5 months in to my 32nd Goals

I can’t believe this year will be half over next month. I’m feeling pretty confident in the progress towards some of my goals.  The bad thing is I’m already thinking of things for the next list, which is going to have a different look thanks to Lyndsey. I’m real excited about it.

#1. Save $1000 – Just not going to happen this year. A part-time job is not conducive to saving $.

#2. Donate blood – Still need to do this.

#3. Read the entire Bible – I printed off a great list of the books with each of their chapters listed that I can mark off as I read. I just folded it in half and put it right in my Bible (I have The Message/NIV version and just love it).  Click here to print the list off for yourself.

#4. Weigh 150 lbs. –  I have taken a major step to this goal – I joined the gym!  Bean & I have been going the last two weeks.  Last night I managed to run 4 laps around the track!!  The scales are only saying I’ve lost a pound, but I put my jeans on today for casual Friday and realized that they were not as tight as last week.  They say muscle weighs more…

#5. Dress more girly – I’ve been trying out some new color combos. I don’t know if it’s working, but I tried.  I even wore a scarf yesterday.

#6. Finish my bedroom – Well, the armoire is done. I have a plan for my jewelry storage issue. I have a feeling I’ll be yard saling for some picture frames this summer as my walls are still very bare, um, like completely bare.

#7. Finish Oh! Shoot class – I’m going to try to do this by the end of March.

#8. Finish Portraits class – need to finish #7 first.

#9. Visit a new state – I think I need to plan a long weekend to M*ch*gan or Tennessee. Of course, I’m debating now if I can put Kentucky back on the list of places to visit. We did only stay across the river for Reds games. We never actually did anything but sleep in Kentucky.

#10. Make a pumpkin pie – Done!

#11. Take 10,000 pictures –  Probably should count and see how many I’ve taken.

#12. Learn song on my guitar – Emmy discovered my guitar. A guitar string needs replaced. I’m sure we can all figure out why.

#13. Fix supper 2x a week – Well, this really hasn’t happened.  Our schedules are just not in sync.

#14. Finish Emmy’s 2nd year book – No where near being done, but I have a big scrapbook day scheduled next month.

#15. Do Daily December book – I think this summer I’ll work on getting an album together so I’ll be all ready once December hits. It’s always pretty busy between September and December 1st.  Getting that done ahead of time will help me stay on top of it once December rolls around.

#16. Start Project Life – While I don’t have any weeks completely done, I’m plugging along.  I find that I either have a ton of stuff for a week or not enough. 

#17. Read 20 books – So I’ve started The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King this week.  I’m also reading a great book called Wrestling Prayer by Eric & Leslie Ludy. It’s been pretty good so far. And all the books for my courses that start in March have started to arrive.  Now if only the weather would warm up so I could go out on the porch and read.

1. I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp
2. Middle School Ministry Made Easy (for school)
3. Courageous (the novel based on the movie)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley (for school)
6. The Castle in the Attic (read w/ my 4th graders)
7. The Hunger Games
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
9. Among the Hidden (read w/ my 4th graders)
10. The Help
11. The Search Committee

#18. Watch 20 movies – So I finally got to watch Breaking Dawn!  Even though I liked the book better, the movie was pretty good.  I may have watched it like four times since it came out on DVD.  Emmy Jo even likes it.  I also watched Crazy Stupid Love. Hilarious!  I was laughing so hard that Emmy came in and yelled at me to be quiet and go to bed at one point.  Going to flashback to the 80’s this weekend with The Smurfs.

1. The Grace Card
2. Madea’s Big Happy Family
3. Little Fockers
4. 12 Dates of Christmas
5. Something Borrowed
6. Flypaper
7. Courageous
8. Crazy Stupid Love
9. Breaking Dawn
10. Abduction

#19. Complete 5/K – Well, since I’m back to doing some training again this could happen!

#20. Try 12 new recipes – DONE!

1. Loaded Baked Potato Soup
2. Homemade bread – failed
3. Apple Pie
4. Pumpkin Pie
5. Pumpkin Fudge – failed
6. Buckeyes
7. Homemade Pop Tarts – for Christmas Eve brunch
8. Green Monster Spinach Smoothie (it actually is not as bad as it sounds)
9. Hawaiian Sweet Roll Ham Sandwiches – for the Super Bowl
10. Mexicorn Dip – for the Super Bowl
11. Wendy’s Chili – tasted just like Wendy’s chili
12. Corn & Potato Chowder – it was ok. I guess I’m not a chowder girl.

#21. Daily prayer time – I found an idea for a prayer journal to help me with this.

#22. Go camping – Spring is just about here!!

#23. Make an apple pie – Done!

#24. Sew a skirt – So a skirt for Emmy is probably going to come first (I have material for it). But a skirt is a skirt no matter how small.

#25. Build craft armoire – I’m going to claim this one done. It just needs a little touch up around one of the knobs and another magnet to keep it closed. The next step is getting all the stuff in there organized.

#26. Make 10 crafty things – Got my list of ideas…and it keeps growing.

#27. Do 10 things I’ve never done before – I’ll think of things and then I forget by the time I make the list out. I’ve done more than two things.

1. Be a gym teacher.
2. Cooked pumpkins and then froze the meat.
3. Be a music teacher – had to sub for the last class one day. They were playing recorders and it was pretty fun. I had just enough musical experience to direct them.

#28. Mani &/or pedi – not yet

#29. Start living room makeover – Next on my list is to hang the shelves I was going to put in my bedroom in my living room instead. Then I need to look for a ceiling fan.

#30. Be intentional with my time – I have been trying to spend some more time with Emmy – like watching videos of animals on YouTube or watching Breaking Dawn. (LOL)  Does that count?

#31. Clean/organize the basement – Bean got a good start on this last month. Our ancient deep freeze is now gone.

#32. Clean out the garage – Coming this spring!

Lord, I Lift Your Name on High

 

This praise song was in my head one morning last week as I got ready for work. It got me thinking about the scripture behind this chorus. So I looked some up.  Sometimes I think we just get used to the words and don’t think about what they are really saying.

Lord, I lift your name on high

Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God! Just to speak                                         his name is praise!  - Psalm 113:1-3

Lord, I love to sing your praises

Come, let's shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let's march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns!  - Psalm 95:1-3

I'm so glad you are in my life

The God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this very day… - Genesis 48:11

I'm so glad you came to save us.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. – Titus 3:4-7

You came from heaven to earth, to show the way

I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me. – John 6:36
 

From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. – Ephesians 1:7-10

From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky

After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God…As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. – Acts 1

Lord I lift your name on high.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. – Psalm 63:4

32 Goals Update

 

#5. Dress more girly – I’ve been wearing earrings to work everyday since New Year’s, even the day when I couldn’t find my gold pair that would have matched my outfit much better. 

#10. Make a pumpkin pie – Done!

#16. Start Project Life – I’ve been slowly working on this.  Slowly because I decided to switch the kit I was working with.  I had decided at first to use Clementine. But then a blog friend was using Cobalt and I thought it looked good so I ordered it.  Well, after putting the weekly cards in I just couldn’t like it enough to use all year. So I put in an order for Clementine so it should be arriving in the next couple days.  Yea!  The good news is that I didn’t pre-date the cards so I’m hoping to pass the Cobalt kit along to someone else to use.  I’ve also ordered a few things to help me along, including some 4x6 multiple picture collages.  PL is my scrapbook for 2012 so I want to include a lot of pictures when I want to. 

#17. Read 20 books – I decided I needed to read The Hunger Games since we can’t keep it on the shelf in the library.  It was ok.  I’m also still plugging away at LOTR: The Two Towers.  It’s pretty slow right now as Frodo, Sam & Sméagol work their way towards Mordor. 

1. I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp
2. Middle School Ministry Made Easy (for school)
3. Courageous (the novel based on the movie)
4. Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
6. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley (for school)
7. The Castle in the Attic (read w/ my 4th graders)
8. The Hunger Games

#18. Watch 20 movies – I watched two movies this weekend – Something Borrowed & Flypaper. They were both pretty good.  Courageous will arrive this week.  Can’t wait to finally watch Breaking Dawn next month!

1. The Grace Card
2. Madea’s Big Happy Family
3. Little Fockers
4. 12 Dates of Christmas
5. Something Borrowed
6. Flypaper

#23. Make an apple pie – Done!

#25. Build craft armoire – almost done. I finished the painting this weekend and just need to get the doors back on and then load it up with all my crafting goodies.

Send a Card Challenge & Giveaway

UPDATE: Contest is closed. Congrats to Lyndsey on winning $20 to spend at the DaySpring store!

Recently I got the opportunity to review a package of cards from DaySpring. I was very excited when these Peanuts – Encouragement & Friendship cards arrived. They are all super cute and some even have textures added into the design. And something that surprised me about this particular collection is that the envelopes were not white. They were made from brown craft paper. I love colored envelopes. Yes, I’m that girl who stands at a card rack looking for a colored envelope instead of the white one that goes with the card I’m buying. And who doesn’t love Peanuts, right??

Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative is encouraging everyone to send a “thank-you-for-being-you” card. She’s sending one to her children’s pediatrician. So that got me thinking about who I could send mine to. The other night I was going through some things in my bedroom and found the vintage makeup case that I use to store cards and letters from throughout the years. I had to take a few minutes to go through it. One of those stacks included multiple cards sent to me by my Aunt while I was a freshman at Ohio State. She consistently sent me cards throughout that year. I was 18 years old, away from home for the first time in a place about 25 times bigger than my hometown. Going to my mailbox every afternoon was my favorite time of the day and anytime I got a card or letter it totally made my day. My mom actually got me a mailbox ornament that year for Christmas. I’m glad she did because it reminds me every year I place it upon the tree of all the people who took time to send me a card or letter that school year. I chose to send my Aunt one of these Peanut cards to thank her for her encouragement and thoughtfulness. She’s just one of those people who are really great about sending cards. Like so great that she sent my niece a Halloween card. I aspire to be like her (:

So I want to challenge you to join Jessica & I and the other in(courage) readers in sending a “thank-you-for-being-you” card to someone in your life. Who could you encourage with a card?

Now for a Giveaway, my very first one! Want to win a $20 gift code to spend at DaySpring? Simply post a comment below about a time you’ve received a card that meant a lot to you or who you would send a “thank-you-for-being-you” card to. Want to get another chance to win? Go look around DaySpring and come back here and write a new comment on what you would buy at DaySpring if you won. For a third chance, follow me through Google Friends Connect on the right side of my blog and leave another comment that you did. Giveaway closes on Friday, January 20th @ 5 p.m. Winner will be notified by email.

{I was provided these cards by DaySpring for review. All opinions are my own. Post may include compensated affiliate links.}

the best gift

Every year I say I am going to write it down. I’ll finally put pen to paper (or rather fingers to keys) and write about losing my dad.  Every December I vow to record it.  And every year it doesn’t happen. But it sneaks up on me.  Not the day.  I know it is coming.  It’s everything else that goes with it. 

Dad died 12 days before Christmas.  There isn’t one thing about the season that doesn’t not make me think about what we lost.  You can’t hide or out run that day.  All through the year every siren I hear or fire truck I see makes me think, if only for a split second, of him.  Football season brings it’s own memories.  Christmas brings back the bad memories.  Christmas trees, lights, carols…it’s like every year you have these reminders of that day and the days that followed.  Even poinsettias, because some people had sent them to the funeral home.

I don’t write this for you to be sad.  I’m not sad.  I may be crying right now, but I wouldn’t say I’m sad. I’m far enough on this grief journey that I usually only cry a few times a year.  Sometimes on Ohio State-Michigan game day.  But usually not until 15 days before Christmas.  I’ll remember the last time I talked to my dad on that night and that will start it. I can still see him standing there in my doorway, silhouetted by the hall light.  Our last words were not goodbye.  By the time my sister and I got to the hospital he had already been gone for probably an hour or more.  Our last words came two nights before that. He stopped at my room before going to bed.  “Good night”, that was the last thing he said to me and the last thing I ever said to him. It’d be the last time we’d see each other.  It was a Saturday night.

“Say goodnight, not goodbye, you will never leave my heart behind.” When I heard this song on the Dawson’s Creek finale years later, I was so glad that our last words had been goodnight.  Not goodbye – that is so final, forever.  My dad had given us the greatest gift that anyone could give their loved ones – the hope of seeing each other again.  To be absent from the body is to be present with Christ (2 Cor 5:8).  Two years before he died, my dad had gotten right with God.    I couldn’t even imagine how unbearable it would have been to go through that and not had that hope that this wasn’t going to be it.  Don’t get me wrong, burying him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. 

So the point of this post is to encourage you, if you haven’t yet, to get right with God.  Don’t put it off. You never know when your number will be up.  There may not be enough time at the end.  From the NIOSH report, I think there was less than sixty seconds from the time Dad collapsed until he technically died.  I believe that there is a heaven and therefore there is a hell.  Heaven is wonderful, hell is not.  Everyone will go back to the Creator one day.  And you will either stay with him in heaven or you will spend eternity in hell.

No one can be good enough to get to heaven on their own.  Not Mother Teresa.  Not Billy Graham. Not Greg Rodgers. Not even Tim Tebow. Only by the grace from Jesus will anyone get to heaven. It is simple to get.  All you have to do is confess that you are a sinner (the Bible says that all have sinned – have you ever lied? stolen? said the Lord’s name in vain?)  and ask Jesus to come into your heart.  Then turn away from your sin and start living your life for Jesus.  It won’t always be easy, but it will be the most important thing you could ever do.

{He’s here but not here, He’s gone but not gone.}  This line from a song from Ladder 49 is awesome.  My dad is not here on earth physically, but he lives on through the people who’s lives he touched. My dad is gone from this earth, but he is not gone. The part that made him who he was lives on.  Isn’t that amazing?  It really is the best gift.

32 Goals Update

I can’t believe how fast this fall went. Between my new job and grad school I just felt like everything flew by. I’m going to be taking some time off grad school at the beginning of the year. I need some time to just chill and work on some things.

10. Make a pumpkin pie – Done! I did this for Thanksgiving with pumpkins that we grew in the garden. It was ok. Not as good as the apple pie. I might try this again.

15. Do Daily December book – Didn’t get done. I started the month taking a few pictures & remembering things I wanted to write down, but grad school work just got in the way. Will try this again next year.

16. Start Project Life – Got the album and stuff bought. Just need to put the page protectors in and I’m ready to go. Very excited to document 2012. I think it is going to be a great year! I’ll try to share my layouts here as I’m going to try to link up at The Mom Creative every week.

#17. Read 20 books – Yeah! I finished the first book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I’m halfway through LOTR: The Two Towers. I finished the first book with my 4th graders. After the break we are starting on a new book, Among the Hidden. I also bought & read Tim Tebow’s book. It was really good and I’ve since shared it with three other people. It’s great to pass along a great book. I purchased a few of the Grace Chapel Inn books from CBD.com because they were such a good deal and I want to start collecting this series of books (there’s about 40 of them). Well, I think one of them I haven’t read yet so I’m excited to get my hands back on those sisters and their B&B. I’ve also got a couple books I purchased this fall that I haven’t read yet. I also think I’m going to start on The Hunger Games. But I really just want to finished up the LOTR series & The Hobbit this year.

1. I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp
2. Middle School Ministry Made Easy (for school)
3. Courageous (the novel based on the movie)
4. Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
6. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley (for school)
7. The Castle in the Attic (read w/ my 4th graders)

#18. Watch 20 movies – I’m so excited for Courageous to release next month. I’ve already preordered it. It ended up coming to Zanesville for a couple weeks, but I didn’t make it there. And of course the week that I wanted to go see Breaking Dawn it left the theater. Oh, well. I’ll wait for it on DVD, which should hopefully be in March. I watched the 12 Dates of Christmas on ABC Family. It’s one of the few Christmas movies I actually got to watch this year. Grad school really interfered with that.

1. The Grace Card
2. Madea’s Big Happy Family
3. Little Fockers
4. 12 Dates of Christmas

#20. Try 12 new recipes – Got the stuff to make Loaded Baked Potato Soup this week sometime….yummo!

1. Loaded Baked Potato Soup
2. Homemade bread
3. Apple Pie
4. Pumpkin Pie
5. Pumpkin Fudge
6. Buckeyes
7. Homemade Pop Tarts – for Christmas Eve brunch

#23. Make an apple pie – Done! Man, I’ve been craving another one of these!

#25. Build craft armoire – I have about 85% of it primed. Just need to sand a spot and finish up the priming then it is on to the paint. It is going to be so nice to have all my crafting stuff in one spot & behind doors.

#29. Start living room makeover – I painted my living room during Veteran’s Day weekend. It is Wild Turkey by Martha Stewart (brownish). I love it! I also painted the crown molding as it was in serious need of some help. I’m going to have to get some new lamps now as both of mine were knocked over during painting (only one by me), breaking the bulbs and now one won’t turn on at all and the other is hard. I can’t wait to finish spray painting frames and getting them up on the wall (with some B&W pictures).

How did it get to be the middle of October already?

It seems like just yesterday was my birthday.  But I guess we have been a little busy around here.  My brother was home for three weeks following his graduation from EOD school. So there were lots of family meals & just visiting time in there. We just shipped him off to Texas a week ago.  And for this past week we’ve had our aunt & uncle visiting from Omaha.  I love my family and have enjoyed all the extra time we’ve had together the last month!!  I’ve got a few posts to do about those times, but that will have to be for another day as it is already after 1 a.m.

But here’s a little progress report on my goals so far:

#17. Read 20 books – after not having read a Christian fiction book in a long time I thoroughly enjoyed Courageous.  Jeremy Camp’s book was long awaited.  I remember praying that he would write his story.  It was very transparent and a great reminder that even Christian “celebrities” are traveling down the same roads as all of us.  And I haven’t touched the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring since I finished the first chapter, but I have next week off of grad school so I am hoping to squeeze in some LOTR time.  Oh, and I’m also reading The Castle in the Attic with my 4th graders. 

1. I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp
2. Middle School Ministry Made Easy  (for school)
3. Courageous (the novel based on the movie)

#18. Watch 20 movies – hopefully going to go see Courageous some time this coming week!

1. The Grace Card

#20. Try 12 new recipes – so we had some of our family come over to watch the OSU game so I made Loaded Baked Potato Soup, tried to make homemade bread and I also made an apple pie.

1. Loaded Baked Potato Soup  {so yummy}
2. Homemade bread

#23. Make an apple pie – Done!  Complete! And it was yummy!  We consumed it straight from the oven with vanilla ice cream.  Wasn’t completely happy with the crust, but for my first time it was great!  G’pa Jim sent apples up last night so I guess I’m supposed to make another one for our cookout Saturday. 

#27. Do 10 things I’ve never done before

1. Be a Gym Teacher – I had to sub one afternoon for the gym teacher. It was a scary prospect for a girl who almost failed gym in junior high. But I got through it and learned a fun, new game.