Wednesday, February 6, 2013

2013 Goals: January Update


January FLEW by! Some of these goals I forgot about much less attempted to accomplish this month! Going down the list here is what I did and didn't do...

1) Read the New Testament through every month.

This DID get done! Pete and I are pretty good at keeping each other accountable to our New Testament reading. February will be a challenge since it is a short month!

2) Read the Old Testament through in a year.

"2 1/2 chapters a day. Not bad at all!" I am quoted as saying when I began. This has proven more difficult for me than the larger New Testament reading. Probably because I don't have a set time to read this like I do the New Testament. I am currently about 4 days behind. I have every intention of catching up.

3) Crochet at least 4 blankets for the Truman hospital.

I did start this project. I chose to make a Chunky Crochet Blanket for my first attempt. It is very easy but I haven't devoted much time to it so it is slow going. I am making it 4 ft. wide and 5-6 feet long. I probably have about 4 in. on the length right now. LOL


4) Learn to Knit and make 4 small projects.

Hmmm.... well I looked at this 1 time and kind of learned to cast on. This goal needs MUCH more work!

5) Have 6 $30 dinner parties.

I actually intended to have a dinner party for the super bowl. But life happened. We did have a fun get together with our college group at church and some friends but as far as $30, 'dinner party', or any pictures, tips, or recipes worth blogging this was a big zero! So I am still sitting at 6.

6) Switch blog over to .com.

This actually got some thought this month. Action? No. But thought yes.

7) Apply for all adoption grants and loans possible.

This fell short as well. There are several applications that I still need to fill out. However, we had a major praise on this end in January! We did hear back from one of our applications for a loan and they are willing to put up some of the end money we will need. This is usually referred to as "bring them home" money. It can cover things like lawyer fees, the mom’s hospital fees, any outstanding balance with our agency, stuff like that. We are so extremely happy to have this loan on our side! Praise God for answered prayers!

8) Fund raiser for adoption (make a written plan for fundraising)

I have a loose plan right now. I will be making it more concrete. It includes things such as yard sale, selling items on Etsy, and selling through consignment stores. I have done that last one before with some success. I go to yard sales and goodwills and find name brand items that I know my local consignment store will take. (I only buy them if they are $1-$2) I take them home, launder them, press them, and take them to the store. They sell them and cut me a check. It isn't lucrative but it is more than what I had before.

9) Become more active and deliberate in Landon's schooling every day.

This has improved... still needs work!

10) Go on at least 1 date a month with my husband.


January was so busy but we did manage to squeeze in going to see Les Miserables. I love hanging out with my husband. I wish we could more!

11) Redecorate our bedroom.

I looked at color pallets. I can't decide.

12 and 13) Redecorate Landon's bedroom and organize the craft room.

I have decided to switch Landon's room to the craft room and vice a versa. We can't do this until Pete finds time to make Landon a loft bed for his new room. He has a full bed now. That and his toys will not fit into the smaller room. So, both of these projects are on hold for now.

What DID I do all month??

A few of the things I was able to do this month that were not on my list -

I made homemade laundry soap! I used a box of Borax, baking soda, Oxy Clean, a grated bar of Zot soap, and Purex Crystals.

I had made this before but left out the Oxy Clean and Purex for cost sake and I didn't like it much at all. This time I LOVE it! It smells SOOO good! And a friend of mine informed me you are only supposed to use 2 tbsp. a load! It makes a lot so it will last forever!


I made my new brother-in-law a cake for his birthday and helped my sister throw him a "Smallville" party. It was fun!


And, I got a job in January, although I didn't officially start until a few days ago. I am now the administrative assistant for Youth Frameworks . I am super excited about this new opportunity! (Check out the link!) However, with me having more responsibilities our house hold had to become more organized and structured. I don't mind the organized it is the structured I usually cringe at, but so far so good. The guys have picked up so much slack to help me! I am truly blessed with a wonderful family!

Full month right? And February is shaping up to be the same! I am hoping to make some good strides on my goals this month. Key word being "hoping".

Have you been keeping up with your goals for 2013? I would really love to hear about them! Feel free to leave a comment!
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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

13 Goals For 2013

After some thought and prayer I have decided on these 13 goals to strive for in 2013-


1) Read the New Testament through every month. 
Pete and I do this together every morning. We have accomplished this once already but our hope is to read through 12 times this year.

2) Read the Old Testament through 1 time. 
This pretty much equals 2 1/2 chapters a day. Not bad at all!

3) Crochet at least 4 blankets for the Truman hospital. 
4) learn to knit and make 4 small projects 
5) have 6 $30 dinner parties 
6) switch blog over to .com
7) apply for all adoption grants and loans possible
8) fund raise for adoption ( make a written plan for fundraising) 
9) become even more active and deliberate in Landon's schooling everyday. By this I mean- don't just get through a text book but seek to actively TEACH at every opportunity. 
10) Go on at least 1 date a month with my husband
11) redecorate our bedroom 
12) redecorate Landon's bedroom
13) organize the craft room 
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The Failed Blogger

Well here we are- Dec. 25! And I failed completing my challenge to myself to complete 100 Christmas projects in 100 days. I had to stop my plans about 13 days ago because of a lot of  unexpected actives that came up. We had many hospital visits, a funeral, and family business to attend to that was completely unplanned.
I am not sorry I started this project! I had so much fun attempting all of the crafts and projects!  And I got so much done! I was sad that I couldn't finish, if for no other reason than that I have not exactly been in the Christmas mood the last 2 weeks.
I plan on taking a relaxing fun filled day with my family as we stop to remember Jesus Christs birth, and that he came to die to save us from our sins and give us peace with God!
I have plans to continue this blog with new challenges and ideas at the beginning of the new year! If you have any ideas for projects, crafts, or a fun series let me know!
Until then- God bless us, everyone! Pin It

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Day 86: Hot Chocolate Bar

We had a blast at our annual youth Christmas party at church. This year we treated the kids to a hot cholocolate bar! We had all different kinds of marshmallows, candies and spices to add in, peppermints to stir with and homemade hot chocolate!

Josh wanted to make sure he was in the picture :)


Pete told me that people love gummie bears in hot chocolate just to bother me but I bought them anyway.


Here is the link for this awesome crockpot hot chocolate but be warned it is VERY sweet! Pin It

Day 85: Wooden Nativity Set

I am FINALLY able to write a blog!! The last 2 weeks have been like none others! Please continue to be patient with me while I get our lives straightened out again! This won't be very detailed but here it is.
The wooden Nativity set was supposed to be made with blocks of wood and silhouettes of the nativity characters. I couldn't find any printable silhouettes that were the correct size of the blocks. So we ended up printing these awesome coloring pages and Landon and I had an afternoon of coloring! Then we cut out all of the characters and mod poged them on painted blocks. We just used the left over blocks from the Christmas mod podge sayings gluing some of them together to make them the right size.




Landon has had a lot of fun playing with these! Pin It

Monday, December 10, 2012

Project List: Week 13

I accidently blogged about personalized roasting sticks last week instead of the crochet dog sweater so that project will go on this weeks list. And the list is...
Crochet Dog Sweater
Block Nativity Set (mine is much different than this but this is the idea)
Ruffled Apron
Lumps of Coal
Fire Crackers (crackers)
Tulle Christmas Tree
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

I bet you are all busy busy on your Christmas activities by now! Have fun!





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Day 84: Coffee and Cookies

One of Landon's activities on his "25 days count down" was to take coffee and cookies to the library workers. This was a real fun activity that Landon and the workers enjoyed!
We started with cold bottled coffee and some large store bought cookies.
We pulled out 4 sandwich bags and placed 2 cookies in each bag. Then, we tied the bags around the coffee bottle with Christmas ribbon. 

 
This is not a very good picture but you get the idea. After we tied the cookies on all 4 coffees we placed them back in the coffee box for Landon to carry.
 
He had a great time being the delivery man and telling everyone merry Christmas!
(and checking out a movie for later)
 
Needless to say Ms. Ann (above) and the other library workers were very excited to receive Landon's gift! This should definitely be a tradition!
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