one little word: 2015

I ended last year feeling a little shaky. Not all in bad ways, either, though I was having a some (metaphorical) growing pains that shook my faith up a bit. That happens from time to time. I guess the best way I can describe it is to say that I felt like I was teetering at the edge of a precipice, unwilling to step backward (because I'm all about progress) and too frightened to step forward. In the back of my mind I knew there were good things ahead. I knew I had prepared many supports and safeties in the past, and that Heavenly Father had been preparing me for even greater growth all last year as I worked hard on bringing my life into harmony with the things that are most important to me. But the moving forward still felt... just hard.

I toyed with a few ideas for my word this year. I thought about continuing with

s i m p l i f y

since I only switched over to that word partway through last year. But at the end of the day, my problem is not typically a lack of activity or a lack of motivation, but my inability to relinquish control. So while my word for this year might seem a little passive, it is actually going to be the most challenging one I have chosen so far:

t r u s t

Just trust.

That's it.

I'm not making goals within goals, or baby steps, or planning to track on the blog or anywhere else but in my own heart. When faced with a deliberation or a choice--Should I hang this picture here even though I have an irrational fear of making holes in the wall? Should I intervene or reach out to someone or is my place in their life to serve in some other way? How should I spend this lonely evening while Steve is at work? Should I get to work on something new or be still, let go, and rest?. When these questions and others like them come, and I feel the anxiety of wondering if I'll "get it wrong" I'm going to pause and turn inward. I'll consult myself and consult my Father in Heaven. And then I'm going to try to take a deep breath and trust those answers.

I've been looking for some answers for several months now, waiting impatiently and letting small doubts worry away at my heart. And it was really tough to wade through that sadness and uncertainty and simply choose, again and again, to trust. To wait. I don't have all the answers now (clearly!) but I have some more.

This word feels good. It feels loving and carefully selected. It feels like mine and it sits well in my soul.

Have you chosen a word for 2015? I'd love to hear about it!

one little word report #5: peace of mind

Peace of Mind

Goal: Refrain from using non-phone electronics (computer, iPad) until kids' nap time.

How it went: Well... If we're sticking to the exact terms of this goal, it went badly. Like, it almost didn't go at all. But I tend to make goals mostly to enact a change in my life rather than to stick to a letter-of-the-law new rule, and I think this goal made me much more mindful of how I was using my electronic devices.

For the first few days I was pretty strict, and I really did enjoy the feeling of being untethered from the internet. I was able to get more done around the house, keep my mind a little quieter, focus more on the kids, and just generally feel more at ease. It was good to see what a difference less screen time makes!

The problem is, our world is becoming increasingly paperless. For example, I bought an ebook version of Shift, a book I've been reading towards my book goal. They don't have it at the library (I checked). So that meant that, simply to work on that goal and read that book, I had to have my iPad on.

Anyway, I think I have found a happy medium. When possible, I print things out (recipes, directions) so I'm not tempted to check facebook as I'm trying a recipe for dinner, but I also allow myself to pay a bill if the kids are busy playing or google the amount of bread yeast in a packet so I can measure it out correctly without waiting until the kids' nap/quiet time.

What surprised me was just how nice it feels to be a little more "unplugged," but also that I find peace a little differently than many people. I was reading on someone's blog how much they enjoy having just quiet in their home (at least as much as you can have with busy little ones underfoot), so I turned off the music for a day or two to see how I felt. We do have many quiet hours in our day, but sometimes I find it comforting or uplifting to have a little bit going on--music playing, a podcast on while I fold, or, when Steve is on a night shift or something, maybe a TV show playing in the background as I work on a project.

I think, like many things, it is all about moderation.

NEW GOAL:
I'm doing a couple things for peace of mind right now--revamping the budget, purging excess stuff from the house, etc. but I think my big goal for the next month or so is going to be to abide by my new cleaning schedule.

I have always struggled with cleaning the house--it seems an insurmountable task when you've got so many interruptions from little kiddos. So I usually just didn't clean unless I got a little manic one day. And then I felt guilty about how my house wasn't clean, and stressed by the mess/clutter/etc. So this month I finally sat down and decided which things HAD to get done every week to feel like our house was clean enough. Just clean enough for me to feel good, and not completely behind. I chose five things, one for each weekday.

I also decided to do one load of laundry each weekday and none on the weekend. This frees up my weekend days and makes them feel more weekend-y even when Steve is at work. Last week I got 4/5 done. I'm good with that! I'll just make sure that if I have to skip a day, it is a different chore than got skipped the week before.

I have not, however, figured out when to fold laundry yet. So now that I'm done writing this, its time for me to sit down and fold the FIVE loads of laundry I washed last week and never got around to putting away. Wish me luck. :)

one little word report #4: intellect

Intellect

Goal: Read 4 books each month.

How it went: Pretty good. I think my mistake so far has been the type of book I'm reading. I purchased a large stash of parenting books in January and few through them. While they were good reads, and all great advice, I started to get really stressed out about all the things I wasn't doing "right." There just seemed to be so much to fix! So I'm taking a break from those and just focusing on one improvement at a time.

Going forward I'm going to limit myself to one parenting/self-improvement book per month. The rest need to be fiction! Also, I think page count needs to play in here somehow. In January I read Wool, which is 600 pages (it is technically 5 books combined into an omnibus), and I don't think it would make a lot of sense for me to try to read four 600 page books at this point in my life. :)

Books I've read in Jan/Feb:

Wool Omnibus (Wool #1-5) - Hugh Howey
Abel's Island - William Steig
Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking - Jerry L. Wyckoff
The Parenting Breakthrough - Merilee Boyack
Siblings Without Rivalry - Adele Faber
Shift Omnibus (Shift #1-5) - Hugh Howey (still reading this one)

NEW GOAL: I think this is all. I just want to keep reading. I need to get some books on hold at the library and go to town. Recommendations are welcome!

one little word report #3: family

Next up, the family goal!

Goal: Spend 30 minutes intentionally playing with the kids each day.

How it went: This, I realize now, was an unrealistic goal as stated. I thought I could easily stop everything for a full 30 minutes and just play with the kids. This was not practical for a few reasons: First, the kids didn't always need me when I had 30 free minutes. Why interrupt them when they are playing happily? Or put pressure on myself only to play when I had a full half an hour?! Second, 30 minutes is a really long time to play pretend, talk about ABCs, or do other things I may find boring but the kids love. A really long time.

So, a few days into this goal, I made a mental change to the wording: Spend 10 minutes intentionally playing with each kid, and involve them in my day.

This worked way better!! It gave me the push to stop and play but didn't set up an unrealistic expectation for myself. So for example, if Charlie wanted to play with our ABC fridge magnets with me, I would find a stopping place in my chores (and ask him to wait) and then set the timer for 10 minutes and play. He felt listened to and loved, we got some good learning time, and I had specified an end time for him so I wouldn't get too behind on the other things that needed to be done. (He is still a little disappointed when its time to stop, but he knows we'll have more time later).

Bonus? Some days I am able to make multiple 10 minute blocks per kid, and that is even better! They get that love-time spread out throughout the day instead of just in one long chunk.

I also loved that separating my 30 minutes into 10 per child meant I could focus better on just that kid. Charlie usually wants to play cards (which means I am to stare at the cards he chooses for me and not touch or otherwise disturb them while we sometimes talk about which numbers are on them) or play with the fridge magnets, while Gracie has enjoyed reading to me in the evenings after the younger two are in bed.

And the second part of this goal--to involve the kids in my day--has been good, too. When someone needs some TLC and I am in the middle of a chore or cooking or something, I have been trying to involve them. This often means a task like unloading the dishwasher or making granola takes (much) more time and effort, because I am teaching little hands how to do new things, but I realized that it will (1) allow us to spend time together without making me feel so behind on the house, (2) teach them life skills that they really need to know, and (3) prepare them to help manage the house so I have more time to play with them.

What surprised me was how capable my kids are when it comes to learning new things--and how happy they can be when we do chores! I taught Gracie how to fold laundry, for example, and she actually likes sitting with me to fold together. There is always some frustration for them when they're learning (us, too, right?!) but they are really bright and more dextrous than I thought. Gracie can fold socks into sock balls and make a sandwich, and Charlie can now put on his underwear and pants himself--we're working on shoes next.

NEW GOALS: I'm going to keep this up as well. And my new goals?
Be more mindful of the kids' perspective.

I've been listening to a lot of podcasts from Power of Moms (its a wonderful, helpful website about being a mom--solidarity! We can do this!), and one thing they brought up recently was that we sometimes get mad at our kids for doing things when they didn't know the rules to begin with.

For example, I might get mad at my kids for getting their church shoes dirty, when they didn't know they weren't supposed to run and play in those shoes in the first place. How would they know that, right? Why would a kid think--Oh, unlike my other shoes, these shoes are probably for walking nicely but not for running in mud. No. If I haven't explained the rules beforehand, all they are thinking is--MUD!!!! YAY!!! So it doesn't make sense to be angry.

I forget a lot that everything in this world is brand new to them. And I get impatient or upset because I'm not looking at their perspective. So that's my goal starting now (and for a while, I bet)--just to take a breath and see things from their perspective--and prepare them for potentially troublesome situations (explain the church shoes!) beforehand whenever possible.

And have Family Home Evening once a week. Our church encourages us to do this weekly (traditionally its on Monday night) as a way to connect with and teach the kids. So we do a (very short, as fun as possible) lesson about something (anything from reading the scriptures to why we need to help mom clean up our toys), have a special dinner (something the kids love), and then do something special like play a game together or go on a little outing.

We've had a hard time doing this because our kids were little, and because Steve's schedule is so variable we could never make Monday FHE's a consistent thing. So finally we just decided to choose a day when we look over his schedule each week. We've done it two weeks now, and so far its going well. The lesson part doesn't feel natural yet, but I think that with some practice we'll find what works for our kids. :)

one little word report #2: health/body

Ready to hear how my health goal for the first 2 months turned out?

Health
Goal: Shoot for half a plate's worth of fruits/veggies at every meal/snack.

How it went: This went well, too. I actually started Weight Watchers the week before Christmas (on purpose--Christmas cookies are one of my weaknesses!), and you track food based on a points system they give you. Guess what? Fruits and veggies are 0 points, soooo that is good motivation to eat more of them. :)

I've definitely noticed a change in how I set up my meals now. Breakfast used to be straight up carbs--cereal and milk and nothing else. Now my typical breakfast is toast with peanut butter, a small glass of milk, and some applesauce. (I'm working on getting the kids away from cereal breakfasts, too.)

Snacks used to be rolls, bread, crackers or, okay, let's be honest--a cookie or some chocolate! Ha! Now I eat an apple with a piece of cheese or some PB.

And we've started preparing an extra veggie side at dinner so we can make half our plates be vegetables. I'm even learning about roasting and seasoning vegetables instead of just steaming them (I am not a talented cook, my friends. This is all new to me.)

I still need to work on variety--I mostly eat apples, I've noticed--and consistency, even when I'm hungry. I also need to shift my mindset a bit, I think, so that I can convince myself it is possible to feel full with a tummy full of produce instead of bread. I also need to plan better.

What surprised me about this was how hard it was. It takes a lot of planning to change your diet (I don't know why this surprised me), and I noticed that if I didn't have a plan for a healthy snack before I got hungry, I would go right back to the carbs and sugar. (Steve has recently started to use the term "hangry" for when you're SO hungry you start getting angry/fussy--this is the point when I snap at my kids AND reach for the chocolate; I need to be ready before then!)

Also, it's been interesting trying to move to less-processed foods--the challenge here is shifting our budget from cheaper-but-processed foods to more-expensive-but-whole foods, like fruits and veggies. I miss California's cheap produce. :) But Aldi helps out here!

Also, as of yesterday, I have lost 10 lbs!

NEW GOALS: I'm also going to keep this goal up (obviously) and I am adding two new goals:

1. Continue training for a 5k.
I have never really liked running (translation: I have always hated it) but Steve suggested I train to do a Color Run with him in April. So I found the Couch to 5K sheet I pinned a while back, and I'm now two weeks into it. It's only 3 times a week, so its been doable so far, and I actually (*gasp!*) kind of like it!

2. Plan and prepare snacks ahead.
I need to have something healthy to eat all ready to go before I get HANGRY. :)

one little word report #1: relationships

My year of nourish is going pretty well. I'm loving it, actually. I don't know what it is about choosing a word, but I feel like it really gets my head in the right place when I have a sort of overarching goal for the year. It is exciting and motivating. This is what works for me. :)

If you remember, when I introduced my 2014 word of the year I laid out a handful of mini-goals to nourish different areas of my life (relationships, health/body, family, intellect, and peace of mind). So now I'm going to return and report, make some changes, and add some new goals in the areas that are progressing.

Today, lets talk about challenging my fear of phone calls. :)

Relationships
Goal: Call someone (who is not my mom or someone I pay bills to) once a week.

How it went: Good! I don't know where my terror of the telephone comes from--maybe politeness training as a child??--but I have this just overwhelming discomfort with making a phone call. I just worry so much about being intrusive/interrupting that I can hardly bear to dial the number.

Over the past few weeks, I have made an effort to make some phone calls. Sometimes I've made a social call--maybe 20 minutes of just catching up while I clean & the kids are in quiet time/nap--and sometimes I just choose to call when a text or email would have sufficed, like when someone leaves me a voicemail with a quick question.

What surprised me the most was how much people enjoyed being called! Because I am not a phone person, it didn't occur to me what it would mean to someone to be singled out and called. It was actually a really sweet experience, and I've been able to reconnect on a deeper-than-blogging level with some dear friends. And, so you have my proof, here is a list of people I called (either to chat or to answer a question) over the past few weeks...

Who I called:
Susan, Sophia, Melanie, Amanda, Madeline, and Robyn.
(I also called Suzi, and left a voicemail when she didn't answer. Partial credit.)

NEW GOAL: I'm going to continue my phone goal, because that is a pretty big one for me. And my new goal is pretty simple: I just want to visit my friends. That's all. Just more face time, maybe even with some people I've always meant to get together with but never gotten it to work.

And my bonus? I'd also like to send some care packages. Because mail is just so fun to get, right? I love to imagine my dear ones receiving lovely things in the mail.

Oh, hey there bandwagon...

I'm not usually a bandwagon person, but every once in a while, when I find a good one, I think its okay to hop on. I mean, I did change my mind about wearing leggings as a grown up (they are just so comfortable!) and got peer pressured into a gym membership which I now use an average 5 days a week. So when I picked up Michael Pollan's Food Rules--which I read in an afternoon--I felt pretty good about hopping on his real-food healthy-eating train. (Does it bother you that I just switched from wagons to trains? Don't get distracted.)

I've read about real food eating before ("real" means it has just actual food components in it, not unknown preservatives and sweeteners and stuff), and two of my sisters-in-law do varying degrees of whole food eating, but I never thought I had the patience to do it myself. I do NOT like spending more time than necessary in the kitchen! Thank you. But Pollan's book skipped over the science lessons (which make my brain hurt--I'm a lover, not a microbiologist) and broke down the whys and hows into easy, bite sized rules, like:

Don't buy anything with ingredients you wouldn't keep in your pantry.

Well. That makes sense, right? Why would I want to eat something if I didn't know what it was? And I can still buy pre-made pasta as long as it has only things that I would use if I made pasta fresh at home. (Which I won't. At least not this year.)

Or:

Shop the perimeter of the grocery store.

That's where all the fresh stuff is kept, so that keeps it simple.

There were lots of other great, simple thoughts, too, and then at the end:

Ignore the rules on special occasions.

So, like, if everyone is at a party eating ice cream with who-knows-what kind of crazy stuff in it and you want some, or you need to use some food coloring to make a birthday cake, then fine. Not a big deal. The point is to adjust your everyday eating to be more natural foods.

After reading his rules it all just made sense to me for the first time. So I decided to just give it a shot. I started reading labels, mostly focused on following that first rule I mentioned above. I was shocked how many weird things were listed on most of the labels I picked up. (Why so much Xantham gum, America?) Even my "healthy" wheat bread had tons of random junk and processed sugar and stuff in it!

So part of my goal to engage this year is going to focus on engaging more with my health from a nutrition standpoint. Last year was a lot about exercise (which was so good, and which I will continue) and calorie counting (which can be good or bad, depending), but not so much about making sure I was fueling our bodies with good stuff.

I don't think we'll ever go 100% real food (I just don't think I am going to want to make my own salad dressing or pay like $10 for an organic whole foods version, and if Steve just wants to eat Pop Tarts sometimes, I think the right to Pop-Tarts-whenever-you-want is inherent to adulthood), but I've already made some small steps this year, and I've got a few more things to work on. So far my mini-goals are:

1. Replace cereal with more healthy, fueling, filling breakfasts.
2. Eat more greens and veggies, and fruit
3. Get the kids snacking on more fruits/veggies and less low-nutrition carbs (crackers, pretzels, etc.)
4. Add more lean protein and fiber to our diets so we stay full longer.
5. Focus on eating a mostly-real-food based diet (within reason)

one little word: 2013

I love choosing my word each year. I worry about it a little. (But that's normal--Steve will tell you that I worry about almost everything at least a little.) But to me it is sort of like naming a child: I need to get it right, because I'm going to stick with it!

Last year's word was l i g h t. I wanted to:

1. Find the light spot, the sweetness and loveliness in each day,
2. Show my children the light of their souls,
3. Learn to see and appreciate my own light, and
4. Take things more lightly (when appropriate, obvs.)

Was it a roaring, glittering, Gatsby-party success? No. But I've learned in four years of doing this, that the point is not to jump into a new self, but to let this thought work in me over the course of the year, simmer and stretch until I am a little transformed. Just a little. And I am. Most days, I like myself. I don't know that I could ever really say that before. I don't know if it was a fault in my learning or a result of my depression (or both), but I really didn't give myself much credit before. I'm not saying I don't have bad days--I do--but I learned more about the light inside me, and I am so thankful for that. I learned to be lighter, too. To take mistakes and messes and tough days and miscommunications gently, to pause before I react. It was a nice word to focus on.

This year's was much easier to come up with:

e n g a g e

I've been reading a lot about how we use the internet and technology to avoid engaging with things that make us think or feel deeply. I think that is true for me. I spend a lot of time letting myself drift through that vacuum on the pretense of doing something useful, instead of reading the scriptures or making art or getting down on the floor to play with my kids. So this year is going to be about engaging in my life, rather than just getting through it. I know there will still be days when I want badly to shut down, and some days when I won't have the energy to supermom-it through a half hour of pretend, but I want to try. I'm going to make things with my hands and learn more about food and health, and make changes and just be loving and useful. I've got some goals lined up along these lines, I'm just working out my mini-goals so I can actually do them. :)

Does anybody else have a word or a focus for the year? I'd love to hear (read) it if you do. :)

2012: the year of Light.

So every year I choose a word. A defining word for my year.

Last year it was make.

It went well. I made lots of things, and since I'm a make-things kind of person, I took a lot of joy out of it.

I finished a lot of things, too (instead of starting things and leaving them half-done) and found that incredibly satisfying. I don't know why I have such a difficult time with that, but I do tend to pick things up and then get distracted by some (metaphorical) shiny object.

So the year of make went well. I'm a little sad it is over. But obviously I can keep making things.

I gave myself most of January to mull over what I'd like to focus on this year. There are a lot of things. Actually, until about one minute ago, I was focused on the word mother (the verb, obvs), because I really feel I need to learn how to be a (much) better one. But that didn't quite seem complete enough, because I realized that part of the thing I struggle with as a mother is accepting myself and my imperfections. Most days I feel like I really wasn't cut out to be a mother. It does not come naturally. I often feel harried, unkempt, and discouraged. Sometimes I yell. Sometimes I just want to be alone. Most days I put my babies to bed hoping they felt all the love they deserve to feel each day, and honestly wondering whether I have ruined something somehow.

And my depression doesn't help. When that hits--and sometimes it lasts weeks--I just trust the Spirit and the innocence of my kiddos to filter for my babies the difficult time I have just getting out of bed. Or keeping myself from crawling back in it once I'm up. It is a battle of wills--with myself--that exhausts me down to my soul, and I hate that something so physical and out of my control could have an effect on my family.

I know God is aware of me, knows me and my difficulties and faults and struggles, and still He sent me these beautiful children to raise. So He trusts me. I need to learn to trust myself.

So to focus on that--loving and trusting His knowledge of me--and on mothering my children (lifting, supporting, nurturing, and all that mothering entails) I'm choosing the word

l i g h t

I want our home to be a place of light: to find the sweetness, the loveliness, in each day; to find ways to show my children the incredible light that shines from within them, and to learn to see and accept my own; and, when appropriate, to take things lightly. I'm working out my goals around this. If you want to follow this (and all my goals) you might want to check out my goal blog, Lovely Somedays. Because I don't want to hog attention from all the things Gracie says.

word of the year... and gracie's new wall

I thought for a long time about what I wanted this year's word to be; in fact, it took me until sometime in February to finally settle on a word. Though I liked last year's word (which was "believe"--did I ever end up telling you that after I shared my goals?) and the inspiration it brought, I wanted to focus this year on something that made me feel joyful. And one of the things that gives me the most joy is creating things, so my word for this year is simple:

m a k e.

I want to explore new projects and finish old ones. I want to build and paint and sew and write and draw and make our house feel more and more like our home. Part of that will be creating things, and part of it will be "making" something else--time. For my children, for my sweetheart, for my spirit, and for the things that make me feel joy as an individual. So this year you can watch out for things that I've made.

I'll whet your appetite with some fabric wall decals I made for Gracie (after seeing her neighbor Faye's flowery room!). I've wanted something pretty over Gracie's bed that wouldn't potentially fall off and bonk her (we're from California, people--earthquakes are always on my mind!). It was really easy and really fun! First I cut out the flower shapes, and after consulting Faye's mommy, Page, I put them up with some liquid starch I whipped up after googling a how-to. They stuck perfectly and will peel right off without damaging the paint or the walls.

2011's Goals

I know I've mentioned it before, but I love making goals. In fact, part of the reason I love having a birthday in June, halway through the year, is that it gives me an opportunity to make goals twice a year--I get two fresh starts 6 months apart.

First, lets review.

Last Year's (2010) Goals (and how they went)

1. Keep taking better care of my body. Well, I did okay. In fact, I rocked the daily workout in my second trimester with Charlie (after the vomiting of the first trimester was over). But once I hit the third trimester, I was just too great with child to be able to do much. So I took care of myself by resting a lot and trying to eat really healthy, and always taking my prenatal vitamins. I didn't end up with the svelte bod I was imagining, but I did get a VERY cute 10 pound Charlie out of the deal, and we were both healthy the whole pregnancy, so I count this one as a win.
2. Floss. Failed. I did really good at this until I got morning sickness, and after that I never quite recovered enough from the gag reflex to get back on the bandwagon. Maybe this year will be the year of better flossing?
3. Look nice. Even when I'm just staying home all day. Win. I spent a little extra money on maternity clothes so I didn't feel so frumpy. I started wearing makeup a little more consistently (just blush, eyeliner, and mascara--only takes a couple of minutes; totally mom-friendly). And I've been wearing earrings sometimes (I can only wear a couple pairs because--random--I have metal allergies! Isn't that weird?) Best part of this goal? It made me FEEL really good. Confident and happy and special. Even though it was really only me that noticed the effort most of the time (I think).
4. Write a book. So, again, I carried a 10 pound baby. So instead of writing a complete book, I had a Charlie. But I did get 40,000+ out of 60,000 words of a work in progress, and that felt pretty good. So we'll call this a semi-win. :)

2 0 1 1    G o a l s

1. Read 50 books. Reading, listening to audiobooks, and perusing craft or sewing books all count. I want to be exposed to 50 books (but I'm not going to get hung up on whether I've literally read cover to cover). My reading has picked up with all the time I spend nursing Charlie (and I listen to audiobooks when I feed him at night) so I think this is possible. And if I get stuck, I can count all the books Gracie and I read! :)
2. Clean the bathroom every week. I know, shooting high, huh? Is it terrible that I don't already do this every week? I'm kind of embarrassed to even post this.
3. Work out 6 days a week. After going from 115 to 149 during my Charlie pregnancy and feeling the effect it had on my body, I am SO excited to be able to move and exercise again. (By the way, nursing is amazing--I'm already down to 120ish... Though 10lbs of that weight loss was Charlie himself!)
4. Write a book. Take two. Steve's schedule will be allowing me a lot of time to entertain myself, so I'm going to try it again--this time with no morning sickness!

I haven't chosen a word yet... I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of Create. But that might not be the one... I'll let you know.

2011's Books

              

1. Austenland
2. Magic Under Glass
3. Before Midnight
4. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration
5. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: Basic Techniques and 150 Inspired Ideas for Sewing, Embroidery, Applique, Quilting, Dyeing, and Printing
6. Babywise
7. Sleeping Through the Night
8. The Art of Eating In
9. SuperFoods Rx
10. The House at Riverton
11. A Sick Day for Amos McGee
12. The Forgotten Garden
13. Bedtime for Mommy
14. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

It Occurred to me Today at Barnes and Noble...

...that you can totally use your webcam to adjust your ponytail.

...and that I haven't yet shared my new year's goals with you. I already chose my word, which I shared with Jenna and Steve (mine, not Jenna's), but Steve and I never got around to having our goal evening. So he still owes me his goals (look out baby, this is your heads up--I'm coming for those goals!) but I am writing mine down here because I want to be ACCOUNTABLE. I trust you all to keep me to these. So...

Goals for Twenty-Ten

2  0  1  0

1. Keep taking better care of my body. Last year I kicked my twenty-year sugar snacking habit and am now down to one dessert a day. I also focused on eating better and taking in more healthy calories. I worked out for a while and fell off the bandwagon. So I need to find a workout that I enjoy and will stick to, get more cardio, and hopefully finally lose the extra pudge from having Grace. Baby steps: smaller portions, mini-work outs, healthy snacks.
2. Floss. At my last checkup, my dad could totally tell that I don't floss. So I'm going to floss three times a week. That should be doable.
3. Look nice. Even when I'm just staying home all day. Make up, consciousness of my dress (like when I have an applesauce kiss on my shirt), jewelry. My husband is cute, and he likes these things.
4. Write a book. Yep. I'm writing a book. Nothing life-changing for its future readers (hopefully, there will be some, anyway). It's just a short fictional novel, probably YA. And though I wrote it #4, this is goal #1 for the year. I'm trying to write a little every day. I'm up to 25,043 words. The typical novel is 60,000. And I'm pushing to get it done by April. Then I want to find an agent and work towards publication. In a year. It's been my one BIG LIFE GOAL for myself since forever. It just feels like time.

So that's it. I kept it pretty simple this year, except for the book thing, I guess. But even that I am breaking into little pieces, so it doesn't seem so bad. Steve is being super supportive and pushing me to really do it, and that has been amazingly helpful. He keeps me in line.

I know it's February, but is anybody still working toward a New Year's goal? Man up and tell me, I love hearing goals. :)

One Little Word: 2009

Last year I jumped on the bandwagon and chose a defining word for 2009.

And. I. Loved it. It gave me purpose, gave me

I shared a half-year update on my birthday, and now I get to look back on the year and see how it went. So:

The Word - 2009:

DO

How it Went:

Well, heck. I DID a ton of things. It was wonderful to have this thought to cling to when I was tempted to just sit back and let life pass. So I did things this year that were hard--I got out there and made new friends in a new state. I looked for help when I had been too afraid to do so for years. I learned to be more conscious and proactive about my body, my health. I still haven't gotten the exercise thing down pat, but I'm eating better than I ever have. Really. And I'm figuring out what foods are good. I am living more in moments (I still need to work on this) instead of ahead or behind them. I am grabbing life by the horns and pursuing my third biggest life dream (Marry an awesome guy - check, Start a family - check... Two down! And the most important ones! So on to the next... And no, it's not another baby, maybe that's the fourth.).

All in all, it was a great experience. Empowering, emboldening. And looking at it now, I feel very much that Heavenly Father was aware that I had chosen to really go for it this year, because he gave me more than one very huge boosts to reach new levels. And that is kind of amazing.

So now, next, the word for 2010. After these messages. :)