January Goals Update

So here we are at February 1^st (close enough at least) and I'm going to report on my progress.

Personal Goals:
1. Memorize the references to all those verses I know, but can never find. On track! See list below.
2. Read two books a month; one for fun and one for spiritual growth. On track! See list below.
3. Add 12 new recipes to my repertoire. On track! I made Pork with Apples and Pears and it was a-maz-ing! And really easy-double bonus. AND, I currently have a loaf of artisan bread headed for the oven from my new book

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. But I won't make bread my new recipe each month.

Physical Goals:
1. Work out at least 20 minutes, three days a week. Umm…I did really well for a while, but Joshua was home sick and on the couch watching TV and movies. And then I just flat-out ran out of steam. All of us here have been sharing the same germs for way.too.long. I'm not big on physical exercise, so this one will be a real challenge.
2. Drink 24 ounces of water a day. (Have already purchased the water bottle-check!) Most days I'm on board. I need to go grab my bottle from Bella's room (and sanitize it!).
3. Eat at least two servings of fruits and two servings of vegetables a day. This has turned out to be easier than I thought, mainly because I revamped my menu-planning sheet to include "fruit" and "veggie" at every lunch and dinner. However…since we've all been sick and meals haven't been the round-the-table-health-feasts they were, I've slipped a bit the past two weeks. But in making Bella carrot sticks, I've found that I'll nosh on a few while fixing dinner. I found a bag of discounted tangerines that we inhaled, and we do a lot of apple slices at meals. Easy peasy!

Marriage Goals:
1. Have Bible study time with Joshua daily. We were trucking right along until sickness derailed our plans. He slept in until time to go to work and we didn't get to it. Hoping to Going to get back to this THIS week!
2. Have a monthly date night. Ah, Robert Burns and his "best laid schemes." Joshua had planned an amazing murder mystery dinner theater thing for us, but the company called back that there weren't enough participants. We ended up at an cozy restaurant in town that we both love, and playing a few rounds of Scrabble. (Actual Scrabble-that's not code for anything. J) But we have the dates picked out and babysitting arranged-yay us! Plus our small group is doing a Bible study on marriage, so I'm sure that will be great fodder for date night conversations.

Goals for Bella:
1. More time outside. We are supposed to go out every day but bundling them up and being cold is just not appealing right now. How many times can I play the "we've been sick" card? We did go out a few times-probably once a week. (Besides the short running in and out of stores thing.)
2. Develop an "others first" mentality. She has shown progress, and I've praised it a ton. Hopefully I'll figure out a way for her to practice this more.

Money Goals:
1. Use my credit card to only buy gas. No credit card purchases! Praise God!
2. Pay off the Hyundai. We are $4,000 from reaching this goal. We're plugging away. Our plan is to pay as much off as we can with our tax refund (probably next month), and then "roll" that payment onto the next credit card.
3. Pay off at least one credit card. We paid $800 towards our overall debt! Christmas bills rolled in so, although we paid off more than that, the purchases made it a bit of a wash. I was discouraged, but Joshua figured we wouldn't be able to make serious headway until his raise in July. And, long range, if we just keep to this, we'll have paid off $10,000 by the end of the year (taking into account the extra money I'll be bringing in with teaching and Craigslist).

Relationship Goals:
1. Get together with each small group girl at least once a month or do a Girls' Night Out with all of them. Done! Breakfast with one friend, hang out time with another, and a GNO scheduled for February.
2. Write a note of encouragement to friends and family once a month. (I know it's not very generous, and I plan to do more, but it will depend on who needs it!) Ooops! On my calendar for February!

Reading list:

"Spiritual" list so far. I still need to add a few titles, but for now this is what I have:

1. Don't Make Me Count to Three-Ginger Plowman. I love this book dearly. Such easy, good, biblical help in it.
   
2. I Saw the Lord-Ann Graham Lotz On it!
   
3. Knowing God-J.I. Packer
   
4. The Pursuit of God-A.W. Tozer
   
5. The Presence of God-Brother Lawrence
   
6. God's Wisdom for a Mother's Heart: A Bible Study for Moms-Bobbie Wolgemuth
   
7. Big Truths for Young Hearts-Bruce A. Ware
   
8. A Woman After God's Own Heart-Elizabeth George (I've already read this, but it's just that good!)
   
9. The Most Important Place on Earth: What a Christian Home Looks Like and How To Build One-Robert Wolgemuth. (I found this while searching on Amazon for #6. We did their Most Important Year books for premarital counseling and they were fabulous. I'm excited to read both of their books!
   
10. 10 -12: Still to be determined. I hear Humility by CJ Mahaney is really good, and I'd like to get a Piper book on the list.
    

"Fun" list:

1. The Wednesday Letters-Jason Wright. A quick read about a man who wrote a letter to his wife every Wednesday they were married.
   
2. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo-Stieg Laarson. A gritty story that took a while to get going, and, in my mind, introduced too many characters. Plus, there was a very sick side to the book dealing with sexual abuse (which I was warned about, but still). I was excited to start the trilogy, but based on book one and the prologue from book two (and the whole Philippians 4:8-9 thing), I'll end here.
   
3. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake-Aimee Bender. Rose is able to taste the emotions of the people who make the food she eats, and this complicates her relationships and how she views life in general. Come to find out she's not the only one in her family with unusual "gifts." I read this one in two days because it was compelling and beautifully written.
   

Verses to Memorize

This is the list of the verses I've memorized so far, written from memory. I know some of them coming up are going to be "You don't know that verse?" kind of things, but it's more that I don't know exactly what it says, or that I don't know where to find it. And as Pastor Brian taught about last week, satan will test my knowledge of the truth in matters of sin and how well do I know the truth and what God's word actually says? Convicting stuff!

1. John 15:5 "I am the Vine, you are the branches; whoever remains in me and I in him bears much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing."
   
2. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might."
   
3. Psalm 1:1-3 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight in in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, its leaf does not wither. In all he does, he prospers."
   
4. Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."