One Small Thing

It's been a while since I updated my progress on January and Febuary's goals.

In January my word was routine. I sought to begin the day with a warm breakfast, do 10 minutes of tummy toning 3x's/week, take a morning shower and ditch the jammies for real clothes, and most importantly make time for scripture and prayer.

Of course, I was hoping building this habit in January would help it continue through out the year and it has...sorta. I do eat a warm breakfast every single morning now. I think of it as cafe mom. I wait to eat until Caleb's morning nap (usually around 8:30am since he's up at 6:30). Then I head to the kitchen to make a bagel sandwich and small cup of coffee. It takes about 5 minutes from start to finish(seriously!) and then I can sit down on the couch sipping my home made latte topped with whip cream and eating a meal that actually fills me until his afternoon nap! During this time I read a few inspiring blogs or messages from friends. It's such a wonderful way to start my day.

Tummy toning did not survive long past January, but I feel like it did it's job. I still have a little preggo pooch, but it's less noticeable now and I feel comfortable with my body again, which was the whole point anyway : )

I'd say getting out of jammies before noon happens 70% of the time now. I can live with that success rate at this stage of our lives!

I had a 2-3 week lapse in time with God in February that I'm happy to say has been reversed. I'm back to enjoying opening most days conversing with God and reading through 1st Samuel. I love getting to see how over and over again David prays and trusts what God has to say about each situation rather than what his own experience tells him. It's a reminder I need often right now.

February brought 2 new goals: updating the budget and becoming less critical in my heart and in my speech. Not surprisingly, I had a really hard time being less critical when I wasn't spending time with God. I was invited to a wonderful study on peacemaking that convicted me in so many areas and brought me back to scripture again and again. If you've never seen any material written by peacemaker ministries I highly recommend this site about Biblical responses to conflict. It's been so helpful in seeing my own role in conflict more clearly and addressing unhealthy responses. Overall, I've seen a lot of growth in this area of my life with plenty more room to continue : )

And finally, I did manage to update the budget weekly in February. However, it didn't stop my from blowing right past my grocery "magic number". After some discussion with David we decided we couldn't meet our current health goals with the old number. So we eliminated another area of the budget and added that amount to grocery. It was a tough choice because I really wanted to make the old number work. However, with this season of preparing to move again I am finding giving myself some grace makes for a happier mommy and happier family. I'm so thankful for David's support during times like these!

I'm not making any goals for March or April. We'll be transitioning from FL to PA in the middle of next month and I expect I'll be using extra time and energy to prepare for that as well as prepare my heart for Easter. Although I'm not Catholic, I've found Lent to be a good time for me to step back from other obligations and focus on my relationship with Christ. It seems to reset my compass for the year. Since I do have many Catholic friends, I find their thoughts during this time very encouraging to that journey as well.

I am participating in Project Simplify however because I know it will motivate me to get this place packed and cleaned in small pieces, which is what I need to be doing anyway!

I also plan to do one small thing over these next two months: keep my stove top clean! If you've ever tried the "fly lady" method of house keeping, you know she recommends a shiny sink as the one thing to make sure gets done each day because it just makes you feel good. Shiny sinks don't do it for me since I (confession) really dislike doing dishes. But I love cooking. And something about cooking on a nice clean stovetop makes me smile.