthening our Family Finances

Why did I pick this for January?  Because it sets the temperature for the rest of the year.  If we can start strong, we can carry on through the year but if we start behind, we can never catch up. 

Here is what I'm focusing on this month:

1) Become an active Shipt shopper.  For me, this means grabbing 2-4 shops a week.  I think this is doable between evenings and days Darryl takes off since I can only do this while he is home.  

2) January will be a "no spend" month.  I've written out a calendar budget of all things planned.  Beyond that there is no spending outside of groceries and fuel.  No buying Kindle books, grabbing coffee, or picking up dinner :-)  Just trying to curb the spending and maybe even get a little ahead this month. 

3) Cut the grocery bill.  I feel like I've made some progress on this but I would like to use the weekly add more paired up with mperks coupons and Ibotta.  Ibotta is a great way to earn money just for shopping.  I've managed to earn almost $100.00 and that's with not using it consistently.  I would like Ibotta money to become my scrapbooking fun so it motivates me more to use it ;-) 

I know it doesn't seem like a lot but I feel like if I can do these three things consistently this month, I can establish a pattern or habit that will continue throughout the year.  

If though that's my main focus, it doesn't mean I'm not looking at the other items on my list - I am.  I have goals for those items as well which might fall more into the "daily" goal concept. 

1) Add exercise to our daily routine.  I'm looking to just take a walk daily  

2) Since this is a no spend month, projects are off limits so instead I want January to be a time I focus on working in the basement cleaning stuff up and out. 

3) Get back to our school routine including Math Minutes and Cursive Writing.

4) Have one movie night at home this month

5) Find one activity to do this month as a family. 

6) This is a no spend month, right? So I technically can't spend on getting one item for our grinch calendar 2019 but I should earn some Mperks rewards so I will plan to use that to pick up the first item. 

7) Make sure the Holiday Binder is up to date through New years. 

8) Scrapbooking - Use what I have here to finish up a few projects.  Also, use this no spend month to work on organizing photos on the external hard drive.  

9) Do the Flylady routine daily, weekly, for the month. 

10) Work on the first song to sing at church

11) Play piano - just play.  Not really measuring this but I just want to sit down and play. 

12) I do need to reserve our camping spot for the Family Reunion so I do plan to use Shipt money to do that as soon as I get my first pay day.

13) This should have technically been number one but I want to work on planning my day.  Taking time the night before and writing out specifics that I want to get done the following day.  This helps me so much on daily focus.

14) A must - make sure that I'm two weeks ahead on my Co-Op class as I may not always have a vehicle/way to get to Friday School depending on when we are able to find a car to purchase.  I need to leave the next weeks lesson with my stuff at school each Friday that I am there. 

15) Read, read, read.  First, I need to make my book goal list for the month and then I need to read.  I also want to start out this month reading outloud to the boys.  Maybe at lunch . . .I'm not sure yet. 

16) Create a lunch schedule rotation that not only keeps my boys happy but doesn't repeat lunch and dinner options (such as chicken nuggets) .  Along with this, I want to work on their ability to eat a few more food items.  This is not an easy feat, trust me, but it's time to start stretching them just a little ;-) LOL  (I'm a little "picky" too so it won't be too crazy!) 

17) Complete our Taxes and file them by the end of the month.  

18) Help Josh with his gold AWANA sections daily.  He has a goal and I want to help him accomplish that goal! Also, finish January with all things current in school. 

19) Think about February plans - Valentine's Day and Darryl's birthday.  Lay out a plan, budget, etc.  Don't wait until the last minute to do things for these events. 

I got to thinking as I wrote out the first 15 goals - wouldn't it be great to have 19 goals each month for the whole "19" concept??  Well, it worked this month!  So maybe my focus for "19 in 19" is to try to accomplish 19 goals each month ;-)  

Strength = 2019 Goal Overview

It's time to think about goals for the year.  I have a few friends who are as goal oriented as I am if not more!  Actually, my friend Tracy is an amazing planner and organizer and she always sets up great Facebook groups related to monthly challenges that she creates.  I love it because it puts many like-minded people together who encourage each other along the way and also provide accountability.  Last year, one of my favorite and most productive challenges came in September when we got rid of "the date" - in other wards, on September 1st, we got rid of one thing, September 2nd, 2 things and so on until we hit September 30th and 30 things had to go!  I cleaned out every cupboard and drawer and all the little areas in every room!  It was amazing.

Now, Tracy is a math teacher and planning 19 goals is hard because it is a prime number but . .. I'm just like, "What? it's 19" HA!  She decided to do 12 monthly goals + 7 daily goals = 19.  Great idea but I still tend to focus more on my list of goals and then try to work on them throughout the month!  So yes, it's ok to have different ideas with the same end result!

For my yearly goals I'm trying (key word - trying) to focus on some big ideas that I can break down into smaller ideas to work on throughout the year.

1) Stengthen our Family Finances - What can I do to help us being better of financially?
            -- I can finally start doing Shipt Shops.  Set a goal to do a certain # each week
            -- I can possibily get a part time job when my mom is living in the area
            -- How else can I save money on areas that we currently spend?
            -- Make one month (Januray!) a "no spend month" - spend nothing outside of fuel, food, and pre-planned items outside of bills.
2.) Strengthen my Health - How can I make "me" the focus this year - sounds selfish, but is it really?
           -- Schedule all of my appointments from Dental to Vision to yearly doctor appointments
           -- Add excercise to our daily routine - I don't know why this is such a hard thing to do!
           -- Continue to look for ways to eat healthier - not only for myself but work towards having my boys eat better as well and be willing to try new foods
3. Strengthen our home - I view this as cleaning, organizing, and updating. Finances always play a part in planning goals.  So, this year I'm trying to focus on things I feel I can accomplish.
           -- Finally get the shelf I want for my scrapbooks, organize them, and make sure they are current with what I have here.
          -- Paint the Dining room - we have the paint so it's just a matter of doing it
          -- Find a couple of art items for the bathroom
          -- Honestly I have a long list of items for our home that will be done based on funds.  Items from a backsplash in the kitchen to a new washer and dryer to replacing the garage door.  So we will see what the year brings.
           -- The basement and garage are always on the list :-)
4.) Strengthen our schooling - Homeschooling is an ongoing plan.
           -- Decide if Connections Acadamy continues to be a good fit for our family or find something different
          -- Always evaluate whether our homeschool co-op is meeting the needs of our family
          -- What other extra activies can/should we be involved in
          -- Get back to our routine of Math Minutes (practice) and learning cursive by the end of this school year
          -- I'm not sure this fits here but I really want to take the boys to read to the shelter animals, make trips to the library for books to read, and do other fun educational items that come up.
5) Strengthen our Family - This includes activities for our family that builds the feeling of togetherness
          -- Camp for the boys - Day camp and a "week camp" is what they would like to do.
          -- Look for one activity to do each month as a family (Going to the cat cafe is one of those items I really want to do!)
         -- Strive to actually have movie nights - even just once a month.  The boys both got Movies for Christmas plus we have access to movies through Amazon so I feel like we can find good things.
          -- Read.  I need to read more.  I have a basket full of books to read (I might go back to my old reading challenge !).  I also want my kids to read more.  Whether I read to them or they read alone, I need to figure out how to make this happen.
6) Strengthen our Holidays - this is a stretch but since my goal is "strengthen" I wanted to put it here!
          -- I finally started my holiday journal in November 2018.  It's my "brain" for the holidays.  So I want to continue writing it/updating it as we go through holidays
          -- Purchase 1 item for our Grinch countdown a month  - find neat and intriguing things to add to it that are inexpensive yet fun.  By doing this, it takes care of 12/24 days.  The other 12 will be candy, $1.00's, or activities.  This will take a financial piece away from December!
         --  Purchase birthday and Christmas gifts EARLY.
         -- Remember to purchase Halloween Costumes EARLY
         -- Try to find grade shirts and holiday themed shirts EARLY (get the idea - early is the key!)
         -- Keep the meaning in Christmas - I feel like we lost a little this past year because of unexpected car issues and only having one car (the boys and I couldn't do little extra things like library events); I also didn't do our normal advent readings or quick lessons at bedtime.  I think I let "life" steal some of my joy and I don't want that to happen again.
7) Strengthen my Scrapbooking :-) - Yes a big stretch again - but it works!
         -- I have a lot of goals.  One of the main ones is to be current with 2019.  That means ordering pictures on the first of each month for the previous month and then scrapbooking throughout the month.
          -- The other goals just include trying to get the years I'm behind on done - sorting albums, ordering photos/page prints and just finishing.  If I can get busy with Shipt, I feel like I accomplish this more.
8) Commit to Flylady (Ok, "Strengthen Flylady" just didn't sound right!) - I put in alot of effort back in September really decluttering our upstairs so I'd like to implement the Flylady cleaning plan again and really work on staying on top of it all!
9) Finally, I have other goals that don't really fit into any category and really don't fall under "Strengthen" but still are things I'd like to accomplish
           -- Play the piano more - As my kids are learning, I want to play more.  I've found some great links to free music on line that is more my "speed" - stuff I can just sit down and play.
           -- I only sing at church 2-3 times a year so I'd like to pick out 2-3 songs that I maybe already have on hand and learn them well so I'm ready to sing before it's even time.  I'd also like to pick out one Christmas song to work on and have it ready for next year.
          -- Plan and schedule camping trips - I'm not sure how many.  Money always determines this but we do have a family reunion in June that I want us to go to so that is in the works.

I'm sure that more things will get added throughout the year but right now, this is a good plan.

Happy New Year!!

From our family to yours : 

I am looking forward to a good year which is a good place to be at the start of a new one!  

I hope that you all are able to enjoy a quiet New Years day as you prepare for the coming year!

I'm hoping to be a little more active on this blog this year - I've taken time to read through lots of my old posts and I really miss posting!  

We'll see how long I can keep it up :-) 

2019 Word of the Year

Several years ago I read a post on a blog about choosing a word for the year.  I loved the concept and have picked one each year since even if I didn't always share them on my blog for various reasons.  Over the last couple of months I've spent some time thinking about what I would like next year to look like; where I would like to be at the end of the year.  Being that I'm a goal setter, this is a great way to help me focus on specific areas in order to accomplish, well, things.  I find that without goals or a plan I don't accomplish nearly as much!

I actually have two words to focus on for 2019.  The first is a word I've chosen for the past several years because I feel it is that important for me and my life.  That word is :

One of my mantras in my life now is to "not let anyone steal my joy".  It's really easy to allow people and/or circumstances to steal joy but if the initial focus in the mind is to not let that happen, it is harder for that to happen.  Notice I said harder?  Yes, it does still happen but I find if I look for the positive in all things, I am happier.  If I am happier, so is my family.  Last year I started to ask my little family each night at dinner to tell me one good or positive thing from their day.  Do you know what?  That was hard for everyone.  It was easier for my kids and my husband to tell the bad things; the things that went wrong or that they didn't like.  Especially at the beginning of this project.  The more I asked though, the more they were able to say something good - even as small as "I slept in" or "Mom got my cereal".  I also worked with them at finding the good even in difficult situations.  If they had things to, well, complain about, I would listen to their struggle but then ask them if there was anything positive about the situation?  Do you now what?  That's hard.  It's hard for adults and harder for kids but I would help them find something (even if it was "I don't have to see that person for a whole week!" HA!)  It always amazing to me at how much other people try to zap someone's happiness.  Sometimes I don't think it is intentional but sometimes it is and that's sad.  So yes ----

------- not just today, but every single day even when it is hard.

I wanted to add to this though.  To challenge myself to focus on something else too.  So, I picked

Where am I going with this, you wonder?  Allow me to tell you.  I want to add strength in all areas of my life. By the end of 2019 I would like to be stronger in my health, my home, our finances, with my children and my husband.  I'd like to be "stronger" in my goals by accomplishing some key things and to be stronger at completing some projects.  I think by focusing on being stronger gives it a more positive spin  - it make an end product more exciting because basically to gain strength means that you can handle more tomorrow than you  can today because you built on where you are today.  Like running - you don't start by running 10 miles, you have to work up to that point by laying out a plan, practicing, and working hard.  I feel like my unintentional word in 2018 was "flounder" - I feel like I floundered in a lot of areas; I just "got by" instead of really working to accomplish things.  I got lost in my head; in circumstances; in the ugliness that is life sometimes. 

What about you?  Do you have a word that you want to focus on this coming year?