Goals Update: March

It's time for another goals update!

Become a faithful member of the 5 am club.  Um, I got up before six a few mornings...I don't mean to make excuses, but for those of you who do not live on the western border of the eastern time zone, do you realize how difficult it can be to get out of your nice and cozy bed when the sun does not rise until 7:56 am or later?  I kid you not.  EIGHT O'CLOCK.  What the heck type of a set-up is this?  All I have to say is that I am currently, in fact, not a fan of Daylight Savings Time for doing this to me. 

Memorize 52 verses. Fail.  I didn't even have verses to memorize for my SWI class...I just need to do it.  You know, maybe stop typing this post and go through the verses I've been working on and then maybe start studying some new ones.

Memorize (the first half) of the book of James. Just go back and read where I was at with this goal in February; it's pretty much the same situation.

Continue in the SWI program. Finally, I can write about a success!  I finished my first term class a few weeks ago; honestly, I really like this term better, but am sad because there are only two classes left.  I have a paper to write for it, which I plan on doing this week.  I also attended SWI Seminar Saturday and had a great time.  Not only were the presentation awesome, but Jess and I had a fantabulous time eating boatloads of those awesome peppermint candies...mmm....now, I need to get to work on finishing Adopted for Life and writing those eight papers.

Read through the Bible. I am almost caught up from being so far behind at the beginning of last month.  A few days ago, I just got to sit and read for a few hours.  It was kinda cool to read through pretty much an entire book in one setting.  Maybe I'll do that more often.

Continue to think through our family traditions. Fail.  I feel like I need to better about doing these things in advance...I can't develop new traditions for Easter when it's the middle of the Easter season.  Too much pressue.  So my lesson learned is I need to be a good deal more proactive about this; we already have many traditions in place, but there is still more we can do to become a more intentional Gospel family.

Communicate with our family (and friends) more. Even worse than last month.  That's all I'm going to say.

Build up our emergency fund. We're back to focusing on the car loan, so see the next item.

Make a huge dent in our car loan. We were fortunate to get a decent tax return from the federal government; as soon as the money was deposited into our account, we used the majority of it to pay some more on our car loan.  I'm starting to get really ambituous with paying off the loan even earlier than we had anticipated...so keep your fingers crossed for that!

Cut our grocery bill. I have decided to just stop eating, as that may be the only way to cut our grocery bill.

Develop a consistent and workable cleaning schedule. Honestly, I'm being fairly consistent with this (and Isaac always helps when he can).  I don't have a set schedule, but if something needs to get done, we just do it.  It's worked out pretty well so far. 

Read 30 books. I finished four books this month, none of which were on my 2010 Reading List.  I am really focusing on Adopted for Life now, as I have a paper on it due pretty soon.  I need to tackle some of my 2010 Reading List next.  Yes, I realize I still have not posted reviews of The Portrait of a Lady and Corelli's Mandolin.  But one day, I will get those flushed out and sensible. 

Scrapbook. Uh....again, nothing.  But I have been organizing some online albums, so that should count for something, right?

Continue blogging. I didn't do a good job with this either.  And I have been a wretched blog reader and commenter.  I am going to work especially hard in April on leaving the love for other people.  The weather has recently been gorgeous, so I'm speaning as much time outside as possible...which is probably why I haven't posted so much this month.

So here's to progress- even if it's just a little bit.  How are your goals coming along and do you have any ideas for motivation for those of us who are struggling with some of our goals?