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!