My 2015 Reading List

Every year, I make a reading goal.  Usually it's a number of books I want to read.  The past couple of years, I haven't met my goal.  I went from 50, to 45, to 40.  For 2014, my goal was 40.  I've read 14.... So, as the pattern shows, I'm not reading as much as I used to.  And that bothers me.  I've always been a reader.  A quick reader.  Lately, I've been concentrating on other things, such as scrapbooking.  And I'm a stay-at-home mom, so honestly, by the time I crawl into bed, I'm dead tired.  I read for maybe ten minutes and I'm falling asleep with my Kindle or book dropping onto my chest.  I want to make reading more of a priority in 2015.  That will mean heading to bed earlier.  That will mean reading more during the day when my girls are behaving enough for me to sneak in a chapter or two.  That will mean taking my book to school pick-up instead of playing Candy Crush for 20 minutes.  I want to read more non-fiction.  I want to read more faith-based books.  And, I found this list posted on a Kindle group that I follow.  As soon as I saw it, I immediately printed it out and stuck it into my planner.  This is my new goal for 2015.  There are 50 books here, so that's a lofty goal, but I'm going to try.  Even if it comes down to knocking out two checkmarks with one book.  I'm going to TRY not to do that, but we'll see how it goes.  I just want to enjoy reading again.  I think this list will help.  What's on your to-read list for 2015?

What's for Dinner?

I'm taking a new approach to menu planning this year.  A neighbor of mine prompted me to start planning my meals on a monthly basis instead of a weekly basis.  This sounds little intimidating, but once I did January's, I was convinced.  Yes, sitting down initially to plan out a month's worth of meals, it does take some time and research to find recipes.  But on the weekly basis, it's so easy.  All I do is prep the month's list of meals and then each week I refer to that list and pick what I want to make that week and I can easily make my grocery lists based on that list.  So far, I've been planning out 25 meals a month.  This way, I can allow for unexpected dinner invitations, planned events and nights when I just don't feel like cooking.  In January, I tried quite a few new recipes...some I loved, some not so much...and we ate at home a lot more, which I love.

I'm also trying to work on prepping food in a smarter way.  My husband and I like to work out at the gym during the week and normally don't get home until around 6 or 6:30.  Because of this, dinner time can be super hectic and stressful.  I'm trying to plan out recipes that can be easily prepped early during the day, that way when we get home I can easily pull dinner together.  For example, I've deemed Tuesdays "Crock Pot Tuesdays."  Tuesdays are crazy.  My older daughter has school, then dance, then we hit the gym, so I'm not home a whole lot on Tuesdays.  Putting dinner in the crock pot that is ready for us when we get home is so nice!  I'm still trying to figure this aspect out, and it's something I want to focus on for February.  More prep!

How do you plan out your meals at home?  What works or doesn't work for you?

Reading with Intention

This year, I've decided to embark on a journey to READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR.  The entire thing.  Cover to cover.  Chronologically.  This is a big commitment and there are a few reasons I want to do it.  First, I've never read it.  Not even a full chapter in one sitting.  I basically heard versus repeated in church or on Facebook pages, but I've never really KNOWN what the Bible says.  I want to change that.  Second, I'm not 100% sure where I stand on my faith.  We've just this past year started really going to church regularly and we've both really enjoyed it.  It's giving Josh and I both the desire to understand the written word better.  This is something I've wanted to do for a while and I decided that 2013 is my year to finally do it.  Here's my process:

When I was thinking about how to go about this project, I had to decide when I was going to do it.  Doing it at the same time everyday is the best way to keep it routine and eventually I'll be doing it without even thinking about it.  I initially thought that getting up and doing it first thing in the morning would be the best thing to do.  It's a good way to start my morning.  However....I am NOT a morning person.  Not even a little bit.  And Josh had said he wants to do some reading along with me, so maybe we should do it at night when the girls are in bed.  But, once the girls are in bed, that's our freedom time.  We'll normally sit down together and watch tv shows or a movie....or we'll go our separate ways and do stuff on our own we want to do.  So we switched gears and decided on the mornings.  That means I have to get up before the girls do...normally around 6:30 or so.  This was going to be a challenge.  I didn't realize what a GREAT challenge it would be.  The first couple of days was hard to get up, but I reminded myself of my goal and how important it is to me.  I got up, made my coffee, did my reading and the girls still weren't up.  I did the dishes, got some stuff picked up around the house, started some laundry...I was amazed at how much I was able to get done when the girls were still asleep.  Normally, I would stay in bed until Caylan wondered in, then Layla would wake up screaming.  I was waking up to chaos.  Now, I'm convinced that getting up early is the key.  Not only am I now starting my days with Bible readings...I'm able to have some peace and get some things done which helps my days go much smoother and less stressful.  Not everyday is perfect, but it's better.  I wish I had started this a long time ago. 

The readings are going great.  I'm understanding everything (although the names are hard to get through.  They had some crazy names!).  I'm finishing up Genesis tomorrow and moving on to the next book.  I'll keep updated every so often on my progress.  If you've been interested in reading the Bible, or have been looking for a daily devotional Bible for women, this is the one my mother-in-law gave me last year for Christmas.  That's where I got my reading guide and it's a great book!

2013

Happy New Year everyone! 

2012 was a pretty amazing year and I'm so excited that 2013 is under way.  Now, let's talk Resolutions.  Most of us make them, right?  Most of us don't keep up with them either, right?  I'm definitely guilty of this one.  I'm a sucker for a "fresh start" each year and I love to make resolutions, so I will keep doing so.  I want to focus on making resolutions that I can stick to and that are achievable.

I Choose
Elise Blaha Cripe has a class up at Big Picture Classes called I Choose, which focuses on goal making and goal achieving.  I signed up immediately!  She has great videos talking about her successes and missteps in setting and reaching her goals.  So far, it's great and I'm excited to keep going with it.  If you need help in this area, I highly recommend the class.

My Resolutions
I took my time setting resolutions this year.  I wanted them to count.  I took time to reflect on what's important to me right now and what I want to really focus on in my life.  Here they are:

1.  Read the Bible in one year.
     My mother-in-law gave me a great women's devotional Bible last year for Christmas.  In it, is a reading guide to read the Bible in one year chronologically.  I love this idea!  I've never read the Bible with intention...only versus here and there in church.  I've always wanted to read it and this year, I'm doing it.  I want to understand what the Bible says, and I'm interested in knowing the message and how it will affect my life.  More thoughts on this and how it's going in another post later.

2.   BLOG MORE!  ;)
      I'm not a very good blogger - whew, there, I said it.  I have good intentions to blog and I wish I could be like the other bloggers that I stalk follow on a daily basis and have the coolest posts that I like to lose myself in.  I DO want to keep blogging, so I've set a goal to blog a MINIMUM of two times a week.  I already have a list of things I want to blog about, so hopefully I can keep up on this.

3.  Reach my goal weight.
     I know I can do this.  I've done it before.  I have 30 pounds to lose to reach my goal weight.  I just need to shut up and do it.  Or "Shut up and color," as my husband would say (Air Force term).  Interestingly, a Bible verse was quoted in church last week that touches on helping me reach this goal.  Again, more on that later.  Basically, I'd like to NOT make a weight-related resolution for 2014.

4.  Write in my journal more.
     I have a gorgeous journal that I write in sporadically.  I'd like to write in it more often and use it as a stress reliever when I need one.

5.  Be a better Key Spouse.
     This is an Air Force thing.  I'm a Key Spouse for my husband's squadron, which means I keep in touch with spouses and their needs.  I've let some of my responsibilities slide a little and I want to correct that.

6.  Meal plan better.
     I'm trying a new technique for meal planning to help take the stress out of it a bit.  So far, it's great and I'll share what I'm doing in another post soon.

7.  Read 40 books.
     I keep a running list of the books that I read each year.  In 2009 and 2010 I read close to 50 books each year.  For 2011 and 2012, it was 29 books exactly both years.  I want to get the number back up there.  The goal is 40!  Any suggestions?

So, there are my goals for 2013.  I'm excited to start on them and I'm very excited to see where 2013 is going to take us and what it has in store for our family.  Thanks for sticking with me and feel free to share any resolutions YOU have for 2013!