Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A January Review

I'm not sure how you all feel, but I am really excited to see all the days of January marked off with an 'x'.  This winter has been super mild & quite lovely really, but I am ready for warm, sunshiny spring days.  
And since it is February 1st, I thought I would follow the example of my fellow bloggers Carrie & Mrs. T, & give myself a little review on my 12 goals for 2012!
One of my goals is to do the whole physical fitness thing (& use my money jar as motivation - I earned $8.50 which = roughly 8 1/2 hours of exercise).  The first 2/3 of the month I was really frustrated because of my sprained/separated/cracked/whatever'd ribs.  I wasn't supposed to do anything physical that caused any pain so for a couple of weeks all I did was my bare bones household chores.  Let me tell you, I never thought I would miss working out, but I really did!  And just in case you don't believe the experts, believe me - I didn't sleep well, I was moody, I was achy, & I was just uncomfortable with myself.  Exercise must be good for us!  Anyway, the last week or so I've felt much better & the Lord has blessed us with such mild weather that I've been able to be outside for some walking & even a little running.  I took this pic on one of my walks; this is, I think, maybe my favoritest tree in the world.  I love how it seems to make a little platform for anyone who wants to crawl up & watch the world go by.  Someday I should do that...
And just a little side note, I posted that pic on instagram & got my first round of ten 'likes'!  Kind of silly, but it means something to me to make friends with others in online forums like the blogging world, instagram, & even facebook.  I like people *grin*
Another goal I made some progress with is working on my red quilt.  This past Sunday I got the last part of the top sewn on.  I had decided that it needed a border around it.  Let me tell you, measuring & cutting with accuracy is where I really struggle with this kind of project.  The only place I could lay the entire quilt top out was in the middle of our living room floor.  I spent a lot of time crawling around, measuring, cutting, pinning, adjusting, worrying, studying & messing with that thing!  And this isn't a great pic but you can see that the border is now on!  The next step is to get the backing & batting basted onto the top.  I'm a little nervous about that whole process...

As far as some of my other goals:
*the Lord continues to show my daily that I have a tremendous need to truly learn obedience.  When I first started this lesson I thought that the only real thing that held me back from fully obeying was most often fear. And that's a biggie but I'm also learning that I am a slave to my own pride, selfishness, & laziness.  It's not been pretty a time or two & I've battled it out with the Holy Spirit, my will, & some tears.  I don't think it's going to get easier but the blessing of having my heart in peace with His is well worth it.
*I've made some (but not near enough!) progress with continuing to read my Bible through chronologically.  I've got to get into a better routine of going to bed earlier & staying awake after Mike leaves for work.  This is truly the best time of day for me to get my quiet time in.
*I started my early Christmas endeavor by posting a request for recommended etsy shops.  I didn't have much feedback, but a couple of resources were mentioned & I will check them out!
*Garden planning talk continues.  My brother in law has agreed to bring his tiller & bust up the ground for me.  We have determined that we should be able to grow tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, & basil.  This just might be enough for our first garden.
*I have not been reading enough (mostly because I've been working puzzles!).  I have totally let my nerdy side take over & jigsaw puzzling has been strangely entertaining in a calm way.  But I have taken note of some recommended titles & a trip to the library is on next week's radar.
*I have also not done very well cutting back on screen time.  Sometimes I just need to put my phone down, set a timer, & not let myself pick it back up until the timer dings.  Might just try that tonight...
*I have been blogging more.  I hope somebody is enjoying it :-)
*We were able to open our home up to share some hospitality this last month.  We had company for dinner twice & I have to say, I just love doing it!  It can be a lot of work to fix a meal & I'm not super skilled at getting it all smoothly to the table so I get kind of red-faced & clumsy, but it's still so much fun.  This next month we already have a get together planned & I'm dreaming of menus & a pretty tablescape *grin*

Oh, & this has nothing to do with my 2012 goals; it's actually kind of a leftover goal from last year.  My hair is continuing to grow...slowly, yes.  I went to get it 'did' yesterday & I couldn't resist a before/after pic.  I was kind of mulling over the idea of making a dramatic change or two when I finally have hair long enough to donate.  I was thinking I would go super short & quit coloring my hair.  You see that pic on the left?  That's how much gray I have in my front hairline six weeks after a dye job (I know it looks like I'm kind of bald, but that's just the gray, I promise).  I just don't know if I'm brave enough to do it.  What do you think?  What would you do?

I hope you all are swimming along with your goals, dreams, ambitions, & hopes for 2012!  Feel free to share in the comments & let me know how you are!

3 comments:

Steph said...

1. I am enjoying all your posting. :)
2. Your hair is getting long!
3. The only new year's goal I got on paper was a list of 20+ books I wanted to read this year. I finished 4 of them in January, so I think I need to add to my list. Still have some other goals swimming around in my brain, but need a chunk of time to sit down and plan.
4. Let's get together soon. Miss you, friend. :)

ExploreColorado said...

You're doing great with your goals.

I love your tree throne.

I'm not doing so well with goals, but I manageing to keep the girls motivated with spanish, reading, and piano practice.

Mrs.T said...

You are indeed doing great with your goals. And I, for one, am enjoying the fact that you're posting more often. I love the red quilt. It is coming along great! I agree, I love to sew but measuring, accuracy, etc. are not my strong points. And the bedroom floor is about the only place I can work on any large sewing project like that. Thankfully, I'm not a perfectionist.

Your hair looks very nice in the after pic -- love that length. I think if I were you, I would keep coloring it. You are still young and might as well look your age! (Just my 2¢ worth!)