2010 Goals Update: January

I thought it might be a good idea to share the progress on my 2010 goals every once in a while.  My friend Erin sets monthly goals and then reviews her progress at the end of each month.  Her system seems like a good method for keeping track of everything, and another bit of accountability doesn't hurt either.  For reference, you can see my goals (and the reasoning behind them) for the year here.

Become a faithful member of the 5 am club.  Getting there.  I usually get up between 5:15 and 5:45.  I had a rough first two weeks after New Year's, but I am becoming more consistent.  I'm hoping by the end of February, I'm up and at 'em between 5:00 and 5:15 every morning.

Memorize 52 verses.  I am taking a Saturday morning theology class with some ladies at my church; each week we have one or two verses (which pertain to the chapter we are studying that week) to memorize, and we have a few minutes during each class to break into groups and hold each other accountable.  Ah-mazing.  This month, I memorized Matthew 28:18-20, Genesis 1:26-27, and Colossians 3:18-19.  I'm now working on 2 Corinthians 7:1 for our class next Saturday.  We are also memorizing Scripture in my SWI class (see below).

Memorize (the first half) of the book of James.  It took some harping by my husband for me to get started, but we're working on chapter one right now.  I've got verses 1-4 pretty good, and will be working on verses 5-8 next.

Continue in the SWI program.  Just had our first class on Thursday!  I am excited to be back and with my girls again (but I miss you, Abby!); seriously we were so giddy when we saw each other on Thursday- I almost felt like I was back in high school or something.  I am also excited about new friendships forming- and deepening others.  And yes, I'm excited about learning from the class and instructor as well.  I love learning!  I am such a dork, aren't I?

Read through the Bible.  Isaac gave me a reading plan, and I've been pretty consistent with it.  I read in the morning before I go to work; I'm working my way through Genesis, finished Job and then moved onto the Psalms, and am also reading through Matthew.  It looks like by the end of February, I should be halfway through Exodus, a little over a third of the way through the Psalms, and about halfway through Acts.  This plan is kind of an odd one; after you finish Matthew, you skip the rest of the Gospels to go through Acts, and then go back to Mark.  I'm not sure how they determined the order of everything...

Continue to think through our family traditions. This isn't one of which I can really keep track.  However, we have started family worship night on Sundays.  I think this is definitely going to become a staple; it will be easy to tie in Lent and Advent celebrations through the years as well.  I'm mulling over some Lent and Easter ideas in my head.  I will definitely be revisiting the Easter chapter in Noel Piper's Treasuring God in Our Traditions in the near future.

Communicate with our family (and friends) more.  I've kept up the emailing, and I have called my grandparents every week.  I usually end up chatting to my grandmother for a while, but I also got to talk to Grampie on his birthday earlier in the month.  I treasure getting to talk to him because he's not much of a phone talker.  I've also spoken with other family members at random too.  I need to be more intentional about making contact with everyone though.  Isaac also tries to call his grandparents once a week.

Build up our emergency fund.  We haven't really added anything to our savings this month because we're focused on reducing debt over the next few months- see below about our car loan.

Make a huge dent in our car loan.  We made four extra payments this month- one at the beginning, two mid-month, and one that will post today!  Though the payoff information changes constantly, it's exciting to realize that we are getting closer to that zero balance.  It will take some time, but we are determined to do this sooner rather than later and are very excited about what that extra cash flow each month could mean for paying down student loans and building up our savings.

Cut our grocery bill.  I don't know if I did this or not, but I am definitely trying to be better about meal planning and only going to the grocery store twice a month (once for just about everything needed for the month and the other halfway through for milk, dairy, and produce supplies).  The next step is couponing, but I think my coupons will focus on toiletries, since I like meal planning once a month.

Develop a consistent and workable cleaning schedule. Well...I'm still working on that, but I did make huge strides in that I cleaned out our guest bedroom/office/craft area/library.  So...that one is still in process.

Read 30 books. I've finished five and am currently reading three others (plus some snippets of others for my two classes).  I'm trying to get a good mix of genres read throughout the year, and I think I've done a pretty good job of that thus far.

Scrapbook.  Haven't touched a thing, but I did order pictures at least.  My friend is having a scrapbooking evening next weekend, so I'm hoping to get a few pages done.  Still, it's going to take a lot more than a scrapbook get-together every once in a while for me to get caught up.

Continue blogging.  Well, I'm posting now, so there you have it.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I am still shooting to purchase the vast majority of our Christmas presents with Swagbucks.  And yes, I still need your help (so sign up)!  I exchanged my Swagbucks I earned in December and January for $25.00 in Amazon gift cards, and I've almost got enough to get another $5.00 gift card.  Excellent.

How about you?  Are you making progress on your goals for the year?