I'm back, I think...

Well, we've got a baby! She arrived on July 4, right on her due date.
As far as my 'disciplines', devotions are good. Exercise is good - I've started exercising already. :) I made up a grocery list last month, but it definitely needs tweaking. I'd like to start a Sams Club list, to be filled once a month. July's project is reading. Originally I was thinking one book a week (educational), but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now, and I think a book a month will be about right. I'm already on track - I read "Courtship after Marriage" by Zig Ziglar, and I'm halfway through a book on home organization :), and I've started a book about Mom & Pop Stores in America. So far, so good. The place I have failed miserably is in updating this blog. Guess I haven't felt the need to share my glowing progress. ;) But then I have been a bit busy, I suppose...

June - 1st week

I only exercised twice this week. But, if I'm honest, my goal was improvement, not perfection. And improvement I definitely have made. Pathetic excuse? Perhaps. On the menu planning front, I've been feeling pretty discouraged. The problem is, I don't feel like eating anything. At least not anything I have to cook. At some point I have to acknowledge that my job is to feed my family and whether I eat it or not is irrelevant, but even the thought of cooking is somewhat repulsive. I just wish someone else could do it for me. But, this is only for a season, and I can press on! Improvement is the goal, and so I work toward that. I'll be able to eat normally again someday soon.... :) But for the life of me, I can hardly picture a life without cold cereal for breakfast most days of the week! (Who wants hot cereal or eggs in June?)

Hmmm...

Well, it's been awhile. Last week I didn't exercise at all, but it was over 80 degrees every day and we had carpet replaced and..... This week we're at 2 times already, so doing well. :)
I got menu plans in place (except for snacks) but I'm not actually using them yet. I started working on a grocery list (this month's task) but that's not going so well. I think I need a Sams' Club list, so I'm not buying the same things every week....
I'm definitely feeling like it's time to get in baby mode. I hope to nail down the menu/grocery list thing this month though. I've no idea what I scheduled for next month, maybe reading a book a week. That shouldn't be too hard. :)
So there you go. Not on top, but not defeated!

I've been lax....

I'm sorry. I haven't posted in forever. I'm still doing pretty well on the devotions and exercise fronts. This month is (was?) supposed to be menu planning. That sort of happened last week, and still hasn't happened this week. At least I plan on writing down what we actually DO eat, so I'll have plans to file for the future.... Actually, I plan to work on it as soon as I finish this post. Take heart! All is not lost. I'd better start thinking about next month's project though, or we'll be in dismal trouble. Now that I think about it, maybe the reason this has fallen by the wayside is because it isn't a daily or even near-daily thing, it's a once a week thing. Simpler becomes more complicated.....

Still here.... and plugging away!

Last week was a success - 3 days of exercise and 7 of devotions. I haven't officially started meal planning yet (next week starts the new month, you know), but I have a cool new chart to help me out with that. I can't wait to see my new charts and systems take shape as each new month presents a new challenge! Budgeting will not be the primary focus of this meal plan, but rather actually doing it. And, with my new chart, I will create a file and save the meal plans, so I can reference them later, and perhaps create a master, rotating quarterly meal plan or something. Cool, huh?
Getting exercise in this week will be a challenge - I forgot today, tomorrow is shopping day, and Friday and Saturday we're having a garage sale. We'll see what we can do....

Week Two - Exercise

Wow, it's been awhile. Sorry. Last week I missed a day of exercise because I wasn't feeling well. I didn't exercise Monday because I was out running errands after lunch. BUT I made up for it Tuesday. :) Even the little I've been doing has been helping my morale, I think. It feels good to be heading in the right direction.
I've done a bit of looking at some other bloggers' meal plans. Tried a few more recipes! But I haven't made much progress on that front. Guess that's next on the to-do list!
Sometimes devotions is read-it-before-bed, but most of the time I set aside time. I enjoy it. I haven't been doing well with prayer though. My logic says that God already knows what I want, so why ask? But I know He says to ask. And I know from experience that I HATE it when my son wants something (and I know it) but he won't ask for it. He's too proud! So I'd better work on that too.... Gotta go!

Exercise - Week One - Success

I did miss a day of devotions last week. Saturday - we were gone most of the afternoon and it never crossed my mind. But I did exercise 3 times last week. Yea! Next month is meal planning and budgeting, and that is going to take a bit of prep work. Starting to think about it, but not much beyond that... (unless you count the umpteen meal lists I've made in the past, but never did much with...). But for now, I'm happy with daily devotions and thrice weekly exercise. I'll try to keep it up!

April's Goal

I've been doing some thinking about April's goal. First of all, it doesn't technically start until April 4 or 5 or something, but I like things neat, so I figure, close enough. We'll go by calendar month. Second, I've been getting really nervous about exercising 5 times a week, or even attempting something like that. 6 months pregnant, things are only going to get worse for awhile. I decided that since progress, not perfection, is my goal, my revised goal is to exercise 3 times a week. That should be for 30 minutes each time, but I have a 20 minute strength training video which I think should count, as long as it's not every week. That way, the days I'm out running errands or cleaning the house, I don't have to exercise. And if, in month 9, it just means waddling around the block for awhile, I should still be able to keep that up, barring any medical complications of course, which I've never had. Who knows? Maybe it'll bring this one earlier rather than later? :) After baby comes, I claim a month off, then two weeks of easing in at twice a week. That should be more than doable. So that's it. Now I should look ahead to the next month so I can 'get ahead' a bit.....

Almost Missed

I almost missed a day this week. It was Tuesday, my errand day. Originally I had planned to take my Bible in the car and spend the time there, but that shopping time is so precious to me that I opted for reading before bed. This Tuesday I forgot entirely until well after I had gone to bed. But I wasn't that sleepy, so I turned on my little light and read my two chapters. It was good. :)
I'm a little nervous (ok, a lot nervous) about next month - exercise. It's not the exercise, it's the 5x a week, for 30 minutes that I'm nervous about. I'm learning, and I Can Do It. I'm just not sure I really want to.... I mean, isn't 3 or 4 times enough???? And I really should create some sort of realistic plan for tapering down and back up again before and after Baby arrives. I mean, let's be realistic, but not leave it to "how I feel". We all know how well that works!

First Month - Half way...

Guess I missed the 'twice a week' mark for blogging, but we're still doing pretty well. It's not 30 minutes every day, but it's deliberate, daily, unrushed time, and that's the most important thing. I think I like it! I've been a little better about exercise, but like that I don't 'have' to be yet.... one thing at a time! It is amazing how being disciplined in at least one area sort of spills over into others, though. :)

Day 7

I've decided that devotions can include some planning, and perhaps a bit of rest. I enjoy the leisure provided by setting the timer for 30 minutes, but I dislike searching for ways to "fill the time". Since planning is a big part of what I do, and rest is a good thing, I think it's fair to include those. As long as I don't race through my reading to take a nap, that is. :)

Day 4

We didn't quite make it today. No apologies here. It was a busy weekend and I shortened my nap yesterday so I could get a full half hour of devotions in. Today that didn't happen. I did my Bible reading and devotional reading and a shortened prayer time, but no journaling and I looked at the Sunday ads for awhile because my mind just wasn't in the Bible. Then my husband came in and we talked; we'd been out all day and were soon heading out again. Maybe I'll journal at bedtime, but I'm not going out of my way to get 30 minutes tonight. I was definitely out of sorts this afternoon, but I feel better now.
We had small group tonight, and started talking about exactly what I'd started here. It would have been oh-so-appropriate to say I started a blog about my goals and progress, but I'm not ready for that yet.
On another positive note, I exercised Thursday and Friday last week. My goal will be 5 days a week next month, so I'm not worried about Saturday or today. I did what I call "leg exercises", which is just strength training, on Friday. Tonight I felt the need to walk around a bit during small group. When I started to stretch a bit, my legs cramped up! Maybe I started with just a tad too much enthusiasm. Oh well. :)
But I'm feeling better now about my goals. I was having to remind myself earlier this week that this isn't about bondage to rules, but about freedom. Freedom to live the life I really want. And it's my choice. How beautiful is that?!

Confession #1

I don't think I'm a very disciplined mom. I know that depends on perspective, but really, what this is intended to be, is confessions of a disciplined homemaker wannabe. And in a year, maybe I'll live up to its title.

I'm not generally impulsive. And I generally shy away from commitment. If I say something, I intend to follow through, and if I have any doubts, I keep quiet. So this is unusual for me.

I know what to do. I don't do it. I know what would make my life better. I don't do it. I've tried. I need help. So here's what I propose:

For the next year, I will take a month to nail down a discipline that has been evading me. They say 21 days makes a habit. Hopefully a month will cover it. Ben Franklin chose 13 character traits, worked on one character trait a week, and covered each one 4 times in a year. This is similar, but I wanted the continuity of one at a time. Someone else said if we took one year to conquer one of our faults, and so on the next year, we would soon be perfect men. But we don't do it. And I know I'm not alone.

So my goal is to blog 2 times a week to update "the world" on my progress. Even though no one will read this (my greatest fear is that someone I know will...), the idea that someone might may spur me on.

Up first this month, is devotions. I really wanted to do exercise first, but I know that Bible reading really deserves the top spot. Besides, there's no saying I can't work ahead. I was very disciplined about devotions as a teenager and young adult, but getting married and having a baby got me off a lot of things. I was tired of being "legalistic" about it, but at the same time I have been realizing how much I need wisdom, have been asking God for it, and know that spending time in thought, prayer and His Word will not only prove my sincerity, but will also get me exactly where I want to go. So: 30 minutes EVERY day in "devotions". (Can anybody think of a better word?).

Day One: 3/4/10 Success.