And it comes full circle.

Some of you may know that Dan and I dead set against anything having to do with TV. We didn't own one, didn't watch at friends' houses, I still to this day haven't seen an episode of Friends. I fully expected to live out my days this way.

But then Dan started seeing movies with friends again.

Then when we lived at our church, we would borrow their TV and watch movies.

Then we got a DVD player for our computer.

Then, after 5 years of marriage, we had our first movie date (LOTR Return of the King).

And so it goes. Now we own a TV, we have rabbit ears (no cable) and watch 24 twice a week (Monday + Saturday reruns). The kids watch PBS daily. And it does nag at me some. As much as we limit the content of what they watch, I feel that the act of watching TV is somewhat detrimental. And yet, the time of quiet it gives me every morning makes it so much easier to handle my day.

So it makes me happy to see this:


To some degree, it lost its appeal, and they'd rather draw or color or play outside. They still like to watch it, but they haven't lost their ability to entertain themselves doing things of value.

Hope you all had a great Easter. He is risen indeed!

Wow, has it really been 13 days???

Sheesh. I'm such a blog slacker. Would that be blacker for short? Or slogger?

Hmmm...ok, here's a recap of the last almost 2 weeks.

*Held down the fort while Dan showed his work at the Emerald City Comicon. He got some great feedback from some editors and met many interesting people.
*We had his friend Dusty spend the weekend as well. Any single 30ish girls out there who are looking for a guy who's kind-hearted, sarcastic and a bit off-color, Dusty is definitely the guy for you!
*Took a few much-deserved breaks after doing double overtime while Dan got ready for the Con.
*Weeded my flower beds, planted a few new beauties and some veg seeds.
*Took the kids to the zoo and brought my sis home to spend the night.
*Kids got sick.
*Mowed the lawn.
*Ran out of money.
*Watched my cousin get married.
*Applied for a great design team.
*Taught a card-making class.
*Made a layout for a Mom & Me class on May 13th. If you're in the area, bring your son/daughter, your mom, or any other special person--I'd love to see you there!
*Had a few blissful moments where I was alone in my house and it was clean! There is nothing better than that in the world.

Don't have any deep thoughts about any of those, so I'll end with a song...

Particle man, particle man
Doing the things a particle can
What’s he like? it’s not important
Particle man

Is he a dot, or is he a speck?
When he’s underwater does he get wet?
Or does the water get him instead?
Nobody knows, particle man

Triangle man, triangle man
Triangle man hates particle man
They have a fight, triangle wins
Triangle man

Universe man, universe man
Size of the entire universe man
Usually kind to smaller man
Universe man

He’s got a watch with a minute hand,
Millenium hand and an eon hand
When they meet it’s a happy land
Powerful man, universe man

Person man, person man
Hit on the head with a frying pan
Lives his life in a garbage can
Person man

Is he depressed or is he a mess?
Does he feel totally worthless?
Who came up with person man?
Degraded man, person man

Triangle man, triangle man
Triangle man hates person man
They have a fight, triangle wins
Triangle man

Wow, has it really been 11 days?

Good thing I didn't gripe at my friends who haven't updated their blogs this week! (you know who you are!!!)

Let's see...

{she remembers why she hasn't updated her blog this week}

Being a SAHM, you would think a weekend day without a DH would feel like any other day. But for some reason it doesn't. I don't feel the same pressure to do housework, make food that doesn't come from the freezer, pry the kids away from the TV, etc. I think it's because I feel like it *should* be a day off, even if it isn't. The funny thing is, my Saturdays are usually far more productive than the rest of the week.

So I'll probably head to the store tonight and pick up some frozen food, some diet coke, a new LeapPad pen, and anything else that I can find that's cheap and could provide some entertainment for me or them, and then settle in for a day of scrapping, snacking, tuning out kid noise, and praying for Dan. He'll be at the Emerald City ComiCon showing his work and networking. I'm hoping for an enjoyable and productive weekend for him.

Reflections on a great day....

Normally there is nothing in the world that makes me happy to be awake for 20 hours straight. Yesterday, however, was an exception. I had the opportunity to attend the CK Convention in Portland, and I'll spare you the blow-by-blow, but there were a few highlights that I'm still smiling about today...

• Taking scrapbooking classes isn't really my thing, but as a new teacher I thought it would be really helpful to participate in at least one and watch an experienced teacher work. The class I took, taught by my friend Courtney, was very well done! I picked up a few teaching tricks and now have a beautiful Christmas present for my sister!
• Winning 2nd place in the Simple Scrapbooks page accent layout contest!! SO FUN!! Here is a picture of the winning layout (I'm hoping it's ok to post it!!). It really does look much better IRL--the ribbons and stuff don't look so, well, FLAT.
• Even better than that, though, was getting together with the other Pubsters. It was a truly amazing thing to be congratulated so warmly by other people who get it, some of whom had entered the contest themselves. The way people cheer each other on, celebrate each other's victories, and support each other in the hard times is really, really cool, and I'm blessed to be a part of it.
• Got to have dinner with these ladies, and it was like being with old friends, even though some I'd met for the first time that day. It was great to be able to put a face, a voice, and to some degree a personality with the names and thoughts I'm so familiar with.
• Seeing Gina deserves it's own bullet point!! I've so enjoyed getting to know her better through planning the dinner together, and had a great time hanging out beforehand (win both of our wins were announced!).

Anyway, I'm feeling the aftereffects of the missed sleep, so I'll be on my way!

Happy Friday!!

Today is a great day! I have lots to do to get myself ready for the CK Convention tomorrow and Pub dinner tomorrow night. Also, lots to do to get my family ready for a day of not having Mom around! But it's early, my house is (mostly) clean, my to do list is full of fun things, the kids are parked in front of PBS and will be for a good while...

I have to be careful in moments like this to just enjoy. It's easy when things are calm and going well to feel like I need to go do something unpleasant, or to start thinking about whichever issue is plaguing me (or if there isn't one, to make something up!). So today I think before I get on with my day, I'm going to sit down w/a landscaping book I got from the library and my 3rd cup of coffee, and just enjoy a few quiet moments. :)

You never can tell in the PNW, but its looking like this crazy snow/hail stuff we've had off and on is coming to an end, and spring is on the way! And I'm *totally* excited to do some work in my front yard. And I know myself, that I have until about mid-July before I burn out. Which means I've got 4 months to plan, dig, transplant, amend, fertilize, plant, weed, water and watch. Last year my veggies sprouted and diet, so this year I'm buying starts instead of seeds.

Anyway, better get to doing nothing before one of the kids needs me again. Have a great weekend!

On any given day...

On any given day I wake up to kid noise.
On any given day I check my e-mail, some blogs and a couple message boards while I eat a bowl of cereal and drink (at least) two cups of coffee.
On any given day I sweep the floor, wipe down the dining table and pick up toys and clothes.
On any given day I pray to be the kind of wife and mom God wants me to be.
On any given day I drink at least two glasses of Diet Coke.
On any given day I don't drink enough water.
On any given day I answer a hundred questions from Shiloh, try to get Elijah to calm down, sing the Dora song or the Barney song to Mariah, and rub Eucerin cream all over Esther's body.
On any given day I wonder if my kids are eating well enough, watching too much TV, learning enough, getting away with too much and not being kind enough to each other.
On any given day I change at least 5 diapers.
On any given day I think about scrapbooking, things to do for Ben Franklin, new products to try or techniques to learn, and hope that I get a chance to do more scrap-related stuff than just clean my scrap area.

This post idea was brought to you today by sara*w's blog.

Friday randomness

• Still on my spring cleaning rampage. I don't think I've ever been this into cleaning my house. The cool thing about organizing, though, is that everything *stays* clean longer! Dan is loving it.
• Only 3 days until the next episode of 24! I think I mentioned before that I don't watch TV? All bets were off when Season 5 started. We had just finished Season 4 earlier that week, and I don't think the adrenaline had time to leave our system. We're hooked. We even watch the reruns on Saturday night. Anyway, the previews for this week sounded like they were going to kill off another main character??? It took me all day Tuesday to recover from Edgar's departure.
• Dental work isn't a big deal to me. Paying for it sucks though. A lot.
• PBS buys me at least an hour of peace and quiet every morning.
• Waking up early for dental work also sucks. I can't grasp the fact that it's 10:11am on Friday morning. The whole day just feels kind of off.
• 8 days until the CK Convention in Portland OR! Totally excited to see old and new friends, do some shopping, hit Powell's, etc.

Have a great weekend! I trust that my brain will return to it's normal, semi-functioning state by Monday.

A collaborative effort

Many of you know that my husband Dan is a graphic designer (an excellent one at that!). So I often will ask for his feedback on my pages, and then brace myself for his honest feedback. Unfortunately for me, he's pretty much always right, and unfortunately for him, I'm not working in Photoshop and can't always change what needs changing.

Saturday night I showed him a page I'd been working on. He didn't like the title. I loved the concept though, and couldn't redo the title, so I finished the page. I showed him again and asked him what he thought of the *rest* of the page. Of course he couldn't leave the title alone, and came up with some ideas he was sure would work, and offered to help.

This is what we came up with:

Organization update

Since starting the HGTV challenge, I've:

• analyzed my paper habits (mail, newspapers, catalogs, documents, etc.)
• purged some paper from the filing cabinet
• dealt with a couple piles on the computer table
• copied a bunch of our CDs to the computer and boxed them up to go to the shed
• reorganized our toy area and most of the homeschool area
• purged some old dishes and some toys
• bought a tie and belt hanger, so Dan has some place to put his ties other than 0ur shoe holder thingie (the times he's worn a tie since I've known him I can count on one hand)

I'm feeling pretty good about it, but there's a lot more to do, and of course the problem of keeping everything from returning to it's usual condition...

Ok, off to bed. :)

ORGANIZATION MONTH!!!! at my house

I signed up for the HGTV Get Organized challenge and I am *so there*!!! Every chance I get to get rid of some of the disarray in my life makes me so happy. Because there's so much disarray and because I love looking at a surface with nothing on it.

So I just recycled two inches of paper from my filing cabinet this afternoon, and identified my problem areas and am thinking about how to solve them. I have an envelope for receipts, a goal to go through my inbox before it threatens to topple over every month-and-a-half (thus paying some bills late), and a plan to get one of those message center things with the little trough thingie and hooks for our keys. Which brings me to an important realization...I've never liked those from a decorative standpoint, but I'm realizing I like it better than having Dan's wallet, cell phone, keys and iPod on the counter! (I love you honey!!) Seriously, though, I don't live in a decorating magazine. I have 4 kids and we stay home all day and we homeschool and we have 1100 sq. ft. to do it in. We need something that works, that works for us, and that isn't chaotic.

In short, I'm finding that organization, even at its ugliest, is prettier than clutter.

Tagged again!

Got tagged by *Cat*, my asterisk buddy...

What scrapbook lines/products, etc. do you dislike?

• Cheap cardstock--using the good stuff just seems to bring everything up a notch.
• Anything thick/3-D--I like my pages flat
• I tend to gravitate away from anything pre-made and expensive, though sometimes I'll pick that stuff for my DT work since it doesn't cost me anything! ;)

What is the hardest thing you have ever had to scrap?

• My kids birthday parties are getting to be harder for me to scrap, since I have 3-4 a year!
  

What technique do you use more than anything else?

• Uh...does inking my edges count???
• Lately I've been doing more with acrylic paint.
  

What is the smallest scrap of paper you save?

• It depends on the paper--with my FontWerks paper, no scrap is too small!!
  

Have you ever had any scrapbook related injuries?

• Not unless you count the headache that resulted from my dropping 500 eyelets on the floor, picking them all up, sorting them, putting them back in their container--and then doing it a second time.

Finish this sentence, "If I wasn't a scrapbooker/stamper, I would spend my money on..."

• Probably books--if I didn't scrap, I'd also have time to read!
• Clothes
• House stuff
• Gardening stuff
  

Give us your best storage or organizational idea.

• A clothesline-type curtain rod that hangs in my scrap area where I display my finished LOs. I also tie my ribbon onto it.
• Even better--I have 6 Generations Craft Keeper envelopes that I keep projects in progress in. I have one for classes, one for DT stuff, one for my wedding album...that way it's not all sitting in piles on my scrap area. Also, if I'm feeling so inclined I can plan out 3 or 4 pages at a time and put all the photos and supplies, along with a sketch and journaling in one envelope, I find that it's good for me to take advantage of "idea mode" once I'm there!
  

When you received your first publication/DT notification, who did you tell?

• I called Dan on his way to work, then e-mailed Cat and Sara.

After answering the questions, tag four of your buddies.

• I don't think I know 4 people who haven't answered the questions! :P

In other news...
Esther officially has a milk protein allergy. She's had eczema since she was about 3 months old, and it has been pretty severe at times, but we went to an allergist and the screening test came up negative for 16 different allergens, so I thought it would be something she'd outgrow. But then we started her on cow's milk and within a couple days had nasty diapers, really red cheeks and was grumpy, waking up at night, etc. I stopped the milk and then tried it again a couple weeks later (the first time we'd had a virus going through our family), and got the same results.

So now she's on a soy formula--just at the time I thought we'd be able to switch over to milk and decrease our food budget by $50/mo.! Instead it'll be going up, at least for a while until I get it all figured out....she can't have plain soy milk yet because the fat content isn't high enough. I'm pretty bummed--allergies are so high-maintenance, and I've really appreciated the fact that my kids are fairly easy (when it comes to food/sleep/health issues) since there are so many of them so close together. Ugh.

Update

Since you've all been waiting in breathless anticipation, I thought I'd let you know how I did with my list:

1. prep for birthday card class (did the prep, did the class)
2. clean scrap area (did it when I was waiting for Mariah to fall asleep so I could take a shower)
   
3. take pictures of Elijah and Esther (didn't happen, and now Esther is having eczema issues again, so I'm taking her off milk again and not taking pictures until her cheeks are no longer yucky)
4. make Thank You cards (HAHAHA! Told you that wouldn't happen.)
5. dust (DID IT!! woo-hoo)
6. develop a class concept I've been thinking about (this one is still stewing)
7. gussy up scrap resume (nope, still looks pathetic)
8. get a quote on a truckload of dirt ($120/12 yds., so now Dan and I need to decide if we want to do it now or later)
9. and one other thing (didn't do it, but made some progress with it).

So like I said, the list gets me moving, even if it never gets finished. I'd still like a finished list. But I guess it's good to know that the important things happened. As well as all the daily/weekly necessities that I do without thinking about, and (most importantly) being available to my kiddos.

To Do lists--what's the point?

I swear, I have a notebook full of to do lists. What they have in common is:

• they're all for 1 week at a time
• they all have about half of the items not crossed off
• they also have stuff added throughout the week
• much of what is on them isn't something I'm actually considering doing, it's just something I'd like to do
• did I mention that I never actually complete everything on one?
• some of them have the same thing on them 5 or 6 weeks in a row

Pathetic, I know. We're talking years of incompleted (uncompleted? noncompleted?) lists. Then again, I think I get more done with them than without them. Still, it would be nice to complete one once. I actually will add items after I've already finished them, just so I can have one more crossed off item on my list.

Anyway, this is what's leftover for this week (if anyone's interested):

1. prep for birthday card class (this one's non-negotiable, the class is tomorrow night)
2. clean scrap area (might actually happen, since it's in the dining room and I have to look at it)
   
3. take pictures of Elijah and Esther (this is one of those ones that I don't really have any intention of doing, but I know I should. We celebrated their birthdays this week, which means I have one week to do a photo shoot before I lose "good scrapbooking mom" status.)
4. make Thank You cards (another one that I don't honestly think I'll do. Yes you may send me to etiquettehell.com if you'd like. I suck at manners.)
5. dust (I won't go there)
6. develop a class concept I've been thinking about (this one is still stewing)
7. gussy up scrap resume (pretty pathetic to spend $20 on something that not only says "yes, I have no credentials", but doesn't even look like an effort has been made to doctor it up)
8. get a quote on a truckload of dirt (this might actually happen, if I can make the kids be quiet long enough to make the phone call)(because I really want to get some work done in the yard)(and if I don't do it now, my yard phase will run its course for the year and I'll have to wait until next year to make any gardening progress)
9. and one other thing
   

So there you have it. All the stuff I can't pull off. But that's ok! Because somehow I'll make it through this weekend having taught my class, and the other stuff will either get done or it won't. And if it doesn't, the dust will still be waiting patiently for me Monday morning, all my brilliant scrap ideas will have longer to simmer, Esther will get a 1 year old + 16 days picture, instead of a birthday shot, and the yard will just look unkempt a little longer. Work in progress, eh?

Whistling in the Dark

That was me on Friday, minus the whistling. Those of you who live in the PNW know that we had a *crazy* windstorm late last week, that resulted in Bonney Lake losing power for 15 hours. Which for me meant:

1. no vacuuming
2. no music
3. no internet
4. no light + no TV to occupy kids = no scrapping
5. no oven = no making b-day cake
6. no internet = no finding cheap printouts for the b-day party
7. no heat + drafty house + subfreezing temps outside = spending the night at Mom's

I'm sure you get the point. I'm not big on inconveniences, but when I have a scrapping deadline and a party to plan, they make me especially grumpy! However, the party ended up coming together really well and I had a blast that night at Ben Franklin. So apparently I didn't need anywhere near as much time to plan and prepare as I thought. Go figure. Maybe I should flip the switch on the fuse box every time I'm about to have a busy day and spend it eating fast food and driving around trying to stay warm in the car instead.

Anyway, I'll leave you with these words of wisdom from (who else?) They Might Be Giants:

A man came up to me and said
I’d like to change your mind
By hitting it with a rock, he said,
Though I am not unkind.
We laughed at his little joke
And then I happily walked away
And hit my head on the wall of the jail
Where the two of us live today.

There’s only one thing that I know how to do well
And I’ve often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that’s be you,
Be what you’re like,
Be like yourself,
And so I’m having a wonderful time
But I’d rather be whistling in the dark

Why is the world in love again?

Why are we marching hand in hand?
Why are the ocean levels rising up?
It's a brand new record for 1990.
They Might be Giants' brand new album:
Flood

Just in case there was any doubt about my being a dork, you all have proof now! I listen to TMBG Flood multiple times during the week! It's just so fun to listen to, and has the added bonus of getting me out of my computer chair to get housework done. And I think we've managed to convince the kids it's kid music, meaning we can put it on instead of Raffi!! Check back here for deep thoughts from TMBG every week.

So I'm 1 for 3 on the schedule this week. Not bad, eh? :P I'd be 1 for 4, but I have to go to Costco today so I'm not counting it as a failure. However, homeschooling took a turn for the much better this week when Shiloh started reading!! Strictly 3-letter words and short vowel sounds, but a huge accomplishment nonetheless. So nice to see the results of all of our hard work. And a friend from Ben Franklin said she'd give me her old readers, so we'll be able to start reading "real books".

Trying a new schedule today...

I've tried new schedules many, many times--usually with the same results (improved productivity/cleanliness for a couple days, then a return to the status quo), but I'm cautiously optimistic that this time will be different!! It's flexible, includes everything I hope to get done during the day, and works with my natural inclinations (sort of--I do still have to do housework!). My tendency is to put off the stuff I don't want to do until afternoon, and then I do that stuff instead of scrapping. With the new schedule I should have 2 hours to scrap every afternoon and still keep the house in relative order and do school with the kids every day. My house is doing pretty well today, and would actually be doing *really* well if I hadn't found Elijah's floor in need of carpet cleaning this morning.

In other news...

Shiloh finished learning her letter sounds this morning (actually she's known them for a while but I wanted to get all the way through to Z in our letter book), so now we get to start learning to read!! So cool! I'm totally excited about the world that will open up to her once she can read by herself, and about how our schooling will change when she doesn't need me to explain everything to her.

Mariah is 29 mo. old now, and it's about high time I start potty training her. I think the hardest thing for me about parenting is that they change so fast! I finally get used to our life, and then someone's needs change. Esther becomes mobile. Shiloh becomes more capable and therefore needs more responsibilities. Elijah and Mariah getting old enough to be rivals.

It's amazing to think that someday my life won't be about this.

Dan and I have been doing devotions together for the first time since Jan. 2000, when I found out I was pregnant and refused to get out of bed before 7:45am (and I only got up then because I had to leave for work at 8:00!). We're reading Romans together and I'm loving the discussions and prayer time we have--what a great way to start our day! And I think he loves that I'm up early enough to make his lunch! ;)

Ok--the schedule beckons...

The geriatric snowman

No, he doesn't have wrinkles, walk with a cane or have osteoporosis. But he's the oldest snowman I've ever seen (being that in Washington the average life expectancy for a snowman is about 3-5 days tops, and this guy's been around for months).

That's Alaska. Well, that's Fairbanks anyway. It was so different from anything I've ever experienced. People were totally undaunted by the snow/ice (which I know is to be expected, but not something I'm used to). Fairbanks is freezing or subfreezing for 6 months out of the year. My friends have a cooler on their porch that serves as their freezer--more effective than most deep freezers! People in Alaska drive like the roads are bare. The snow sticks to the trees, rather than just sitting on top of them. The buildings are much more spread out than they are here (even in Bonney Lake, where we still have a few stretches of forest on the main highway). A mall consists of 10 stores sandwiched between a Safeway and a Michael's. Crazy.

I had a great time--we stayed inside and scrapbooked for most of the weekend. We were working on my friend's wedding album, and she wanted my "professional opinion". Gotta love that! It was way simpler than anything I've done in a long time, but came together much faster and turned out beautiful. Beautiful pictures and a beautiful story do help a lot.

Now, my goal is to get started on mine, as my wedding was over 6 years ago...

Turning thirty

Yes, I had a birthday. No, I didn't tell anyone, so don't get mad at me! I'm weird about things like that, partly because I feel like I'm asking for attention if I tell people, and partly because it means so much when people who know me remember without being told.

Anyway, happy birthday to me! We celebrated by going to the Melting Pot, which was probably the most amazing food experience of my life. Everything was delicious, and fondue is just fun! Though really, any time I get alone with Dan is wonderful. :)

I'm not freaking out about getting older, but being 30 definitely feels different than being 29. First of all, I'm "in my 30's". I've been in my 20's most of my adult life. I'm not young anymore. And I'm 10 years away from being 40!! On the bright side, many of my "well-seasoned" friends have said that their 30's were the best years of their lives. Still young enough to be active and energetic, but without the constant change of the 20's. I can see that. I'm more mature, more secure, happier, more stable, better off financially than I was 10 years ago--by far. I know what my calling is and I've learned a little bit about how to live it out. And most importantly, I've seen God's faithfulness and am more sure than ever that I am kept by His grace, and that He will be faithful to complete the good work He's started in me. I have a loving, encouraging, supportive husband and a marriage that is constantly growing in understanding and communication, 4 kids that bring me joy and make me laugh every day, wonderful friends and family, a home that I love (and never want to leave), a church filled with great people, some enjoyable ministry opportunities, and a pastor who loves God's Word.

So I have much reason to believe the upcoming decade will be a blessed one.

Of course, that's if I survive my upcoming trip to Fairbanks, AK! It's -25 this week (that's Farenheit, btw)! I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about it. The idea of going someplace 70 degrees colder than it is here is unfathomable. Not to mention they only get an hour or two of daylight this time of year--and that's a relative term. Anyway, I'll be sure to post pictures next week, if my camera can handle sub-freezing temperatures!

Tag--I'm it!

My asterisk buddy Sara tagged me (probably as a ploy to get me to update my blog!) Ok...

Four jobs you have had in your life
1. Admissions office caller (calling prospective students)
2. Delivery driver for Godfather's Pizza
3. Preschool teacher
4. and now, Stay-at-home-mom, with the recent addition of "homeschooling" to that title

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
1. LOTR trilogy (yes, I'm a geek)
2. Napoleon Dynamite (see above)
3. I'm kind of a once-is-enough person when it comes to most movies
4. Yeah.

4 Places You Have Lived
1. Everett, WA
2. Olympia, WA
3. Port Angeles, WA
4. Bonney Lake, WA

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch
1. LOST
2. 24
3. HGTV
4. but I don't have cable so don't talk to me about Lost or 24--we watch them a year later on DVD

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation
1. the Oregon Coast
2. Victoria, BC
3. does camping count???
4. uhhh....

4 Websites You Visit Daily
1. Two Peas
2. Pink Martini designs
3. my friends' blogs
4. does my e-mail inbox count?

4 Of Your Favorite Foods
1. coffee
2. diet coke
3. pizza
4. ice cream

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Scrapping at my dining table
2. Taking a nap in my bed
3. Taking a bubble bath (but not in my bathtub, it's too shallow) (but not in someone else's either, that would be weird)
4. Shopping, but only if someone gave me money--much easier to spend other people's money!

4 Bloggers You Are Tagging
1. Tia
2. Mimi
3. Keisha
4. Dan

:)

A fresh start

...is my favorite part of New Year's! That last week of the year, after all the Christmas stuff is done, lends itself so well to reflection, looking backward and looking forward. Dan is off work and we usually take a small trip (the last two years it's been to the Oregon Coast). I love it. Without the distractions of home, I'm able to get a quiet hour to think through what I want my next year to look like, what I've accomplished by God's grace over the past year, the events of the past year and how they've changed me, etc. Then Jan. 1st hits and I get to put it all into action.

So far this year...

1. I'm committed to following God more closely, personally and as a wife and mom. It's been hard to make my time with Him and in His Word a priority as my life has become so full, but I need to. My relationship with God the most important part of my life, and it effects how I raise the kids...I have this great book that puts their behavior and attitudes in Biblical terms and shows what Scripture says about how to encourage/correct them.
2. I'm committed to losing my extra weight. Part of me wants to make it my goal to lose it all this year, but the goal I set was 35 lbs. I think this is reasonable, and of course if I'm able to do it quickly I can keep going! I restarted the South Beach Diet (well, a modified version of it!) on Monday, and so far, so good!
   
3. I'm committed to taking care of myself. We have dental insurance for me now, and I'm getting my teeth taken care of. 1 more root canal, and at least 3-4 crowns. It's really hard for me to spend our family's money on my teeth, which is an issue I'm working through as well--that my needs are as important as everyone else's. I'm committed to exercise as well, though that's been off to a rocky start! :P
   
4. I'm committed to homeschooling. We've eliminated our morning movie time, and I'm making sure we do school at least 3x/wk. That gives me a day for errands and chores if I need it.
5. I'm committed to growing as a scrapbook designer. I have some great opportunities as a teacher and Design Team member, and I believe my work is getting consistently better.
6. I'm committed to new dish towels, lighting candles, using the good plates, lip gloss and date nights--those little indulgences that are so necessary for the enjoyment of life!

May your 2006 be full of God's grace as you seek to grow in character and accomplishments!