I will not give up!

This year has been such a growing time for my family and I.  I have seen my priorities change at times, but my goals are still in my head.  We are now focused on food storage which led me to organize our storage room.  I have done major couponing the last months and need to make room for all that food!!  It was time to let go.  Which is hard for me.  In the books I have read about clutter, the emotional clutter is one of the hardest to let go of.  I am so proud of myself.  I have let go of clothes and blankets and toys.  Things I don't use, and don't need.  It helps that some sisters from the ward were able to look through them and take them for their boys.  And I took some of my favorite shirts and am going to make a fun little quilt for me to remember the baby days.  I have not been able to let go of all of the baby girl stuff, and the 30+ dresses, but I'm sure I can someday :) 
In other goals, I have gone to the temple, written a song called "Find Me" (about family history, my new passion!!), I have been doing a lot of scrapbooking, I only need to finish the Book of Mormon for my YW goals and as usual we are still working on the family scripture reading.  Tayla is our biggest push in that area, she always reminds me.  I am so glad I started this adventure.  I can't wait until next year and all the new goals (well, some may be ongoing) that I can work on.  Beth

Good bye August!

I thought I should give an update on my resolutions!  Things have been crazy this summer, but I found that it really helps to have goals to look forward to and work on.  I am very pleased to say that I have not "given up" on any of my goals.  I am determined to see them through until January 1, 2011.  I have been working each day on my family history, and this has naturally led me to the temple.  We have gone in July and August.  I am so close to earning my personal progress medallion which makes me very excited!  I have started back up on organizing my home, summer is just not a good time to try this (I was lucky to keep up on the regular house work!!)  With the boys in school, I am finding time to focus on certain areas more.  Scrapbooking is going well, Tayla's book should be done before the end of September.  There's so much more to catch up on, but I love it, so it doesn't feel stressful.  Scripture reading is not where it should be.  I can't share the music with you, but here are some lyrics from one of my songs.  I am trying to write a song for each young women value, and this is the song for Faith:

I can almost hear His voice
on the pages I read
I hear His humble plea,
"come follow me"

So I kneel and ask Him how,
how can I know the way.
I hear the spirit say,
"Have faith in me"

And now I feel His light surround me,
because I know my prayers are heard.
And now I want to keep it burning,
I won't let the light go out.
I have planted a seed within.

I am nourishing the seed,
it is growing each day.
I feel each step I take
He's leading me.

I have shared the faith I feel
and it grows as I do
I know I am His child
A child of God.

Because I feel His light surround me
And I know my prayers are heard
And now I strive to keep it growing
I won't let the light go out.

I have planted
I have nourished
I am growing a seed within.

That's all for now!  Beth

And here we are again!

My last post was 4 days before my Father in Law passed away.  Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you doesn't it?  It has taken me some time to get back on track.  To feel like doing things again.  I did take my personal progress on my trip and I am almost done!!!  What an awesome feeling.  Doing the goals has really brought me closer to Heavenly Father.  And I have added some goals to my yearly goals, can I do that?  I don't see why not.  I am adding monthly temple attendance to my goals and making/starting a family history book for each of my children.  I want each of them to have copies of what I have and to have the stories.  It is something that shouldn't be put in a box for them to find in 50 years.  They need it now. 

As for the rest:

Couponing has taken a back seat lately, let's just say I am going to update my coupon binder this month and try to get some sales in.

Scripture reading is going better, and is taking quite the effort.  I have started helping my older boys learn the articles of faith as well.  I write it on a piece of paper and hang it in the kitchen.  Each day I black out a few words, and by the time all the words are blacked out, they have it memorized!  I used this idea when teaching songs to the primary as well and it worked every time!

I have done some scrapbooking!  I am close to finishing Tayla's book, and have updated her little baby book/journal up to her second birthday.  I have forgotten so much, and wish I wrote down more things, but it's better than nothing!!  Dallin's school book is started and his pre-school pictures are just adorable!!!  I also updated each of the boys school books.

After our big Michigan trip I got to work on the kitchen.  I keep getting good ideas of how to organize things and have done a lot more cupboards and drawers.  Maintaining is going good too.  I also cleaned out under our bed and got a cool bag to store my extra shoes.  Genius!!

That's my update for now.  I did write one song, and need to put the notes on paper.  It's called "Be still"

See you next month!  Beth

April awakenings

I have been so busy I haven't been able to report how April went for goals.  It is interesting that some months have been better than others on certain things. 

This month was for sure my month to get down to business and start losing weight.  So far....22 pounds!!  I am thrilled, and motivated.  The next 22 should be much easier than those first.  It took me a while to get my brain to let go of all the things that "made" me eat.  Things like emotions, social gatherings and even boredom.  Habits are hard to break, but I made great progress this month.  I know that I said I lost 12 lbs all ready, and I did, but I gained it back, so the 22 lbs I have lost include those 12 I gained back.  Sad, but true.  My new goal along with losing the weight is to NOT gain it back!!!!!!!

I stayed away from stores a lot to avoid the tempations so my coupon savings aren't so hot for April. 

Scripture reading hasn't been good, this one is proving to be one of the hardest ones! 

Scrapbooking hasn't been a huge priority, but I did manage to get more pictures ordered for Tayla's book.  I also am excited to start Dallin's school book since I got his class pictures back!

Personal progress is coming along.  My individual worth project is finished, but I need to take more time each week to work on goals. 

I haven't written any songs this month!!!  I am sad that I haven't taken the time to do this because I really enjoy music.

Our trip is in a few weeks, and we have saved a lot of money!!  I am so proud of my boys who put every penny they find and dollar they earn towards the trip.

I took a few days and organized our storage room.  This room is just a breeding ground for all the stuff I can't let go of.  Well, after filling my van with stuff to donate, I let it go!!!  This may sound silly, but I prayed before I tackled this project.  I needed my mind to think clearly and not feel overwhelmed and that prayer really helped!  I got so much done and didn't feel stressed at all!  There is so much more to do, but I know I can do it.

May is looking much better with coupons, scrapbooking and goals.

I am glad I started this blog, even though it is hard to keep all of my goals each month, I feel that by the end of the year I will be where I want to be and I will be a better person because if it!  Beth

March madness

March was interesting.  Lots of busy days, crazy nights and even birthdays!  Now, I am not giving excuses, but I ate horribly with all the parties and eating out, and my weight is not good.  Don't worry, April is the month, I know it!  Just keep me away from all the Easter bunnies :)  Here is an overview of my goals, which I am still working on, and not giving up on. 

Personal Progress: Great this month!  I finished 2 goals.  For a Knowledge goal I made this:

Tayla loves it!!  She has learned how to button and loves the magnetic numbers.  I take it to church for her and even the older boys try to play with it.  It was fun to make.

Getting organized is quite the process, especially with spring break thrown in.  I haven't purged enough things yet, but I did help Kolby organize his "stuff" and I went through Tayla's clothes.  I also switched the boys dresser out of the little closet and put my craft stuff in it.  It is working better.  This is the shelf we got Kolby and he loves it!  He is quite the collector. 

As far as scrapbooking goes, I am caught up on the boys school books.  I will start one for Dallin this month because he is getting class pictures next week.  I love these books.  In them I do two pages for each year.  It includes the class picture, an individiual picture and also comments from report cards.  I tuck special awards in the pages as well.  They are fun to look at!

And wow!!  I am 51 pages into Tayla's first year book and up to 8 months old!  I think I can get this one done soon!  

It is really fun to work on.  We did horribly on scripture reading.  After dinner works fine if we are all home, but this month has been busy with scouts, track, church meetings and activities.  We haven't had time to read after dinner.  I need to really push this one though, I can tell a difference when we read and when we don't. 

I haven't written any songs lately.  Just haven't felt it.  I'm sure I will soon.

Check out how much I saved in coupons this month!!  I did much better than last month and we are fully stocked up on cereal and fruit snacks!

And Michigan saving is going great, I am sure we will be there by June!!!  Here's to a wonderful April!  I love this time of year.  It's the best.  Until next month!

Beth

February Flops.

What is it about February that just makes it fly by so fast?! It can't just be the short month (come on does two days really make a difference!) But with it flying by, I have not gained the focus I need to accomplish my goals. I have been a bit distracted you could say by life. Family visits, sick children, various broken things at home and just busy, busy, busy. I want to be honest and accountable for my work, or lack of work on my goals. So here is the month of February in a few words:

Scrapbook pages done: lots! I lost track, but this has been by far the most enjoyable of my goals :)

Songs written: Two! One for the ring contest I crashed and burned on, and one about taking on "One more Thing" which fits nicely with my life right now.

Personal progress goals: None. Head hanging. I know, not much of an example to the girls huh?

Organization: I tried to organize the food shelves in the storage room, I cleaned the kitchen bench out, I am purging my baby clothes, but I don't feel like I did enough this month.

Scripture reading: Lets just say we aren't eating cake. But we have tried, but I didn't count the days. I am guessing like 60%.

Coupons: I reached my goal of at least $100.00, but I didn't even have to try very hard, it only took two shopping trips. I definately slacked in this area, but I organized my coupon book and am ready for a good sale!

I have been doing awesome on the budget. Our jar is full of money and we have been saving like crazy!

Weight loss: Can I just skip this one for now? No progress, but I haven't been really trying either.

Here's to March. My favorite month full of sunshine, birthdays and spring!!!

Beth

Focus.

Oh my goodness, I have been so inspired by the Olympics this year! I am just so impressed by the hours and days and years these athletes spend in the gym, on the ice and at practice. I see it in their eyes before they compete. Focus. Complete focus.

What if I could have that kind of focus on my home, family and self?

What if I ignored all the everyday distractions that grab at my time.

What if I played more, laughed more and really enjoyed my "sport" of mother, wife and homemaker?

Excuse me now, I must focus.

Beth