July- Traveling Goals!

Wow!  June just flew by!  I got a lot of my goals accomplished, :but I know I could have done more.  I think I enjoyed sleeping in too much as usual.  Here's a look back at my goals.
1.  Memorize Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.  Keep memorized Matt 11:28; Hebrews 4:15-16; Proverbs 12:18, Psalm 90:12; Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 41:10.
2.  Work out 60 min a week.  I have been doing really good at this and have actually been working out more- I feel great!
3.  Visit each set of grandparents once.  I was able to visit all, but one.  The one that I missed I thought we would see at something at the end of the month and then missed her.  I will try to go see her soon this week. However, I did visit with the other grandparents more than once:).
4.  Keep up with read through the Bible chronologically in a year.
5.  We are not at 97% of the goal because my school does lump sums in July, which I find odd.  We are currently at 93.9% of the big goal, which I don't think is too shabby.
6.  Follow Money Saving Mom's 4 weeks to a more organized home.  I definitely fell off the bandwagon on this one.  I did a lot of cleaning and organizing, just not by her schedule.
7.  Complete 3 goals from master summer goal list a day.  I actually completed 41 goals which is slightly less than than the needed 42, but close enough I'm counting it.
~Something that I didn't list, but am proud of is that I read through several books including Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place, which has been on my reading list forever.  I had seen the movie, but the book is even more moving.  I also read through 365 Nights which I would count towards my goal of two wife books this year.

This month is going to be crazy.  My husband and I will be out of the country for a significant portion of the month helping lead a missions trip with a large number of high schoolers.  I also have quite a few professional development days planned at school which messes with things a bit.  I'm going to try and list more specifics for this month.
1. Keep memorized Colossians 3:23, Matt 11:28; Hebrews 4:15-16; Proverbs 12:18, Psalm 90:12; Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 41:10.  Memorize Ephesians 4:1-3 "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."  I believe that our group is going to really face unity difficulties because it is so large, so I am hoping to focus on this verse to prepare for the trip.
2.  Work out at least 60 min a week while I am in the good ol' US of A.  Hopefully I will push myself to do more.  It has really been helping shape my thighs.
3.  Visit each set of grandparents once.  I am hoping to visit the grandparent that was missed last month early this month to make up for last month.
4.  Keep up with read through the Bible chronologically in a year.  I need to print out a guide to use while I am gone.
5.  Honestly, I'm not sure at all where we will be at the end of the month.  My husband will be taking a lot of unpaid days; I will be getting a lump sum of an unknown amount; we will be donating a very large unknown amount to help pay for stuff on the trip; so I will just be glad if we stay where we are for the month.
6.  Print out Money Saving Mom's 4 weeks to a more organized home and check through the main goals for the day.  I'm giving myself leeway that if I don't think it applies, then I don't need to do it.  Also, I can pick and choose days.  I want to work on this on "open days" in July (there aren't very many).
7.  Complete 2 goals per open day from large list.
8.  Post about painting lamps, table/chairs, and dresser projects.  I'm proud of how they turned out and would love to encourage someone to take the plunge into painting.

Goals for June- Switching gears

Wow!  May just flew by!  My time was filled pushing and pushing and pushing my seniors to not give up.  One student I spent hours and hours and hours with after school and it made the difference!  I think I was as excited as he was when he passed.  Pretty much May was a survivor month as I predicted, but it ended well. If you have ever noticed in most teacher movies the teacher's relationships with others (husbands/wives/kids) suffer due to their devotion to their students.  I really keep this in mind and think that I am improving on keeping a balance.  I've got a long way to go, but this was my best May yet.

Summary of my goals from last month:

1. Keep Eph 2:10, Isaiah 41:10; Psalm 90:12, Proverbs 12:18, and Hebrews 4:15-16 memorized, and memorize Matthew 11:28.  Even though I pretty much already knew Matthew 11:28, having it as the verse of the month really encouraged me by bringing it into focus.

2. Work out 60 min a week.  I kept with this one, although one week most of the exercising was just house work.

3. Visit each set of grandparents once.

4. Keep up with read through the Bible in a year chronologically in a year.

5. Be at 91% of goal.  As of today (a few days into June) we are at 91.8%!

June Goals

I am a teacher which means summer is completely different.  During the school year I have a really bad habit of letting stuff and chores accumulate which means that I have to attack them all over a 10 week period in the summer.  This summer though will be cut down a lot because of a 10 day missions trip and at least 7 days of professional development.  This morning I have spent a very large amount of time writing down all of my goals for the summer.  I printed out calendars to put in my summer binder and brainstormed the best ways to attack everything.

First, I created a giant list of everything that I hoped to accomplish this summer and broke down the big goals into little chunks.  Next, I marked down days that I am not available due to professional development at school and the missions trip that my husband and I are going on with the high school students at our church.  Then I have to admit I just stared at the large list and the small amount of days and just sat and thought.  I tried to organize the goals and just wanted to give up.  The list was soooo long and there weren't near as many days this summer as I had hoped.

I am a determined person above all else, so I figured there must be a way.  It came to me.  KISS- keep it simple silly.  I have about 80 goals for the summer and about 35 weekdays to attack them (although probably less because I normally go on a few day trips to visit old friends).  I decided not to include weekends because they are normally full.  Rather than being specific (I will attack goal 3 on day 23), I decided that I wanted flexibility.  I will shoot for 3 goals a day per open day in the summer.

Here's my list for June

1.  Keep Eph 2:10, Isaiah 41:10; Psalm 90:12, Proverbs 12:18, Hebrews 4:15-16, and Matthew 11:28 memorized.  Memorize Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

During the summer it is so easy to want to be lazy.  I agree that a time of rest is needed after the crazy school year.  However, I know that I get tempted to use that as an excuse to be lazy much longer than needed.  This verse will help keep me going.

2.  Work out 60 min a week.

3.  Visit each set of grandparents once.

4.  Keep up with read through the Bible in a year.

5.  Be at 97% of goal?  This month is a bit confusing.  I am now working at a school that allows for lump pay over summer which means I should be getting quite a bit this month.  However, we will be donating a large amount of money to pay the taxes for the students on the missions trip.  I am unsure whether we will be paying that this month or next.  This is my best guess for where we should be.

6.  Follow Money Saving Mom's 4 weeks to a more organized home series.

7.  Complete 3 goals from summer goal list every open day (not a professional development day).

Feel free to add links to your goals in the comments section.  I would love to read them!

photo credit: Inkyhack via photo pin cc

Goals for 2012: Busier May!

So I'm posting a bit later than planned for May, but I am posting- go me!  This is just about the busiest time of the year for a teacher.  My life has been consumed with pushing my students to not give up, and I have been staying late after school tutoring (until 6 sometimes) helping students fill the hole they have dug themselves.  I have to have compassion though, because I know in my life I have dug some big holes and I always appreciated those who helped me get out of them.

Church has been really, hmmm, I don't know how to put it, maybe deep for me lately.  My husband and I are going on a missions trip out of the country for 10 days this summer and we have been helping prep the kids for the trip.  This is a huge step for us to take (10 day trip), plus we are leading kids, so I feel like we are being stretched, but in a good way.  I think that God is going to do something big with this trip.  It's exciting and scary at the same time.

I chose the picture above because I feel like it really describes my life right now- although maybe the couple should be running.  We have been looking at houses and I have been looking at summer jobs/training and the future is unclear.  I've been working hard trying to get our assessment methods updated at school.  This requires some new software that costs $$.  If you would like to donate click here.  There has just been a lot of things happening in education and even specifically at my school that could be very good, but could also go the wrong direction if not done right. I know that God will be with us, whatever happens.

Summary of April's Goals:
1.Keep Eph 2:10, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 90:12, and Proverbs 12:18 memorized.  Memorize Hebrews 4:15-16. 
2. Work out 60 min a week.  Completed!  However, I did count certain home maintenance things- weeding as exercise.  I figure that if I am feeling it the next day, that definitely should count!
3. Visit each set of grandparents once.
4. Keep up with reading through the Bible chronologically in a year.
5. Be at 89% of the big goal.


May's Goals:
1. Keep Eph 2:10, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 90:12, and Proverbs 12:18, Hebrews 4:15-16 memorized. Memorize Matthew 11:28 "Come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest."  During this crazy month, I have a tendency to try and do it all.  I get really frustrated when I can't.  I know a song that talks about this verse and it really speaks to me.  It is not that God wants us to do nothing, but really that he wants us to give our cares to Him.
2. Work out 60 min a week.  This can definitely include house work, because this time of year means lots and lots of weeding, bush trimming, etc.
3.  Visit each set of grandparents once.
4.  Keep up with read through the Bible chronologically in a year.
5.  Be at 91% of the big goal.

Photo credit: Click here.