Looking back at 2009....

This is my post of goals I had for 2009. I'm going to look back at these today and tomorrow I'll share some goals for 2010.

--prayer. I've gone back to a written prayer journal this year. This works well for me. I have written many of your names in my prayers this year and am thankful to see God answer!

--Bible study. I have done some word studies at the beginning of the year and read some study guides as well. One was about the book of John. This is an area I want to change and improve this year.

--budget. We completed FPU in 2009 AND paid off our debt except for the house. :)

--book reading. I did complete 50+ books this year! Two of those were audio books which I found out I enjoyed. I did not read a classic as was on my goal list last year. I did read a book for continuing education credit.

--laugh. I noticed more often times to stop and laugh and not be rushed on to the next thing. This has been great to be intentional about laughing and silly times!

--verse memorization. I did well part of the year on memorizing the verses word for word. Some weeks I didn't memorize the verses of the week, just read over them.

--be earth friendly. I've collected so many reusable bags that I normally don't have to use any plastic when I go grocery shopping. I even remember to take them in!! Caleb always tells the clerk (when he's with me), "we have our own bags." I have found a good use for plastic bags though too....we give them to the food pantry and they use them quickly. We put out our recycle tub on Thursdays too.

--organize/declutter. This continues to be an area I need to work on! We made some progress in getting rid of some stuff but we still have too much.

--get to bed earlier. Another area to work on....sometimes we do good and go to bed at a good time, other nights I talk too much!!

Have a day of blessings!

Organize/declutter #2

In my recent post of checking in on my 2009 goals, I remembered I was supposed to be decluttering/organizing. I've done a few things but nothing I've posted about in many months. Last Friday my husband was checking under our kitchen sink for a leak.

I went over to the corner and thought I'd organize my cookbooks. I have so many cookbooks, I love looking at them and finding new recipes. Stuff was falling out of the two drawers above so I cleaned the drawers out first. I went ahead and did two more drawers too while I was at it. I went through my towels and pot holders and got those organized. Then I moved on to the cookbook shelf. Here is the before picture. I have a big stack of Taste of Home cookbooks which I use often and love but wanted to see if I could make better use of the back space of the cabinet.

Here is the after picture.

Hope you have a good weekend! Thanks for stopping by today!
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"You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done."~ Psalm 92:4, NLT

2009 Goals: Checking in #3

Here is my original goal list.

--prayer. I continue to learn and see the importance of prayer in our daily living. I have been hearing and reading so much on prayer lately that continually reminds me of the importance to always be praying.

--Bible study. This summer I'm doing the study Me, Myself & Lies by Jennifer Rothschild with the LPM blog. It is an eye-opening study.

--budget. Almost almost almost debt free! Yippee! I'll let you know when we make that last payment on the school loan!

--book reading. I finished book #28 which I'll post a review for later.

--laugh. It seems Caleb is so good at reminding me to laugh. I am thankful for that.

--verse memorization. I'm still memorizing the verses from Proverbs. I have not been writing out verses for Caleb to memorize. I need to do that again.

--be earth friendly. I am now remembering most of the time to put our reusable bags back in the trunk instead of leaving them at home. AND I usually remember to grab one when I run in a store for something. This week when we went grocery shopping I realized I had forgotten to put the two I'd used Wednesday back into the car so I was two short for the groceries. Caleb said why did she have to give us those sacks since we had some plastic this time. I'm glad he noticed.
--organize/declutter. I haven't organized anything lately that I remember.

--get to bed earlier. Sometimes we make it to bed earlier but this hasn't been one of those weeks!

This posting is mainly for me to keep up with how I'm doing and to remind myself of what I want to be doing! Have a wonderful weekend!
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"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17, KJV

2009 Goals: Checking in #2

I didn't do a "checking in" post last month so I thought I would now that we have arrived at the end of March already!

--prayer. As I mentioned before, I have really enjoyed using a prayer journal.

--Bible study. I finished a Women of Faith study guide called "Contagious Joy." Right now I'm reading Real Moms Real Jesus by Jill Savage.

--budget. We're staying on track with this. We have two more weeks of FPU.

--book reading. I have too many books started right now! :) I have not been checking books for me out at the library. I'm reading through some of my personal books I've won or bought.

--laugh. Today I was reminded of this goal when Caleb burst into laughter at the billboard of Ronald McDonald. He is great to have around to remind me to laugh!

--verse memorization. The Proverbs have been great to memorize. Caleb is enjoying it too I think.

--be earth friendly. It makes me smile to use reusable bags when I do the grocery shopping and I don't have to have any plastic bags. I am finally remembering to put them back in the trunk so they are there anytime to use, not just on grocery shopping day. I've been using a bag for other trips too, like at Walgreens or dollar store.

--organize/declutter. I need to work on the kitchen drawers.

--get to bed earlier. We have done better at this (sometimes).
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"Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see how good God is." Psalm 34:8, MSG

2009 Goals: Checking in #1

I like to think back over my goals for the year and see how I'm doing. It is a good refresher I need so I don't forget something I want to do.

--prayer. I've been writing in a prayer journal again and this has been very beneficial.

--Bible study. I did two "topic studies" and felt like I gleaned new bits of information from the Word. The topics were "fear of the Lord" and "walls." I noticed one time how many time the word wall is used throughout the Bible. I learned walls are used for protection. Walls can be broken down, leaving a way for the enemy's entrance. After a wall is torn down it has to be rebuilt or the city won't be protected. There are many ways these can be applied to my spiritual walk I felt. I must be on guard against the enemy and make sure my protecting wall is strong without any holes. I have to watch that nothing sneaks inside the wall. It takes work to keep the wall in place but the protection is worth it. I am now doing a Women of Faith study on Joy.

--budget. We are sticking to our plan. We had a surprise thrown in the mix but everything will still work out.

--book reading. I am trying to finish three books right now. I can't pick which one to read so I'm reading a little from each! I must finish because there are two more in my stack I'm looking forward to reading.

--laugh. I have been making a conscious effort to laugh and find things to laugh about.

--verse memorization. This is going well.

--be earth friendly. I'm reading a book I'll write a review on soon about being "green." Also I was very excited when we went to HEB earlier this month that all of our groceries fit into our reusable bags. Now I just need to remember to put them back in the car so if I stop at a store in the week I'll have them with me!

--organize/declutter. We worked on our bedroom and closet at the beginning of the year. It has remained clean and organized.

--get to bed earlier. Oops....need to remember to do this!


Hope you are having a nice, enjoyable last weekend of January! Thanks for stopping by.
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"Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth." Psalm 96:1

2009 Goals Update: Organize/declutter #1

Throughout the year I'd like to give updates on how I'm doing on various aspects of my goals for 2009.

We spent New Year's Day very busy cleaning and sorting. My husband's focus was our bedroom closet while I spent time in our bedroom cleaning my night stand, vanity (I could actually sit there Sunday to do my make-up), the tops of our dressers, and photos on my hope chest. I also made labels for some drawers in our closet that we use for t-shirts and shorts. It seems those things never have a place to call home but now they do. I organized a couple of my drawers as well and it is so enjoyable to have things nice and straight. I have a bag of clothes to get rid of from our cleaning too.

Over the weekend we bought Caleb a little laundry hamper of his own. It's actually a small trash can. I chose it because it has a flip top lid, and I knew he'd love that! He has been so excited to do laundry. Sunday he had one set of clothes in it with his pajamas and thought it was time to do a load of clothes. I told him I wasn't washing clothes until Monday. When Monday morning came, he was ready to help me dump all his clothes into the washing machine. The funny part was that he left the hamper in the middle of the floor after he put his clothes into it. Kinda the same as leaving the clothes on the floor! We showed him it goes in his room and to just take the clothes to it when he takes them off.

I am happy with the progress. We are all working hard to keep things in their new homes!

Looking ahead to 2009....

Since I looked back yesterday, today I am looking forward to the new year of 2009 that is upon us. I enjoy reflecting over the past year, but I also value this time to look ahead to a new year. It gives me a chance to think of things I want to do differently and what I want to accomplish. When I think of 2009, two things pop out in my head....first, my husband and I will be turning 30 and second, our son will turn five and go to kindergarten! There are other things I'm excited about...participating in Financial Peace University and attending a Women of Faith Conference.

I would like to share my goals with you here as I shared my goals for 2008.

--prayer. I have found a couple ideas of things I want to do with my prayer time this year. (One is shared at Spiritually Unequal Marriage, you might want to try it too.)

--Bible study. In the past year I've been reading through the Bible. This year I want to do some studies on various words and topics. I have a list started and am excited about doing this. I'll probably do a couple of study books too but really want to try doing some studying "on my own" (without study guides), just me and God's word.

--budget. We will go through FPU this year and are excited to finish paying off the school loan debt.

--book reading. I want to aim for 50 books again this year. This year I want to read a classic that I've never read before. As I write this today I wonder how many books I'll be able to read while I sit and wait in my car to pick up Caleb after school. (August is a long ways off, right!!??)

--laugh. I want to laugh more! I plan to talk about this on my blog too in the coming days.

--verse memorization. I've selected the verses already, and this year they will all be from Proverbs. Also in this category, I want to keep a list of verses I memorize with Caleb.

--be earth friendly. We already recycle and use reusable bags instead of plastic now at the grocery store. I'm going to look for other things to do this year.

--organize/declutter. I want everything to have a place!

--get to bed earlier.

I may add more if I think of additional goals. These are the ones I have on my list so far!

I'm adding this link to Lori's New Year's Meditations. Join us if you'd like!
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"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" John 8:12