Goals Update: April

It's the end of the month (seriously, already?), and you know what that means- time to see how Jenny did with her goals!

Become a faithful member of the 5 am club. Fail...although I did get up early a few mornings.  I'm not sure what's going on because even when I go to sleep early, I still have a difficult time getting up in the morning, even with my sunrise alarm clock.  Maybe I'm just lazy...maybe I need Jess to give me wake up calls for a while until the habit sticks.  And maybe I need to not get sick (as I am currently doing). 

Memorize 52 verses. I did get some organization going on this one, but I am mainly reviewing the ones I worked on earlier.  I am determined to make May 'Memorization Month'.  Ooo...nice alliteration there, Jenny.  I love it.

Memorize (the first half) of the book of James. Fail again...but see above for Memorization Month.  I don't have a class on Thursday nights, so I am going to focus on getting at least ten more verses from James memorized this month...yes, even while I'm on vacation in a few weeks!

Continue in the SWI program. Success!  We just had our annual Spring Celebration last night and it was a blast!  I finished with my semester, although I still have some papers to write for the seminar I went to in March (papers due at the end of June).  I am going to register for next semester very soon (as soon as they open registration, that is).  I am pretty sure I am going to take 'Cross Cultural Ministry' and 'Baptist Beliefs' in the fall. 

Read through the Bible. I am behind again...way behind, that is.  If you will return to the first goal, you will see that I am having difficulty getting out of bed on time each and every morning.  Then you should understand way I am also struggling with this goal as well... 

Continue to think through our family traditions. Hmm...haven't really done much in this are in terms of concrete applications, but I have thought about it some more...perhaps I should write some ideas down?  Isaac has also mentioned some things just in passing, so we will have to sit down and examine these ideas and begin putting them into practice.
 
Communicate with our family (and friends) more. I did much better with this in April!  I would still like to be better about calling (or 'ringing' as Laura would demand I say) people and not just using email and social networking sites.

Build up our emergency fund. Still focusing on getting out rid of the car loan; see below.

Make a huge dent in our car loan.  We made and extra payment this month, so we're slowly but surely chipping away at it.  I am going to par-tay when it's finally paid off in full- so we can move on to focusing on our wretched student loans!

Cut our grocery bill. I think I may be getting somewhere with this finally!  I'm trying to use a lot less meat, use coupons (even though I rarely buy anything other than the store brand), and do some 'freezer cooking'.  Stephanie also said I could come with her to Sam's Club whenever I wanted, so I'll see if that can help some too!

Develop a consistent and workable cleaning schedule. It's been a bit hectic around here, so the house isn't up to its normal snuff, but we have still been pretty consistent with maintaing the cleanliness.

Read 30 books. I finished six this month, which puts my total for the year at twenty.  I still have sixteen books left on my 2010 reading list, so it looks like I will defiinitely meet my 30-books-for-the-year-goal.  I like it, friends, I like it.

Scrapbook. Let me just hang my head in shame.  Seriously, I am having issues.  I've got pictures printed and ready to go and yet I have nothing to show for it.  S.l.a.c.k.e.r.

Continue blogging. Much better than last month, folks!  And if I do say so myself, I did pretty well at commenting on other blogs.  Excuse me while I go pat myself on the back.

Oh and Swagbucks!  Doing very well there, but would be doing even better if you would join and starting earning with me!