I need to change the subtitle!

A year off from blogging... whoops!  Where did the time go?  I know, this little guy stole it all and our hearts! Here's a recap of last year:
Winter- wow, the most snow days ever- polar vortex anyone?
Spring- our baby boy arrived
Summer- adjusting to life with baby and lots of days at the lake with family
Fall- my maternity leave sub was not able to finish my leave so I came back early, but part-time:)
Winter- back full-time and enjoying seeing the Christmas season through new eyes

Even if I don't end up blogging much this year, I have found that I miss having a place to keep myself accountable to my goals, so my plan is to keep up with monthly check ups.  I also hope to possibly post updates on all of the many projects that have been going on, so that I can share tips that you might find helpful, but we'll see on that one.  Spending time with the little guy sucks me away from the computer (in a good way).

Here are my goals for January

Exercise minimum of 1 hour a week (I hope to push this up a bit, but I know myself and I have to start slow)
Continue with my New in 30 Bible reading plan
Send at least cards to grandparents/nieces/nephews for birthdays
Back up files on computer and laptop
Finish rereading Reaching for the Invisible God (great book!)
Start going to choir practice for the Messiah (I've never done anything like that and I'm afraid I'll chicken out)
Plan one date night (sans son)
Take a personal day from school
Stretch every day (this is a new one, so yes, I am making a sticker chart for it;))
Help with getting all of the stuff to the accountant for my husband's business
Continue with my 3 good things, 1 funny thing journal
Visit each grandparent once
Visit with mentee
Start reading (or at least get on the hold list for) one of the following books that has been recommended to me:
The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages
In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
Becoming Myself: Embracing God's Dream of You
Emotionally Healthy Woman
Storyline
Grace Filled Marriage
Teach Like a Champion (started reading this over maternity leave and never finished it)

Menu Plan Monday: Retreats galore!

Life has been so interesting lately!  Two weekends ago we went along with our high school youth group as coaches on their retreat weekend.  Wow!  There is definitely a difference in my energy level now, than what the high schoolers have.  Pregnancy doesn't help.  It was a great weekend though.  We had been praying that they would have soft hearts and many really opened up.  I used to not like retreats because I felt they were high pressure situations that caused people to feel like they need to make commitments they aren't ready for.  That may still be the case in some instances, but now I really appreciate them for what they are- a retreat.

The students are "retreating" from the real world and so, yes, it will be different.  We give them way more opportunities to talk about spiritual or personal things going on in their lives than what they would get normally.  So many of the kids finally get up the courage to discuss really personal and hard things they are going through.  Some may point out that there is little change after, but I want to stress how it might not be huge change, but some of the things might just be floating around in the back of their brain.  It takes a while to process everything, but the freeing power of confessing our problems is worth the whole weekend's worth of little sleep.

The second retreat was for us and by us I mean my husband and I.  We went on a Weekend to Remember retreat/conference put on by Family Life.  Something to note is this is not something that we do- leave town for conferences that is.  My husband might have brought this up repeatedly prior to the conference, but I felt that it was something we should do.  I am still processing everything from the weekend, so I'm not going to write much other than that I am really glad we went.  Hopefully later after it has all settled in I will give you a bunch of details.

The menu for this week will be as follows:

Dinner #1: Tacos, pineapple, peas

Dinner #2: Ravioli, salad, cut up apples, broccoli

Dinner #3?: Crockpot chicken breasts, mashed potatoes/gravy, green beans

Find more menus at Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday! 

Menu Plan Monday: Two easy meals!

This week I've got to make this quick!

Dinner #1: Egg and sausage casserole ; cut up oranges; applesauce

Dinner #2: Crockpot chili (watch out if you don't like beans)- about the easiest thing ever- 1 can corn, 2 cans chili beans, 2 cans vegetable chili (Aldi), 1 can great northern beans, 1 can chili tomatoes, a few fresh tomatoes, and add a bit of chili powder, cumin, pepper, onion powder, garlic, and maybe some chopped onions
-currently ground beef is kind of weirding me out so I will make it on the side for hubbie to add to his

Dinner #3: out to eat for youth group

Dinner #4: Leftovers!

Back up plan: Baked chicken breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans

Find more and more varied plans at Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!